Suns hire Monty Williams

[Krangodnzr]

Based on everything we know and things that are unsaid, it seems that Koko just wasn't a good communicator with the players. And I know the Suns don't really deserve much credit, but from everything anyone had said about Koko, the poor communicator label was never applied.

It sucks, but the Suns had to move on. Had to. The players didn't seem to respond to him too well as head coach and for the team to get out of the funk, they needed a strong head coach.

 

[Mainstreet]

Here is James Jones on The Jump from ESPN.

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[95pro]

Here is James Jones on The Jump from ESPN.

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James Jones is light years ahead of McD in interviews! Not only that but he doesn't seem clueless at all, especially compared to McD.

 

[Mainstreet]

James Jones is light years ahead of McD in interviews! Not only that but he doesn't seem clueless at all, especially compared to McD.

McDonough did not appear to be comfortable dealing with people. He seemed more relaxed dealing with analytics and the study of the game. Of course the NBA is more than this.

Jones seems to be much more comfortable in public settings and dealing with people. He should only get better with experience.

 

[AzStevenCal]

McDonough did not appear to be comfortable dealing with people. He seemed more comfortable dealing with analytics. Of course the NBA is more than this.

Jones seems to be much more comfortable in public settings and dealing with people. He should only get better with experience.

I think McDonough improved considerably in this regard but when you are rock bottom to begin with, considerable improvement isn't enough.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think McDonough improved considerably in this regard but when you are rock bottom to begin with, considerable improvement isn't enough.

McDonough did get better at dealing with people but it was too late combined with bad drafts.

It was hard to recover from losing Dragic and Bledsoe plus a number of other players.

 

[AzStevenCal]

McDonough did get better at dealing with people but it was too late combined with bad drafts.

It was hard to recover from losing Dragic and Bledsoe plus a number of other players.

There's a lot of things you can point to but the Bender/Chriss draft really hurt this franchise. Swinging for the fences is one thing, having your pitcher do it with an 0 and 2 count in freezing weather with Phil Niekro on the mound as the sun sets with a hard wind blowing in is just foolish and even that makes more sense than what we did.

 

[Mainstreet]

There's a lot of things you can point to but the Bender/Chriss draft really hurt this franchise. Swinging for the fences is one thing, having your pitcher do it with an 0 and 2 count in freezing weather with Phil Niekro on the mound as the sun sets with a hard wind blowing in is just foolish and even that makes more sense than what we did.

The Bender/Chriss draft should have settled the issue but McDonough got one more chance to get it right in the 2018 draft and free agency. I think we are missing one piece of the puzzle.... how McDonough planned to fix the point guard issue.

I like your description about the pitcher facing Joe Niekro in a time at bat. That knuckleball is hard to hit in any circumstance. A ball shouldn't be able to do this stuff.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The Bender/Chriss draft should have settled the issue but McDonough got one more chance to get it right in the 2018 draft and free agency. I think we are missing one piece of the puzzle.... how McDonough planned to fix the point guard issue.

I like your description about the pitcher facing Joe Niekro in a time at bat. That knuckleball is hard to hit in any circumstance. A ball shouldn't be able to do this stuff.

I'm a little stoned from dental work this morning, for a minute there I thought I'd changed my mind and gone with Joe. I thought about it since he did spend more time in a pitcher's ballpark but Phil had the better knuckleball IMO.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm a little stoned from dental work this morning, for a minute there I thought I'd changed my mind and gone with Joe. I thought about it since he did spend more time in a pitcher's ballpark but Phil had the better knuckleball IMO.

I subliminally changed it to Joe. Still I doubt most pitchers are going to do anything with it in the situation you described.

 

[Yuma]

I subliminally changed it to Joe. Still I doubt most pitchers are going to do anything with it in the situation you described.

Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were OK with it.

 

[Covert Rain]

He had moderate success with a mediocre team with one star player in Chris Paul. The team became garbage due to no fault of his own when Paul forced his way to L.A., and he developed and coached that garbage team back to respectability. While he might not be the coach to get us to championship level, he is DEFINITELY a coach who can get us back to respectability. He's done it before with a similar team.

So in another words another short term coach/stop gap guy. Look, I am glad the Suns got their guy. I really hope he brings something the team desperately needs. Is he someone to be over the moon about? Not so sure.

I will echo what Chap did earlier. I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[Mainstreet]

I need to enjoy this tweet some more. Monty Williams and Ty Lue passed on the Lakers job.

Yes! The Suns beat LA.

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[JCSunsfan]

Just watched the eulogy Monty gave for his wife and then the youtube of him receiving the Sager Strong award. Hiring Monty almost guarantees stability for a time here. Monty is such a beloved character around the league that Sarver's name would forever be mud if he hired for him. Sarver would be known for the rest of his life as the evil man who fired Monty.

Even if Monty fails spectacularly, Sarver cannot fire him.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Even if Monty fails spectacularly, Sarver cannot fire him.

It shouldn't be a problem - according to the bearded fool on The Starters, Monty can't fail. He said that we've been so bad for so long that all Monty has to do is get us to 25 wins and Suns fans everywhere will be hailing him as the conquering hero.

Hopefully, if Monty (and the Suns) fail, James Jones will still be here to fire him. He's almost as well liked and respected as Monty. Of course, if Monty fails Jones may already be gone.

 

[Superbone]

It shouldn't be a problem - according to the bearded fool on The Starters, Monty can't fail. He said that we've been so bad for so long that all Monty has to do is get us to 25 wins and Suns fans everywhere will be hailing him as the conquering hero.

