Coaching change.

[jagu]

Who do you guys think would be a good replacement for Porter?

I'm going to go with Jeff Van Gundy.

 

[The Commish]

Yes, let's make our offense more stagnant!

 

[phxsun_fan_ph]

My Top 5 Candidates To Replace Porter:

1. Flip Saunders
2. Avery Johnson
3. Eddie Johnson
4.jeff Van Gundy
5.tom Thibodeau

 

[phxsun_fan_ph]

i smell a riot will going to happen at downtown phoenix if suns will lose 2 straight more games

 

[Wonder]

I almost want them to lose a little more to get the coach fired, maybe some trades (amare not included) and see if a knew coach can make something happen 30 games left into the season.

This team playing at their best (with amare and shaq) can be deadly no matter what is happening at the moment.

 

[Hat]

I'd say Flip.

Can't stand Avery, and I having a feeling Van Gundy doesn't want to coach.

 

[PhoenixMaverick]

My vote is for Avery Johnson

 

[mojorizen7]

Yes, let's make our offense more stagnant!

Offense,offense,offense.....
Haven't some of you SUNS fans learned yet?

 

[mojorizen7]

Maybe Kerr would make a better HC than a GM?

That was certainly the case with D'Antoni.
Just sayin'.

 

[Covert Rain]

My Top 5 Candidates To Replace Porter:

1. Flip Saunders
2. Avery Johnson
3. Eddie Johnson
4.jeff Van Gundy
5.tom Thibodeau

That's not a great list. Flip??? He has always underachieved. Avery? The guy managed to get his entire team to tune him out within a short time after winning the coach of the year award. Eddie Johnson should stick to commentary. Knowledge does not equal good coach.

Jeff Fan Gundy might be interesting but to me, Tom Thibodeau is the person I want the most for this team. He has a proven track record for defense with every team he has been on.

 

[Errntknght]

Tom Thibodeau would be my first choice but if Boston is smart they won't let him interview - though, I don't think any team has stopped an assistant who is being considered for a HC job. He has a long history as a defensive mastermind and is respected by all the coaches around the league for that. There was much talk about him moving to a HC job last summer and I didn't hear anything about him not wanting to do it but nothing materialized while Vinnie del Negro got an HC job. It all makes me think that Mr. Thibodeau is not that eager to give it a shot. But of course he could be too smart to step into a bad situation so he's biding his time and improving his resume with the Celts.

I wouldn't say he's a lock to be a great head coach, though van Gundy was once quoted as saying he thought Tom was the best candidate among all the assistant coaches around the league. (He was JvG's asst at the time.) He's probably a much better gamble than most candidates because he, at least, knows one half of the game very well.

I'm not interested in bringing in a long time head coach - if I'm not mistaken Larry Brown is the only HC that won his first NBA title late in his career, and Rick Carlisle had done all the hard work of getting the Pistons primed for him. (If anyone knows of other examples of that besides LB, I'd be interested in hearing about them. Chuck Daley (Detroit) is a possibility, but I just don't remember those days that well - he wasn't real young, I know that.)

My second choice would be Eddie Johnson - he is as astute about the game as any announcer I've ever listened to and, unlike Steeldog, knowledge is right up near the top of my list of qualities for a HC. He's very level headed and seems personable. He also doesn't tell people only things they want to hear. Of course, a HC has to be an advocate for his guys at times but I want to him to have an unclouded of view of what is happening on the court - and EJ personified that as an announcer. He has relationships with quite a few of the players and others in the organization so he wouldn't be coming in completely cold either - a help in midseason.

 

[elindholm]

How anyone can support Eddie Johnson is beyond me. One would think that the experience with Porter would be enough to convince us that being a nice guy who talks a good game isn't adequate qualification for NBA coaching. The Suns need someone with actual credentials. Yet another friend of the family isn't going to command the respect of this dysfunctional roster.

 

[The Commish]

Offense,offense,offense.....
Haven't some of you SUNS fans learned yet?

I agree defense wins championships, but this group in completely incapable of playing D at a high level. At least I know where our strengths lie...

 

[jagu]

I agree defense wins championships, but this group in completely incapable of playing D at a high level. At least I know where our strengths lie...

Offense was ONCE a strength, they are an old bunch and you possibly can't expect them to outgun the teams in the league every night. Defense, at least SOME, is needed. I can score 30 on the Suns.

 

[Covert Rain]

Tom Thibodeau would be my first choice but if Boston is smart they won't let him interview - though, I don't think any team has stopped an assistant who is being considered for a HC job. He has a long history as a defensive mastermind and is respected by all the coaches around the league for that. There was much talk about him moving to a HC job last summer and I didn't hear anything about him not wanting to do it but nothing materialized while Vinnie del Negro got an HC job. It all makes me think that Mr. Thibodeau is not that eager to give it a shot. But of course he could be too smart to step into a bad situation so he's biding his time and improving his resume with the Celts.

I wouldn't say he's a lock to be a great head coach, though van Gundy was once quoted as saying he thought Tom was the best candidate among all the assistant coaches around the league. (He was JvG's asst at the time.) He's probably a much better gamble than most candidates because he, at least, knows one half of the game very well.

I'm not interested in bringing in a long time head coach - if I'm not mistaken Larry Brown is the only HC that won his first NBA title late in his career, and Rick Carlisle had done all the hard work of getting the Pistons primed for him. (If anyone knows of other examples of that besides LB, I'd be interested in hearing about them. Chuck Daley (Detroit) is a possibility, but I just don't remember those days that well - he wasn't real young, I know that.)

