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One of the reasons Kokoskov has been passed up for HC jobs in the past was reportedly because of him not being very fluent when he speaks English. Snyder was asked about this and said that Kokoskov has improved his English quite a bit and even runs Jazz practices sometimes.

However, I watched Kokoskov being interviewed at halftime of yesterday’s game against Houston and I was taken back a bit. He really struggles to speak English and seems hard for him to get words out. Here is the link of it:

http://www.nba.com/jazz/video/teams/jaz ... ch-2072358

I think he may struggle as a HC from purely the communication standpoint. Hope I’m wrong because I’d root for him to be the first Euro HC in the NBA.

carey wrote:Honest question, do you think his accent will be a problem for the players? It's better than the last time he was here but still pretty thick. It's a little worse than Goran's.

100% yes.

See link posted above and tell me if you understood anything he said without cringing.

UglyTruth wrote:

carey wrote:Honest question, do you think his accent will be a problem for the players? It's better than the last time he was here but still pretty thick. It's a little worse than Goran's.

100% yes.

See link posted above and tell me if you understood anything he said without cringing.

I don't think his accent is that bad (I was expecting way worse before listening to that link). I certainly don't think it's a deal breaker. Where I'm from we have had soccer coaches who could barely string a couple of words of English together but have been very successful. I acknowledge that soccer is a bit different - more international and players/coaches more used to working through the language barrier - but it shows it can be done.
I'm not actually that sold on Kokoskov but of the remaining named candidates, he's the one I'm most likely to be able to talk myself into being optimistic about.

No issues with his accent or English.

Lol!! Well I know how many state side struggle with my accent when I come to visit and I speak very clear English so I’ll understand if some struggle with any kind of accent.
I’ve listened to the interview and he is very clear, articulate and looks like he knows what he’s taking about.

If the American players who have had little exposure to anything but ‘American’ spoken language struggle with him, it would only be for a short while as their ears tune in to an ‘accent’ as is the norm in language acquisition.

For me it is an irrelevance because if he becomes coach he will have plenty of time to get to know the players and even more time to convey his points across before the season starts. Once started they won’t have any challenge being able to understand his already clear (imo) speech.

There are plenty of clips of Igors national team offense on youtube:


Assuming he runs something similar, here are some observations:

- motion offense, plenty of back screens, double screens, hand off then go screen for another guy nearby who will likely be the guy who shoots.
- no overly PG focused.
- would need shooters
- typical euro offense i guess?
- still looks more entertaining than the Portland light BS offensive we have been farting out the past few seasons. Could see josh, devin and bender doing well in that offense, oh and a certain euro draft prospect TJ would need to improve his outside shot since most of it looks having the D second guess what each guy is going to do - rather than watsons offense where you could tell what they were going to do ahead of time - several hands offs where players have changed places, wasted around 15 seconds of shot clock and not put any pressure on the Defense.

They're talking basketball, not quantum dynamics.

I know for myself, it only takes a few conversations to adjust to someone's accent and hear everything they're saying clearly. I think I have a good ear tho, so that might not be typical for everyone. But if you're around a coach like Igor 2-3-4 hours a day, if not more, in practice/film sessions/travel you'll understand him in no time.

i think he's the target for us. He's got some good experience, has coached here before, and most importantly, he'll come cheap.

virtual9mm wrote:If I were a betting man, I would bet on Kokoskov. Remember that Kokoskov was the only assistant that didn't resign over the Lindsay Hunter fiasco. I am absolutely certain that Sarver and McDonough remember this favorably.

Also:

ESPN Sources: Phoenix has removed Jay Triano from consideration for its head coaching position. Triano served as the interim coach. Assistant coach Ty Corbin has been relieved of his duties.

Corbin is gone, but Jay Triano has only been removed from consideration for a head coaching position. I very strongly suspect that Triano will remain as associate head coach (i.e. head assistant), especially if the new hire is Kokoskov or another assistant without his own coaching staff.

Overall, if we're looking at Kokoskov as HC supported by Triano in his proper and natural role, we might be hitting the jackpot. Very much liking how this is looking.

That's some serious reading between the lines. I like it.

England Sun wrote:Lol!! Well I know how many state side struggle with my accent when I come to visit and I speak very clear English so I’ll understand if some struggle with any kind of accent.
I’ve listened to the interview and he is very clear, articulate and looks like he knows what he’s taking about.

If the American players who have had little exposure to anything but ‘American’ spoken language struggle with him, it would only be for a short while as their ears tune in to an ‘accent’ as is the norm in language acquisition.

For me it is an irrelevance because if he becomes coach he will have plenty of time to get to know the players and even more time to convey his points across before the season starts. Once started they won’t have any challenge being able to understand his already clear (imo) speech.

Dude, can you type that again, only slower? I don't think I got it all.

I know we did a phone interview the first time with Igor, you gotta think the next one will be in person. Do we wait until Utah is eliminated or can we get it done on an off day? I guess McD could fly out to Utah, that might be the best option. If we choose to hire him, do we announce while Utah is still playing or wait until they are eliminated? I guess I'm just wondering how long this will drag out. We would have similar issues with Nick nurse and Toronto.

Maybe he's getting a 2nd interview in person because the 1st one was over the phone and they couldn't understand him?

Split T wrote:I know we did a phone interview the first time with Igor, you gotta think the next one will be in person. Do we wait until Utah is eliminated or can we get it done on an off day? I guess McD could fly out to Utah, that might be the best option. If we choose to hire him, do we announce while Utah is still playing or wait until they are eliminated? I guess I'm just wondering how long this will drag out. We would have similar issues with Nick nurse and Toronto.

Middle of next week is when Utah will be eliminated. So we've got 2 weeks at most.

I feel like you guys are punking me. He's perfectly understandable and he knows all the buzz words like playing downhill and vertically versus side-to-side.

Superbone wrote:I feel like you guys are punking me. He's perfectly understandable and he knows all the buzz words like playing downhill and vertically versus side-to-side.

Ya... I don't get what is going on here at all.

UglyTruth wrote:

carey wrote:Honest question, do you think his accent will be a problem for the players? It's better than the last time he was here but still pretty thick. It's a little worse than Goran's.

100% yes.

See link posted above and tell me if you understood anything he said without cringing.

Huh? That was fine.

specialsauce wrote:

UglyTruth wrote:

carey wrote:Honest question, do you think his accent will be a problem for the players? It's better than the last time he was here but still pretty thick. It's a little worse than Goran's.

100% yes.

See link posted above and tell me if you understood anything he said without cringing.

Huh? That was fine.

Yeah, I don't understand the problem with his English at all. Seems perfectly fine to me.

If we bring in Kokoskov, I hope we'll bring back Frank Johnson as an assistant. And then maybe we could also hire basketball writer Marc Stein as an advisor or scout. Then we'd have Frank 'n Stein and Igor!

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:If we bring in Kokoskov, I hope we'll bring back Frank Johnson as an assistant. And then maybe we could also hire basketball writer Marc Stein as an advisor or scout. Then we'd have Frank 'n Stein and Igor!

Marty, no. Just... no.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:If we bring in Kokoskov, I hope we'll bring back Frank Johnson as an assistant. And then maybe we could also hire basketball writer Marc Stein as an advisor or scout. Then we'd have Frank 'n Stein and Igor!

12/10 I live for this stuff.