Hopefully, if Monty (and the Suns) fail, James Jones will still be here to fire him. He's almost as well liked and respected as Monty. Of course, if Monty fails Jones may already be gone.

Enough with the stinkin' thinkin'. It is time to rise from the ashes. It will happen. Oh, yes. It will happen.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Enough with the stinkin' thinkin'. It is time to rise from the ashes. It will happen. Oh, yes. It will happen.

I am starting to warm to the fact that Monty will do well. Of course, I expected Igor to do well this year too.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I am starting to warm to the fact that Monty will do well. Of course, I expected Igor to do well this year too.

I'm not sure (either way) that he's the coach that can take us all the way but I'm confident he will takes us several steps further.

 

[BC867]

It shouldn't be a problem - according to the bearded fool on The Starters, Monty can't fail. He said that we've been so bad for so long that all Monty has to do is get us to 25 wins and Suns fans everywhere will be hailing him as the conquering hero.

Hopefully, if Monty (and the Suns) fail, James Jones will still be here to fire him. He's almost as well liked and respected as Monty. Of course, if Monty fails Jones may already be gone.

That's a key point! We all know that Monty (with his Head Coach experience) will be a big step up from Igor.

But the roster that Jones provides will be an important part of the equation of to what degree.

It is inconceivable that the practice of too many Point Guards or too few ... and no Power Forwards ... will continue.

High hopes!

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

It shouldn't be a problem - according to the bearded fool on The Starters, Monty can't fail. He said that we've been so bad for so long that all Monty has to do is get us to 25 wins and Suns fans everywhere will be hailing him as the conquering hero.

Hopefully, if Monty (and the Suns) fail, James Jones will still be here to fire him. He's almost as well liked and respected as Monty. Of course, if Monty fails Jones may already be gone.

I think it is fair to say that most of the posters on this board would be pretty upset over 25 wins next year. We need at least a jump up to 30+ wins next year and that should be attainable with simply the addition of even an average PG.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think it is fair to say that most of the posters on this board would be pretty upset over 25 wins next year. We need at least a jump up to 30+ wins next year and that should be attainable with simply the addition of even an average PG.

Yeah. I don't know about you but healthy, with only the roster we finished the season with, I'd expect 25 plus wins from this team even if the players took turns coaching the team. Just getting everyone back along with the most minimal of player development should get us to that point. So yeah, my expectations with Monty there will be considerably higher. I don't want to say .500 ball until I see how the offseason goes but right now I'd consider the offseason a failure if it didn't set us up for that kind of season.

 

[Superbone]

Yeah. I don't know about you but healthy, with only the roster we finished the season with, I'd expect 25 plus wins from this team even if the players took turns coaching the team. Just getting everyone back along with the most minimal of player development should get us to that point. So yeah, my expectations with Monty there will be considerably higher. I don't want to say .500 ball until I see how the offseason goes but right now I'd consider the offseason a failure if it didn't set us up for that kind of season.

My current feeling is that less than 35 wins next season would be a disappointment.

 

[Hoop Head]

I want to see from Monty what I called for from Igor in December and he almost delivered towards the end. I want to see the Suns have a better record every month than the month prior and be playing 500 basketball by March. I know that calls for above 500 in April but even if 500 basketball is sustained through March and April then I can live with that. April is when teams jockey for draft position if they're not in the playoff hunt and there is only a week or 10 days of games anyway so I don't really care what the record is in March, same for October since only 2-3 games are played.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I want to see from Monty what I called for from Igor in December and he almost delivered towards the end. I want to see the Suns have a better record every month than the month prior and be playing 500 basketball by March. I know that calls for above 500 in April but even if 500 basketball is sustained through March and April then I can live with that. April is when teams jockey for draft position if they're not in the playoff hunt and there is only a week or 10 days of games anyway so I don't really care what the record is in March, same for October since only 2-3 games are played.

That's a nice thing to hope for but I don't know how reasonable it is. Between injuries and schedule we could easily improve as a team regularly throughout the season and still not have more wins each month.

 

[Hoop Head]

That's a nice thing to hope for but I don't know how reasonable it is. Between injuries and schedule we could easily improve as a team regularly throughout the season and still not have more wins each month.

I know it's possible that they fall short but I feel like the important part is playing close to 500 basketball by years end. If they reach 500 in December then I won't be raising what I expect for January. The expectations would stay the same, whether they exceed them or not. Ultimately, I hope to see improvement each month. I guess I set my own standards though as far as what I hope to see though in terms of record. Something like... 30%+ in November, 35%+ in December, 40% in January, 45%+ in February, and 50%+ in March then I'll be very happy.

I don't know if it's as hard to hit as you might think. I thought they might accomplish it last year after that 4 game streak in December but then they had that awful losing streak headed into the All-Star break. I think I came up with that idea last November and it looked attainable at that time until they fell apart in January.

I was trying to get across a similar point to that above but quicker in the post you quoted. I wouldn't raise it if they do well though, I feel like that's a fair thing to ask for going into the year, a percentage like that monthly. If they exceed it, great, but if they don't then hopefully they can play up to the higher mark the following month.

I understand there are tough stretches and injuries to deal with but I don't think it's asking too much from them to post a record similar to what I spelled out though. I don't believe asking for 500 basketball by the end of the year is too much since we won't have as many rookies and should have some good chemistry by years end, even if there are some injuries to contend with in March. I hope we're not throwing in the towel and resting guys for draft position, that's for certain. I'm beyond done with that.

Here is last seasons record when broken up by month...

October - 1-6
November - 3-12
December - 5-11
January - 2-13
February - 1-8
March - 5-10
April - 2-3