Porter To Be Named Suns HC Soon?

[Gee!]

Looks like the pieces are falling into place that it will happen this way..

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/24837

Does this mean Porter's the pick?

Los Angeles Lakers assistant Brian Shaw is out of the running for the Suns head coach job. He revealed that to the Orange County Register but that wasn't the biggest news he offered.

"He (Suns General Manager Steve Kerr) wanted to have a coach that had experience in terms of being a head coach," Shaw told the Register.

Of what we know (Kerr did suggest there were new names coming), Porter is the only Suns candidate with head coaching experience (Paul Silas was interviewed as possible lead assistant).

Couple that revelation with news out of Detroit that Flip Saunders has been fired and Michael Curry will be named his replacement this week and it looks like Porter is in line to be Phoenix's next coach.

Porter was the lead assistant in Detroit, where Curry was also an assistant but it was always thought he was being groomed to be Saunders' successor.

Porter has been declared the favorite for the Suns job all along from many people around the NBA. He fit what Kerr described as his ideal hire on several levels:

* Experience. He has been an assistant for Rick Adelman in Sacramento and Saunders in Detroit but also was a head coach for two years in Milwaukee, where he took the Bucks to the playoffs in his first year before losing T.J. Ford to set up a losing season in his second year. He was told he would return until Milwaukee won the No. 1 pick in the lottery and he was fired because the Bucks thought they could land a big-name coach before settling for Terry Stotts.

* Versatility. Porter has been working for one of the best defensive teams in the league the past two seasons to bring that emphasis to the Suns but won't have to do it with a departure from the Suns' high-scoring identity. He had Milwaukee at fourth in the NBA in scoring in 2003-04. Porter played for a variety of coaches, including Pat Riley, Jack Ramsay, Gregg Popovich and Dick Bennett (college).

* Respect. Porter, 45, would have the respect of the veterans as a highly regarded point guard and court warrior who competed against some currents Suns. His career included two All-Star appearances and two NBA Finals trips. He also won the NBA's citizenship award and played the final two seasons of a 17-year career in San Antonio as Kerr's teammate. In a 2003 Yahoo! column, Kerr wrote, "Terry Porter is one of the best people I've ever met in the league and I think he'll make a fine coach."

Porter interviewed for a second time with the Suns on Monday but was in Phoenix for it this time. They met for hours, much like previous head coach candidates who flew into the Valley.

Shaw's Monday comment, if correct, would seem to mean that Houston lead assistant Elston Turner and Utah assistant Tyrone Corbin may not be in the running despite second interviews last week in Orlando. That would also seem to rule out today's visitor, San Antonio lead assistant Mike Budenholzer. The three assistants have not been head coaches, other than in the case of an ejection or summer league duty.

Of course, Saunders is available and has been a head coach but he would cost more than these candidates who the Suns have invested a lot of time and consideration for already. Kerr said at the start of the search that no current head coaches were candidates.

 

[Irish]

Saunders may be discounted due to the price, but I think there is another more sierious issue. Kerr wants to keep a lot of the D'Antoni running game and Saunders is knonw more for his half court offense. Porter played on one of the great running teams when he was PG on the Blazers of the late eighties and early 90's.

 

[Hat]

It's starting to sound Porter will be the next HC. From what I've read, he will be a good fit for the team. He used to be PG, so Nash and him should get along, ran some good offense, and knows more defense than D'Antoni.

He's a good article I just found: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-31-17/The-Playbook--Pistons-Assistant-Terry-Porter.html

Some snippets I like (especially about TJ Ford, maybe Kerr can pick him up as a backup to Nash):

"Do you carve up the roster as a coaching staff, where somebody handle bigs and somebody handle guards? Do you individually work with particular players more than others?
We all just grab guys, different times throughout the year. The rest of coaching staff, the rest of the guys pick guys and work with them, Igor [Kokoskov] and Mike [Curry] and Dave [Cowens] and myself, we take the different players and work on different things, from post ups to pick and roll situations and then shooting, obviously."

"Do you coach a lot of shooting now? I know you went a lot of time working on your shot in the NBA, right?
Yeah, we talk a lot about shooting. I think shooting is very important in the game today. I think it's something that, you know, we don't pay enough attention to sometimes because we just don't have the time with our schedule and try to squeeze it in in practice. I think Coach does a good job of making sure we always have a segment where we do some type of team shooting or individual shooting to try to maintain the fundamentals and maintain the reps and get the guys enough shots where they can feel comfortable to keep their shots sharp; or if they are struggling a little bit, to try to tweak with it and get it back to a point where they feel comfortable."
"One last thing I meant to ask you, you used to coach T.J. Ford?
Correct.
Are you still in touch with him and what do you think about his progress?
I love T.J. Loved him from the first day we sat down and talked about playing that point guard position.
I just think he's a winner. A lot of people think that he's too small and he's not big enough and he doesn't have the shots or whatever. But I think when you look at someone, obviously you need to look at the whole picture and he's always been a winner at every level and for me in Milwaukee, he was great for us.
I know when we had success, a lot of it had to do with his ability to run the team for us and create opportunities for our team.
I'm a big fan of T.J. Ford, and was sad to see him get the setback this year against Atlanta, but since then, he has come back slowly and he's starting to play again. I just hope the young man is blessed to play a long career, because I think he's great for the league and he has the skill that's needed in this league."

