Discussing Potential Coaches Thread

[LyricalRico]

As for the next coach, all signs point to Flip Saunders. As I've reported before, Ernie Grunfeld is playing his cards close to the vest, but the chatter is that Saunders makes sense. I would agree.

All I can say is I can't wait to ditch the so-called "Princeton offense" no-matter who the coach is.

Actually I felt pretty good when i read this. If Ivan writes it, that means it either already happened and reported by another paper or it will never happen.

I haven't read any other articles saying we've hired Flip Saunders as our next coach.

(Although I do like Saunders as a coach...)

[Rafael122]

Can Saunders teach defense? Is he defensive minded? I never paid attention to his coaching style in Detroit or Minnesota.

It's surprising b/c Abe is still and will be paying Eddie Jordan unless he got all of his money in one check. Saunders won't come cheap.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

I think Flip did a good job with what he had in Minnesota. It's not his fault McHale sucked. I think the defense at Detroit definitely took a step back when he was there, but that doesn't mean he won't be able to improve the zards d. Shoot, my fricking GRAMMA...

[LyricalRico]

I think Flip did a good job with what he had in Minnesota. It's not his fault McHale sucked. I think the defense at Detroit definitely took a step back when he was there, but that doesn't mean he won't be able to improve the zards d. Shoot, my fricking GRAMMA...

I think Flip did an awesome job for years with a 1-man team in Minnesota. KG couldn't carry the load in the playoffs but that's not Flip's fault. The one year he had a real team (KG, Spree, Cassell) they went to the WCF.

When he got to Detroit, they weren't as good defensively but Ben Wallace was on the decline and they didn't have much of a bench. He still got to the conference finals twice, losing a hard fought series to Shaq/Wade and then to LeBron (when Ben suddenly fell off a cliff and was let go the following summer).

I'm not sure how you can say that a guy with that kind of resume isn't a very good coach. Maybe you don't think he's a good fit for our personnel but I don't think you can deny he's a quality NBA coach.

[Ruzious]

Can Saunders teach defense? Is he defensive minded? I never paid attention to his coaching style in Detroit or Minnesota.

It's surprising b/c Abe is still and will be paying Eddie Jordan unless he got all of his money in one check. Saunders won't come cheap.

My impression is that Flip is a lot like EJ. Detroit's defense seemed to take a big dip when he took over. I'm not sure how much of that was Big Ben deteriorating or Flip changing things. But they seemed to put a lot less emphasis on being the great defensive team they used to be - when he came aboard. And I've always got the impression that he's more of an offensive-minded coach who's good at motivating his players. He's not my first choice, but he'd be a huge improvement over EdT, and he adds a credibility factor - the players will pay attention to him and have confidence in him - ala EJ.

[miller31time]

Almost any potential head coach in this league has a better understanding of defense and can implement a better defensive scheme than Eddie Jordan.

What we, as Wizards fans, need to do is not use EJ's immense defensive suckitude as the barometer for what coach we pick.

Flip Saunders, when looking at all NBA head coaches, is probably about average in terms of defensive teaching and implementation. I wouldn't say he's anything special, but at the same time, he's not bad.

That's not what I'm looking for in a coach. We don't need a "passable" defensive coach. We need a defensive guru.

That should be priority #1, with everything else (including ability to foster team chemistry, and offensive implementation) becoming secondary.

[LyricalRico]

We don't need a "passable" defensive coach. We need a defensive guru.

That should be priority #1, with everything else (including ability to foster team chemistry, and offensive implementation) becoming secondary.

Just to take the other side of that argument, how is that going to affect his use of the current roster? Defensive coaches generally prefer defensive players, which we don't have a lot of. Now I'm not saying that EJ should have been given a pass because we lack great defensive talent. But I am saying that asking this team to be Boston or Cleveland defensively may be setting yourself up for disappointment - again, unless you're planning on a serious roster makeover.

I have no doubt that this team can be average defensively. With a healthy Haywood, an improved McGuire, and shot blocking bigs on the bench this team has no excuse not to be in at least the 14-16 range defensively. AT LEAST. Can they go higher? Maybe, but not to the top 5 IMO, which is the whole reason why you would hire a defensive guru.

My point is that getting a purely defensive guy without blowing up the roster isn't going to be as rosy as you might think. (You might even start hating him when he forces trades for guys like Reggie Evans and Trenton Hassell because of their defense/rebounding.) But getting a guy who can keep everybody interested offensively, deploy sensible rotations, and motivate the troops - while still keeping us in the middle of the pack defensively - may be a little more realistic. At least in the short run.

