Next Kings coach : list

eeeek, no thanks to Fratello.

Messina is interesting, though I dont know anything about him besides his Wikipedia page .. Im hopeing he is a defensive minded coach.


Im still on board for Tom Thibodeau because I know who he is and Ive been able to watch him on the sidelines for the Celtics for a few years. He has been given almost total credit for how that team plays defense ( Im talking coaches here, obviously they have good defensive players ) .. You often see him in the middle of timeout huddles talking to the players about defensive stuff while Doc sits and listens .. KG, Allen, and Pierce also give him tons of credit for the celtics recent success... I think it could be a good change of culture if we were to bring him in.
 
MassachusettsKingsFan said:
eeeek, no thanks to Fratello.

Messina is interesting, though I dont know anything about him besides his Wikipedia page .. Im hopeing he is a defensive minded coach.
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He is all about defense. So, I would not worry about that part at all. :)

However, let's be honest - our chances to get him are not that good (assuming the Kings want him). He is not just a desperate guy. He works with the best squad in Euroleague, he's paid better than most NBA coaches and he's a living legend in European basketball. He should really wanna try NBA waters and like our young guys to come to Sacramento. What I am saying is that it is not like we can give him a chance ... we'll have to persuade him to sign with us.
 
Messina is one of the best coaches on the world, probably the best in Europe and better than at least 20 NBA coaches.
First of all, he's a winner.
He's a great motivating coach and defensive minded. On offense he likes to see his team takes good shots with each player in the right position on the floor, to keep down turnovers... I think his offensive game is similar to Spurs offense.
One time he said something like "If you have discipline but no talent, you suck. If you have talent but no discipline, you make people angry. In both cases you don't win". This quote explain what he claims from his players.
 
It's too risky bringing over a coach who doesn't have first hand experience in the NBA game. Also, we should wait until after the draft to make a decision on a coach.
 
KevinSalvadori said:
I find this wildly intriguing. Think of this- An interview with Ettore could have Petrie written all over it, and the compromise might be bringing in one of the "Maloof Family Men" (Tark, Don Nelson- depending on contract status, Whis, Del Harris, or some other variation) as a member of the bench staff. Along with Carrill, Burridge, and a couple others (I'd love Corliss or BJAX to have a bench role, and maybe even Blatt if he's down), I could live with that. Seems like a happy medium to me, but we all know reality and interpolitiking is much, much different....
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Didn't I read on here that Petrie is heading out to Europe today or tomorrow?.. Any chance its to talk with this guy?
 
KevinSalvadori said:
I find this wildly intriguing. Think of this- An interview with Ettore could have Petrie written all over it, and the compromise might be bringing in one of the "Maloof Family Men" (Tark, Don Nelson- depending on contract status, Whis, Del Harris, or some other variation) as a member of the bench staff. Along with Carrill, Burridge, and a couple others (I'd love Corliss or BJAX to have a bench role, and maybe even Blatt if he's down), I could live with that. Seems like a happy medium to me, but we all know reality and interpolitiking is much, much different....
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You know, Corliss as an assistant coach never crossed my mind, but I love the idea of it.

Coach Big Nasty.
 
Merdiesel said:
Didn't I read on here that Petrie is heading out to Europe today or tomorrow?.. Any chance its to talk with this guy?
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Every year Petrie goes to Europe to see final games of Euroleague and visit some other places.

I am sure our GM knows Messina personally and he's had many conversations with him. So, I would not make such a big dealof it. Plus, it is really hard to talk about it right now - the most nervous time for European coaches. However, he might send him a signal that we are interested in him too.

I hope Petrie will have a talk with Israeli David Blatt too (my favorite). May be he is not that famous for North Americans but he is very good coach, was born near Boston, native English speaker, young, establishes great contact with players, went to Princeton, was coached by our Yoda, loves teaching players, can win with weaker teams, just a funny and nice guy. You sign him, you get a privileged access to young talents in Europe, especially in Russia. Kirilenko will come to Sacto to play for peanuts if we want him.
 
PurpleHaze said:
I really like your well defended line of reasoning and agree about 99.5%.
I think we need to rule out a few head coach candidates however.