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

hmm, with their pg issue, think bc and raptors would trade us tj ford? reunite him with porter as our pg of the future?

 

[Hat]

hmm, with their pg issue, think bc and raptors would trade us tj ford? reunite him with porter as our pg of the future?

probably not, but can I wish?

they will trade calderon first before TJ

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I bet our medical team could get TJ back to post injury status.

 

[WuRaider]

One of the best moments this season was when TJ tried to dunk on Kobe. Yeah he got stuffed, but it was a "Come on, bring it son" moment.

 

[TJ]

Ford's injury history freaks the hell out of me more than any other player in the NBA. As much as I love his talent, I just think there is way too much risk involved with picking up Ford.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Ford's injury history freaks the hell out of me more than any other player in the NBA. As much as I love his talent, I just think there is way too much risk involved with picking up Ford.

i'd trade barbs or diaw or the 15th pick for him, but not a combo of those items.

 

[okhoops]

probably not, but can I wish?

they will trade calderon first before TJ

There is no way that Toronto will trade Calderon before TJ if they can avoid it. It's been well documented that the Raptors have put out TJ "feelers" to see what they might get, but there's no way as a Suns fan I want to see him head to Phoenix. He was a malcontent when he came back from injury and couldn't wrestle the job away from Calderon, who had the confidence of his teammates and coaches. It wasn't until Jose went to Mitchell and told him that starting the sulking Ford would be better for team cohensiveness. TJ is a horrible defender who competes on the ball for brief moments only. He can be dynamic and score in bunches but he is not a team leader or pass first PG. Hopefully, he'll land in the chaos of Miami or New York.

 

[TJ]

i'd trade barbs or diaw or the 15th pick for him, but not a combo of those items.

Diaw to dump the 4 years left on his contract, but thats it!

 

[Mainstreet]

LB for Ford sounds somewhat a fair exchange although it might have to be tweaked. I'm not sure about the salaries.

 

[Irish]

LB for Ford sounds somewhat a fair exchange although it might have to be tweaked. I'm not sure about the salaries.

2008-09

Ford $8 million
Barbosa $6.1 million

 

[Hat]

Man, some of you guys are really picky when it comes to PG's. It's not like there is a huge pool to choose from. I guess we're all spoiled from Nash. Face it, there is no Paul or Williams type PG out there to choose from right now. Nash is old and tired, and needs someone to back him up. Enough of this nitpicking and just go with someone that has playoff experience and can lead an offense.

 

[Irish]

The big challenge for whoever the new coach will be to figure out how to deal with periods when Nash is not on the floor. IMHO, the problem was made worse by D'Antoni's refusal to alter his offense to meet the abilities of the players he had.

Very few teams are as dependent on their PG as the Suns. The Suns tend to stand around and wait for Nash to make a great pass rather than move with purpose. Nash has amazing vision and lightning responses to go with great body control and shooting ability. Nobdoy can do what he does and everyone looks bad when thye try to do EVERYTHING Nash does.

Baring the drafting of a push the ball/pick and roll PG; the Suns coach should fiture out a way to use Strawberry and Diaw at PG. Neither are going to look like Nash, but they might succeed if the offense is adjusted for them.

 

[TJ]

2008-09

Ford $8 million
Barbosa $6.1 million

I know its a shot in the dark, but:

Diaw $9
Ford $8

I still dont see why people are so desperate to get rid of the former 6th man of the year capable of putting up 18 ppg off the bench. Kerr knows by now that Barbosa cant push the ball up the court

 

[Mainstreet]

I know its a shot in the dark, but:

Diaw $9
Ford $8

I still dont see why people are so desperate to get rid of the former 6th man of the year capable of putting up 18 ppg off the bench. Kerr knows by now that Barbosa cant push the ball up the court

I don't think the fans are really eager (or desperate) to dump any of their players except maybe the end of their bench (e.g., Pike and Marks), but the Suns lack of focus towards getting Nash a backup over the past several seasons has created some desperate ideas to solve the problem. Hence some real reaches by fans in an attempt to create a solution. I like like LB as a player and especially as a person. However, the Suns just to do not have many bargaining chips if the Suns FO is not willing to go over the LT. I think this is why LB's name comes up in trade ideas.

