Monty Williams

[Drewsprocket]

Yeah with them needing to put together a whole new roster around kd and book, I don’t think think you fire Monty -unless you’re getting a much better coach. Nobody else really moves the dial. I would consider moving Champ up so we can have an actual gm who will draft and sign people to win. Even then JJ had his hands tied.

[INFORMER]

And Ishbia has the mindset that there is no way to consider the Durant trade a failure. So if he isn't going to take responsibility, the only one left is Jones.

I don't know about Ishbia...he was puffing his chest out about the big TV deal he orchestrated and essentially said nothing was going to prevent it from going forward, and then in just a few weeks time, a judge is blocking the deal. I just don't know...

[Shabazz]

Umm. Yeah. Monty is staying whether you guys like it or not. Ishbia’s not eating $30M.

[JeremyG]

Since when does Ishbia care about money over winning?

Not-so-fun fact: the Suns are 0-3 when facing elimination under Monty Williams.

[Drewsprocket]

Who are you replacing him with? Firing Monty right now would be like waiving Ayton.

[Mori Chu]

[SunsRIt]

You either turn over most of the roster and keep Monte or you fire Monte and run it back with a majority of the roster in place. Maybe somebody else can get through to Ayton because he quit on Monte, no question in my mind. Which would be easier? I think Monte is gone.

[carey]

I don’t know who is available that’s better. Maybe Bud? Or is that basically a side grade. He’d fix the defense at least. I think Dayton is a gone pecan. I think Paul is too unless he’ll accept a bench role for 1/3 the salary.

[JeremyG]

Everyone keeps saying don’t get rid of him unless you can find someone better. Have you looked at his coaching lately? Almost any coach would be better! Darvin freaking Ham is coaching better than him!

[JeremyG]

[TOO]

You really just post a known troll to back your ideology? This offseason gonna be something else.

[LazarusLong]

I like Monty, but he's seems to have lost the locker room, i.e., players aren't listening to him and have little faith in his coaching moves.

[Split T]

He lost Ayton, I don’t think he lost the locker room. This is a major overreaction to one bad game(2 if you count last year).

In both instances there are other things to consider. Like we had to play bad nba players in this one. Most of our deficit can be explained by one bad stretch between the end of the 1st and start of the 2nd Q. Biyombo played 8 minutes and was a -26. Ross was -27. Durant and Landale were on the bench for most of this stretch. Payne rested during it too. Book was left out there with a bunch of guys Denver didn’t have to guard at all. So they all defended Book. There were multiple times I saw 4 or even 5 guys collapsing on Book drives.

I’m curious what exactly Monty was supposed to do different? Booker wasn’t otherworldly and Durant really struggled in the 1st half. Even with Payne having the best game of his life, you’re not going to win with Ross, Biyombo, Craig, Shamet, Landale, etc playing major minutes. We were just overmatched big time. I say props to even winning those 2 games in Phoenix. I thought we were getting swept after game 2.

[Drewsprocket]

He lost Ayton, I don’t think he lost the locker room. This is a major overreaction to one bad game(2 if you count last year).

In both instances there are other things to consider. Like we had to play bad nba players in this one. Most of our deficit can be explained by one bad stretch between the end of the 1st and start of the 2nd Q. Biyombo played 8 minutes and was a -26. Ross was -27. Durant and Landale were on the bench for most of this stretch. Payne rested during it too. Book was left out there with a bunch of guys Denver didn’t have to guard at all. So they all defended Book. There were multiple times I saw 4 or even 5 guys collapsing on Book drives.

I’m curious what exactly Monty was supposed to do different? Booker wasn’t otherworldly and Durant really struggled in the 1st half. Even with Payne having the best game of his life, you’re not going to win with Ross, Biyombo, Craig, Shamet, Landale, etc playing major minutes. We were just overmatched big time. I say props to even winning those 2 games in Phoenix. I thought we were getting swept after game 2.

