Ciao Mike. D'Antoni signs with the Knicks

Mike D'Antoni (Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic) is officially the former coach of the Phoenix Suns after signing a 4-year 24 million deal with the New York Knicks.

I think it was the right decision for him, personally, and for the Suns. It was clear D'Antoni and the Suns front office could not work together anymore.

Thanks Mike, whatever it was four great years (253-136 .650 winning pct.), at least 3 were really great, and we saw the best basketball on the planet.

It's clear Steve Kerr wants someone who can actually coach defense but it's better not to forget the Suns players, more or less, simply can't play defense.

Now it's time to move on. List the candidates for the position, evaluate the situation, prepare for the draft, make some moves.

Grazie Mike e Buona Fortuna!

Go Suns !

D'Antoni won't coach the Suns next season

Clues are now adding up. Solid evidence is growing that Mike D'Antoni will not coach the Suns next season.

Clue no. 1
Suns denied reports of D'Antoni departure. In pro sport it generally means he's already gone.

Clue no. 2
The initial meeting between D'Antoni, Kerr and the Owner couldn't reach a decision. You don't need to postpone a decision another 10 days if you plan to retain the Coach.

Clue no. 3
ESPN.com is reporting D'Antoni will be allowed to talk to other teams with New York and Chicago the most likely destinations.

The Suns need a change. That's step 1.

Go Suns!

Suns out of the Playoffs. D'Antoni out next?

Led by Tony Parker and Tim Duncan the Spurs once again eliminated the Suns from the playoffs. For the third time in the last four years, the Suns' great expectations were shattered by the Spurs.

The season's over for the Suns and plenty of questions will fill the offseason, including the biggets of them all: Should Phoenix rebuild now or give it one more try to Nash and Co. ?

“It seems like every time we get to the playoffs we play the Spurs, and they beat us every time. They’re well-coached…they’ve got solid players…they understand what it takes to win. They were the better team." Stoudemire stated after the game 5 loss.

In case you didn't notice it sounds a lot like STAT's goodbye to Coach D'Antoni (AP Photo/Eric Gay).

The Suns were clearly out coached and out played in the series. The Shaq move, made to beat the Spurs (don't forget that), didn't work. I am not sure whether it was D'Antoni or Kerr who made that deal, but I feel it's time for a change.

Coach D'Antoni will be fired also according to both ESPN and SI.com who recently rumored about insanable differences between D'Antoni and the front office. I think the Owner and the GM Steve Kerr believe the Suns are not going to win with that coaching staff.

We'll have plenty of time to write, discuss and analyse everything from poor drafting to the Shaq trade or the non-use of bench players.

Fire Mike D'Antoni is probably the easy (and partial) answer to a more complicated question about the Suns ability to win an NBA Championship. But we all know easy answers is what an Owner tends to look for.

It's more or less 185 till Opening Day...

Go 2008/09 Suns!

Nash Equilibrium

"In game theory, the Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a game involving two or more players, in which no player has anything to gain by changing only his or her own strategy unilaterally. If each player has chosen a strategy and no player can benefit by changing his or her strategy while the other players keep theirs unchanged, then the current set of strategy choices and the corresponding payoffs constitute a Nash equilibrium". (Nash Equilibrium definition, Wikipedia)

Sounds a lot like the 2007/08 Phoenix Suns ! The Suns begin their quest for the title tonight in Seattle (7.30 PM) riding their usual up-tempo style of play trying to outrun, outshoot, outplay, out-everything each opponent until next June.

There's been a lot of discussion about wheather the Suns' style of play will ever be good enough to win in the playoffs when everything gets tougher, games become slower, the Spurs keep posting up Tim Duncan, Referees - even non gambling ones - are allowing more contacts and so on.

I was even discussing lately the irony of the fact that Mike D'Antoni the player was possibly the opposite of D'Antoni the coach. Mike was a great defender, pass first point guard, then I realized the two sides of Mike have something deep in common: they belong to the most intelligent man in the arena. The player and the coach always played in such a way to give his team the best chance to win: same with the Suns. D'Antoni will not try to impose his theories on players, he will ride their abilities, just like he used to do guiding the great Milan team of the 80's to Italian and European glory.

The 2007/08 version will be the best Suns team of the last 10 years and will play the only way they know: at full speed. It's their DNA, it's the way they have been assembled and success will ultimately rely on the thin equilibrium this team has been built on. The Suns are a perfect machine guided on the field by the best quarterback in the League and on the bench by the best possible coach. This Nash-D'Antoni combination is what this equilibrium is built on and everyone else will follow, trying to adjust, trying to find his role and his place and adapt to the ever changing flow of the game. That's also why basketball intelligence is what could eventually lead the Suns to the NBA title and that's also why Grant Hill is such a great addition.

This will never be Amaré's team nor Marion's (and it has nothing to do with their All Stars basketball skills) because the Suns have been built as a group with one inspiring philosophy: follow Mike D'Antoni and Steve Nash's Beautiful Mind. Will it be good to win it all? not sure but it'll be by far the best show you'll ever witness on a basketball court these days and I just plan to enjoy every minute of it.

Go Suns !

PS Don't forget it's Steve Nash Day on The Bright Side of the Sun. Make sure to check the You Tube highlights, Steve's amazing !!!