Discussing Potential Coaches Thread

[P'Oed]

hahaha....Eric Snow. Have you seen him on that Real Housewives of Atlanta show? No thanks....and you thought Soljda Boy and Deshawn was a circus

[Pollinator]

My pick for head coach is Thibbs.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baske ... tml?page=0
I read that article and Kobe talking about how awesome he is.
"The Celtics' secret weapon for stopping Kobe Bryant may just be a middle-aged assistant coach whom Bryant credits for helping to make him the player he is today.

"He's awesome," says Bryant, the league's MVP"

Excellent find BruceO. So not only is he a great defensive mind but he has the kind of respect around the league that might just start making the Wizards an attractive spot for free agents, which clearly has not been the case the last few years.

Sounds like it just a question of time before he lands a head coaching gig, and if he is our top choice I imagine we will have competition for him.

[BruceO]

yeah I think we should have an interim coach until he is made available. Whether it is during the season or beginning of next season. Good thing is EG finally gets to pick a coach who has the same philosophies and ideas he has. Someone who will utilize the roster he creates better

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I view Tapscott as purely a stopgap hire.

I think he'll have the ability to lose with the young guys while the Wizards save money for their next hire this offseason.

There are a lot of good candidates that have been mentioned in this thread.

[Benjammin]

David Blatt signed a two year deal with Moscow Dynamo in the summer of this year. I imagine they would not let him out of that contract very easily. So that might eliminate him.

The Suns had an interesting final four of coaching possibilities. As we know, they chose Terry Porter. Their other three candidates were:

1. Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer
2. Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin
3. Houston assistant Elston Turner

So I think it's highly unlikely that JVG or Avery Johnson will be considered. That leaves in my mind one veteran NBA head coach re-tread Flip Saunders and a number of assistant/outside the box types.

Tom Thibodeau
Bill Laimbeer
Budenholzer
Dave Joerger
Tyrone Corbin
Elston Turner

From what I have researched, those are some of the top assistants available.

[LyricalRico]

What if Tapscott leads this team to the playoffs? What if he gets Blatche to play consistently? And what if he does get Gil to buy in to playing defense? Does that put him at the top of the list of potential long-term coaches?

[WizarDynasty]

Eric Snow i think would be a pretty great coach for the wiz.

[doclinkin]

What if Tapscott leads this team to the playoffs? What if he gets Blatche to play consistently? And what if he does get Gil to buy in to playing defense? Does that put him at the top of the list of potential long-term coaches?

If he wants the job, yes.

Like I said I think the guy has a chance to be a pretty good coach. He's spent a long time around the game, immersed in theory and oversight, statistics and commentating. He's from the Pat Riley school of intensity and defense, appreciation for the defensive Bigs, but here he's gotten a taste and appreciation for the freeflowing offense. A really bright guy, I expect him to have a good feel for substitutions, solid fundamental principles, no need to be excessively creative if you have something that works.

He may be meant as a placeholder, but I'd expect the guys all like him and will work hard to keep him in place if they can help it. And yeah, Blatche should have a new lease on life. DSteve looks wary and nervous, if he's better focussed that's not bad. A good start early will help. First game showed the right instinct to step on the larynx of a mediocre team on a long road trip and show no let-up.

[AAEXPRESS]

Just say no to JVG and Avery Johnson. JVG is would be a good coach for a veteran laden team that is not great offensively. JVG seems to have an aversion to offense and he has crazy rotations also. I hear that Avery, even when he had Jason Kidd, wanted to call all the plays from the sideline. By the end of the season last year, the Maverick players were almost in full revolt mode. Just say no.

The more I think about it, I am intrigued by TT as a candidate. My only question is how he will manage players, playing time, etc. I heard someone mention Brian Shaw as a candidate also.

[Benjammin]

I think for different reasons JVG and Avery Johnson are not candidates they would consider. It would take an amazing run for Tapscott to get serious consideration, assuming that he even would want the job permanently. Let's say they make the playoffs, get the eighth seed, and lose 4-0 in the playoffs. That would not be enough for me to consider him seriously. However, if we won a first round playoff series after this kind of start, that would certainly get my attention. He would have to bolster his assistant coaching group in any event.

