Dime Dropper
All-Star
Not a big fan of Shaw after Denver. He might still turn out to be a good coach, but he's already failed once, I'd prefer to take a chance on an assistant than go with him.
Not a big fan of Shaw after Denver. He might still turn out to be a good coach, but he's already failed once, I'd prefer to take a chance on an assistant than go with him.
Thibs is out. Just signed with T-Wolves. Full control.
JVG or Walton.. Please Vlade, get it done.
McHale, Walton and Udoka are three guys that really intrigue me.
I don't see any evidence that the league is trending that way. I see the Warriors as a historically great team, poised to win their second straight title that way and if I squint I can see the Trailblazers sort of doing something similar except that really they just have two scoring guards starting in the backcourt.
The Spurs are the 2nd seed with the highest win total ever and they don't play that way. Neither do the Hawks who use a very similar system. Or the Raptors who are much closer to the Spurs & Hawks than the Warriors. The other playoff teams don't fit that mold either. Not Dallas or Memphis or the Clippers. OKC's two stars are perimeter oriented but they don't play like the Warriors. Few guys ever handle the ball besides Westbrook & Durant and they don't play an unselfish, passing style. In fact I see a lot of bad shots from their role players as if they feel they need to shoot because they don't know when they'll touch the ball again. The Rockets are an ISO based team that revolves around one player and starts Dwight Howard. The Jazz almost made the playoffs with an school defensive anchor in Gobert. And so on for teams in the East.
And the irony is that the Kings DID try to play a fast paced (and often small ball), perimeter oriented offense and were awful this year.
I think there's a near zero chance JVG comes here. I think he either takes the Rockets job or stays in the broadcast booth.
Why udoka and Walton? Not directed only at you but others who want them. Why choose udoka over ettore Messina if you are going after a Spurs assistant? Though not NBA head coaching experience, Messina does have head coaching experience and did well. Also as I've brought up before, I'm not on the Luke Walton because I don't know how much of it was him vs his team already built to win. I knew of Walton as an assistant coach but never heard highly of him as an up and coming one and surprised when he took over for Kerr. But let's say gentry never left and kept the lead assistant role and took over for Kerr. I'm fairly sure he would have done the same or close to what Walton did. Would we be all over Walton or would gentry be at the top of everyone's list?these are the names that intrigue me, as well. JVG would be first on my list after thibodeau, but i think he'd much rather remain in broadcasting than come to sacramento, and thibs was always a going to be a longshot. so mchale is the name with experience that i'm most attracted to because of his potential fit with boogie, and udoka/walton are the up-and-comers who are as close to a "sure thing" as you're likely to find with a first-time head coach. both were roleplayers/effort guys during their playing days, both have a very high basketball IQ, both have been mentored by great nba minds, both have been paying their dues as assistants (as opposed to making the jump straight into head coaching a la jason kidd and derek fisher), and both are highly regarded around the league. i suppose i could roll with a guy like nate mcmillan, and i could also roll the dice on a name like david blatt, but right now, mchale/udoka/walton are my top-three...
What's so great about the Houston Rockets? Our roster has way more talent then them...
Say what you want about DeMarcus Cousins, at least he plays hard on both ends of the court.
What's so great about the Houston Rockets? Our roster has way more talent then them...
Say what you want about DeMarcus Cousins, at least he plays hard on both ends of the court.
agreed.
further to this, this season i saw the wiz move backwards trying to 'embrace' the fallacy which is what is seen as the future of the nba - this warriors style of play.
The Wiz tried to reconfigure the way they play to; leverage their backcourt duo, push the tempo and emphasize the long ball. They have done this to the detriment of their defense and unsurprisingly have had a very average season.
They have all the pieces to be a successful inside/out team - real strength in the middle with gortat and nene, great wings in ariza and portor and a good guard rotation of wall, beal, temple - but they are too enamored with trying to push the tempo and ball. Their move from big line up to small has got them killed on the glass and has been a complete misadventure. If anything they are the kings of the east, it all there but not leveraging it appropriately.