My NO WAY list includes and I'll start with a minor joke prospect:

P.J. Carlesimo - what a piece of work
Eddie Jordan - has never proved anything with numerous chances
Avery Johnson - it's the squeaky voice, no it's the attitude
Sam Mitchell - i posted elsewhere here on why he's an empty suit loser
Mike Fratello - players hate the guy and that's why he never coaches
Del Harris - nice man, great former head coach, almost Coachie's age
Bernie Bickerstaff - ho hum
Jeff Ruland - why is he better or worse than Bill Lambeer?
Jeff Van Gundy - the one here i'd consider if he agrees to a lobotomy
John Whisenant - if it happens, well it happens to the adulation of 10,412
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Bickerstaff is an outstanding coach. His young Charlotte team played hard and smart. We should be so lucky as to get him. If he still wants to coach, I'd grab him a heartbeat.
 
Never understood the fascination with Bernie -- he has lost wherever he has gone. He can hold the hands of your young team, but do people realize that he started coaching in 1985 and has NEVER won more than 46 games in his entire career? He last won a playoff game in 1988. If you wanted to hire him for 2 years or something as a babysitter to prepare the kids for the future, then I guess. But he has never remotely proven he knows how to win in any sort of significant way.
 
No perfect candidate

Hey all, this is my first post (although I've read on Kingsfans for years).

I don't think there are any coaching candidates out there that would be no-brainers to hire. All the candidates mentioned on this thread will probably be considered to some degree at some point, but I think all of them would be a lot like the two coaches we just fired this year- good guys with decent credentials who really won't make the difference of taking the team to the next level.

I think the team's real need right now is a coach who can foster player development (and hire assistants who can do the same). In some ways, Theus or Natt may have been just as good as anyone else in that regard, so Natt's firing is a bit pointless, but I guess you do have to fire any coach who finishes with the worst record in the NBA, regardless of whether you can get a better coach or not the next season.

I'd prefer a veteran coach, who has seen lots of players develop and has been through a building process before... kind of like what we got when we hired Adelman. Too bad he isn't available. I've heard he doesn't know how to coach defense though, right? :rolleyes:
 
Dustinlikestodance said:
a big HELL NO to Fratello. He stunted Conley's growth big time while he was there.

I'm in favor of: Messina, Blatt, Laimbeer
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There is zero chance--ZERO--that Fratello will coach this team. No matter what his "defensive touch" the reputation that he is toxic to young teams with a penchant to score makes him the anti-hire.

Pencil him in as an interview for the Clippers, however, should they opt to make a change.
 
Solano25 said:
Hey all, this is my first post (although I've read on Kingsfans for years).

I don't think there are any coaching candidates out there that would be no-brainers to hire. All the candidates mentioned on this thread will probably be considered to some degree at some point, but I think all of them would be a lot like the two coaches we just fired this year- good guys with decent credentials who really won't make the difference of taking the team to the next level.

I think the team's real need right now is a coach who can foster player development (and hire assistants who can do the same). In some ways, Theus or Natt may have been just as good as anyone else in that regard, so Natt's firing is a bit pointless, but I guess you do have to fire any coach who finishes with the worst record in the NBA, regardless of whether you can get a better coach or not the next season.

I'd prefer a veteran coach, who has seen lots of players develop and has been through a building process before... kind of like what we got when we hired Adelman. Too bad he isn't available. I've heard he doesn't know how to coach defense though, right? :rolleyes:
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Welcome. We're always glad to have a lurker take the plunge and make their first post.

:)

I agree with most of your post but I do think firing Natt was necessary to make way for a legitimate head coach.

I also firmly believe this will be the first coaching decision actually made by Geoff Petrie. Adelman's departure had the Maloof's fingerprints all over it, as did the hirings of Musselman and Theus. The firing of Theus was, I believe, at least partially because he had shown one too many times his need/desire to air his grievances through the Sacramento Bee. The hiring of Kenny Natt was so obviously just because we needed to have someone to get the team through the season.

I agree there aren't necessarily any no-brainers out there but I also think Petrie, if allowed to do his job, will find the coach best suited to meet his vision of the Kings. And I'll be fine with that.
 
