[sitlbitoParticipant]

 The NBA seems to be in a transition phase,the teams going to the Finals have not won a title for a long time or not at all,even the conference finalists weren’t team on a dynasty.New stars are emerging as well like Curry and Harden,but I’ll leave that for another post. I just wanted to focus on the new coaches,because now with the firing of Thibodeau,only 7 current coaches were already c oaching in 2012-2013(in the team they coach now,because Doc Rivers for example switched teams,)

 Many of these new coaches are 1st time head coaches,and it can go from long time assistant(Joerger,Brown,Budenholzer,Brian Shaw,Quin Snyder,Clifford),to former college coach(Brad Stevens,now Donovan and maybe Hoiberg),to former good to great player(Fisher,Jason Kidd),former TV analyst(Kerr),former overseas coach(Blatt).

 Is this just a coincidence,or is it that the NBA is changing so fast(pace and space,pt shooting),that former coaches aren’t cool anymore? I say that because we just saw two hirings going against this trend,Gentry and Skiles,and some coaches who actually coached before not only don’t have success but are being criticized for clearly not understanding the current game(Byron Scott and to a lesser degree Flip Saunders).

Am I thinking too far into this,or is there really a new trend in the NBA?

  

 

 

 

 

[220Participant]

 Steve Kerr is more than just a formal TV analyst. Kerr is also a solid former player and also a former GM. 

[220Participant]

 Steve Kerr is more than just a formal TV analyst. Kerr is also a solid former player and also a former GM. 

[TripleDoubleScoutParticipant]

An even better question would be that as the league becomes more profitable, will these new coaches get a shorter leash when it comes to winning? Or will the NBA become more like the NFL, where a coach only has 18 months to win, or they are placed on the “hot seat”. I would hope that teams would follow the lead of San Antonio, Boston, and to a lesser degree Los Angeles and demonstrate patience with a team’s trajectory after putting a coach in place. Ironically, this year’s finals would seem to disprove my point lol. But a deeper look would reveal that Blatt was on his way to the lottery before landing LBJ but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good coach and wouldn’t have been successful in the next few years. Kerr is a solid coach, but he had experience as a lead executive, an analyst and a championship player before inheriting the greatest shooter in NBA history as a coach. He also was smart enough to use his reputation to hire the best coaching staff available at the time. His “first-year” label should always come with either quotation marks or a huge asterisk next to it. To me San Antonio and Boston are the gold standard when it comes to handling coaches/franchises. BTW, I really hope Michael Jordan is reading this (lol) because I think Clifford is fantastic and could become a top 10 coach but needs more seasoning and of course a roster with all-star talent outside of MKG.

[TripleDoubleScoutParticipant]

An even better question would be that as the league becomes more profitable, will these new coaches get a shorter leash when it comes to winning? Or will the NBA become more like the NFL, where a coach only has 18 months to win, or they are placed on the “hot seat”. I would hope that teams would follow the lead of San Antonio, Boston, and to a lesser degree Los Angeles and demonstrate patience with a team’s trajectory after putting a coach in place. Ironically, this year’s finals would seem to disprove my point lol. But a deeper look would reveal that Blatt was on his way to the lottery before landing LBJ but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good coach and wouldn’t have been successful in the next few years. Kerr is a solid coach, but he had experience as a lead executive, an analyst and a championship player before inheriting the greatest shooter in NBA history as a coach. He also was smart enough to use his reputation to hire the best coaching staff available at the time. His “first-year” label should always come with either quotation marks or a huge asterisk next to it. To me San Antonio and Boston are the gold standard when it comes to handling coaches/franchises. BTW, I really hope Michael Jordan is reading this (lol) because I think Clifford is fantastic and could become a top 10 coach but needs more seasoning and of course a roster with all-star talent outside of MKG.

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 I think there is a new trend, because the game has changed so much. There’s a lot more spacing, it’s faster. Also it depends on the team too. Some teams stick to old times and are stubborn in that way (The Lakers are a great example of this.) This is why Scott gets criticized for not understanding how the game is played nowadays. But he is criticized by default of coaching the Lakers. He’s just doing what management wants him to do, and relying on what he believes works based on his experience. That’s what anybody would do, so there really isn’t any cause to criticize him. But regardless it is part of the job.

As for Saunders, you have to give him credit; he didn’t want to coach the Wolves in the first place. He wanted to chose who the coach would be and then go about the rest of his job. He only decided to coach after the coaching candidates didn’t really amount to what he was looking for. I think he is still actively looking for the right coach and when one comes along he will hire that person, but in the mean time he’ll be the coach. Again, criticizing is part of the job, and you have to deal with it, otherwise you will be on your way out. You can’t succumb to it, because you have to do what’s best for the team and what management wants. Also you shouldn’t do something just because someone else tells you to, especially if you don’t have any experience doing it in the first place.

