Forward: Dave D'Alessandro: It's no secret: D'Antoni will do whatever it takes

["Witch Craft" <witchcraft1998@hotmail.com>]

>Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 03:56:56 -0600 (MDT)
>Reply-to: The Sporting News <sports-mail@sportsmail.sportingnews.com>
>From: The Sporting News <sports-mail@sportsmail.sportingnews.com>
>To: "Dave D'Alessandro Mailing List" 
<sportingnews-dalessandro-list-ns@sportsmail.sportingnews.com>
>Subject: Dave D'Alessandro: It's no secret: D'Antoni will do whatever 
it takes
>

<P>By the middle of his first month last season in Denver, Bill Hanzlik 
w=
as moving in circles, or in geometric figures more complex but equally 
di=
rectionless. He played young guys, then old guys -- alternately 
alienatin=
g both groups. He tried his motion game, then scrapped it when the team 
h=
ad trouble scoring 80. He useed defensive schemes that few could fathom, 
=
much less grasp.

<P>It shook out this way: Eleven wins, 71 losses, and a merciful 
dismissa=
l for Hanzlik, a nice guy and eminently capable assistant caught 
literall=
y in a no-win situation under a managerial regime in perpetual 
transition.

<P>Now comes Mike D'Antoni, confronted by overwhelming evidence that 
Denv=
er is the Chernobyl of the NBA, yet arriving with the same what-me-worry 
=
attitude that Hanzlik came in with before he started hearing bloodhounds 
=
in the distance.

<P>D'Antoni will employ a style similar to the one used by his 
predecesso=
r -- with air-it-out speed and wire-to-wire pressure and occasional dual 
=
point guard lineups, yet with drastically different perrsonnel. That 
last=
 point is the most important aspect to all this, of course. Unlike 
Hanzli=
k, whose roster was upended by injury and Allan Bristow's ludicrous 
youth=
 movement, D'Antoni will coach only one way, and with players who know 
it.

<P>"I don't think I'm bullheaded enough to try to implement (a style) 
wit=
h people that can't do it -- the bottom line is to try to get guys that 
c=
an do it," he said.=20

<P>And that style, he says without reluctance or embarrassment, is "like 
=
a Phoenix or Seattle style. Of course, I'd hate to steal all their 
ideas.=
 I have my own ideas. Kind of like a blend. I like the way Phoenix goes 
s=
mall, and I like the way they have different point guards on the floor 
--=
 I like more than one point guard on the floor at the same time. I like 
a=
 lot of the pick-and-rolls that Phoenix does. A lott of simple plays, 
but=
 they spread the floor and push it."

<P>There are a few NBA-quality talents with which to do that. As of 
today=
, the nucleus includes Nick Van Exel, Bryant Stith, rookie Raef 
LaFrentz,=
 and Eric Williams. Drastic improvement is needed from guys like Danny 
Fo=
rtson and Dean Garrett. They'll have to think long and hard about 
re-sign=
ing capable veterans such as LaPhonso Ellis, Johnny Newman and Cory 
Alexa=
nder, or decide to make better plans for their free agent money. And 
they=
'll have to spend wisely once the market opens, preferably for a scorer 
-=
- perhaps someone as prolific as Cedric Ceballos, but not as 
high-mainten=
ance.

<P>"Other than needing a lot of help overall, the two biggest things 
were=
 a playmaker and getting a star player," D'Antoni said. "I think we 
addre=
ssed one of them in Van Exel. A lot of how good we're going to be is 
goin=
g to depend on him. And then, we've still got to make another step to 
try=
 to get a real good player in free agency."

