Steve Nash lauds Rockets' potential Coach of the Year Mike D'Antoni

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...antoni-houston-rockets-phoenix-suns/99868172/

Steve Nash lauds Rockets' potential Coach of the Year Mike D'Antoni
AJ Neuharth-Keusch , USA TODAY SportsPublished 5:09 p.m. ET March 31, 2017 | Updated 8 minutes ago
TWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
If anybody knows what it's like to play under Mike D'Antoni, it's Steve Nash.

The rapport between the coach-player duo began in Phoenix, where Nash thrived as the floor general for D'Antoni's Suns, utilizing his passing prowess and proficiency from the perimeter to orchestrate one of the most aesthetically pleasing, high-octane offenses in NBA history.

Nash won back-to-back MVPs (2005, '06), D'Antoni was named Coach of the Year (2005), and together, although a championship eluded them, the duo compiled a 232-96 regular-season record over four seasons (2004-08).

Four seasons later, D'Antoni and Nash joined forces again — this time in Los Angeles. D'Antoni inherited a Lakers team that was built to win a championship, but injuries, clashing personalities and personnel not suited for D'Antoni's system led to a brief-but-tumultuous tenure. D'Antoni left Laker Land after two seasons and a 67-87 record. Nash, in his late 30s and plagued by injuries, retired after three. It was a bitter ending to an otherwise legendary coach-player pairing.

Now, Nash is keeping an eye on his former coach, who has done more than just redeem himself after his failed stints with both the Lakers and the New York Knicks (2008-12). Hired by Houston over the summer, D'Antoni has led the 51-24 Rockets to new heights and, as a result, has found himself at the forefront of the Coach of the Year conversation.






"I think Mike D'Antoni changed the way a lot of people in the NBA think," Kerr said earlier this season. "With his teams in Phoenix, '05, starting with that group. That's really when teams started to play smaller and faster."

It's a style of play that has the Rockets — led by MVP candidate James Harden, who's accompanied by knockdown shooters like Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon — in the NBA's upper echelon, competing with the Golden States and San Antonio's of the basketball world.

The Rockets, who are essentially locked in as the No. 3 seed in the West, already have the record for most three-pointers made in a season (at 1,083 and counting). They rank second in the NBA in points per 100 possessions (112.1), just a tad higher than the Suns' 110.9 rating during D'Antoni's four years with Nash.

Just like Nash, Harden is flourishing under D'Antoni, playing the best basketball of his career in an offense he's well-suited for. Not only is he an MVP frontrunner, neck-and-neck in a historic race with Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, but he's averaging 29.3 points, 11.3 assists and eight rebounds — numbers that have only been recorded by Oscar Robertson (1961-62, 1964-65).

"I'm happy for (D'Antoni)," Nash said. "I think he's well deserving (of this success). Hopefully they have a long playoff run and he gets some credit for what he's done for the game."

Follow AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK