4QF is COY?

[JCSunsfan]

Last night, on KTAR's talk to the coach show, they said that FJ will be Basketball Digest's Coach of the Year. Did anyone else catch that?

Thoughts?

IMO it should be coaching STAFF of the year if anything. Frank owes alot to his assistants.

 

[capologist]

Originally posted by JCSunsfan
Last night, on KTAR's talk to the coach show, they said that FJ will be Basketball Digest's Coach of the Year. Did anyone else catch that?

Thoughts?

IMO it should be coaching STAFF of the year if anything. Frank owes alot to his assistants.

You could say the same thing about a lot of COY winners. Phil Jackson would be nothing without Tex Winter. It's understood that the head coach doesn't do it all by himself.

At any rate, I think that 4QF is underrated. The most remarkable aspect of his coaching performance is management of egos.

• Remember Mr. "All Alone"?
  
  Remember how New Jersey was thrilled to trade him, because he was selfish and couldn't get along with his coach or his teammates?
  
  Look at him now! He loves his teammates, and his teammates love him. He is a consummate team player and leader.
  
• Remember "And-for-me"?
  
  Remember the former superstar who was constantly whining and pointing figures, blaming everybody and everything in the world for all his problems? Remember how much doubt there was that he could ever accept a role as a complementary player? Remember how getting rid of this guy was far and away the most popular request that fans had for team management?
  
  Remember Peter Vescey going on national TV in February of 2002, when Skiles was still coach, and saying that Penny was such a problem that, if the Suns couldn't trade him, they were going to waive him outright, and eat the remaining $60M on his contract? I don't think anybody really believed that particular report, but Penny was enough of a problem that Vescey was able to say it with a straight face, and it didn't become one of the biggest jokes of the season.
  
  Look at him now! His mouth has been under control. He has accepted his role as a complementary player, and even become one of the best complementary players in the league. We're happy to have him on our team. We'd still like to be rid of his gargantuan contract if we could, but that's only because of money, and trading him is no longer near the top of our to-do list.
  
• Remember a lottery pick out of Arkansas with undeniable skills, but such a fragile psyche that the Celtics had given up on him, and traded him without getting much in return?
  
  Look at him now! He's one of the league's bright up-and-comers. The trade that brought him here is now regarded as ridiculously lopsided in our favor. It's being compared to another Suns-Celtics trade involving a guard named Johnson and a forward with the initials R.R.
  
• Remember the talk about the logjam at PF? Remember the widespread assumption that Googs would have to be part of the rotation, whether he could get the job done or not, because you couldn't sit a player with an eight-figure salary without creating chemistry problems?
  
  Well, he's sitting... and there are no chemistry problems.

Chemistry-wise, this team was a disaster when 4QF took over. It was taking on water like the Titanic. Somehow, the ship is floating again, and going full speed ahead. The team today, with largely the same roster, is one of the most tight-knit groups in the league.

That, to me, is a sign of excellent coaching.

Not to mention that he guided the team to an unexpected playoff berth and elicited a ROY season from a 20-year-old with no college experience and very little high school experience.

Clearly, 4QF had some help from a quality staff of assistant coaches. Just how much of this remarkable performance is attributable to the assistants isn't clear — and IMO doesn't matter. It's a great coaching performance, and the fact that we have some of the best assistants in franchise history shouldn't take anything away from what 4QF has accomplished.

Would I give 4QF my COY vote? I don't know. But he's certainly on my list of candidates.

 

[Skratchy_Seal]

Excellent points!! I also remember Marbury saying that if Frank was ever to leave...he would go too! Talk about respect!! Imagine Frank with a few seasons under his belt.

 

[elindholm]

You make a good case for the chemistry argument, capologist, although being a nice guy and a good coach are not necessarily the same thing. I would agree that, in the final analysis, Johnson has probably been an above-average coach this year, although that says more about the weakness of the competition than it does about Johnson's qualifications, in my opinion.

