Question for Suns fans Earl Watson as Coach

[Russ Smith]

With all the rumors, no idea if true, about Alford and Indiana, Early Watson is surfacing as the favorite to be the next UCLA coach if Alford leaves. I'm very leery about hiring a guy just because he's an ex player at UCLA but Watson is intriguing in some ways. Should be a great recruiter, the top Under Armour AAU program in the West is Earl Watson Elite. Popovic started Watson's coaching career so time with Pop may have undone the 4 years with Lavin nonsense in college. He was an overachiever as a player, undersized 2 who learned to play PG in college and carved out an NBA career for himself, those are the types of guys who often become good coaches.

So what to Suns fan think, is there even enough evidence yet to judge if he'd be a good college coach?

My gut still says UCLA should hire someone else, and I'm not even convinced Alford goes although if the rumored money is real he should go, but just curious what people think of Watson.

 

[JS22]

Seems like a pretty good fit, but I hope it doesn't happen. Would rather he sticks around - along with the current GM / staff / and most of the players. Can we, just once, see where they are in 3-4 years? Tired of constantly blowing things up.

 

[slinslin]

I can't see how and why we would let Earl out of his contract.

Only reason would be if Jay Wright commits to the Suns, since Wright had been their first choice all along.

 

[SirStefan32]

You let him out of his contract because it's a good PR move. That's how you build relationships, trust, and reputation. It's not like we are talking about Greg Popovich here.

I think Watson would be an excellent college coach. I'd prefer he sticks around in Phoenix for a couple of years so we can see what he can do, but if his dream job is available, the Suns should accommodate him.

 

[slinslin]

You let him out of his contract because it's a good PR move. That's how you build relationships, trust, and reputation. It's not like we are talking about Greg Popovich here.

I think Watson would be an excellent college coach. I'd prefer he sticks around in Phoenix for a couple of years so we can see what he can do, but if his dream job is available, the Suns should accommodate him.

It is how you lose the faith of your players if you let their coach go who is clearly respected by our players. Changing coaches every season is a joke.

What kind of relationship are the Suns building by doing that? With UCLA? With Klutch Sports?!

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

I dont like Watson as the Suns coach. But, he also hasnt had a a lot to work with either. I think his love bug kumbaya ways would suit the college players who need guidance and mentoring more than the pros. Hopefully he gets the UCLA gig so we can hire a seasoned coach because this team will be ready to compete next season.

 

[JCSunsfan]

You let him out of his contract because it's a good PR move. That's how you build relationships, trust, and reputation. It's not like we are talking about Greg Popovich here.

I think Watson would be an excellent college coach. I'd prefer he sticks around in Phoenix for a couple of years so we can see what he can do, but if his dream job is available, the Suns should accommodate him.

This is exactly right. The players are watching. They know this would be Watson's dream job. If they see the Suns treat him right, it will go a long way. Besides, as an employer, you just do not stand between an employee and their dream job.

There are other coaches. The Suns should look at it as an opportunity to take the next step.

 

[slinslin]

This is exactly right. The players are watching. They know this would be Watson's dream job. If they see the Suns treat him right, it will go a long way. Besides, as an employer, you just do not stand between an employee and their dream job.

There are other coaches. The Suns should look at it as an opportunity to take the next step.

They hired a bunch of assistants for Watson, all their jobs would be in jeopardy because of the Suns being so "nice" to let Watson go despite having just signed a 3 year deal.

Lets even just assume that Jay Wright would be willing to leave Villanova to coach the Suns this year, would he come in and be willing to keep Earls staff? Jay Triano etc.

 

[Russ Smith]

To be clear people around UCLA have said for 2 years now that Earl wants the UCLA job and has made it clear he does. There's even radio interviews where he said it was his dream job so I'm sure the Suns are aware of it and I expect if he said he wanted to leave, they wouldn't block him. Who wants a coach who tells you he wants to leave?

I'm inclined to think UCLA should hire a more experienced coach, and again I'm not yet convinced the Alford talk is true I think IU really wants Archie Miller, if he turns it down, they'll go to plan B, I suspect Alford might be C or D for them but it may get to that point.

Hiring Watson would probably require hiring experienced assistants and then we're back to the same dilemma UCLA had with Lavin all those years ago, Lavin refused to hire experienced assistants because he knew it was an admission he wasn't ready. I think Watson is better than Lavin, but taking assistants in the NBA is not the same as in college, if UCLA pushed that on him, he might react the same way lavin did. Which was a disaster that set UCLA back nearly a decade.

Would be interesting though my gut tells me, he'd promote Edney to a full fledged assistant and UCLA would become an even better recruiting situation. but in the end, you gotta be able to coach, I'm not yet sold on Earl as a coach.

 

[slinslin]

We gave a a rookie head coach with no noteworthy coaching experience a 3 year deal and you expect that on top of that we also promised him to let him go as soon as UCLA asks for him?! Highly doubt that.

 

[JCSunsfan]

They hired a bunch of assistants for Watson, all their jobs would be in jeopardy because of the Suns being so "nice" to let Watson go despite having just signed a 3 year deal.

Lets even just assume that Jay Wright would be willing to leave Villanova to coach the Suns this year, would he come in and be willing to keep Earls staff? Jay Triano etc.

So, you force a coach to stay when he does not want to. You force him to lose out on the opportunity of his lifetime, because you want to keep his assistant coaches (who would probably go with him) on your staff?

The only way to do this is for Suns mgmt to celebrate the opportunity with Watson and wish him well, if indeed he is offered such a job.

 

[slinslin]

So, you force a coach to stay when he does not want to. You force him to lose out on the opportunity of his lifetime, because you want to keep his assistant coaches (who would probably go with him) on your staff?

