Igor Fired

[AzStevenCal]

the question was already answered by not being answered (1 poster said "maybe")
and Charles Barkley and 1 or 2 other people does not constitute a "feeling around the league that the coach got a raw deal"

I don't watch TNT anymore so I did not hear Barkley's comments although I saw them referenced here. But I do watch the Jump and they have a large revolving cast and I've heard many of them (into the double digits) talk about the raw deal Koko was given in Phoenix. And that's prior to him being fired. I can just imagine what they've said since. I have to "imagine" because even though I've recorded the show, I'm not quite ready to hear the inevitable Suns bashing.

And notice I said "apparent" feeling around the league, it's quite possible that the average player, average fan and maybe even the average sports personality feels otherwise. But the group that shows up on the Jump absolutely lays the blame for this season on the Front Office (Sarver on down).

 

[BC867]

It depends on how he takes the criticism. Igor could learn on his next gig to address all the criticisms, be more decisive, better communicate, etc., at his next stop and be a much better coach. Sometimes you learn and grow more from your mistakes.

I wouldn't bet on that. Personality is an important part of leadership. Being able to "get down" with the players .

Igor is passive and does not have the traits of a leader -- the guy on the hot seat dealing with millionaire athletes.

Which is why, as some have posted, he was a lifer Assistant Coach in all of his years of previous NBA experience.

 

[1tinsoldier]

we all agree that getting the worst team and owner in the league was a bad hand to play
but most would also say that he played his bad hand badly
and it doesn't tell us whether anyone on that panel would endorse him being replaced today

 

[JerkFace]

Edit:

I posted a link to an article on Monty Williams here but I deleted it and re-posted it in a more appropriate thread.

 

[1Sun]

I would be thrilled if we could get Monty Williams, but I'm not getting my hopes up. If recent history is any indication, it will be another underwhelming hire like Vanterpool or a WTF hire like Kidd.

 

[Mainstreet]

If that's true it would be interesting to find out why. If that's the case I think that answers the question about whether he'll get another Head Coach job or interview in the future despite the apparent feeling around the league that he got a raw deal in Phoenix. Regardless, I suspect he'll be on Utah or maybe the Dallas staff come next year.

It's all conjecture but perhaps Igor enjoyed a lesser role as an assistant coach. He might have liked working more directly with players. Nothing wrong with him taking a head coaching position and realizing later on that was not his cup of tea. Hopefully it works out best for everyone.

 

[AzStevenCal]

It's all conjecture but perhaps Igor enjoyed a lesser role as an assistant coach. He might have liked working more directly with players. Nothing wrong with him taking a head coaching position and realizing later on that was not his cup of tea. Hopefully it works out best for everyone.

Maybe. I'm just hoping that it didn't involve Booker in any way. I'd hate to learn that Devin or really, any of the players, refused to buy in to Koko's plans. I think it would be an obvious risk when you have an untested head coach, a very young team and a lack of veteran leadership. Crawford can only do so much.

 

[Raze]

Sorry I'm late to the discussion. I just couldn't muster up the desire to talk about this... again. But, here we go again.

Once again the FO proves it's ineptitude. Either they were wrong for hiring Igor in the first place, or they were wrong in firing him after only giving him one year. And say what you want about Igor, but the poor guy took on the worst FO and the worst roster who happened to be the youngest team with a slew of injuries. I'm not sure Red Auerbach or Pop could have done much more under the circumstances.

And whoever we hire next probably will be renting a home here. There's no reason to believe we won't be in the same predicament, again, in 365 days.

That said, I get that James and Jeff have to get their own guy. You have to go into battle with a man you can believe in. They obviously didn't believe in Igor and have their eyes set on Monty. But in all seriousness, if they call themselves friends of Monty, how can they honestly stare him in the eyes and say this is a good place for him to work?

I also get that if you are hired for a new managing position in a dysfunctional office, you have to hand out pink slips to the parties with the biggest blame-share. And since they can't fire Sarver who owns 99 shares, they had to fire Igor who had the remaining 1.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Sorry I'm late to the discussion. I just couldn't muster up the desire to talk about this... again. But, here we go again.

Once again the FO proves it's ineptitude. Either they were wrong for hiring Igor in the first place, or they were wrong in firing him after only giving him one year. And say what you want about Igor, but the poor guy took on the worst FO and the worst roster who happened to be the youngest team with a slew of injuries. I'm not sure Red Auerbach or Pop could have done much more under the circumstances.