One other thing:

but Penny was enough of a problem that Vescey was able to say it with a straight face, and it didn't become one of the biggest jokes of the season.

That's because everyone who follows the league already knows that Vecsey is completely full of it. Almost everything he says is utter nonsense, and we've all adapted to that by now. If someone slightly more credible (like Aldridge) had said the same thing, it definitely would have been one of the biggest jokes of the season. (Compare Aldridge's insistence that the Suns erred by passing on Jeffries, which has indeed become a running joke on this board and elsewhere.)

 

[fordronken]

We could have drafted Jeffries? What were we thinking?

 

[Chaplin]

Good post, cap, and it certainly makes you think.

I still have a lot of issues with playing time/substitutions/rotations, but otherwise, you make some very valid points. I'm not surprised that Frank might be considered, but I will be pretty surprised if Frank wins the award.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Originally posted by elindholm
(Compare Aldridge's insistence that the Suns erred by passing on Jeffries, which has indeed become a running joke on this board and elsewhere.)

Speaking of that, DA has a chat at about 5pm arizona time tonight on ESPN. I am going to try and do my best to make it, but I encourage everyone to ask him:

"Hey DA, do you still think the Suns made a mistkae drafting Amare ahead of Jeffries? Or did Jeffries just loose out on ROY becuase of his injury?"

 

[fordronken]

I think he gets one of those kind of questions every chat, and every time he has a back handed way of redirecting his opinion.

"Dave, Amare Stoudemire has been named by David Stern as the greatest forward in the history of NBA basketball. Do you think, fifteen years ago, when you said the Suns should have drafted Jeffries, that maybe you were wrong?"

"Well, I think points, rebounds, steals, assists, blocks, MVPs and championships are overrated statistics. Jeffries, over the years, has done all the little things that don't wind up in the box score."

 

[JS22]

cap, its nice to have you back! where ya been?

 

[Errntknght]

We don't really know how much FJ has to do with the team chemistry - Marbs had a good attitude here from day 1 and Penny still grumbles to the press when he gets a chance, though he's toned the words down. I'm not trying to fault Frank on that score but things weren't that bad when he took over, especially considering that he was replacing the apoplectic Skiles, who had no business being a head coach. I didn't see any magic touch in his handling of JJ - mainly he played him heavy minutes when he was forced to. The way he slammed Jacodson into the back room of the doghouse for missing a critical shot he shouldn't even have been forced to take, is certainly one blemish on his record as an ego handler - I mention this because it is something that happened in full view and we aren't guessing about Frank's role in it.
Anyway, the team chemistry is good overall so you have to give the head coach good marks for that.
As far as someone teaching/coaching the team sport of basketball Frank is pitiful in spite of having a great bunch of assistants. His only good move all year was to drop the unsuitable motion offense and let the guys use their considerable individual skills. The developement of the teamwork aspect of the Suns game has been very slight - no more than you'd expect from guys playing ball together full time for eight months with no coach. Still, there are almost no crisply run plays and nearly all of the assists in the halfcourt game come on kickouts - not someone going to the hoop. Our bread and butter play the pick and roll sees the 'roll' man getting a pass about once a week. Amare is a talented passer yet we still don't have one play which features him in that role. It's not time to run the offense through him but a healthy move in that direction is long overdue. Heck, we don't have a play where he get's the ball coming off a pick.
One confirmation of this state of affairs is that the level of teamwork increases noticeably when Penny is on the floor - a guy with some grasp of the concept of team play. (Marbury is a fine team player in the emotional sense so this isn't intended as a backhanded slap at him.) Another is the way Frank is on the sidelines gesticualting and shouting all the time - most good coaches coach between games and observe carefully during games. Ainge certainly and Skiles to a lesser extent were from the active sideline school of coaching - and look where it got them.
As others have noted Franks floor game is weak - substitutions, TOs, drawn up plays etc.
We're now getting a good look at FJ making adjustments in a playoff series and so far it is not a pretty sight. We came into the series with a psychological edge and we've lost that. The Spurs have adjusted to the way we played them in the regular season, as one would expect from a well coached team. As I said after game 1, Frank better have some counter moves if we're to have a prayer and he hasn't even tried the obvious one of using Big Jake on Duncan. The only moves he's ever demonstrated have been more small ball and more double teaming - and thus far he's running true to form... and it's not good form either.
Lastly he's botched the center positon the entire year - even if he didn't play Tsakalidis early because of back problems that was just all the more reason to make the best of Voskulh and he let him languish for months. At his best Big Jake needs lots of backing up and Little Jake was the only guy on our roster who had a hope of providing that going forward. How could he not shower him with love and PT?

