Around the League: Playoffs

[Ring_Wanted]

https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/728041929422725120 Bad fit, imho.

Nash had the ball in his hands all the time and fed it to whoever felt right. Harden is perfectly capable of handling that usage, can run a pick and roll and he can pass. The key would be how tolerant are the rest of the players to watching Harden take a number of possessions for himself. If I had Harden and D'Antoni, I'd make absolutely sure I have a real distributor as backup PG. Calderon, for all his lack of defense, would be nice.

[Ring_Wanted]

hahha https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/727900776186695680

[Ring_Wanted]

https://twitter.com/MarcJSpearsESPN/status/728238087520690178
Already posted but it is actually happening. I believe Bird is making a big mistake. Vogel is the most successful coach in their history by winning%, has proved he can do a lot with very little and that he can adapt his style to heavy changes in personnel. It will be really hard for him to find something better and there is no telling how George will react to this or how he'll get along with the next HC.

[Mori Chu]

Argh. We could have had Vogel. Instead we bought early and we're stuck with Watson.

[Ring_Wanted]

I won't flagellate myself over this. Nobody knows if Vogel would have signed here. There are many teams looking for new a HC (and I'm sure more will be once the offseason begins). Just accept that we are not one of the desirable destinations anymore until the team actually makes noise again. There's been too much going on these past two seasons.

[ShelC]

I would've taken Vogel in a heartbeat. Watson won't do anything for us. Players will be sick of him by all-star. Mark it down.

Bird's kind of a weird guy tho. He's got this thing about coaches needing to move on after 3 years, which he also did as coach of the Pacers. Then he said Vogel didn't lose the lockerroom, but at times players didn't listen. Well, why not get rid of the players if you have a good coach?

[Indy]

Players will be sick of him by all-star. Mark it down.

If those are the players that are being held accountable for their stupid, selfish play, I am all for it. The players getting sick of him is now what I am worried about.

[Indy]

Argh. We could have had Vogel. Instead we bought early and we're stuck with Watson.

Like Ring said, we were not going to get a high-profile coach. We had to get a coach that either needed to prove himself for the first time, or re-prove himself after a big fall. Those are the candidates you are in the market for when you have such a bad reputation.

[carey]

Fun little quiz over at ESPN. Which NBA franchise are you? http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_ ... a-team-you

I got the Miami Heat.

[JustWinBaby]

I would've taken Vogel in a heartbeat. Watson won't do anything for us. Players will be sick of him by all-star. Mark it down.

Bird's kind of a weird guy tho. He's got this thing about coaches needing to move on after 3 years, which he also did as coach of the Pacers. Then he said Vogel didn't lose the lockerroom, but at times players didn't listen. Well, why not get rid of the players if you have a good coach?

I have always wished we would have Vogel as our coach but thought it was an impossibility. With the talent he has been given to coach by Larry Bird he has exceeded expectations, IMO.

Larry Bird should fire himself.

I don't know if the payers will be sick of Watson by the all-star break but I see it happening at some point in time. To me he appears to be very similar to Mark Jackson. I just can't wait to see him coaching Brandon Knight. At some point I expect there will be a conversation similar to the following. Man I really love you. You know you are my main man. We are all in the same brotherhood and care for everyone in this locker room but you suck and you have to stop turning the freaking ball over so I am benching your ass for the great Ronnie Price.

[ShelC]

Like Ring said, we were not going to get a high-profile coach. We had to get a coach that either needed to prove himself for the first time, or re-prove himself after a big fall. Those are the candidates you are in the market for when you have such a bad reputation.

All due respect, that's ridiculous. At the very least, they'll come for the money.

[TOO]

What money? Do you expect Sarver to shell out big money required for a high profile HC?

[Cap]

Fun little quiz over at ESPN. Which NBA franchise are you? http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_ ... a-team-you

I got the Miami Heat.

I got Houston. 'Cause Philly isn't an option.

[Indy]

Like Ring said, we were not going to get a high-profile coach. We had to get a coach that either needed to prove himself for the first time, or re-prove himself after a big fall. Those are the candidates you are in the market for when you have such a bad reputation.

All due respect, that's ridiculous. At the very least, they'll come for the money.

We have a long history of overpaying for coaching talent here.

Fun question--The Phoenix Suns have had 17 guys as their Head Coach in their history. How many of them had more than 1 season of Head Coaching experience before we first hired them for the job?

Spoiler: show/hide

Johnny Kerr
Butch van Breda Koff
Terry Porter
Alvin Gentry

[ShelC]

That's a good question..Cotton, MikeD, Gents, T***y P****r...probably some from the 70s/80s I'm not as familiar with. But yea, odd we never really go with veteran coaches. Off the top of my head - Paul Westpaul, Skiles, Ainge, Hornacek, H****r, Frank Johnson...no prior head coaching experiencing.

[OE32]

Fun little quiz over at ESPN. Which NBA franchise are you? http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_ ... a-team-you

I got the Miami Heat.

Huh. Me too. Must have been that South Beach answer I gave.

[JustWinBaby]

https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/728041929422725120 Bad fit, imho.

Nash had the ball in his hands all the time and fed it to whoever felt right. Harden is perfectly capable of handling that usage, can run a pick and roll and he can pass. The key would be how tolerant are the rest of the players to watching Harden take a number of possessions for himself. If I had Harden and D'Antoni, I'd make absolutely sure I have a real distributor as backup PG. Calderon, for all his lack of defense, would be nice.

I am interested to see if Dwight Howard makes any comment about MDA. Mike has generally been blamed for the reason Dwight left the Lakers. I really do not think that was the case. I think Dwight was more fed up with Gasol and Kobe than Mike. He also saw how little talent the Lakers had and how much the Rockets had. Unfortunately for Mike he was thrown under the bus, because Dwight was a coward. He had to come up with a reason for leaving and Mike has been a consistent whipping boy and it is not accepted to blame teammates especially if they are legends. Mike designed an offense to fully utilize Dwight but Gasol wanted Dwight's touches down low and Kobe would not relent to letting Nash be the point guard so he turned Nash into a spot up 3 point shooter, when healthy. Basically both Gasol and Kobe depreciated Howard's value and hurt their team to protect themselves. What is amazing, every coach Gasol has had since Mike has put him at the top of the key to utililize his passing ability as well as shooting and the ability to take it to the hoop. That is where Tom Thibodeau put him.

I am not a fan of Howard fan but I would love to see him come out of the closet and support Mike. The Laker fans, Gasol and Kobe can eat shit.

[Indy]

Open the spoiler tag and you will see. Cotton didn't have any experience as an NBA head coach when we hired him (the first time). Neither did MikeD.

[Indy]

Fun little quiz over at ESPN. Which NBA franchise are you? http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_ ... a-team-you

I got the Miami Heat.

Huh. Me too. Must have been that South Beach answer I gave.

It tells me I am a Rocket.

[TOO]

I'm also the Heat. Must be a nerd thing.