Mike D'Antoni and the Fantasy Factory - an Ode

Maybe in 2004 you got a golden ticket.  A golden ticket would have been any of these names on your fantasy squad:  Steve Nash, Quentin Richardson, Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion, or Amare Stoudemire - The stars of “Seven Seconds or Less (1^st edition).” 

And if those guys were golden tickets, what would that make Mike D’Antoni?  Why, Willy Wonka himself of course.  "Who can make a Lee look like Moses Malone? Who can make a Duhon look like he can hold his own?  D’Antoni.  D’Antoni man can."  (sang to the tune of 'candy man.'  eh? eh?  no? okay....)

The reason I am writing this post today is because around this time 5 years ago, it became apparent that something special was brewing in Phoenix.

It began with Amare.  After an 8-2 start to the season, Amare was clearly showing he was making “the leap.” He averaged 28.7 ppg in those first 10 games on 58% shooting.  Early Amare was a good scorer but still very raw.  The 2004 edition of Amare was making free throws, fall-aways, and dunking on everyone.

Then we started seeing Nash drop ridiculous assist numbers.   Nash, at the time, was 30 years old and an eight year veteran.  He had a career average of 5.9 assists per season.  Then, all of a sudden, in November of 2004:  17 assists vs. the Cavs, 18 assists vs. his former Dallas teammates, another 18 assists a few days later vs. the Clips.  Unreal.  He went on to average 11.5 assists per game that season.  Um…only about 5.5 assists more than his 8 year career average. If Nash played baseball you'd be screaming “Steeeeerrrrooiiidddsss” – only, basketball players don’t do steroids...(gulp)

Then Quentin Richardson.  The eye-opener was 8 three pointers in a 37 point effort vs. Portland in early December.  I remember what surprised me even more than that game was the 13 threes he shot against the Lakers 3 nights later en route to a horrific 6-19 performance.  I remember thinking, “wow this guy is going to jack up 800 3-pointers this year and Mike D’Antoni is totally encouraging it.”  Q-Rich wasn’t that good of a 3 point shooter (he shot 35%), and he still averaged 2.9 threes made per game, finishing the year with 226 (tied with Ashton Kutcher for the league lead).

But you know who was a very good three point shooter?  Joe Johnson.  Just like Amare, Joey J was an up-and-comer in 2004.  The year before he had averaged a solid 16.7 points and a trey per game.  However, 2004 Johnson was confident and it showed.  He contributed in the big three categories (points, rebounds, assists) averaging 17.1 points, 5.2 Rebs (great for a shooting guard), and 3.6 assists. More importantly, he knocked in 2.2 treys per game at a 47% clip.  Only a few guys do this well (today: Jason Terry, Jason Richardson).  But for the most part, your three point shooters drag down your shooting percentages and don't contribute in other areas.  Joe Johnson scored in bunches, rebounded well, and dished out assists while shooting 46% from the floor. That is solid.

 

So by December, we had 1) a definite assists leader candidate, 2) a scoring machine with incredible FG percentages who made opposing centers shit themselves, 3) a clear favorite for 3 pointers made and all-time single season attempts leader, and 4) an all around contributor who was an efficient three point specialist and could score 17 a game. 

And I haven’t even gotten to the guy who ranked number 1 in fantasy that year: Mr. Matrix Marion. One of my longtime fantasy covets, Marion was(and still is) a silent contributor in every single category.  Shall we?

2004-2005:

FG      FT        3ptm   Ppg     Reb.   Ast.   Stl.    Blk    TO

47.6% 83.3%   1.4     19.4    11.3    1.9    2.0   1.5    1.5

The numbers don't really jump out at you...if you're blind.  How many players in the past five years have finished a season with an average of 10 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, and a three per game?  One: Matrix. He did it twice. No one else is even close. I’d take 2004 Marion over Lebron James or Chris Paul now.  No question.

Some may argue that 2005-2006 Phoenix was as good if not better. Marion had another stellar year.  Nash saw a spike in points and a few more games played.  Diaw was superb.  And if you were like me and drafted Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa hoping they would become the next Johnson/Richardson, you were pleasantly surprised.  But in '05-'06 the roster was deeper which is good for real life but bad for fantasy.  There were the Eddie House's, the Tim Thomas' and the James Jones' who were stealing minutes and stats from the main fantasy contributors.
The '04 starting five did everything for that team because the roster was thin (so there were plenty of stats to share) and they were all healthy for the most part: Joe Johnson (82 games), Shawn Marion (81 games), Amare Stoudemire (80 games), Quentin Richardson (79 games) and Steve Nash (75).  Also, fantasy stats aside, Amare, Joey J, and Q-Rich were really something else with the way they jacked up shots and poured in points.  Diaw, Bell, and Barbosa could go stretches where they looked like Leonardo DiCaprio playing basketball on heroin.

By 2005, Amare was nursing a knee, Joe Johnson was an All-Star in Atlanta, and Q-Rich was beginning his new career as a bouncer for the traveling NY Jerry Springer Knickerbocker show. It was the end of an era (sorta). We continue to follow Willy Wonka to the Fantasy Factory but we only got one year with the original five.

When they were together they were the greatest Fantasy Factory of all time.