[keynote]

I was watching highlights of the Wizards' loss to the Bulls on NBATV, and analyst/former coach Kevin Loughery parroted the prevailing conventional wisdom that Eddie Jordan should not have been fired. Every analyst I've heard opine on this issue has the same position: they all think that Eddie was/is a brilliant coach and, barring some sort of egregious backroom miscue that we don't know aobut, he was unfairly made out to be the fall guy for a flawed organization.

Will this prevailing sentiment impact the Wizards' ability to attract a marquis coach at the end of the year (assuming that Taps is only a substitute teacher)? I know there are limited # of coaching opportunities, so random assistants and retired players will likely take their chances no matter what, but I'm concerned that the buzz about the Wizards' organization will make it to tough to attract the elite of the coaching fraternity, e.g., the Candidates With Options. Let's not forget that Tom Thibodeaux spent less than a week with the team before beating a hasty retreat. I'm sure Tom's reasons for leaving the Wizards have leaked/circulated around coaching circles; and I'm also certain that coaches have more details about the EG/EJ dynamic than the press does, or that we do.

Anyway, just a thought. Well-known candidates like Avery, Flip, and TT may not be picking up the phone on the first ring when EG calls this spring.

[BruceO]

I'm not worried about the coaching vacancy. I'm sure anyone would jump at the chance of coaching the talent that we have and won't have big shoes to fill. Also I suspect that the new coach will come at the start of next season or the moment we make a goal for playoffs. Other than that I think next season makes sense for when a new coach should come in. We already have someone who will coach and evaluate our talents more intimately for new moves to be made, we will have a better awareness of what our draft pick will be and that new coach will have a voice in the matter, that new coach will have a voice in the direction. If theoretically Thibbedeau is the first option as I think he should, we won't be able to get him till end of season. No use hiring someone who isn't invested long term to fire them.
I'd be excited if we ran the triangle offense. We have a personnel similar to LA's and we are full of west coast players who grew up laker fans. The best defensive coach out there In my mind is Thibbs. Van gundy isn't coming on board cause of his history with EG, Avery has a bad reputation. An assistant I'd love to see come here is Cassell coming in with Thibbs. He works with players in an interesting way. When practicing with his teammates I've heard how he plays like the player the team mate is meant to guard. To give them a better concept of how to anticipate things. I think Thibbs and Cassell would be awesome.

[Rafael122]

Eddie is a great Xs and Os guy, but he's not a good in game manager. The fact that he didn't know his rotation 3 days before the season opener says a lot.

And say no to Avery Johnson. I've watched him a couple of times on ESPN, and I keep asking myself how this man was a head coach. He doesn't know how to speak.

[doclinkin]

Blatt, a 49 year-old American-Israeli who graduated of Princeton University, has an impressive resume in International basketball, having won a European Championship with the Russian National team, an Italian league championship with Benetton Treviso, a FIBA EuroCup Championship with Dynamo St. Petersburg and a Euroleague championship as the assistant coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Smooth, witty, articulate, at times sarcastic, and always highly demanding of his players and staff (I would know, having worked for him in a scouting capacity this summer) his method of communication is very unique. Always mindful of which buttons to push and when, he is usually able to build an excellent rapport with his players because of his straight up, no-nonsense style of coaching. Interestingly enough, he’s assembled a roster composed of four Americans (two of whom, Travis Hansen and Arriel McDonald have European passports) and five former NBA draft picks—meaning Blatt’s perfect command of the English language (an underrated factor here in Europe) obviously doesn’t go to waste.

Blatt takes a very diplomatic approach to explaining things, allowing a fair amount of dialogue and not exclusively taking a “ball-busting” attitude to getting his players to execute. He seems like more of a glass half-full type than most, and his players obviously seem to appreciate that. That is, unless he’s not seeing what he wants from them, at which point a momentarily volcano-like explosion is not slow to come, and the players are told under no uncertain terms where they erred and how they will correct their mistakes, immediately.

