Hahn on D'Antoni's system...interesting read

[nycballer]

The formula you saw Coach K employ throughout the Olympics is mainly based on the philosophy Mike D'Antoni (and most of the rest of the world) believes is the best way to play this game. One thing the US always had on the court was an athletic big -- Dwight Howard or Chris Bosh, but rarely together, even against the huge Spainish front line -- and four versatile, interchangeable parts. Many times the "power forward" was someone such as Tayshaun Prince or Carmelo Anthony banging down low.

So from now on, let's not refer to it as the "power forward," which we coined for the Charles Oakley and Karl Malone types, and instead just call it the "4-spot." NBA.com

Melo got some love for making an effort on defense (which is like rewarding your kid for washing his hands before dinner) in these Games, but you saw when he was overmatched he quickly got overheated. Melo has offensive skills (his outside shot started coming around later in the tournament) but if you had to rely on him as your four-spot defender all season he'd lose his mind by the all-star break.

Prince is an outstanding defender and very smart. He can get away with things in spots down low but better off using his length and quickness on the wing. Sure there were times LBJ jumped down to pitch in, but we know you don't wear out your superstar by asking him to bang.

Bottom line, Coach K preached defense and talked a lot about defense. But overall you could say that at times Team USA "sacrificed" on the defensive end for the good of the offense. Two bigs can make you too slow, which crushes Isiah Thomas' "power game" theory. So you take one away -- or at least exchange the "power" big for an "perimeter" big (see: Danilo Gallinari or, from D'Antoni's past, Shawn Marion) -- to be more effective on the offensive end and implore your players to play better "team" defense.
Obviously with the tremendous amount of talent Coach K had, this system (make no mistake, this is Mike D's philosophy...Coach K loved it so much he's incorporated it at Duke) worked so fluidly for the U.S.

How can it work for the Knicks? That is what D'Antoni had on his mind all day during his flight from Beijing to New York.

If you take away salaries and the need to improve the stock price for certain big contracts you'd like to move (Z-Bo, for instance), I think D'Antoni would prefer to start with Duhon-Crawford-Chandler-Gallinari and Curry as a five. And if you want to avoid starting a rookie, you go with the experienced Richardson at the 3 and slide Chandler to the 4 spot (he's strong enough to handle himself) similar to how he used Marion in Phoenix.
Here's how it has to work:

Eddy is your low-post guy but he has to be more of a decoy to open up the perimeter for your shooters (Jamal, Q-Rich and Chandler for the most part). You have to position Eddy much like the U.S. positioned Dwight Howard, where he did a lot of flashing into the paint..."showing" as they say...to make the zone defense close up (trust me, teams will zone the spit outta the Knicks until they prove they can knock down shots) which then loosens up the perimeter.

It's up to Curry to make this work with constant movement in the offensive "set". However, in transition you can allow Curry to be the last guy down, the "trailer" on the play. Let him get in the way of the guards as he works his way down the floor, set high screens and then roll and even spot up for the occassional elbow jumper (Curry has the ability to hit them in rhythm, I've seen it after practice).

Whenever Lazy Eddy shows his ugly face, to the bench he goes. Simple enough.

The critical part of the game that Team USA figured out quickly (they were only the best players in the world) was that the ball had to be in constant motion. Consider that at the worst of times for the US offense, players were caught either doing too much one-on-one or holding the ball too long. Michael Redd did this several times when he was out there throughout the tournament. And as the games got more critical, Redd saw less time. There were times the Americans desperately needed someone who could get hot from the outside in a hurry (Redd) but they couldn't afford his tendency to hold the ball and stall the offense.

Therefore, this is why I don't think Stephon Marbury would work, from a strictly basketball point of view. Like Redd, you would think Steph's game is perfectly suited for this system. But if you learn anything from the Olympics (and the Renaldo Balkman trade) it's not like the Paul Westhead fun-n-gun at all. It's not just about get-it-and-go and get more shots off than your opponent and hope that leads to more makes. Stephon does play quickly, but more often than not he plays by himself or plays "off" his teammates rather than with them.
Hey, he got pretty damn far playing that way, but I think it's been proven more often than not that you don't win that way in the NBA game that is more and more moving back to being a team game like it was when Clyde, Pearl, Dave, Dollar Bill and The Captain were playing.

There is a great deal of quick thinking that comes with this style. A lot of read-and-react and discipline. This is what D'Antoni has to see come training camp and in time he'll have to make decisions on players not just based on talent, but intelligence. So you shouldn't focus so much on whether or not Q can hit shots, but whether Duhon can find him in the corner at the right time on the drive-and-kick. It's not about Eddy Curry posting up, but can Eddy catch it in the post, pivot and make that weakside pass to an open man? Can Jamal Crawford find catch-and-shoot rhythm coming off curls instead of needing the And-1 hitch to set up his pull-up?

These guys all can chuck-and-duck. No question. But recall the Olympics again...whenever the U.S. got itself into trouble was when it pounded the ball on the floor instead of passing it. The most important thing to keep in mind when you play in this system is movement. Catch it and do something...NOW. If you watched Team USA, there was a lot of that going on.

I'm really looking forward to training camp the most because -- as far as I understand it -- we're going to be allowed to watch practice. I am curious to see the adjustments Mike plans to make to develop his philosophy with the players he has on the roster. I want to see who gets it, who doesn't and who might be surprisingly more effective than we previously have seen (Jared Jeffries comes to mind).

The system is quite basic with basic fundamentals. Where it gets crazy is when the infinite options that can come out of each basic set start to develop. There will be an evolution process throughout the season as guys start to grasp the system. That process should also weed out the guys who simply don't fit.

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A few other observations from the Olympics:

* - A lot of controversy was stirred up about Becky Hammon's decision to play for Mother Russia in the Games after she was not in the mix for the U.S. team. So played because she could and because she wanted to (and I'm sure a few rubles made it even more attractive). Do you really think, however, that deep down the Olympic experience meant something special to her? I don't.

But I wonder why no one seemed as outraged by Chris Kaman, who played for Germany?

* - The way Chris Bosh played has me inking him way up on my grocery list in the Summer of 2010. If you can't get the Big Fish, landing Bosh as your anchor would be a major get. An intense, athletic and smart big like Bosh in the paint is a perfect fit for what D'Antoni likes to do. Bosh isn't a great post-up player, but he does everything else extremely well and he is growing into a leader.

* - Call it sucking up all you want, but I just like the way Mike Breen calls games. He has a genuine enthusiasm for this game and a tremendous amount of "legitimate" knowledge (which means he truly knows the game as opposed to making general observations).

* - I heard that China's original plan to extinguish the Olympic Flame at the closing ceremonies was to have Yao Ming reach up and snuff it with his two fingers.

* - Dwyane Wade professionally gained the most from the Olympic experience because he proved his game is back at an elite level. He, LeBron and Kobe were the three best players. But much of what he did was a result of playing with less pressure because of the talent around him, much like during his NBA championship season with Shaq, et al. Wade is physically back to his old self, but he can't go 82 games throwing himself into traffic like he does, so he'll have to rely on his supporting cast in Miami, which means Michael Beasley will have a big role to play there right from the get. Shawn Marion is playing for a contract, but at the 3 he may prove to be a fish outta water.

* - With London hosting in 2012, Great Britain will have a team in the men's basketball competition (the host city gets an automatic bid). Luol Deng is their best player (Ben Gordon also has British eligibility).

* - God bless the unitard and the Austrailian women's team for wearing it with pride.

* - Thank God, as well, that Marc Gasol didn't wear one. Dude looks like a melted candle.


SOURCE: The Knicks Fix