Also a correction to the OP. Brian Shaw is not a coach anymore. Melvin Hunt is the interim head coach of the Nuggets, but it looks like that interim tag will be removed and and head coach will come in its place. 

 

 

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 I think there is a new trend, because the game has changed so much. There’s a lot more spacing, it’s faster. Also it depends on the team too. Some teams stick to old times and are stubborn in that way (The Lakers are a great example of this.) This is why Scott gets criticized for not understanding how the game is played nowadays. But he is criticized by default of coaching the Lakers. He’s just doing what management wants him to do, and relying on what he believes works based on his experience. That’s what anybody would do, so there really isn’t any cause to criticize him. But regardless it is part of the job.

As for Saunders, you have to give him credit; he didn’t want to coach the Wolves in the first place. He wanted to chose who the coach would be and then go about the rest of his job. He only decided to coach after the coaching candidates didn’t really amount to what he was looking for. I think he is still actively looking for the right coach and when one comes along he will hire that person, but in the mean time he’ll be the coach. Again, criticizing is part of the job, and you have to deal with it, otherwise you will be on your way out. You can’t succumb to it, because you have to do what’s best for the team and what management wants. Also you shouldn’t do something just because someone else tells you to, especially if you don’t have any experience doing it in the first place.

Also a correction to the OP. Brian Shaw is not a coach anymore. Melvin Hunt is the interim head coach of the Nuggets, but it looks like that interim tag will be removed and and head coach will come in its place. 

 

 

[FrozetoesParticipant]

 Flip was on the radio and said that he thinks Thibs will hold out till he finds a team that’s more ready to compete for a title.  He was open about the Wolves being at least a year away from the playoffs.  He talked about the coaches he reached out to last year (Izzo, Donavan, and Hoiberg), before he decided to coach until he could get the guy he wants.  It makes you wonder if Thibs has become George Karl, where teams shy away from you.  I say suck it up and do what Sactown did, go after a guy who can help you win right now, all he can say is "no".  Of course, if half your team can’t stay healthy (like last year) you will keep losing, no matter who your coach is.  I’m not sure if NBA fans realize that the Wolves were literally pulling guys off the street, just suit up enough players to play games last year, Ouch!

[FrozetoesParticipant]

 Flip was on the radio and said that he thinks Thibs will hold out till he finds a team that’s more ready to compete for a title.  He was open about the Wolves being at least a year away from the playoffs.  He talked about the coaches he reached out to last year (Izzo, Donavan, and Hoiberg), before he decided to coach until he could get the guy he wants.  It makes you wonder if Thibs has become George Karl, where teams shy away from you.  I say suck it up and do what Sactown did, go after a guy who can help you win right now, all he can say is "no".  Of course, if half your team can’t stay healthy (like last year) you will keep losing, no matter who your coach is.  I’m not sure if NBA fans realize that the Wolves were literally pulling guys off the street, just suit up enough players to play games last year, Ouch!

[HitsterParticipant]

 Thibs has a very nice pay off to keep him ticking over and may not want to jump to another head job straight away. He may want some time away and then see what comes up and consider his options from there.

If Flip does want to moveback upstairs then he has a hugely talented cast to entice a top coach. An issue could be would the new guy be wary that he has replaced Flip who would be his boss and couldpossibly be tempted to be hands on. Often when a top coach moves upstairs an assistant will replace them like Miami with Spol and Riley, if a new coach comes in from elsewhere they may not feel the team has their identity.

With the T-Wolves if Flip did take on a full time front office role then he’d need a coach who would buy into his vision and be on the same page ashim.

The Celtics did this when Doc moved on, Danny Ainge got one of the brightest young college coaches in Brad Stevens in and outlined how he wanted to rebuild the Celtics.

Appointing a coach to a rebuilding team is perhaps easier than for a competing team where a coaching appointment might be made to get the best out of certain star players or try to get the team over the line in play off series.  

 

  

 

 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Thibs has a very nice pay off to keep him ticking over and may not want to jump to another head job straight away. He may want some time away and then see what comes up and consider his options from there.

If Flip does want to moveback upstairs then he has a hugely talented cast to entice a top coach. An issue could be would the new guy be wary that he has replaced Flip who would be his boss and couldpossibly be tempted to be hands on. Often when a top coach moves upstairs an assistant will replace them like Miami with Spol and Riley, if a new coach comes in from elsewhere they may not feel the team has their identity.

With the T-Wolves if Flip did take on a full time front office role then he’d need a coach who would buy into his vision and be on the same page ashim.

The Celtics did this when Doc moved on, Danny Ainge got one of the brightest young college coaches in Brad Stevens in and outlined how he wanted to rebuild the Celtics.

Appointing a coach to a rebuilding team is perhaps easier than for a competing team where a coaching appointment might be made to get the best out of certain star players or try to get the team over the line in play off series.  

 

  

 

 

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