---

Tactically, the coaching staff at Dynamo Moscow breaks down the game of basketball in a way that I was really not prepared for—it’s almost like being at a coaching clinic, 24/7. The lexicon of basketball terms used was massive in every video session—you could feel your basketball IQ improving on a daily basis, as they break the game down to a science. The players we spoke with seem to like the exhaustive, cerebral approach that is demanded of them—you never really saw them surprised by anything the opposition decided to throw at them, due to the incredible amount of preparation that went into each game. Just the knowledge I was able to gain of half-court sets, defensive adjustments and other tactical schemes made this trip worth the price of a plane ticket alone.

Jon G of DX on David Blatt.

[BanndNDC]

Blatt...

Sounds great. Sign me up. I like the communication style that was described (and think it would work in the NBA and gilbert/caron/haywood in particular) especially that he doesn't dumb things down or resort to stereotypical football coach little general mode. we need 21st century coaching and the underappreciated expat genius who isnt overly influenced by NFL style coaching is the type of person that can succeed (if given the chance). im a big proponent of explaining/showing people/players the whys and the theory behind things and my inference is that that is how he approaches things.

i think our problem regarding defense is that the players were constantly coached on what to do but not why. it just seems to me that our defensive problem weren't scheme related but rote learning/rigidity related. too often the players make the base rotations etc when circumstances presented discrete situations that needed adjustments.

[lupin]

Okay, the dominoes are starting to fall now. There will be a lot of coaching vacancies come the end of the season. Are we really going to be that attractive with 10-15 wins? Thibs is probably not touchable during the season - either by rule or by Celtic providence. I say roll the dice and go for the next best before anyone else lines up - get on the Laimbeer Express now!

Right now we're still stuck with a totally lame duck interim coach with completely inexplicable rotations. At least give the fans some reason to hope.

[closg00]

I've been on-board the Laimbeer express for a while now. I don't know how much he is getting paid in Detroit, but I just don't see Ernie going after him. Ernie's coach will be someone safe, probably an assistant coach that he will not have to pay big-bucks to up-front, especially after he botched the re-signing of EJF.

[doclinkin]

Blatt...

Sounds great. Sign me up. I like the communication style that was described (and think it would work in the NBA and gilbert/caron/haywood in particular) especially that he doesn't dumb things down or resort to stereotypical football coach little general mode. we need 21st century coaching and the underappreciated expat genius who isnt overly influenced by NFL style coaching is the type of person that can succeed (if given the chance). im a big proponent of explaining/showing people/players the whys and the theory behind things and my inference is that that is how he approaches things.

i think our problem regarding defense is that the players were constantly coached on what to do but not why. it just seems to me that our defensive problem weren't scheme related but rote learning/rigidity related. too often the players make the base rotations etc when circumstances presented discrete situations that needed adjustments.

One problem with his style being that in the NBA you don't have the time to gameplan like it's a football game. He may burn himself out trying. Too much information, too many games. Some stupid players, and he has less control over player acquisitions. But I like the approach in theory otherwise.

[Mel Proctor]

Folks, I've got some news for you: the next Wiz coach is going to be Abe's grandson, Wes Unseld, Jr.

[bulletproof_32]

Here's another name to add to this thread: Brian Shaw. Saw him on the bench while watching the Knicks/ Lakers game and thought he'd be an interesting choice for a head coach.

I quickly looked through this thread again and didn't see his name previously mentioned so I thought I'd throw it out there (If it's already been discussed/ mentioned/ dismissed, please ignore).

He's got some championships under his belt as a player, and isn't that far removed from his playing days to still be able to relate to today's players. Played with and coached Kobe. Shaq at one time called him the best teammate he ever had. And he banged Madonna back in his Heat days.

Don't know a whole lot about his philosophies but a quick google search returned this snippet:

He is a fan of aggressive defenses and ball-moving offenses and he emphasizes fundamentals. He is known as a great communicator with basketball smarts.

Full Story here

I have no idea though if "aggressive defenses" translates to successful defense, but I do like the fact that defense is mentioned.