And whoever we hire next probably will be renting a home here. There's no reason to believe we won't be in the same predicament, again, in 365 days.

That said, I get that James and Jeff have to get their own guy. You have to go into battle with a man you can believe in. They obviously didn't believe in Igor and have their eyes set on Monty. But in all seriousness, if they call themselves friends of Monty, how can they honestly stare him in the eyes and say this is a good place for him to work?

I also get that if you are hired for a new managing position in a dysfunctional office, you have to hand out pink slips to the parties with the biggest blame-share. And since they can't fire Sarver who owns 99 shares, they had to fire Igor who had the remaining 1.

I'm not saying you're wrong on any count and I don't know how this factors in but consider that Gambo has reported that Igor wasn't sure if he even wanted to remain as the Head Coach and Woj reported that we had been intending to give Koko another year. Maybe there's more to this than just the Suns front office once again being inept?

 

[1Sun]

I think that given Igor's lack of skill set for the head coaching position, Igor was in over his head and out of his element, and in the end that was equally apparent to the Suns and to Igor, particularly given the players' ambivalence toward him as head coach. Say what you want about the hand Igor was dealt roster-wise. I just don't think he was ever comfortable being the head honcho of a team of young Americans, just as he wasn't during the Lindsey Hunter "era".

 

[1tinsoldier]

Once again the FO proves it's ineptitude. Either they were wrong for hiring Igor in the first place, or they were wrong in firing him after only giving him one year.

if they were wrong in hiring him, they would be wrong in keeping him

it would be inept to make a decision on an issue Wednesday based on the information you gleaned Monday without considering what you learned on Tuesday.

you're skipping a whole season of results and evaluation

 

[Yuma]

I'm not saying you're wrong on any count and I don't know how this factors in but consider that Gambo has reported that Igor wasn't sure if he even wanted to remain as the Head Coach and Woj reported that we had been intending to give Koko another year. Maybe there's more to this than just the Suns front office once again being inept?

This is problematic, if the head coach is unsure he wants to be here. What if Igor goes through the off season and then decides his heart isn't in it after everyone has alteady grabbed up the available coaches?

 

[1Sun]

This is problematic, if the head coach is unsure he wants to be here. What if Igor goes through the off season and then decides his heart isn't in it after everyone has alteady grabbed up the available coaches?

Frankly, given what I observed over the course of the season, I wonder if Igor's heart was ever in it.

 

[Western Font]

I wonder if anything will come out about the draft that contradicts the company line. Say, if Igor took the job for the chance to coach Doncic and never fully got on board with instituting a system to feature Ayton. This would be both a personnel and coaching failure.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

uh, you might just be better off not saying anything for a while, like Sir* and *Head whose abundant and aggressively repressive posts you "liked" so much

I am not sure who you think you are to tell people not to post but if it happens again you will be taking a long break from this forum.

 

[Raze]

I'm not saying you're wrong on any count and I don't know how this factors in but consider that Gambo has reported that Igor wasn't sure if he even wanted to remain as the Head Coach and Woj reported that we had been intending to give Koko another year. Maybe there's more to this than just the Suns front office once again being inept?

Good point.

If true, then my next question would be "Why would a guy who's spent his entire life coaching basketball, patiently wait for his opportunity to get one of the 30 elite NBA jobs, only to want out after one year?" I mean, it's also possible that he's just so frustrated with the ineptitude of this organization that he wanted out. How many 1st year NBA HC's have wanted out before? He's got to be in a select few. Which again, makes me wonder if it's more us than him.

I don't know. With our awful history, it still makes us look bad.

 

[Yuma]

Good point.

If true, then my next question would be "Why would a guy who's spent his entire life coaching basketball, patiently wait for his opportunity to get one of the 30 elite NBA jobs, only to want out after one year?" I mean, it's also possible that he's just so frustrated with the ineptitude of this organization that he wanted out. How many 1st year NBA HC's have wanted out before? He's got to be in a select few. Which again, makes me wonder if it's more us than him.

I don't know. With our awful history, it still makes us look bad.

I know I took jobs I thought I really wanted, and then later totally didn't want the job anymore. It wasn't what I thought the job was going to be like. Just thinking maybe the head coach job wasn't what he thought it would be.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Good point.

If true, then my next question would be "Why would a guy who's spent his entire life coaching basketball, patiently wait for his opportunity to get one of the 30 elite NBA jobs, only to want out after one year?" I mean, it's also possible that he's just so frustrated with the ineptitude of this organization that he wanted out. How many 1st year NBA HC's have wanted out before? He's got to be in a select few. Which again, makes me wonder if it's more us than him.

