5 biggest surprises of the 2016-17 NBA season
By John Buhler
2. Mike D’Antoni’s Seven Seconds or Less is a success with Houston Rockets
Of the 10 head coaching changes this past offseason, the one that faced the most ridicule was the Houston Rockets’ decision to hire offensive guru Mike D’Antoni. Houston didn’t play any defense in 2015-16, causing the Rockets to stumble to a .500 41-41 record and an immediate playoff exodus at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.
D’Antoni is the architect of the small ball movement in the NBA. His Steve Nash Phoenix Suns teams were considered to be the pioneers for the pace-and-space era of the NBA. There were a lot of 3-pointers to be made in the Valley of the Sun and not a lot of defensive prowess emanating from the Arizona desert.
Houston general manager Daryl Morey went all-in on D’Antoni being his guy for the foreseeable future. D’Antoni had great success with the Suns, but his tenures with the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers left a lot to be desired. People thought Houston’s defense would be historically bad with D’Antoni running the show in the Space City.
Instead, Houston has become an absolute buzzsaw from distance and shooting guard James Harden has never played better. He could very well be the 2016-17 NBA MVP. His game has taken a quantum leap forward. Frankly, Harden may be better suited to run D’Antoni’s Seven Seconds or Less offense than Nash ever was. He won two MVPs as the Suns’ star point guard.
The Rockets zagged when everybody else zigged. D’Antoni finally parted ways with the Pringles-y mustache of his because it’s business time. The Rockets are good enough to be a dark horse to reach the NBA Finals this season. Houston felt like a playoff team after D’Antoni’s arrival, but being on the precipice of a second conference finals appearance in two years was a bit of a stretch. Now that is certainly within the realm of possibility in this astral plane we’re living in, Dr. Bird.