Suns Name Earl Watson as Head Coach

[Indy]

Yeah, it almost creates the impression he doesn't care what we think here at Phx-Suns.net.

So short-sighted of him...

[OE32]

Pretty in-depth interview with Watson today. Extensive discussion of Brandon Knight - can't imagine he'd be very happy hearing it:

http://arizonasports.com/player/?a=321026

[specialsauce]

Why is Scott Brooks seen as a good coach? Id rather have Watson, hands down. What did Scott ever accomplish in OKC? He was gifted with 4 (KD, RW,SI,JH) world class players through his tenure and never had the team playing equal to the sum of its parts. He had no offensive system at ALL, he just let his players do whatever they wanted. He's basically Jeff Hornacek but with more talented players on his team.

At least with Watson I'm not sure about him yet. I'm sure that Brooks sucks.

[specialsauce]

Pretty in-depth interview with Watson today. Extensive discussion of Brandon Knight - can't imagine he'd be very happy hearing it:

http://arizonasports.com/player/?a=321026

Says all the right things. This offseason will be important. I'm less worried about the coach at this point. A staff of Phil, Pop, and Riley together couldn't coach this team as constructed to anything of significance. More worried about the front office.

[Indy]

More worried about the front office.

Completely agree

[Indy]

Pretty in-depth interview with Watson today. Extensive discussion of Brandon Knight - can't imagine he'd be very happy hearing it:

http://arizonasports.com/player/?a=321026

Says all the right things. This offseason will be important. I'm less worried about the coach at this point. A staff of Phil, Pop, and Riley together couldn't coach this team as constructed to anything of significance. More worried about the front office.

I think that is what he is best at. That, and not ending sentences with dangling participles,

[Superbone]

Can we all at least agree that Watson was not the best option out there? Just the most convenient?

No.

[Superbone]

Waton may very well be the best option.

But the whole process leaves me with the feeling that they had made up their mind early and decided that exploring other options was unnecessary. I don't put much credence in his being popular with the current players - as mentioned by several other people here there's really only a handful (Booker, Len, Warren and perhaps Bledsoe) who can count on being here for the long-term.

I have the feeling that Watson will be about as successful as Hornacek, perhaps last about as long, and suffer from the same problem - an ownership that has no idea what direction they're going in and no viable plan for making this team better.

I think this most fairly sums up the issue. Great post.

Yup.

[Superbone]

Scott Brooks would've been at the top of my list. Lionel Hollins if we really wanted to try and jumpstart things. Jay Larranaga is a top assistant and extremely well regarded around the league.

Luke Walton with the AZ connection...

Yuck, yuck, ???, yuck!

[Superbone]

I don't get that. We were in a tank season with a young team. We have a young developing center. We are trying to work on getting him the ball in the post because that's what centers do. The team showed that they weren't very good at getting the ball to him and he wasn't that good at receiving it and finishing with it all the time. To you that means stop trying. To me that means try harder. What are they afraid of, losing the game? If you stop doing the things you aren't good at you will NEVER get good at it. No player in the NBA would ever get better because none of them are experts at anything unless they work on it. It's a tank season, I would keep doing it over and over even if it failed if you were serious about making it happen. We spent a lot of time and effort trying to turn Len into a legit Center. Not throwing the ball into the post because we aren't good at it seems ridiculous to me unless you really have no faith in him ever getting it. Len posted some 30 point games himself and showed promise I between his stinker games where he couldn't hit the ocean. Booker ended up being very good at throwing the ball into the post consistently IMO.

Excellent post, Nodack.

[Superbone]

Yeah, it almost creates the impression he doesn't care what we think here at Phx-Suns.net.

[Superbone]

Pretty in-depth interview with Watson today. Extensive discussion of Brandon Knight - can't imagine he'd be very happy hearing it:

http://arizonasports.com/player/?a=321026

Says all the right things. This offseason will be important. I'm less worried about the coach at this point. A staff of Phil, Pop, and Riley together couldn't coach this team as constructed to anything of significance. More worried about the front office.

[Superbone]

Pretty in-depth interview with Watson today. Extensive discussion of Brandon Knight - can't imagine he'd be very happy hearing it:

http://arizonasports.com/player/?a=321026

Says all the right things. This offseason will be important. I'm less worried about the coach at this point. A staff of Phil, Pop, and Riley together couldn't coach this team as constructed to anything of significance. More worried about the front office.

I think that is what he is best at. That, and not ending sentences with dangling participles,

And commas.

[Indy]

Waton may very well be the best option.

But the whole process leaves me with the feeling that they had made up their mind early and decided that exploring other options was unnecessary. I don't put much credence in his being popular with the current players - as mentioned by several other people here there's really only a handful (Booker, Len, Warren and perhaps Bledsoe) who can count on being here for the long-term.

I have the feeling that Watson will be about as successful as Hornacek, perhaps last about as long, and suffer from the same problem - an ownership that has no idea what direction they're going in and no viable plan for making this team better.

I think this most fairly sums up the issue. Great post.

Yup.

So you don't expect him to be successful and will be fired in 2.5 years? But he was the best hire we could
make?

[Superbone]

Waton may very well be the best option.

But the whole process leaves me with the feeling that they had made up their mind early and decided that exploring other options was unnecessary. I don't put much credence in his being popular with the current players - as mentioned by several other people here there's really only a handful (Booker, Len, Warren and perhaps Bledsoe) who can count on being here for the long-term.

I have the feeling that Watson will be about as successful as Hornacek, perhaps last about as long, and suffer from the same problem - an ownership that has no idea what direction they're going in and no viable plan for making this team better.

I think this most fairly sums up the issue. Great post.

