Phx-Suns.Net

And I hope that this is the worst article that I read this off-season. Its like spilling milk, crying about it, and then revisiting that milk a year later and crying over it again:

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018 ... uns-season

jonh wrote:This is advocating for Kokoskov as the next head coach:

https://valleyofthesuns.com/2018/05/01/ ... ead-coach/

Something I am really struggling to understand--haven't we been complaining for years about hiring assistants to be head coaches?? Why are we ok with this hire, rather than making a push for someone that has already coached in the NBA, like David Blatt?

Blatt underwhelms me. I'd rather have Kokoskov. Apparently established coaches aren't interested in coaching the Suns. We have to pick the best of what's left.

When we hired MDA, his only NBA HC experience was during a lockout season.

After such a terrible season, I guess Fish wanted out of the tank

I hope we keep the fish puns going, just for the halibut.

TheOriginalOriginal wrote:I hope we keep the fish puns going, just for the halibut.

Cod no. I've had a-trout enough

Superbone wrote:

jonh wrote:This is advocating for Kokoskov as the next head coach:

https://valleyofthesuns.com/2018/05/01/ ... ead-coach/

Something I am really struggling to understand--haven't we been complaining for years about hiring assistants to be head coaches?? Why are we ok with this hire, rather than making a push for someone that has already coached in the NBA, like David Blatt?

Blatt underwhelms me. I'd rather have Kokoskov. Apparently established coaches aren't interested in coaching the Suns. We have to pick the best of what's left.

I think the issue is of experience more than anything else.

Professional Coaching experience of our head coaches over the last 20 years (rec league/d-league not counted)
Danny Ainge: Zero
Scott Skiles: +2 seasons as our assistant coach
Frank Johnson: +4 seasons as our assistant coach
Mike: 2 seasons as assistant (here and Denver), 1 season as HC in Denver, 8 season HC in Europe
Terry Porter: 2 seasons assistant (DET, MIL), 2 seasons HC in MIL
Gentry: +10 Seasons assistant (Spurs, Clips, Heat, DET, Clips again, Hornets, us), 7 seasons HC (Heat, DET, Clips)
Lindsay Hunter: Zero
Horny: 3 seasons assistant (Utah)
Earl "I met Wooden" Watson: 19 games as an assitant
Jay Triano: 10 seasons as assistant (TOR, POR), 2 season as "Associate HC" here, 3 season as HC in Toronto


Wow, what a dreary list. The only guys with at least 5 years of professional coaching experience were Mike, Gentry, and Jay.

Considering we have had 10 HCs in 20 years, clearly we are not good at hiring them. And from my point of view, we had 3 good coaches. I think Gentry and Mike got more out of the players than an average coach would, Skiles did for about 40-50 games before he alienated everyone, and Horny got a full season but was so inconsistent that year I only count it as a half.

That's a great snapshot of our coaching list and also pretty telling. But again, you get what you pay for.

It's always been interesting (and frustrating) to me how bad Colangelo and Cotton were at getting coaches. They were very good at scouting player talent, but we had a revolving door of coaches even under them.

Of course, they were quick to move players too.

Danimal wrote:After such a terrible season, I guess Fish wanted out of the tank

The real loss was MikeD. Kerr and MikeD both know it too. They caved under the pressure and expectations. Should've just said, "Mike's our coach, this is our system. We'll adjust the roster as needed." Then we could've traded for Harden and all would've been right in the desert.

ShelC wrote:The real loss was MikeD. Kerr and MikeD both know it too. They caved under the pressure and expectations. Should've just said, "Mike's our coach, this is our system. We'll adjust the roster as needed." Then we could've traded for Harden and all would've been right in desert.

Exactly. I thought Kerr said as much publicly. Mike too. When I see those guys interact with their teams, and others around the league, you just can't believe they couldn't make it work here together... well, unless you factor in other people above them in the org that clearly didn't help. If we had the right owner, those two guys would still be with the team.

Can you believe it's been 10 years since he left?