The only way to do this is for Suns mgmt to celebrate the opportunity with Watson and wish him well, if indeed he is offered such a job.

He shouldnt have signed a 3 year contract without an opt-out clause if he didnt want to stay here for 3 years. Period.

Are you seriously telling me that Jay Triano and Corbin would go with Watson to be assistant coaches at UCLA?!?!?!

 

[hcsilla]

I dont like Watson as the Suns coach. But, he also hasnt had a a lot to work with either. I think his love bug kumbaya ways would suit the college players who need guidance and mentoring more than the pros.

Agreed.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Forcing Watson to stay is a lose lose situation. There is no point in it. The Suns are going to have to make a coaching change eventually anyway as this team matures. This is the perfect opportunity to move on to that next step in a positive way for everyone involved.

Let Watson go to UCLA and hire Ettore Messina. He is a proven coach with a fantastic basketball mind and championship experience wherever he has been.

Everyone wins.

I bet Messina even makes a player out of Alex Len.

 

[slinslin]

Forcing Watson to stay is a lose lose situation. There is no point in it. The Suns are going to have to make a coaching change eventually anyway as this team matures. This is the perfect opportunity to move on to that next step in a positive way for everyone involved.

Let Watson go to UCLA and hire Ettore Messina. He is a proven coach with a fantastic basketball mind and championship experience wherever he has been.

Everyone wins.

I bet Messina even makes a player out of Alex Len.

And I bet Messina is a failure like David Blatt and would have absolutely no clue how to run a young rebuilding team or how to connect with this generation.

Nobody knows if the Suns would have to make a coaching change that is simply speculation. As of right now the veterans seem to like playing for Earl so why would we have to make a coaching change when this team matures?

Not to mention we are not at that point, we need a coach to guide our team through the rebuilding process and Earl Watson is the right man for that.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think it all hinges what the Suns think about Watson. I'm not sure why the Suns would do UCLA any favors. I'd like to know more about Watson's interaction with the Suns FO when they sit Bledsoe. If he was obstinate towards the Suns decision, this might raise a red flag. The Suns do not want a coach that cannot willingly work with management.

 

[JustWinBaby]

Wow!

First we want to keep Alex Len. Now we are worried about losing the great Earl Watson.

Unbelievable

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

Wow!

First we want to keep Alex Len. Now we are worried about losing the great Earl Watson.

Unbelievable

Dont include me in that boat.

 

[Mainstreet]

Wow!

First we want to keep Alex Len. Now we are worried about losing the great Earl Watson.

Unbelievable

I think the jury is out on Len.

I think the story on Watson is the UCLA angle. If UCLA did not have any interest in him (rumor) this would be a non-story. Actually if UCLA had interest in Watson and it is reciprocal, this would give the Suns an easy out if they wanted to move on to another head coach.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I can remember scenarios where coaches wanted to leave a team to go to another NBA team, but never to go to college. I can see holding onto the coach in the former scenario or getting compensation for letting him leave, but not in the latter. If he wants to go to ucla you let him do so and wish him well. Then you hire a guy known for coaching youth to potential before eventually replacing that coach with a championship coach.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I can remember scenarios where coaches wanted to leave a team to go to another NBA team, but never to go to college. I can see holding onto the coach in the former scenario or getting compensation for letting him leave, but not in the latter. If he wants to go to ucla you let him do so and wish him well. Then you hire a guy known for coaching youth to potential before eventually replacing that coach with a championship coach.

Absolutely!

 

[Dan H]

A lot of people around these parts are really down on Alford because a) he's kind of a mediocre coach and b) he handled the situation of a player sexually assaulting a woman pretty poorly at Iowa.

 

[Mainstreet]

I can remember scenarios where coaches wanted to leave a team to go to another NBA team, but never to go to college. I can see holding onto the coach in the former scenario or getting compensation for letting him leave, but not in the latter. If he wants to go to ucla you let him do so and wish him well. Then you hire a guy known for coaching youth to potential before eventually replacing that coach with a championship coach.

As long as the Suns do not hire a trainee as head coach nor Alvin Gentry. The Suns have been there, done that, with Gentry. I have questions that Sarver will pay top dollar for a name head coach so this is a consideration. Maybe it's better to keep Watson if this should be the case.

 

[Mainstreet]

Here are some comments by Earl Watson from a Doug Haller article at azcentral today discussing the UCLA situation.

"There's no doubt that I love my school,'' Watson said. "It took me out of a poverty situation and gave me hope. The school is an amazing place. I feel like it saved me. But I also feel like (former Memphis coach) Hubie Brown saved me in another way. Playing for the Utah Jazz, they were there during a difficult part of my personal life and they helped me a ton. And then, of course, the San Antonio Spurs, after the death of my brother, the love they gave me is what I needed most, and that love is genuine. So you have different points in your life where people and groups come into your life and none of them are family and they impact you for the positive."

"I'm more focused on creating value for our (organization), to give management and ownership many options to build a championship contender here,'' Watson said. "What I mean by that is, building the value of the young players so that their value and their game and their confidence give them the option to be financially secure in this league when they become free agents; giving our ownership the option to build around them or give ownership and management the option to make moves because their value is so high to put us in contention quicker. That's all I can do is build value. The winning will happen. There's a lot of questions with our program, but one thing I do realize is these players are playing amazing for their age. I love them, they're like my little brothers. My main focus is here."

Only my impression, but this does not sound like a firm commitment to the Suns that I thought I might see from Watson.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...arl-watson-ucla-rumor-my-focus-here/99450794/

 

[Carolinacacti]

What! I thought everyone's dream job was the Phoenix Suns..........