 

[BC867]

Baring the drafting of a push the ball/pick and roll PG; the Suns coach should fiture out a way to use Strawberry and Diaw at PG. Neither are going to look like Nash, but they might succeed if the offense is adjusted for them.

'Gotta disagree, Irish. It's time to get a legitimate backup Point Guard and a legitimate backup Center, and stop playing people out of position.

Anything less is D'Antoni-without-D'Antoni.

 

[Mainstreet]

'Gotta disagree, Irish. It's time to get a legitimate backup Point Guard and a legitimate backup Center, and stop playing people out of position.

Anything less is D'Antoni-without-D'Antoni.

It seems like this is something we can agree upon, especially in regard to the Suns needing a backup PG for the past several years. I could, however, live with Skinner as a backup center unless the Suns can draft or sign someone better.

I think the lack of an adequate backup PG for Nash also contributed greatly to D'Antoni's down fall. Griffin did not help D'Antoni when he came up with Banks as Nash's backup.

 

[Irish]

'Gotta disagree, Irish. It's time to get a legitimate backup Point Guard and a legitimate backup Center, and stop playing people out of position.

Anything less is D'Antoni-without-D'Antoni.

It is not quite as easy as you make it sound. How many guys are there that meet what you asking for? Our problem is that the Suns are built around a PG who is totally unique. Very few teams have one first rate PG much less two, let alone one that can play like Nash and play defense too.

I'm not opposed to it, I just think it is much harder than you make it sound.

 

[Mainstreet]

It is not quite as easy as you make it sound. How many guys are there that meet what you asking for? Our problem is that the Suns are built around a PG who is totally unique. Very few teams have one first rate PG much less two, let alone one that can play like Nash and play defense too.

I'm not opposed to it, I just think it is much harder than you make it sound.

I don't think the problem is as hard as you might think in regard to the PG position. The Suns should be looking for a pass first PG that doesn't have a bad turnover ratio. The Suns cannot replace Steve Nash, but they can certainly find a backup PG that can run the team's offense when he goes to the bench. The Suns just do not need a shoot first PG.

 

[mojorizen7]

Barbosa has proven(in my eyes)to be nearly irrelevant in the post-season.
I think the question should be "Is Barbosa the best that he can be? Has he peaked?"
Or "Is his lack of mental fortitude a direct result of the coaching he's recieved up to this point?
He's not a backup PG. I think we can agree on this. So if we bring in or draft a backup for Nash without letting go of Barbs whats his role going to be on this team?
I'd like to see Barbs another year here coming off the bench exclusively at the 2 alongside a true# 1. That and see if he can be coached how to use his strengths(long arms,speed & quickness) on the defensive end.
I'm not sold on moving Barbs in order to trade for a backup PG however.
My take is that while a backup PG is a definate need, our glaring need is a serious upgrade at SG/SF. We need a 2 that will command attention when he drives to the basket as well as hit the three and create his own shot in the half-court. I'd rather see a package involving Barbs/Diaw/etc that would bring us a legitamite scorer at SG/SF and bring Bell off the bench to provide some defense and spot up 3's.
Easier said than done.
EDIT: Draft a PG or find out if DJ can be that guy.

 

[nowagimp]

I don't think the problem is as hard as you might think in regard to the PG position. The Suns should be looking for a pass first PG that doesn't have a bad turnover ratio. The Suns cannot replace Steve Nash, but they can certainly find a backup PG that can run the team's offense when he goes to the bench. The Suns just do not need a shoot first PG.