Yup.

So you don't expect him to be successful and will be fired in 2.5 years? But he was the best hire we could
make?

Sigh. I agreed that it was a good post. Not that I agreed with every word of it.

Nobody knows how successful Watson will be. My guess would be his floor would be the same as Hornacek. His ceiling could be the best coach to ever coach the Phoenix Suns. Why not?!

Who knows. A lot depends on the front office and what players he is dealt via draft, trades, and free agency. I think he has the temperament and background to become a great coach. Time and personnel will tell. Also, let's see what assistants he's surrounded with. I think his potential is very high.

[Ring_Wanted]

Pretty in-depth interview with Watson today. Extensive discussion of Brandon Knight - can't imagine he'd be very happy hearing it:

http://arizonasports.com/player/?a=321026

For those who didn't click:


Were you brought to lure in LaMarcus?
-Not true. I was brought in to help Bledsoe and Knight become better PGs. The pursue of Aldridge was already planned and it just happens I played with him etc so I became a part of the pitch.

Do you feel you can be a great recruiter?
-I've been around some great recruiters in my life. I was convinced that playing in school with Baron Davis was going to help me in life. San Antonio also had top recruiters.


-Xs and Os are overrated. Making people get comfortable out there is very important. You have to motivate people. First you have to love your players. You get fired over not managing egos well. 'But you can't love everyone'. Yes you can.

You had many injuries, but when people is healthy, how are you going to make everybody happy?
-Egos are misunderstood in pro sports. It is fear to your peers feeling like you failed to meet expectations. For a coach it is about creating harmony. It is about preparing these young people for life.

People bothered by the process (or lack thereof) of his hiring.
-He was not afraid of competing with others for the gig.

Many guards. How are you going to manage it? Booker at SF? Knight's role?
-I can play those three in the middle of a game. Or finishing games. The attitude of 'I need the ball' has to stop.

Knight doesn't make people better. Doesn't look particularly interested in learning.
-You are never too old to grow. A coach is a teacher. Players don't understand how to get better. That's a coach role. Knight one of the better students on the team. He is a competitor, good thing. We can't just hand over things. Kobe had to watch Eddie Jones for one year.

Team not likable by fans this year. How to fix?
-Character over talent. Be able to give back to the community. Be involved. Transparency. Can't hide, can't run.

Process to turn the team into what people want it to be. Will take long.
-Can't be any other way. Start with connecting with people now, get in touch over the summer.

Playoffs?
-I've learned to be confortable being unconfortable. Will take time. I have to create believe. Discover ways to allow progress.

[Ring_Wanted]

You don't need to buy what he sells, but he sure can talk to people. Really knocked the interview out of the park. We'll see if certain players listen.

[Indy]

Pretty in-depth interview with Watson today. Extensive discussion of Brandon Knight - can't imagine he'd be very happy hearing it:

http://arizonasports.com/player/?a=321026

For those who didn't click:


Were you brought to lure in LaMarcus?
-Not true. I was brought in to help Bledsoe and Knight become better PGs. The pursue of Aldridge was already planned and it just happens I played with him etc so I became a part of the pitch.

Do you feel you can be a great recruiter?
-I've been around some great recruiters in my life. I was convinced that playing in school with Baron Davis was going to help me in life. San Antonio also had top recruiters.


-Xs and Os are overrated. Making people get comfortable out there is very important. You have to motivate people. First you have to love your players. You get fired over not managing egos well. 'But you can't love everyone'. Yes you can.

You had many injuries, but when people is healthy, how are you going to make everybody happy?
-Egos are misunderstood in pro sports. It is fear to your peers feeling like you failed to meet expectations. For a coach it is about creating harmony. It is about preparing these young people for life.

People bothered by the process (or lack thereof) of his hiring.
-He was not afraid of competing with others for the gig.

Many guards. How are you going to manage it? Booker at SF? Knight's role?
-I can play those three in the middle of a game. Or finishing games. The attitude of 'I need the ball' has to stop.

Knight doesn't make people better. Doesn't look particularly interested in learning.
-You are never too old to grow. A coach is a teacher. Players don't understand how to get better. That's a coach role. Knight one of the better students on the team. He is a competitor, good thing. We can't just hand over things. Kobe had to watch Eddie Jones for one year.

Team not likable by fans this year. How to fix?
-Character over talent. Be able to give back to the community. Be involved. Transparency. Can't hide, can't run.

Process to turn the team into what people want it to be. Will take long.
-Can't be any other way. Start with connecting with people now, get in touch over the summer.

Playoffs?
-I've learned to be confortable being unconfortable. Will take time. I have to create believe. Discover ways to allow progress.

Like I've said since his first interview, he says all the right things. He has a very good philosophical approach. I am rooting for him.

[Mori Chu]

Thanks for that transcript; very much appreciated. He's a smooth talker, yes. I think it's pretty laughable that he was supposedly brought in to help Bledsoee and Knight become better PGs. Watson was never as good as either player is now; how would he help them be better? I always got the sense that we hired him because we thought he was LaMarcus Aldridge's friend, as part of a misguided attempt to woo him to join our team. Or maybe he used his silver tongue to talk his way into the job.

-Xs and Os are overrated.

That explains a lot.

[djy2j]

I'm OK with most of the stuff he was saying BUT...

I don't expect him to admit it but he most certainly was hired to recruit Aldridge. His fall back role was advising and he was like what, 5th or 6 in the pecking order of assistant coaches?

X's and O's are not overrated. Big plays win games. Was the alley-oop lob from out of bounds when the Grizz won the game with .3 on the clock overrated? But I suppose when you're getting drubbed by 30 in most games...