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Sorry but FJ

FJ is a nice assistant coach. I still don't believe he is a good head coach.

His ability to manage a game leaves a ton to be desired. Maybe he will learn from his mistakes, I don't know...but I am not seeing it. His coaching strategy hasn't changed since game 1.

 

[cheng]

Eddie Johnson is Frank's brother?

I don't know if FJ is even a good assistant coach. He was a spokesman in the Suns community relations department when he first joined the Suns in 94. So his carreer goal wasn't to become to a coach.

 

[JS22]

Anyone wanna hire me as a coach? I have a better coaching strategy in NBA2k3 than Frank does in a playoff game.

 

[Wally]

I'm sorry, but in my opinion, FJ has a looong way to go before he'll even be a legit head coach.
The simple fact that Skiles was fired improved the teams chemistry. Until FJ learns that there is more to life than small-ball and how / when to use players during a game, when to call or not to call time, he will only be an average assistant.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by elindholm
You make a good case for the chemistry argument, capologist, although being a nice guy and a good coach are not necessarily the same thing.

Who said Frank Johnson was a nice guy?

 

[capologist]

Originally posted by Errntknght
The way he slammed Jacodson into the back room of the doghouse for missing a critical shot he shouldn't even have been forced to take, is certainly one blemish on his record as an ego handler - I mention this because it is something that happened in full view and we aren't guessing about Frank's role in it.

What are you talking about? Casey was "slammed into the back room of the doghouse" because Penny returned from injury, which relegated Casey to third-string SG.

Lastly he's botched the center positon the entire year - even if he didn't play Tsakalidis early because of back problems that was just all the more reason to make the best of Voskulh and he let him languish for months. At his best Big Jake needs lots of backing up and Little Jake was the only guy on our roster who had a hope of providing that going forward.

Voskuhl languished? He played nearly a thousand minutes this season. He was given such a significant role in the team's offense that the Arizona Republic published a long article on the subject. Just how much do you expect to use a guy like Voskuhl? I doubt that most other teams would have utilized him as much as we did.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Originally posted by Brian in Mesa
Who said Frank Johnson was a nice guy?

Mrs. Hancock

 

[BC867]

Originally posted by Brian in Mesa
Who said Frank Johnson was a nice guy?

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Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
Mrs. Hancock

I wonder if he favored Small Ball then!

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
Mrs. Hancock

ROTFL

Exactly.

 

[Errntknght]

Casey went from playing consistently and contributing to consistent DNP-CDs from one game to the next, not gradually as Penny worked his way into the lineup. Undoubtedly, Penny's return made it easier for Frank to keep him in the doghouse but that's where he was - he didn't even get GT minutes for weeks after that missed shot.

Considering that our starting center was out or DNP'd 90 percent of the season and Voskuhl is the only center on team that's going to be with us in the future- assuming they don't botch re-signing him - I'd say that 10 minutes per game is ridiculous. And he should have started most of the games - when you have a guy you badly need to succeed you give him every encouragement... for much of the season FJ didn't play him enough to even establish whether he was worth re-signing.