Suns hire Monty Williams to be the 20th Head Coach in franchise history

[Cap]

“an excellent organization like the Suns”?

[Superbone]

It is a tremendous opportunity with a talented group of players and a loyal fan base.

He likes us! He really likes us!

[Superbone]

“an excellent organization like the Suns”?

A thousand mile journey starts with a single step.

[Cap]

“an excellent organization like the Suns”?

A thousand mile journey starts with a single step.

In other words, “It’s on its way to being an excellent organization now that I’m a part of it.”

[Mori Chu]

Monty seems like the best option for us right now. I'm glad we got our guy.

I don't know whether he can be the coach of a championship team. He seems like a communication, motivation, understanding kind of coach rather than a meticulous Xes and Os coach. But maybe our young team needs somebody they can relate to who can encourage and motivate them and get their heads in the right place rather than a tactician.

The fact that there's near unanimous praise around the league for this hire is a good sign. Players like to play for him. And he's who our prez/GM wanted. So this is all good news.

[virtual9mm]

Still need an Xs and Os guy -- but to be honest -- the young guys need a simple offensive scheme. None of this hockey assist stuff, more like a Booker-Ayton pick-and-roll every time down the floor, with the likes of Oubre and Warren (if he's still here) getting the ball and creating if the PNR gets shut down. Have the PG bring the ball down the floor and avoid draining Booker's energy.

Once they get the basics down and working, we can get them working on more complicated shit. But you've got a legit ballhandling 3-point shooter and the most efficient (high-volume) low-post rookie ever. The basic offense should be ridiculously simple (D'Antoni Four Corners) and they should add in triangle and other motion offense stuff as the young guys grow and gain confidence.

[Cap]

None of this hockey assist stuff

Making the extra pass is a skill young players need to learn.

Imagine if we had Pop coaching this team.

[Superbone]

“an excellent organization like the Suns”?

A thousand mile journey starts with a single step.

In other words, “It’s on its way to being an excellent organization now that I’m a part of it.”

Bingo!

[Superbone]

One of the big positives to me is that we BEAT LA! to Monty Williams. They can have Ty Lue.

[Drewsprocket]

Still need an Xs and Os guy -- but to be honest -- the young guys need a simple offensive scheme. None of this hockey assist stuff, more like a Booker-Ayton pick-and-roll every time down the floor, with the likes of Oubre and Warren (if he's still here) getting the ball and creating if the PNR gets shut down. Have the PG bring the ball down the floor and avoid draining Booker's energy.

Once they get the basics down and working, we can get them working on more complicated s***. But you've got a legit ballhandling 3-point shooter and the most efficient (high-volume) low-post rookie ever. The basic offense should be ridiculously simple (D'Antoni Four Corners) and they should add in triangle and other motion offense stuff as the young guys grow and gain confidence.

Agreed. Who’s gonna be his veteran number 1 coach and our PG next year? If we dont get Ja, Conley should be our pg target. Okobo likely will develop behind him and learn from a real veteran guard who can run the team and get buckets

[ShelC]

Still need an Xs and Os guy -- but to be honest -- the young guys need a simple offensive scheme. None of this hockey assist stuff, more like a Booker-Ayton pick-and-roll every time down the floor, with the likes of Oubre and Warren (if he's still here) getting the ball and creating if the PNR gets shut down. Have the PG bring the ball down the floor and avoid draining Booker's energy.

Once they get the basics down and working, we can get them working on more complicated s***. But you've got a legit ballhandling 3-point shooter and the most efficient (high-volume) low-post rookie ever. The basic offense should be ridiculously simple (D'Antoni Four Corners) and they should add in triangle and other motion offense stuff as the young guys grow and gain confidence.

Agree we'll need an Xs and Os guy on the bench so I'm still cautiously optimistic depending on who the assistants might be but Monty will coach the young guys up nonetheless.

However, I think we need to see more of Ayton in the post getting fed and get away from PointBook and the Booker-Ayton PnR. That's hopefully where a top flight PG comes in. I thought the biggest frustration with the offense was that Ayton was basically just running around screening for our perimeter guys and not getting post up attempts. Thought that would be a major change heading into next year. Simplify the offense playing inside-out.

[Superbone]

[In2ition]

None of this hockey assist stuff

Making the extra pass is a skill young players need to learn.

Imagine if we had Pop coaching this team.

True

They would probably be pushing for the playoffs.

[Superbone]

[Mori Chu]

One of the big positives to me is that we BEAT LA! to Monty Williams. They can have Ty Lue.

