New Assistant Coach? Williams?

djohnson

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Williams interested in coaching

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 11, 2007 09:25 PM

Scott Williams was not leaving his interest in the Suns' assistant coaching vacancy to chance. He showed up at US Airways Center on Monday and made it known.

Williams turned down an offer to be a Suns assistant in January 2004, the middle of the forward/center's second season playing for the Suns.

He last played in 2004-05 with Cleveland, where he spent the past season as a broadcaster and commuted from his Valley home.

Williams said he wants to coach to have a greater challenge than broadcasting offered.

The Suns need a coach who can work with big men after losing top assistant Marc Iavaroni, who recently became Memphis' head coach.

"As a (big man) in this league for 15 years, I'd like the opportunity to come down to talk to Coach (Mike) D'Antoni on a formal basis and (General Manager) Steve (Kerr, a former Chicago teammate)," Williams said. "I worked hard as a player in the league. I'm not afraid to start at the bottom. As an undrafted player, I made it 15 years. I have the work ethic. I can sit behind the bench. I can pass balls. I can put my body on bigs in practice.

"They need someone to bang a bit. It's one thing to have players bang against each other all the time. It's nice for players to have that one coach to help with your fundamentals."
 

Nasser22

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Wouldn't be a bad choice to bring a long time NBA big man in to coach those guys. I liked Scott Williams as a player here so I wouldn't mind him.
 

Espo

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It would be another guy in the organization with championship experience.
 

elindholm

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What's with bringing in all of Jordan's old role players? Who's next, Jack Haley?
 

azirish

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I don't know how many coaches the Suns will carry, but Scott Williams was more than just a solid backup. He was considered a GREAT locker room guy.

The Suns are reported to have some chemistry issues (must be pretty bad since they only won 61 games and were the only playoff team to beat the Spurs in San Antonio) and Scott knows Amare and Shawn from his days here.
 

Errntknght

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I think Scotty would make a good 'big man' coach... though I recall being somewhat disappointed when he played here that none of his wiliness rubbed off on the other guys on the team. I took that to mean he wasn't a natural coach and then he passed on the chance to join the coaching ranks. But maybe its better that he gave commentating a shot and didn't find that his cup of tea, so now he's probably convinced that coaching is what he wants to do. I like his taking the intiative. Hope they give him serious consideration.
 

azirish

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It is one thing to get advice from a teammate and another to be given extensive instruction.

The most obvious problem for Amare is to learn how to defend the low post without fouling. IMHO, the most common source of difficulty is when the defender does not have the physical strength to keep his man out of the paint without using his hands. The second is to move laterally without giving ground (For example, KT is great on the first and less so on the second).

Except for Oden, every draft profile of big men has the same phrase: must get stronger. It appears that European rules do not permit bigs to just push their way into the paint (plus they have much wider lanes) and the same holds true to a lesser extend in college ball.

One of the reasons the game changed in the 1990's was that they altered the rules so that the defender could not use both hands to keep his man out of the paint. Post defense became an issue of raw strength unless you were given a free pass by playing with Jordan. If anything, the trend toward having a lot of low skill bigs was dictated by the need to have lots of fouls to give.

The rule changes a few years ago and more up tempo ball put a much greater emphasis on lateral quickness by bigs (that and the aging of Shaq). It is harder and harder to do the job well even when properly trained.
 

sunsfn

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I think he would be a good choice for a big man coach.
He left here after turning down an offer to be a coach so because he wanted to play another year. He made a lot more money and did that and is now ready to be a coach.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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always liked scott williams. tough worker, good lockerroom guy, survivor, played pretty good position post defense considering he wasn't a shot blocker, and apparently aggressive in pursuing a position with the suns. i liked what he said about starting at the bottom and working his way up. i honestly could see him working wonders with amare defensively. in fact, i wouldn't be surprised to see him as a head coach someday. not so much an Xs and Os guy, but the type that can assuage egos and get everyone on the same page.
 

Rab

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I like Williams. He was a good locker room guy, and it wouldn't hurt to have him here working with the bigs.
 

Mainstreet

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I would like someone like KT teaching the Suns the fundamentals of position defense. He is one of the best applying these fundamentals on the floor. I would truly be excited if KT could get the job.

I guess wrong time, wrong place as KT has that 8 million dollar contract and does not appear ready to retire just yet (ironically like Scott Williams was several years ago). However, if both were available as an assistant coach, I would pick KT without blinking.
 

fordronken

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He seems okay, but replacing our top assistant with a rookie coach doesn't seem like the best idea. If there is a great, experienced assistant out there, I'd love to have him. What's Paul Silas up to these days?
 

azirish

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He seems okay, but replacing our top assistant with a rookie coach doesn't seem like the best idea. If there is a great, experienced assistant out there, I'd love to have him. What's Paul Silas up to these days?

I don't think this is an either/or. Williams might not be a bench coach initially. If anything getting him would reduce the Suns need to find high level assistant who also schools bigs.
 

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