Im gonna agree with the need for a backup PG who can take care of the ball. But I am suprised that suns fans dont realize that the suns lack of shooters to space the floor was their downfall with the spurs. The lane is too crowded for amare and nash to do their thing in crunch time. Everyone seems to think that nash is just careless with the ball, but the lane is packed in the playoffs in the crunch, and now the spurs have shown everyone how to beat the suns. Sure, let amare shoot early on, then pack the lane in the crunch. Because Nash is running the P/R with amare, his shooting does not help space the floor for the P/R. The suns have some of the worst outside shooters(outside the PG) of the top teams in the west. I hold Griffin and Kerr responsible for this. If you think that DA didnt know how to space the floor with shooters, you have been sleeping. It was a big gamble for the suns to depend so heavily on Raja and Nash for the spacing, unloading he likes of TT, JR, House over the past few years and replacing them with guys that cant hit the 3 reliably. I'd take the hornets, lakers, Jazz, or spurs shooters over the suns(outside the PG). The suns offense(and the spurs, and lakers offense for that matter) is all about spacing and you dont get that with diaw, GG, shaq and barbs(where did his shot go anyway?). Yeah a backup PG is very important, and once hill went down it was devastating having no one to back up Nash. But the most potent weapon the suns have(amare) was rendered almost useless by a packed lane late in playoff games. With a peja, a radmonivic, a vuijanic, a barry, a korver, even a bowen(42% 3 pt) the lane is more open for amare. Youve gotta make sure 3-4 guys cant guard the P/R with impunity, they have to pay for that. If not, you may as well trade Nash/amare to a team that knows how to use them.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'd like to see Barbs another year here coming off the bench exclusively at the 2 alongside a true# 1. That and see if he can be coached how to use his strengths(long arms,speed & quickness) on the defensive end.
I'm not sold on moving Barbs in order to trade for a backup PG however.
My take is that while a backup PG is a definate need, our glaring need is a serious upgrade at SG/SF. We need a 2 that will command attention when he drives to the basket as well as hit the three and create his own shot in the half-court. I'd rather see a package involving Barbs/Diaw/etc that would bring us a legitamite scorer at SG/SF and bring Bell off the bench to provide some defense and spot up 3's.
Easier said than done.
EDIT: Draft a PG or find out if DJ can be that guy.

I think we can agree that LB is a smaller SG. However, unless the Suns are bringing in a combo player such as a John Salmons who can handle the ball, I think the Suns need a backup PG more than any other position. It is doubtful whether they will be able to fulfill this need at #15 so I would like the Suns to draft the BPA at this position in the draft. However, even if the Suns have a great group of players, the results over the past several seasons is the Suns offense goes stagnant when Nash goes to the bench. The Suns could gamble and try to get an adequate PG in the second round or FA. This is where a GM is supposed to earn his money.

 

[Irish]

Im gonna agree with the need for a backup PG who can take care of the ball. But I am suprised that suns fans dont realize that the suns lack of shooters to space the floor was their downfall with the spurs. The lane is too crowded for amare and nash to do their thing in crunch time. Everyone seems to think that nash is just careless with the ball, but the lane is packed in the playoffs in the crunch, and now the spurs have shown everyone how to beat the suns. Sure, let amare shoot early on, then pack the lane in the crunch. Because Nash is running the P/R with amare, his shooting does not help space the floor for the P/R. The suns have some of the worst outside shooters(outside the PG) of the top teams in the west. I hold Griffin and Kerr responsible for this. If you think that DA didnt know how to space the floor with shooters, you have been sleeping. It was a big gamble for the suns to depend so heavily on Raja and Nash for the spacing, unloading he likes of TT, JR, House over the past few years and replacing them with guys that cant hit the 3 reliably. I'd take the hornets, lakers, Jazz, or spurs shooters over the suns(outside the PG). The suns offense(and the spurs, and lakers offense for that matter) is all about spacing and you dont get that with diaw, GG, shaq and barbs(where did his shot go anyway?). Yeah a backup PG is very important, and once hill went down it was devastating having no one to back up Nash. But the most potent weapon the suns have(amare) was rendered almost useless by a packed lane late in playoff games. With a peja, a radmonivic, a vuijanic, a barry, a korver, even a bowen(42% 3 pt) the lane is more open for amare. Youve gotta make sure 3-4 guys cant guard the P/R with impunity, they have to pay for that. If not, you may as well trade Nash/amare to a team that knows how to use them.

I mostly agree, although I think it was Barbosa that was most effected by the Spur's defensive scheme. Typically Barbosa can get by his defender, but faced a packed paint when he tried to get to the basket. Leadnro averaged only 10.4 ppg on 34.5% from the field and 22.2% for three. (His regular season stats were 15.6 ppg, 46.2% shooting and 38.9% for three.

Amare's shooting fell from 59.0% to 48.5% against the Spurs. And while it is tempting to blame Shaq, Amare's March stats were 29.3 ppg on 58.7%. In April Amare averaged 26.0 ppg (even after playing only half of the last game) on 62.3%. The Spurs bothered both Amare and Shaq with a lot of guys in the lante, but the Suns were unable to punish them by hitting a lot threes.

Thi reality is that the Suns during the regular season did not shoot nearly as many threes as in past years.

2004-05 795 of 2026
2005-06 827 of 2097
2006-07 793 of 1965
2007-08 694 of 1764

Oddly enough, they did not have as big an impact on their offense as might be expected. In 2006-07 the Suns averaged 110.2 ppg and in 2007-08 they averaged 110.1 ppg. Still the Suns offense averaged 10 fewer ppg against the Spurs than during the regular season and poor three point shooting contributed.

The in 2006-07 the Suns shot 41.6% for three (37 of 89) while in 2007-08 the Suns shot 33.8% for three (25 of 74).