I don't know. With our awful history, it still makes us look bad.

Agreed. And I really hate to say it but I think a lack of player buy-in might have soured him. I just can't think of anything else that could have done it, at least not that he wouldn't have known about in advance (organizational issues etc.). Unless he just realized he didn't enjoy everything that goes with being the Head Coach, as was the case with Triano at one time.

 

[sunsfan88]

I don't like how they kept the assistants long enough for everyone to question why they kept them. It's like they were reminded they still had to fire them too, firing Igor didn't do that automatically.

It would be one thing if we as fans questioned it before they were released but there was enough time for the media to ask why they're being kept and start asking the question before it happened. Not a good look, of course they've looked like a joke the last 24 hours anyway. I'm sure the PG's are just line up to come here.

The Suns always have weird businesses with assistant coaches. Didn't they fire few assistant coaches under Hornacek before firing him like a month or two later or something like that? Something weird happened with Gentry back in the day too though I can't remember what it was now.

 

[sunsfan88]

Thanks @sunsfan88 for the tweet post!

Welcome!

 

[sunsfan88]

I didn't listen to Gambo but apparently he said that the Suns will only interview black candidates for the HC job as they can supposedly develop better relationships with the players and also communicate better with James Jones. Reddit is hit or miss so did anyone here who listens to Gambo's radio station hear anything like this??

Certainly hope it's not true and I hope they interview the most qualified candidates regardless of what their skin color is. This doesn't need to turn into LeBron 2.0 in Phoenix.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't like how they kept the assistants long enough for everyone to question why they kept them. It's like they were reminded they still had to fire them too, firing Igor didn't do that automatically.

It would be one thing if we as fans questioned it before they were released but there was enough time for the media to ask why they're being kept and start asking the question before it happened. Not a good look, of course they've looked like a joke the last 24 hours anyway. I'm sure the PG's are just line up to come here.

gotta remember tho Hoop that even though it probably seems like an eternity since late last night when word leaked about Igor being fired, it did happen late last night. And then wasn't confirmed by the team until this morning. Letting people know about the others 3 or 4 hours later doesn't seem that crazy to me... and that's coming from a guy you know thinks our FO is the biggest dumpster fire since the Rodney King Riots.

 

[1tinsoldier]

I am not sure who you think you are to tell people not to post but if it happens again you will be taking a long break from this forum.

i only meant AZ should consider delaying posting in this Igor Fired thread (like SirStef and HoopHead had delayed doing) because when he volunteered that he said "Igor could go down as being one of the best coaches ever" it wasn't helping his case

my bad for the way it came off, and i understand why you messaged me (also, as i said the * was to avoid saying their full names, not a placeholder for an insult, as in the multiple ****. again, my bad)

what i don't understand is why you made a public example of me when i was obviously still upset about HoopHead and Carolinacacti literally telling me and another long-time poster last week to go away and leave the site because they didn't like our coach criticisms.

you singled me out, despite all the times i suggested to HoopHead that we ignore each other and you let him persist?

i could have spared myself a lot of time and frustration if i had listened to SirStef 5 months ago when he also asked "who do i think i am?" for not adhering to the pecking order. i put time and thought into my posts and just assumed my contributions had some value

you win HoopHead & Stef. i am leaving the site as you wished and you should have an easier time controlling the narrative here -- until you try and Thought Police each other

Chris, it's a tough job moderating here, and you normally do a good job but, imo, you conceded this one to the loudest barkers in the alpha dog pack

good luck to you, and to us all in the draft and next season with our new coach

 

[1tinsoldier]

correction. apparently both me and 1sun were singled out for banning because of our reactions to other posters hounding us and telling us to leave.

man, between the two of us, a couple thousand posts and hundreds of hours contributing, but no level of appreciation. ultimately, the bullies got their way. there's been a lot of that going on in the country this year

peace out

 

[slinslin]

I didn't listen to Gambo but apparently he said that the Suns will only interview black candidates for the HC job as they can supposedly develop better relationships with the players and also communicate better with James Jones. Reddit is hit or miss so did anyone here who listens to Gambo's radio station hear anything like this??

Certainly hope it's not true and I hope they interview the most qualified candidates regardless of what their skin color is. This doesn't need to turn into LeBron 2.0 in Phoenix.

maybe you should spend less time on the_donald or wherever you get your 2nd hand knowledge from