Monty is more responsible for getting guys to perform well other than under perform. Did he chase off Crowder? Yes. Is he not a top tactician? Yes. Do you have a better head coach in mind? No.
Ayton needs a fresh setting where expectations are low and he can just get his numbers and fade into obscurity or mature as a player.
But let’s be clear, Monty had spitwads in terms of depth to play—guys who would not have seen any postseason play on any other roster… Shamet, Payne, Biz, Landale, Ross, Warren, Okogie.

[AmareIsGod]

He lost Ayton, I don’t think he lost the locker room. This is a major overreaction to one bad game(2 if you count last year).

In both instances there are other things to consider. Like we had to play bad nba players in this one. Most of our deficit can be explained by one bad stretch between the end of the 1st and start of the 2nd Q. Biyombo played 8 minutes and was a -26. Ross was -27. Durant and Landale were on the bench for most of this stretch. Payne rested during it too. Book was left out there with a bunch of guys Denver didn’t have to guard at all. So they all defended Book. There were multiple times I saw 4 or even 5 guys collapsing on Book drives.

I’m curious what exactly Monty was supposed to do different? Booker wasn’t otherworldly and Durant really struggled in the 1st half. Even with Payne having the best game of his life, you’re not going to win with Ross, Biyombo, Craig, Shamet, Landale, etc playing major minutes. We were just overmatched big time. I say props to even winning those 2 games in Phoenix. I thought we were getting swept after game 2.

Monty is more responsible for getting guys to perform well other than under perform. Did he chase off Crowder? Yes. Is he not a top tactician? Yes. Do you have a better head coach in mind? No.
Ayton needs a fresh setting where expectations are low and he can just get his numbers and fade into obscurity or mature as a player.
But let’s be clear, Monty had spitwads in terms of depth to play—guys who would not have seen any postseason play on any other roster… Shamet, Payne, Biz, Landale, Ross, Warren, Okogie.

Not only did he have spitwads, he had injuries towards the end of the season with a roster experiencing a lot of turnover. Trying to get a semi new bench and a new starting lineup acclimated had to be tough with a lot of that having to happen during the worst time, the playoffs.

None of it is to overlook his flaws, which are apparent. Just to provide a little more context to this posteason in particular.

[djy2j]

Since when does Ishbia care about money over winning?

Not-so-fun fact: the Suns are 0-3 when facing elimination under Monty Williams.

This. 30 mil is a drop in the hat to Ishbia. I don't see any way Monty returns next year. His last 2 exits have been colossal failures and Ishbia doesn't strike me as a 3 strikes and you're out kinda guy.

Jones will be gone too IMO.

[INFORMER]

Our franchise is Book and Durant. Period. And right now, they are backing Monty. I don't see why you would want to rock that boat.

[AmareIsGod]

Our franchise is Book and Durant. Period. And right now, they are backing Monty. I don't see why you would want to rock that boat.

Is that more for public perception? I'm not sure I've heard much from either lately on their feelings about Monty or backing him.

[Mori Chu]

I don't think Monty "lost" the trust / confidence of the team. He may have been estranged from Ayton, but not the other guys. I think Book, CP3, and KD all like him, as do most of the other guys. That isn't the problem.

The problem is that he isn't able to perform the advanced level of Xs and Os coaching to win against the best opponents in the playoffs. His lineup rotations / minutes aren't great and his adjustments are questionable. He doesn't seem to run a lot of great plays after timeouts, and isn't very good at knowing when exactly to use his timeouts. He doesn't have a contingency plan for when the team hits a rough patch, a timeout and a play or two to get us some baskets to stop the bleeding when the other team is on a run.

I think the smart move would be to push to bring in 1-2 savvy assistants who could theoretically help Monty with these aspects. You give it one more season to see if he can do more with a more advanced coaching staff. If so, great. If not, you fire him and promote the best assistant.

[Shabazz]

The one who lost the locker room was DA. You could see the whole team lose faith in him as the season progressed. They didn't ignore him under the basket for no reason. I'd also bet that Book felt a way about playing on a wonky foot while DA sat out with his injury.