Around the League: May 2014

[Mori Chu]

Mark Jackson speaks about his firing:

I want to thank the Warriors organization for giving me a chance and thank the incredible fans in the area. And thank my players who I love and appreciate.

We accomplished a lot in three years and we should be proud. I wish them nothing but the best.

But to me, now the pressure’s on for them to get a championship. It’s not the time for them to be patient any more. This is a championship-caliber team. We were in the playoffs without David last year, and we were without Bogut this year.

When this team is healthy, it is a legit contender. That’s something that we’re all looking at going forward.

Read more: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2 ... -hes-gone/

Those are such bitter troll comments by Mark Jackson. He's trying to jinx them and put pressure on them. "You fired me, well, you better get a championship right away then! Hey everybody, expect nothing less than a championship from the Warriors! If they don't get a championship next year, hang them out to dry!!"

[Superbone]

How else should he react?

[Mori Chu]

"Mama, there goes that team!"

[Superbone]

"Mama, there goes that team!"

Hey, did you email Sose? Any response?

[INFORMER]

Those are such bitter troll comments by Mark Jackson. He's trying to jinx them and put pressure on them. "You fired me, well, you better get a championship right away then! Hey everybody, expect nothing less than a championship from the Warriors! If they don't get a championship next year, hang them out to dry!!"

He's right. That team improved every year under him, and took a great Clippers team to 7 games without a key member of their team. If you fire a coach under those circumstances, you're setting the bar high.

I thought his comments as a whole were very civil and certainly not bitter or trollish.

You really don't like the guy, do you Mori?

[TOO]

If you cant get along with your boss, then you shouldn't be surprised when you get fired. Mark Jackson isn't a good enough coach to butt heads with the higher ups.

[Phoenix219]

Just to add to the "could have convinced Marion to take a paycut if we had respected him and made him feel loved and valued" argument of mine (thanks Kerr)....

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/ ... reer.html/

[Phoenix219]

If you cant get along with your boss, then you shouldn't be surprised when you get fired. Mark Jackson isn't a good enough coach to butt heads with the higher ups.

Its probably a bunch of issues... probably a two way street. He didn't want to take input from others when being forced on him, but probably wasn't too welcoming of outside help. Did their disrespect cause his attitude, or did his attitude cause their disrespect?

He went through 3 assistant coaches, and didn't want an xs and os guy, while making some questionable coaching decisions at various times. On the flip side, he did have an injured roster and did get good results.

Whether it matters or not, he wasn't the most politically correct guy in the world, either.

As an outside fan, its impossible for me to get a fair reading.

[ShelC]

He also had a lot of talent, much like VinnyD in LA. Time will tell if they were winning because of him or in spite of him.

He definitely seemed overly sensitive about the fact that Malone was getting credit for the initial success, as he was seen as the Xs and Os guy. And I think Malone was almost a forced hiring because management/ownership didn't feel comfortable about a first time coach and wanted a veteran lead assistant. But once Malone left and Jackson still found success, he probably felt empowered and dug his heels in about coaching his way, with his staff. Scalabrine was well liked by management and Jax got rid of him, the other guy was taping conversations because he thought Jackson was disparaging him to other coaches. So there were a lot of issues all around that a coaching staff shouldn't have. The head coach should be a steadying force, but there seemed to be an awful lot of turmoil going on with his staff.

[SwingMan]

Just to add to the "could have convinced Marion to take a paycut if we had respected him and made him feel loved and valued" argument of mine (thanks Kerr)....

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/ ... reer.html/

219, this is 2014, not 2008 when Matrix was asking for a max extension - this is 2014 and the since-humbled Matrix, who found out the hard way that his game wasn't worth what he was asking.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Just to add to the "could have convinced Marion to take a paycut if we had respected him and made him feel loved and valued" argument of mine (thanks Kerr)....

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/ ... reer.html/

What is to be added?

The quote : "It’s not about money RIGHT NOW,” Marion said. “I’ve made a lot of money in my career" ???? (Caps emphasis on my account)

Because a lot of veterans take pay cuts just to avoid moving to another city, once the MONEY, and then THE RINGS are solved issues. Both of those issues were unresolved during that Kerr-Marion negotiations, so I can not see how this current attitude from 2014 Shawn-no-longer-Matrix-Marion adds something to favor your point, more so like the contrary direction"

[Phoenix219]

He already had made a hundred million dollars or so by that point... we could have gotten him for 10M or something, we could have talked him down from that "max" assumption, had we had any management with people skills, or had ever properly respected him, his work ethic, dedication and professionalism, instead of letting Amare play alpha dog while allowing his defensive lapses. A real negotiator could have changed the whole atmosphere of discussion.

[Mori Chu]

Poor P219. Don't make me post the hunky Marion image again! :-p j/k friend. I do wish he had been a career Sun, given how many years he has been effective with other teams since we let him go. He would be one of the greatest Suns ever if he had stayed the whole time. He's even a borderline HoFer given his career stats and ring, though I personally don't think he should make the cut.

