Earl Watson Fired

[Ring_Wanted]

How much time does McD get? How long will sarver let him tank?

I believe at least this season and next because if you are willing to have your team tank, you have to stick to the GM commanding said tank. But nothing would surprise me as Sarver has showed sports schizophrenia before.

[Uncle_Gene]

Nash seems like way to high of a character guy to ever want to work with Sarver. A kid can dream though.

Ain't he still in Golden State ?

[Mori Chu]

Knowing idiot $arver, what he'll do is bring in somebody like Steve Nash to be our GM or President, jobs that Nash isn't trained or qualified to hold. Nashy might (*MIGHT*) be a good coach some day, but he probably needs reps as an assistant first.

Dunno if Majerle would be a good choice. I kind of want them to cast a wider net and find somebody with more experience. Somebody who understands defense, please. This team has the horses to be a pretty good defensive team if it knew how to be.

I would not mind Becky Hammon or Messina or anybody else associated with the Spurs, even if they were light on experience. That place just knows how to win and how to groom coaching talent.

[pickle]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Budenhozer.

[Ring_Wanted]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Budenhozer.

Would be terrific, but if I am Atlanta, there is no way I am letting him go, even if the Hawks are rebuilding.

[pickle]

Probably right. But a man can dream...

[ShelC]

I don't know why we fired the developmental assistants unless they wanted to leave with Watson. I thought Okur was brought in to help with Bender?

[Hermen]

Becky Hammon could be interesting. Messina seems like a good coach, I remember him from euroleague. And I think I saw someone mention Kokoskov, he did a hell of a job with Slovenian national team the past two years (undefeated through the qualifications and eurobasket).

[ShelC]

1 of two things are going to happen. Sarver's going to bite the bullet and pay/overpay for a veteran exec and/or head coach to right the ship. Or, he won't and we'll keep going with unproven assistants or average/below average coaches (like Triano and Corbin).

I doubt other top assistants are clamoring for this job. The roster is a mess, we're not close to competing, the FO has to be on shaky ground and the owner's an idiot.

[carey]

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/922320305074458624

I don't understand why we let all the assistant coaches go too, but whatever at this point.

[bajanguy008]

Wow , what a week for me and my Suns Fandom. With the embarrassing losses I was quite glad for Sunday so I could check NFL , watch RedZone channel all day as usual and then on Monday get my mind right for the next Episodes of the Timeline smh .
So when I saw Bledsoe tweet pop up then couple analysts chiming in talking about Watson's postgame comments about Unity, Love and coming together.....
I just smh to see Suns trending even when they're not playing and to see people having a good laugh at our situation was a tad annoying but I tried my best not to let it offset my Football Sundays.

Anyways firing Watson as puzzling as his "Love n Unity" stuff has been didn't get much of a reaction out of me like most have said yes he was badd but the issues run deeper than him. Now seeing this stuff about Triano to go along with the Management fiasco , safe to say I not holding my breath that we start to trend in the right direction. I been only a fan from the 90's but some of you all who seen much more Suns Ball than me and really appreciate this 50th Anniversary, I don't know how you guys coping. I think it's too much free time for me cuz I not working to distract me

[The Bobster]

Firing Watson is just the first step in addressing the state of the franchise. I don't care how many basketball courts the Suns are building for the community, what the entertainment or amenities at the arena are or what charities the organization is raising money for. The sole purpose of this organization is to win basketball games, and it had been a complete failure in that area for the better part of a decade now. They haven't had a team make the playoffs since Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire were their two best players.

Since Colangelo left as CEO in 2007 this franchise has been in constant decline and the one common thread among all the missteps since then is Robert Sarver. He hasn't hired good people to run the franchise and he hasn't had the good sense to know that he doesn't know squat about professional basketball.

One of two things is going to have to happen to turn this team around - Sarver will have to either hire a competent CEO and not involve himself in the decision-making process or he needs to sell the team.

[Cap]

SI: Here's a better plan, Robert Sarver: Sell the Suns

[JCSunsfan]

Listening to the emergency Empire of the Suns pod and Craig Grialou said a current player on the team texted him "He had to go."

Bet it was Dudley.

[JCSunsfan]

Becky Hammon could be interesting. Messina seems like a good coach, I remember him from euroleague. And I think I saw someone mention Kokoskov, he did a hell of a job with Slovenian national team the past two years (undefeated through the qualifications and eurobasket).

While Becky Hammon might be a good coach, the first woman head coach in the NBA should not come into a situation like this. She would be better taking over for Pop when he retires. It would be a system where she is already accepted and respected and would lend to her success more easily. Messina is older, has head coaching experience and huge success AND has learned the NBA under Pop. He is the guy. \

Nash would be a mistake. He was a great pg. No one knows whether he would be a good coach or not. He would be fine as an assistant.

[O_Gardino]

Knowing idiot $arver, what he'll do is bring in somebody like Steve Nash to be our GM or President, jobs that Nash isn't trained or qualified to hold. Nashy might (*MIGHT*) be a good coach some day, but he probably needs reps as an assistant first.

Dunno if Majerle would be a good choice. I kind of want them to cast a wider net and find somebody with more experience. Somebody who understands defense, please. This team has the horses to be a pretty good defensive team if it knew how to be.

I would not mind Becky Hammon or Messina or anybody else associated with the Spurs, even if they were light on experience. That place just knows how to win and how to groom coaching talent.

Watson was in the Spurs org coaching their D-League team. We brought i Kerr to get some of that Spurs flavor, too.

IMO, we need an experienced head coach who is good at coaching. Regardless of background.

[O_Gardino]

Sell. The. Team.

[O_Gardino]

General manager Ryan McDonough and Watson had often been at odds in their short partnership together, league sources told ESPN. Owner Robert Sarver was a significant part of the decision to replace Watson so early into the season, league sources said.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2111 ... arl-watson

Chriss is Watson's guy. Bled is Watson's guy. I'm curious to see what trades go down this season.

I'm telling you guys. McD is a better GM than you think. Sarver is calling a lot of the shots, and when Ryan goes to a new team he will do very well there. It'll be like watching Kerr succeed in GS.

How can you think that Bledsoe is Watson's guy? He's always been McD's guy. He traded for him and he chose him over Dragic and Thomas and he won't trade him. I didn't think there was any question that Bledsoe was McD's guy.

I meant my two statements separately, although it's easy to see how it looks like the same topic.

I meant that Chriss and Bled seemed personally close to Watson maybe as friends / mentor kind of thing and that those two guys might be more personally hurt by the firing.

And then I made some other statements about McD as a GM.

[pagielak]

The most important thing right now is to find a suitable candidate for the head coaching job. I'm scared that Triano will be more than just an interim coach, if he doesn't command a higher salary, Sarver is going to leave him. I also don't think that we can put the blame on McD in this case, as a lot of you guys said the problem starts at the top, and that means Sarver.
I hope he finally realizes that hiring unexperienced coaches, without conducting interviews is not the way, and you have to be ready to pay top dollars for top level talent. Not only on the court, but more crucially off the court.
I think that rebuilding with young players is the right way, but you also need to have a system, which will enable them to fluorish. I don't necessary think there is one right system that fits everyone , you have to be able to modify it accordingly. Watson couldn't do that, and he was in his 3rd season as the HC, that's why he is gone.

[Superbone]

I don't know why we fired the developmental assistants unless they wanted to leave with Watson. I thought Okur was brought in to help with Bender?

I agree that that was a little puzzling but that's Sarver for you.