Why udoka and Walton? Not directed only at you but others who want them. Why choose udoka over ettore Messina if you are going after a Spurs assistant? Though not NBA head coaching experience, Messina does have head coaching experience and did well. Also as I've brought up before, I'm not on the Luke Walton because I don't know how much of it was him vs his team already built to win. I knew of Walton as an assistant coach but never heard highly of him as an up and coming one and surprised when he took over for Kerr. But let's say gentry never left and kept the lead assistant role and took over for Kerr. I'm fairly sure he would have done the same or close to what Walton did. Would we be all over Walton or would gentry be at the top of everyone's list?
Why udoka and Walton? Not directed only at you but others who want them. Why choose udoka over ettore Messina if you are going after a Spurs assistant? Though not NBA head coaching experience, Messina does have head coaching experience and did well. Also as I've brought up before, I'm not on the Luke Walton because I don't know how much of it was him vs his team already built to win. I knew of Walton as an assistant coach but never heard highly of him as an up and coming one and surprised when he took over for Kerr. But let's say gentry never left and kept the lead assistant role and took over for Kerr. I'm fairly sure he would have done the same or close to what Walton did. Would we be all over Walton or would gentry be at the top of everyone's list?
You sure about that?
Why udoka and Walton? Not directed only at you but others who want them. Why choose udoka over ettore Messina if you are going after a Spurs assistant? Though not NBA head coaching experience, Messina does have head coaching experience and did well. Also as I've brought up before, I'm not on the Luke Walton because I don't know how much of it was him vs his team already built to win. I knew of Walton as an assistant coach but never heard highly of him as an up and coming one and surprised when he took over for Kerr. But let's say gentry never left and kept the lead assistant role and took over for Kerr. I'm fairly sure he would have done the same or close to what Walton did. Would we be all over Walton or would gentry be at the top of everyone's list?
You sure about that?
One name that might pop out of nowhere might be Zeljko Obradovic. He is a Serbian coach that Vlade knows very well and he is as highly rated in Europe as Messina or Blatt have been. He has won everywhere he has gone (mind you he has had very good teams everywhere he has coached).
Having said that, personal opinion is that I don't think he would be a great fit in terms of his approach. He is very hands on, dictatorial type of coach and given that he has no NBA exposure that might just pee a few players off.
I tend to agree and personally I would not do it. Vlade played for him with the National Team and has a very good knowledge of his coaching ability. Like I said, it's a long shot but wouldn't be surprised if his Obradovic's name popped up somewhere in these rumours.At this point, I think it's too big a risk to take. No NBA experience is a big red flag IMHO. I honestly don't see Vlade going that far out of the box.
I would prefer Kevin McHale, a guy who played hockey goalie in Hibbing until he got too tall. As you can tell much of my reasoning behind liking him is not only because he is a Hall of Famer who is probably a decent coach but because he is from my home state and my alma mater in college. I don't think he will be a slam dunk success but will be more than adequate. I would be quite content with Walton. If he is a smoothed out version of his dad, he is very bright academically and also as to the NBA. His brief stretch as a temp head coach with the Warriors was quite satisfactory. Walton may have a high ceiling if we cam steal a term from the jargon we use when discussing draft picks.Says on realgm we will be interviewing Luke Walton who has shown both as a player and coach he's extremely bright, I would rather new blood like Luke over all the guys that have been fired (aside from JVG) in the last 5-10 years.
Not sold on Walton...but not against him either. He'll bring some serious (recent) street cred to the locker room, and may quiet some of the media criticism of the organization (for a little while)--I also think "coaching trees" are important, and he comes from a really good one. I'm still in the McHale camp, however.
I'm not sold on Kevin McHale. He's a no-nonsense kind of guy and I like him as a commentator but he drove Kyle Lowry out of Houston leaving a massive hole in their lineup (and he's become one of the best PGs in the league since). Then they had to trade Omer Asik because McHale couldn't make it work with Dwight Howard and Omer Asik on the floor together. He represents a compromise between Vivek's obsession with Pace and Vlade's more traditional roster construction choices, but if it were up to me I'd go full anti-Warriors with the slowest pace in the league and just suffocate the other team with overwhelming size on the inside and constant defensive pressure. That's Woodson or Nate McMillan