Lurking no longer

I think Petrie has a great feel for potential players and coaches and situations in general and I agree that he will find the best available coach out there, but I don't think that will be much of an improvement, given who is available.

Natt could probably be a good coach given better talent and stability and Theus could be a very good coach if he just learned to communicate directly to players instead of what he did with Martin, etc. But those are just things that coaches learn after they get some experience. Adelman spoiled us that way and we thought every coach should just know how to keep open channels with his players. I think Natt could have grown with the team (right now we just all groan with the team, right?:D) and become a solid coach. He has the right temperment and background, just needed to grow into the head coaching position.
 
Interesting comments by Petrie on Sportsline this afternoon following Natt's firing. He said in response to Q that next Kings coach will need to have "NBA coaching experience" among other "qualifications" (that escape me at the moment). That would seem to completely rule out the couple of most often mentioned European head coaches thought to be possibilities. The short interview is at KHTK.com website.
 
PurpleHaze said:
Interesting comments by Petrie on Sportsline this afternoon following Natt's firing. He said in response to Q that next Kings coach will need to have "NBA coaching experience" among other "qualifications" (that escape me at the moment). That would seem to completely rule out the couple of most often mentioned European head coaches thought to be possibilities. The short interview is at KHTK.com website.
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Well its settled then. Eddie Jordan it is :(
 
Čarolija said:
Well its settled then. Eddie Jordan it is :(
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That of guys have NBA coaching expereince Carolija. ;)

It would rule our Ettore and Whisenant, but the rest of the list would still be in play (do have a feeling you might be right about Jordan, but this comment by Petrie doesn't particularly point an arrow at him).
 
For me, sounds like Byron Scott, Eddie Jordan, Maurice Cheeks, Jeff Ruland, and Mike Budenholzer, with (IMO) George Karl, Ettore Messina, and David Blatt as longshots. That's a solid list.
 
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KevinSalvadori said:
For me, sounds like Byron Scott, Eddie Jordan, Maurice Cheeks, Jeff Ruland, and Mike Budenholzer, with (IMO) George Karl, Ettore Messina, and David Blatt as longshots. That's a solid list.
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Not to spotlight my ignorance, but why is Mo Cheeks not getting more discussion? He seems like he would be a good personality fit, and definitely fits the bill outlined by Petrie of someone who has significant NBA experience.
 
Bricklayer said:
Never understood the fascination with Bernie -- he has lost wherever he has gone. He can hold the hands of your young team, but do people realize that he started coaching in 1985 and has NEVER won more than 46 games in his entire career? He last won a playoff game in 1988. If you wanted to hire him for 2 years or something as a babysitter to prepare the kids for the future, then I guess. But he has never remotely proven he knows how to win in any sort of significant way.
Click to expand...

As you know, talent is at least 80% of the equation of winning, with coaching 20%, if that. The youth and the lack of talent precluded winning at Charlotte, but I was very impressed by the work ethic, cohesion, and smarts of that team. Pat Riley was an excellent coach; but after he lost his talent he was a lousy coach. The winning percentage argument doesn't make it for me unless you can show that the team had very high talent, were of a mature age, and still the coach underperformed. Bernie certaintly wouldn't be the long-term answer because of his age, but if you could get him for 3-4 years it could be great.
 
I was just listening to Petrie on KHTK 1140 and they asked him about looking for a new coach and he said that they are looking for a coach with past NBA coaching experience and success as a NBA coach. So that should narrow it down.
 
KevinSalvadori said:
For me, sounds like Byron Scott, Eddie Jordan, Maurice Cheeks, Jeff Ruland, and Mike Budenholzer, with (IMO) George Karl, Ettore Messina, and David Blatt as longshots. That's a solid list.
Click to expand...

I still don't see anyone on that list that would really fit what this team needs. Mo' Cheeks has never won a playoff series as a head coach. Byron Scott and George Karl are both still working. We could wait until if/when they get fired, but do we really want to hire a coach that just got fired? Eddie Jordan has won one playoff series, but never had more than 45 wins in a season. The others have never been NBA head coaches. When Geoff Petrie says we need someone with some degree of success as an NBA head coach, I think he means a little more than this.
 
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