Let's see this team be average on defense for a couple years in a row. Then we can talk about turning them into the Bad Boys circa 1990.

[Rafael122]

Like I said, the assistants that will be brought in will be interesting.

If its Thibs, he's probably gonna bring in an offensive coordinator of sorts and surround himself with guys who have coached in the NBA before, ala Del Negro, who has Del Harris on his staff I believe.

If its Saunders, he'll probably bring in a defensive coordinator and just focus on the offense.

It'd be a nice start of this team can defend the pick and roll. Baby steps.

[doclinkin]

Almost any potential head coach in this league has a better understanding of defense and can implement a better defensive scheme than Eddie Jordan.

What we, as Wizards fans, need to do is not use EJ's immense defensive suckitude as the barometer for what coach we pick.

Flip Saunders, when looking at all NBA head coaches, is probably about average in terms of defensive teaching and implementation. I wouldn't say he's anything special, but at the same time, he's not bad.

Flip Saunders wrote the book on zone defenses. Literally. He's a pretty good defensive coach. Still need defensive personnel to become a top defensive team.

[miller31time]

We don't need a "passable" defensive coach. We need a defensive guru.

That should be priority #1, with everything else (including ability to foster team chemistry, and offensive implementation) becoming secondary.

Just to take the other side of that argument, how is that going to affect his use of the current roster? Defensive coaches generally prefer defensive players, which we don't have a lot of. Now I'm not saying that EJ should have been given a pass because we lack great defensive talent. But I am saying that asking this team to be Boston or Cleveland defensively may be setting yourself up for disappointment - again, unless you're planning on a serious roster makeover.

I have no doubt that this team can be average defensively. With a healthy Haywood, an improved McGuire, and shot blocking bigs on the bench this team has no excuse not to be in at least the 14-16 range defensively. AT LEAST. Can they go higher? Maybe, but not to the top 5 IMO, which is the whole reason why you would hire a defensive guru.

My point is that getting a purely defensive guy without blowing up the roster isn't going to be as rosy as you might think. (You might even start hating him when he forces trades for guys like Reggie Evans and Trenton Hassell because of their defense/rebounding.) But getting a guy who can keep everybody interested offensively, deploy sensible rotations, and motivate the troops - while still keeping us in the middle of the pack defensively - may be a little more realistic. At least in the short run.

Let's see this team be average on defense for a couple years in a row. Then we can talk about turning them into the Bad Boys circa 1990.

I wouldn't expect similar results (I've even argued as such) but I am looking for a coach who can do something along the lines of what Skiles did in Milwaukee (probably not to that extent). That Bucks team has no place being a good defensive team but you bring in a top-notch defensive coach, you give the players a strong, fundamentally sound scheme to work with, you teach it properly and bam, you have a pretty good defensive squad.

I'm not delusional. I don't expect this team to go from bottom-of-the-barrel to elite, over-night. But the first step in shaping this team into one that must be taken seriously on defense is to hire a defensive guru as head coach and not merely a good "overall" coach.

[miller31time]

Flip Saunders wrote the book on zone defenses. Literally. He's a pretty good defensive coach. Still need defensive personnel to become a top defensive team.

Wonderful. So for the 10% of the game we go zone, we'll be dandy.

[doclinkin]

Flip Saunders wrote the book on zone defenses. Literally. He's a pretty good defensive coach. Still need defensive personnel to become a top defensive team.

Wonderful. So for the 10% of the game we go zone, we'll be dandy.

Nope, his flex zone has been noted to frustrate and confuse more than a few teams. He'll show zone then fade into man, etc. I'm not advocating Flip, but:

07-08 defensive rating: 4th
06-07 7th
05-06 5th
04-05 twolves 14th... with Wally Sczerbiak playing the second most minutes next to KG
03-04 6th with Spree and Cassell

If you have defenders you can play defense.

[Zerocious]

had a laugh with this one: nickname for tap: tanksquat, lol, anywho.......how 'bout them bills?

[miller31time]

If you have defenders and a good defensive scheme, you can play defense. You can have good defenders and play poor defense and you can have poor defenders and play good defense.

Look at guys like Mike Brown who took a team with Drew Gooden playing 30+ minutes per game, Big Z playing 30+, and a young LeBron playing 35+, and they were one of the top defensive teams in the NBA. It's no coincidence Brown is considered a defensive genius (though his offensive understanding is lacking).

You bring up Flip's team rankings but he had a prime Garnett with the T-Wolves and the Pistons were already rock-solid defensively before he came there. Actually, I believe they regressed a bit on defense when Flip arrived (I'm pretty sure they were top-3 in 03-04 and 04-05).

