Steve Nash believes that Mike D’Antoni can evolve with the Lakers – NBA Update
Despite all the hue and cry by the fans and former greats, it remains a fact that the Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni over the legendary Phil Jackson primarily due to the fact that they believed the former New York Knicks coach has an offensive system more suited to the current star studded roster.
With Steve Nash in the team, there is definitely some metal in their point of view. The only problem is that Mike’s system has always worked well with young and athletic teams willing to run and gun – if there are any doubts refer to the seven seconds or less teams that D’Antoni ran back when he was the coach of the desert city franchise.
At Los Angeles though, he has a team which is about the most oldest in NBA. It has Kobe Bryant, Nash, Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace and Dwight Howard as the starters and with the exception of Howard; none of them have the legs to sustain D’Antoni’s offence for longer periods of time.
This means that D’Antoni will have to make certain tweaks, while maintaining his up tempo style all the while. There are many who doubt that D’Antoni is assertive enough to do that, but Nash, his former franchise player at Phoenix, believes that Mike has got what it takes to run the show at Hollywood.
“Yeah, I think he’ll adapt. I think that’s one of Mike’s strengths, is that he’s a thinker and that he’s willing to adapt.” Said Nash while talking to Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated.
“He’s great in-game, and I think he’s also great going back and looking over a game, looking over a month and saying, ‘Look, I think this will help our team,’ and shifting toward something that suits the parts. That’s just one of the things that I think he’s terrific at and a strength of his. You know, I’m sure he’ll adjust to the group. I’m sure there will be a lot of familiarity with the old Mike teams, but at the same time we’ll adjust somewhere to the natural place where this team is going to succeed.”
Nash will certainly be the man, pivotal in making D’Antoni’s transition a smooth one, but whether the coach succeeds to manage all the superstars, and their ball time, remains to be seen.
D’Antoni is not the popular choice, that is quite certain and any slip up under him will be scrutinized fiercely.
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