<P>His goals are modest, unless you consider tripling your win total is 
a=
s outrageous as it would be for most teams. But D'Antoni has to think 
thi=
s way. The Nuggets can double their win total, and still nobody would 
not=
ice in this baseball/football-crazed city.=20

<P>On the day he was hired, he said, "If I'm good, I'll be here for a 
whi=
le; If I'm not good, then my next press conference will all be in 
Italian=
." Interesting fellow, this D'Antoni, and we don't say that because of 
ou=
r fondness for apostrophes. He had a nondescript career as an NBA and 
ABA=
 player, thought occasionally of chucking it all to apply to med school, 
=
and finally retired after a foot injury in 1977. That's when the Milan 
te=
am of the Italian league called with an offer.=20

<P>As D'Antoni puts it, "Two years turned into 20." He played for the 
fir=
st 13 -- right until the age of 39 -- and coached for the next seven. As 
=
a player, he was a superstar -- in every sense of the word.. Seattle GM 
W=
ally Walker, who played for Milan with D'Antoni in 1984-85, recalls that 
=
"people would genuflect in front of him." As a coach, he was regarded as 
=
the Pat Riley of Italy -- extending Milan's dynasty, finding more 
success=
 at Benetton Treviso, and encountering few obstacles other than his 
ongoi=
ng debate with players over the drawbacks of drinking wine before a 
game.

<P>Along the way, he developed a reputation for being creative, 
competiti=
ve, and -- when he allows his emotional excesses to get the best of him 
-=
- a sideline show all unto himself.

<P>But when Bristow called him last year and offered him the Denver 
playe=
r personnel position and assistant coaching responsibilities, D'Antoni 
ac=
cepted -- partially because he wanted to raise his son in America, 
partia=
lly because there were no challenges left overseas. He may hhave thought 
=
twice about it after Bristow was removed and when Hanzlik's job security 
=
became grim. But by then, D'Antoni had already made his impact: When Dan 
=
Issel took over operations in March, he was given some unsolicited 
advice=
 from owner Charlie Lyons: "You're really going to be impressed with 
Mike=
," Lyons said.

<P>Now Issel considers D'Antoni the perfect man for the job, and he 
belie=
ves he showed it with a three-year, $2.75-million guarantee. That's not 
e=
nough, of course. Issel has the energy and resources now to transform 
Den=
ver from a laughingstock into something competitive -- a new arena and 
pr=
actice facility are going up, and his cap space is enviable, to say the 
l=
east -- but he's going to need mmore than that over the next few 
years.=20

<P>It will take a commitment of spirit on the part of management for 
D'An=
toni to be a success in an office that has been occupied by five men in 
j=
ust over three years. Most of them were doomed to fail; D'Antoni 
deserves=
 to believe -- as anyone in his position does -- that he won't face the 
f=
iring squad alone.

<P>Issel, whose stature in the city remains high, can help in this 
regard=
. Together, they should succeed, albeit slowly -- perhaps too slowly for 
=
the critics -- and work their way back to respectability before 
D'Antoni'=
s first NBA contract expirees. For the Nuggets, who can no longer go 
back=
wards, that represents progress.

<P><b>INSIDE DISH</b>=20

<P>Deputy commissioner Russ Granik, no stranger to pre-bargaining 
rhetori=
c, is already predicting that there won't be a game played in 1998 
thanks=
 to the lockout. The only recent movement has come with the latest owner 
=
proposal, which includes a three-year phase-out of the Larry Bird 
Excepti=
on rather than its immediate elimination. ... The best basketball being 
p=
layed these days is at the Westside Tennis Club in Houston, where David 
R=
obinson, Nick Van Exel, Tim Duncan, and Nick Anderson are regulars in 
the=
 pickup games, usually organized by John Lucas. ... Nice touch by Lenny 
W=
ilkens at second his Hall of Fame induction last Friday, having Red 
Auerb=
ach do the presentation honors at the ceremony. Wilkens broke Red's 
recor=
d for coaching victories a few years back. ... Bird's choices to present 
=
him were Bill Fitch and Bill Walton. ... Nate McMillan changed sides 
last=
 week, turning in the Sonics uniform he wore for 12 years to join Paul 
We=
stphal's coaching staff. George Karl had asked McMillan to join him in 
Mi=
lwaukee first, but leaving Seattle would have made him feel like a 
traito=
r, McMillan said. ... A former Karl assistant in Seattle, Tim Grgurich, 
i=
s expected to catch on in Portland. ... There's some movement in 
Minneapo=
lis to bring Bill Musselman back -- as the coach of the new WNBA 
franchis=
e. He's currently a Blazers assistant coach. ... Robes Patton, who 
covere=
d the Miami HHeat for 10 years with great class and distinction for the 
F=
ort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, died last week at the age of 39 after an 
18-=
month fight with cancer.



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