If you gave a defensive genius (a guy like Mike Brown or TT) a team with Garnett spearheading the defense or a team with Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Prince and Billups, that coach will have them at #1 rather easily, IMHO, so Flip's rankings aren't too impressive to me.

[newslowsad]

After all the awful coaches we've had, Flip Saunders would be a godsend. I'd feel great about it.

[hands11]

All this talk of defensive personnel like we don't have any.

Really our only big problem is we start AJ at PF.

Put Haywood at center with even Blatche and things change dramatically.
Now we will have McGee as a second option down there. This changes everything. We can protect the paint man up with 7 footers. This is more like what Cleveland throws at you. Even if we keep Etan and DSong, they are fine as filler to back up that core.

Add to that DMAC, NY, and Critter and you have at 6 defensive players.
3 post. 3 perimeter

with the right coach demanding he play some, Gilbert will be better. CB can be ok also. If DSleezy returns healthy he should be ok also.

We don't have a team of terrible defenders. We have a bad scheme and this year no true center and AJ at PF. Throw this year away. It was a development year. We were the most injured team in the league. The other years have to be viewed with an eye on EFJ was coaching them and he had no clue.

Haywood will be back and the scheme can change. The biggest problem remains moving AJ from PF.
Haywood is good but he can't do it all by himself. He isn't Shaq, Wilt or B Russell in their prime.

We have had the personnel to play better D for years. There were always better options then Haywood and AJ or Etan and AJ or Ruffin and AJ. We just never played them.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

All this talk of defensive personnel like we don't have any.

Really our only big problem is we start AJ at PF.

Put Haywood at center with even Blatche and things change dramatically.
Now we will have McGee as a second option down there. This changes everything. We can protect the paint man up with 7 footers. This is more like what Cleveland throws at you. Even if we keep Etan and DSong, they are fine as filler to back up that core.

Add to that DMAC, NY, and Critter and you have at 6 defensive players.
3 post. 3 perimeter

with the right coach demanding he play some, Gilbert will be better. CB can be ok also. If DSleezy returns healthy he should be ok also.

We don't have a team of terrible defenders. We have a bad scheme and this year no true center and AJ at PF.

I concur, hands, except with Nick being a perimeter defender. He's not a good defender.

[lupin]

I don't think it will be Flip. I just don't see them spending the money and Flip would probably get $5m+ on his contract (per year). I think they'll go for someone that can be had for $3m or less on their first contract, like an assistant or one of these lesser knowns from the other leagues.

[TheSecretWeapon]

If you have defenders and a good defensive scheme, you can play defense. You can have good defenders and play poor defense and you can have poor defenders and play good defense.

Look at guys like Mike Brown who took a team with Drew Gooden playing 30+ minutes per game, Big Z playing 30+, and a young LeBron playing 35+, and they were one of the top defensive teams in the NBA. It's no coincidence Brown is considered a defensive genius (though his offensive understanding is lacking).

You bring up Flip's team rankings but he had a prime Garnett with the T-Wolves and the Pistons were already rock-solid defensively before he came there. Actually, I believe they regressed a bit on defense when Flip arrived (I'm pretty sure they were top-3 in 03-04 and 04-05).

If you gave a defensive genius (a guy like Mike Brown or TT) a team with Garnett spearheading the defense or a team with Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Prince and Billups, that coach will have them at #1 rather easily, IMHO, so Flip's rankings aren't too impressive to me.

Credit for Cleveland's defense more properly belongs to assistant coach Hank Egan. Egan was an assistant under Popovich in San Antonio for awhile after coaching in college for decades. Egan helped create the defensive system for the Spurs and left the team after a personal falling out with Popovich. Danny Ferry brought him to Cleveland when he got the GM job.

[barelyawake]

If you have defenders and a good defensive scheme, you can play defense. You can have good defenders and play poor defense and you can have poor defenders and play good defense.

In my best John Madden, "See, now if ya want yerself a good defensive team, you gotta get yerself some good defensive players. If you got a kid, and he'll get over there and block or get in there and take a charge, you probably got yerself a good defensive player. Now, you get five guys like that, and more than likely ya got yerself a good defensive team. But, here's the deal, if you don't have good defensive players, you still might be able to get yerself a good defensive team. You ask how. Well, then you gotta go get a good defensive coach. See, say you got a kid and he doesn't get over there and block, but you got ya a coach ta tell him, 'Hey kid, get in there and block that.' Then, you still could turn that kid into a good enough defender. Five guys like that, and you probably got yerself a good enough defensive team."