ShelC wrote:Can you believe it's been 10 years since he left?

Can you believe people still haven't let that shit go? Gimme a break.

I'm not pining away for him or anything. Just crazy how quickly time has passed. 10 years since he left to coach the Knicks. Almost 15 years since the start of 7SOL. Just doesn't feel that long ago.

ShelC wrote:I'm not pining away for him or anything. Just crazy how quickly time has passed. 10 years since he left to coach the Knicks. Almost 15 years since the start of 7SOL. Just doesn't feel that long ago.

ShelC wrote:I'm not pining away for him or anything. Just crazy how quickly time has passed. 10 years since he left to coach the Knicks. Almost 15 years since the start of 7SOL. Just doesn't feel that long ago.

I didnt mean to make it sound like you were, just too many fans have that coulda woulda shoulda Uncle Rico syndrome.

ShelC wrote:The real loss was MikeD. Kerr and MikeD both know it too. They caved under the pressure and expectations. Should've just said, "Mike's our coach, this is our system. We'll adjust the roster as needed." Then we could've traded for Harden and all would've been right in the desert.

I agree with your thoughts on coaching but I really think the loss of BC is understated by many Suns Fans. I know he wasn't perfect and has not been perfect after leaving the Suns, after Sarver low balled him like everyone else. Who hasn't Sarver low balled? BC has done a very good job in adding to the roster in Philly this past off season and found pieces that Mike could actually play in the early stages of SSOL.

It really appeared that he and MDA were on the same page and I was really disappointed when he left town.

These are the GM's that followed BC

MDA - I loved him as a coach but I really do not think he even wanted the GM job but got it anyway and accomplished nothing as a GM - I was not really surprised - he does not seem like a person I would put in the GM job - his passion is basketball not management.
Kerr - First time executive in the NBA trying to win a championship WTF - accomplished nothing except help get MDA out of town - which was a very bad thing
Lance Blanks - He was the darling of the great Lon Babby - what good did he ever do.
Ryan McDonough - What has he accomplished - His claim was that he was all about collecting assets so that he could acquire that key free agent to put our franchise over the top. After five years we have some future draft picks along with Booker, Jackson and maybe Warren that you can consider assets we could use to make a trade. However we cannot afford to trade any of these assets because because the rest of the roster is closer to the G league than NBA quality. IMO he has been as bad as Lance Blanks or worse. I know that is not the popular opinion of him, so be it. Sometimes facts are hard to deal with.

Why in the world would any coach of any merit want to coach this franchise, other than for money?

Yes the coaches that have followed Mike and Alvin have been bad but none of them have had a chance due to the morons in the front office.

Colangelo didnt exactly light the world on fire in Toronto tough. I actually think his loss is overrated, Jerry was the loss, plain and simple. After Jerry, losing MikeD was the next mistake, those are 2 that really sting. BC/Kerr and so on are replaceable.

TheOriginalOriginal wrote:Colangelo didnt exactly light the world on fire in Toronto tough. I actually think his loss is overrated, Jerry was the loss, plain and simple. After Jerry, losing MikeD was the next mistake, those are 2 that really sting. BC/Kerr and so on are replaceable.

BC might not have done a great job in Toronto, I really have no idea either way. However he did get fired, so I expect his performance was poor. Do you really think he deserved to be lowballed by Sarver? Sarver did not fire him but low balled him and he left town. In his last two seasons with the Suns we won 62 and 54 games and the future was bright. All I am saying is that it started a snowball of horrible decisions by Robert Sarver, with no end in sight.

In addition why is McDonough still employed. We probably have the worst roster in the NBA. Facts say that we were the worst team on both offense and defense. We need far more than just one draft pick to turn this crap heap into a winner. Where are the assets that he said he would get? Why is he even allowed to be part of the interview process for a new coach. How many more years does he get?

Virtually every person that Robert Sarver either fired or low balled from the SSOL era has had huge success elsewhere in the NBA.

It is not Colangelo leaving that is the problem. It is the fact that Robert Sarver replaced him and he is still here.