My second choice would be Eddie Johnson - he is as astute about the game as any announcer I've ever listened to and, unlike Steeldog, knowledge is right up near the top of my list of qualities for a HC. He's very level headed and seems personable. He also doesn't tell people only things they want to hear. Of course, a HC has to be an advocate for his guys at times but I want to him to have an unclouded of view of what is happening on the court - and EJ personified that as an announcer. He has relationships with quite a few of the players and others in the organization so he wouldn't be coming in completely cold either - a help in midseason.

I never said knowldege was not right up there. I said knowledge doesn't translate into being a good head coach. There is zero evidence that Eddie Johnson can coach basketball. This teams needs someone with a track record. This team doesn't need someone who will learn on the job.

 

[TBaslim]

My Top 5 Candidates To Replace Porter:

1. Flip Saunders
2. Avery Johnson
3. Eddie Johnson
4.jeff Van Gundy
5.tom Thibodeau

Tough to make a good list for what this team needs. I think the current team's defensive potential is all about hustle - they will never be very good based on skill, but when they are feeling it on offense, and are up and motivated, they can play ok defense.

They need a coach who understands that and can motivate them, along with doing some good X's and O's, in-game adjustments, etc. They need a wise-old bball shrink more then a genius whiteboard guy. Sadly, Porter appears to be neither at this stage of his coaching career (he might get there, just not on the Sun's timeline).

In terms of options, hmmm...

I've never been much impressed with Flip's teams, and he had a veteran team with championship experience fold on him late in the playoffs. Never a good sign.

JVG is a good coach, but all wrong for this roster. He would have more trouble then Porter in some ways. To much X's and O's, not enough Obi-Wan.

Thibodeau is similar, but I don't know much about him. Can he relate to players and coach an offense that varies between run-n-gun and Shaq-ball? If so, maybe him.

Avery would probably command some respect and be able to relate to the diverse personalities on the team for awhile - kind-of the old-school preacher type - might be the right guy to get the most out of this bunch for the rest of the season. Long term, probably not, but maybe in the short term.

EJ is intriguing, only because he seems very astute about the game and the players - moreso then Kerr when he was commentating, or other ex-coaches like JVG. Who knows - it worked for the Lakers when they pulled Pat Riley from the booth to coach a very talented but underachiveing team.

Realistically, Alvin Gentry is the prime candidate for the rest of this season, as he knows the ropes and can step right in without pause. Ivaroni would be intersting too, but he's a pretty young coach - not good for this bunch - that's part of Porter's problem.

Heck, I'd call Don Nelson and Doug Collins too. Too bad Chuck Daly isn't around - he'd light this team up in a hurry.

I miss Cotton the most - he would have had fun getting this roster to play well -and they would have too.

 

[Mainstreet]

Offense,offense,offense.....
Haven't some of you SUNS fans learned yet?

I've learned it sucks to lose and getting rid of a good coach on the cheap is stupid.

I might add, the Suns, if they want to play good defense, should add good defensive players. That is a huge factor in playing good defense. Look how much Raja impacted the Suns defensively when he first arrived. It was sad to see the fire go out of him after the Kobe incident. Also Joe Johnson played good defense plus KT and James Jones. I will not touch Marion but he could play some defense as well.

 

[mojorizen7]

I agree defense wins championships, but this group in completely incapable of playing D at a high level. At least I know where our strengths lie...

Agree, so you change your personel.

 

[Errntknght]

How anyone can support Eddie Johnson is beyond me. One would think that the experience with Porter would be enough to convince us that being a nice guy who talks a good game isn't adequate qualification for NBA coaching. The Suns need someone with actual credentials. Yet another friend of the family isn't going to command the respect of this dysfunctional roster.

LOL. I expected it to be beyond you - and most everyone else in here. Ridicule was what I expected but I'm not backing down - sadly, from my point of view, we'll never find out whether EJ could pull it off or not.
Of course, if my GM job was on the line, I'd dig a lot deeper before I'd hire him. Coaching is best done as a team effort and I'd want to know who he'd like to surround himself with - who could help where he was weakest. I'd want to know, in particular, about a big man coach. Iavaroni seemed to have great credentials, but I never saw anything on the floor that even hinted he was of any use to our bigs. Get into the nitty-gritty of his ideas on structuring the offense and defense - and how he sees this group of players fitting into that.

I admired the job Bird did at Indiana - he put then relatively unknown Rick Carlisle in charge of the defense and another assistant, don't recall who it was, in charge of the offense. They didn't win any titles but he turned the team around in short order after the great Larry Brown had about the same group of guys playing like crap.

Look at what PJ has done by relying on Winter to handle the offense for him. Phil is a fine coach on his own, no doubt, but what a boost to have the most intricate offense in the league in the hands of the guy that invented it. Now, that kind of opportunity doesn't come along very often but how many coaches would be open to trusting an assistant to that extent?

You do make a valid point about EJ commanding respect - it could well be where he'd fail. But as far as credentials go, I think that as often as not what long time coaches have proved is that they can't win it all.

Then there is the historical perspective I mentioned - its amazing how often coaches win a title very early in their careers and or never do. That popped into my mind when I was reading an very interesting book called "Blink" - where the author makes the point that the seeming business geniuses are almost invariably men who have invested 40,000 hours of work in some area at an early age and that coincides with a new type of opportunity which they recognize and seize. (It may be another book by the same author as I read three of them, one right after the other.)