I honestly cannot wait for the Lakers press conference where they announce Lue as their new head coach. Watching that team burn is going to be amazing.

[In2ition]

Honestly, Lue might be a better fit for the Lakers and Monty was the better fit for the Suns. As much as I hate the Lakers, they have different needs than the Suns this summer. I just hope the Suns have a better off-season and come back next year better than the Lakers and for the next 10 yrs +.

[Superbone]

https://theathletic.com/961400/2019/05/ ... eeklyemail

Anthony Morrow on Monty Williams:

“He was gonna continue to break it down to you until you got it,” Morrow told The Athletic by phone Friday afternoon. “And he respected the fact if you were working for it and working toward it. …

“He always used to say, ‘You got more in you than you think.’ Legs tired, play a lot of minutes, whatever the case may be, (he’d say), ‘You got more in you. You can do it. You’re all right.’”

Williams joined the Philadelphia staff this season, where a key responsibility is designing offensive set plays in out-of-bounds and out-of-timeout situations. He also often works directly with second-year guard Ben Simmons, who made his first All-Star Game in February. The 76ers went 51-31 during the regular season, and are up 2-1 on Toronto in the Eastern Conference semifinals entering Sunday’s Game 4.

Once the Sixers season concludes, Williams will take over a Suns team that has fallen sharply to the bottom of the league, yet boasts an intriguing young core anchored by Booker and Deandre Ayton and, potentially, another high draft pick. When Kokoskov was fired, the franchise was publicly vilified again, with outsiders citing the move as the latest example of dysfunction from an organization spearheaded by a volatile, meddling owner.

Yet Friday morning, Williams’ hiring was widely praised. Brown called Williams and the Suns a “fantastic partnership.” Durant told reporters the Suns “got a great leader.” The first person Morrow thought of was Booker, whom he believes can blossom into a “superstar, on and off the court” under Williams’ tutelage.

But Morrow was mostly thrilled the coach he credits with “saving my career” is getting his next opportunity to groom a young roster.

“They need him. They really need him there,” Morrow said. “He really likes the grind of building up the organization and building the culture.

“That’s the mentality that he’s gonna put in these guys’ heads. I think it’s gonna be special to watch after a while.”

[iLLmatic]

Wow 5 years !! Take that for stability and commitment. Very optimistic here. Hope everything goes well. For the first time we get what we want and beat L.A. on top of that!!

I thought they wanted Ty Lue?

I'm very skeptical at anything this front office does, so while I think the extra experience is nice, I need to see results on the basketball court before I start to get excited.

What do you prefer? By all accounts, this is universally viewed as a great hire. With a 5 year commitment showing stability. I swear, some fans are never happy with anything we do.

How about not firing Igor after 1 year?

[AmareIsGod]

Wow 5 years !! Take that for stability and commitment. Very optimistic here. Hope everything goes well. For the first time we get what we want and beat L.A. on top of that!!

I thought they wanted Ty Lue?

I'm very skeptical at anything this front office does, so while I think the extra experience is nice, I need to see results on the basketball court before I start to get excited.

What do you prefer? By all accounts, this is universally viewed as a great hire. With a 5 year commitment showing stability. I swear, some fans are never happy with anything we do.

How about not firing Igor after 1 year?

According to several accounts, players said they struggled to relate with him and communicate with him. Add that to the terrible record and I'm not sure you just stick with him just because.

[Indy]

Wow 5 years !! Take that for stability and commitment. Very optimistic here. Hope everything goes well. For the first time we get what we want and beat L.A. on top of that!!

I thought they wanted Ty Lue?

I'm very skeptical at anything this front office does, so while I think the extra experience is nice, I need to see results on the basketball court before I start to get excited.

What do you prefer? By all accounts, this is universally viewed as a great hire. With a 5 year commitment showing stability. I swear, some fans are never happy with anything we do.

How about not firing Igor after 1 year?

According to several accounts, players said they struggled to relate with him and communicate with him. Add that to the terrible record and I'm not sure you just stick with him just because.

I could be missing it, but i have only seen one account (one reporter) putting it in writing, and only on BSOTS. And this is the quote:

I’ve talked to several Suns players (who will remain anonymous) about the coaching situation. One player said that Kokoskov is a great assistant coach but not a head coach. Another told me that many of them would leave huddles or practice confused about what Kokoskov wanted them to do on the court. There was definitely a cultural and communication barrier between him and his players and it showed in many situations.

So one player anonymously told her that many players were confused...

Maybe that is true, and maybe he is a bad communicator. But if there are multiple sources reporting this, I guess I am missing them. I didn't see anything on The Athletic or AZ Central.