[Phoenix219]

Definitely agreed.... and yeah, we're way passed that pic Just think of what the next picture would have been, if Steve had actually been successful in LA... ya'll woulda never heard the end of it Given that the whole excuse to jettison him so quickly was the lack of "skills" when his "athleticsim declined" so I'm quite glad that he has proven those sentiments wrong, and I'm glad that at least one member of our "core" was able to go on and win a championship as a major contributor. I just saw this article as a good insight into the true nature of the guy, and a bit of reflection on our last few years.

[Superbone]

All kinds of stuff going on in the Warriors' camp. Sounds like a perfect Lindsey Hunter environment:

http://www.warriorsworld.net/2014/05/07 ... k-jackson/

Here's an excerpt:

Jackson, in conjunction with Lindsey Hunter and Pete Myers, worked to create false enemies within the Warriors organization as a means to motivate his players and provide built-in excuses if he failed.

Well, he failed. And today’s media tour has been a convenient outlet for his built-in excuses.

When hired, Jackson claimed he was creating a new culture; that “things be changin’ in the Bay Area.” However, outside of his inner circle, he was creating a culture of fear. Warriors staff members were afraid to speak with Jackson, who had proven over and over that he would be friendly to your face and rip you behind your back. If you weren’t in his inner circle, you were the enemy. And he made sure the players got that message.

He worked to convince players that he was the only one who believed in them. He created an “us against the world” mentality. He guaranteed a playoff appearance in his first season; a perfect example of a leader creating a big hairy audacious goal that is near impossible to reach. But it set a tone.

At first, the “us against them” was the entire organization against those outside of it. In the beginning, Jackson inspired his players to believe they were better than they were. He was a huge positive in their lives both on and off the court. Many players performed better because of Jackson. Last season, it was Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry. No doubt, Jackson played a major role in Steph Curry’s growth into stardom. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson improved dramatically under Jackson.

But it became obvious over time that it was all about Jackson and his belief in the players. The “us” became Jackson and his players and the “them” was everyone else – including Warriors management and some of his coaches. Some players began to realize that it was unrealistic that those outside of Jackson’s inner circle would not want them to succeed. Would the organization really want players to fail just so they could fire Jackson? That was the message players were receiving. It didn’t make sense.

[SwingMan]

All kinds of stuff going on in the Warriors' camp. Sounds like a perfect Lindsey Hunter environment:

http://www.warriorsworld.net/2014/05/07 ... k-jackson/

Here's an excerpt:

Jackson, in conjunction with Lindsey Hunter and Pete Myers, worked to create false enemies within the Warriors organization as a means to motivate his players and provide built-in excuses if he failed.

Well, he failed. And today’s media tour has been a convenient outlet for his built-in excuses.

When hired, Jackson claimed he was creating a new culture; that “things be changin’ in the Bay Area.” However, outside of his inner circle, he was creating a culture of fear. Warriors staff members were afraid to speak with Jackson, who had proven over and over that he would be friendly to your face and rip you behind your back. If you weren’t in his inner circle, you were the enemy. And he made sure the players got that message.

He worked to convince players that he was the only one who believed in them. He created an “us against the world” mentality. He guaranteed a playoff appearance in his first season; a perfect example of a leader creating a big hairy audacious goal that is near impossible to reach. But it set a tone.

At first, the “us against them” was the entire organization against those outside of it. In the beginning, Jackson inspired his players to believe they were better than they were. He was a huge positive in their lives both on and off the court. Many players performed better because of Jackson. Last season, it was Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry. No doubt, Jackson played a major role in Steph Curry’s growth into stardom. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson improved dramatically under Jackson.

But it became obvious over time that it was all about Jackson and his belief in the players. The “us” became Jackson and his players and the “them” was everyone else – including Warriors management and some of his coaches. Some players began to realize that it was unrealistic that those outside of Jackson’s inner circle would not want them to succeed. Would the organization really want players to fail just so they could fire Jackson? That was the message players were receiving. It didn’t make sense.

I'd forgotten all about Lindsey Hunter being on the Warriors' bench - dollars to donuts that little fuck brought everything to a head.

I was initially supportive of Hunter here, even though it drove Thunder Dan away - since then, I've seen the little SOB for what he is: A poison pill personified with utter incompetence wrapped in vindictiveness, or maybe the other way around. Either way, he ultimately ended up being a cancer here and, likely, a cancer there.

Hope he saved some salary from his playing days.

[SDC]

Jackson, in conjunction with Lindsey Hunter and Pete Myers, worked to create false enemies within the Warriors organization as a means to motivate his players and provide built-in excuses if he failed.

it looks like Blacks (jackson, myers, hunter) vs Whites (scalabrine, erman, boss lacob)

[Phoenix219]

http://jazzbasketball.wordpress.com/201 ... stocktons/

How Mark Jackson undermined the Jazz locker room and led to Stockton's retirement..

[Superbone]

Jackson, in conjunction with Lindsey Hunter and Pete Myers, worked to create false enemies within the Warriors organization as a means to motivate his players and provide built-in excuses if he failed.

it looks like Blacks (jackson, myers, hunter) vs Whites (scalabrine, erman, boss lacob)

Only you would see color in this issue.

[INFORMER]

Mr. Jesse Taylor seems like he has some political/religious believes that he's letting drive that article.