Mike D’Antoni has always been known as more of an offensive mind than a defensive one, and he is happy to have fun at his own expense over that much.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, the Houston Rockets head coach was asked about how he will be able to coach while observing social distancing.
“Well, that’s how we guard anyway,” he joked, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Whether it be in Denver, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, or now Houston, D’Antoni’s teams have regularly been among the league’s best in pace and overall offense while usually topping out as average on defense. This season, the Rockets are second in offensive efficiency and 14th in defensive efficiency.
As for the Orlando bubble, new coaching practices may indeed have to be implemented in order to maintain proper distancing. D’Antoni, who falls in the high-risk category at age 69, is also considering other changes to his coaching plan from a more strategy-based standpoint.
