Terry Porter errupts on the team in practice

[Shzm13]

There was a surprise awaiting the Suns at the end of Tuesday's practice.
It wasn't pretty.
"In the locker room!" coach Terry Porter bellowed. "Everybody!"

You must be registered for see images attach

Off they went, silently and obediently, bracing for the conversation ahead.
It was an impressive show of authority from the new man in charge. It was prompted by a shoddy practice before the team left for New Orleans but could've been directed at any number of nuisances, from the dissenting voices in the locker room to the recent and reckless comments by Amaré Stoudemire.
It was just what this ruffled, shuffled team needed to hear, and very conveniently, it was just what the media needed to see. Hopefully this will be rock bottom, the day the 2008-09 Suns turned the corner.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2008/12/02/20081202spt-bickley.html

 

[Shzm13]

I wonder what he yelled at them about.. They were probably trying to play the way theyre built to.. and he wanted slow, grind it out, boring, SAS style ball..


Also, i was going to edit out the Toyota guy.. But frankly, i can't picture this thread anymore without him.

 

[SirStefan32]

Good for him! It was about damn time!

 

[elindholm]

Also, i was going to edit out the Toyota guy.. But frankly, i can't picture this thread anymore without him.

Heh!

 

[Maligzar]

He probobly had them play charades. Kinda like how management is pretending that they can fix a problem that has no solution. This team has no chance at winning a title.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I can't tell yet if this is good or bad but I do agree it had to be done. My main issue with Porter as a signing is he's never had to coach a team with so many veteran stars on it. These guys don't necessarily need a disciplinarian but they do need someone they can respect and will listen to, and I don't think Porter's that guy, yet. Hopefully this goes a bit to help resolve that.

 

[Griffin]

I think this was arranged just so that the media had something to write about, to give everyone the illusion that Porter is in control of the team. Not sure if it had any effect on the players at all.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

So first it was team building collages and now it is yelling at them in public. Middle management thy name is Terry Porter.

 

[Black Jesus]

I bet he didn't like the team's collages...

"Since your all so horrible at cutting and pasting!!!! Here's the FINGER PAINT!!!"

 

[mojorizen7]

I think this was arranged just so that the media had something to write about, to give everyone the illusion that Porter is in control of the team. Not sure if it had any effect on the players at all.

I actually think you may be right on with this....maybe. You know, the same way that Sarver/Kerr told D'antoni to put a big smile on his face & agree to be in favor of the Shaq/Marion trade at the 1st press conference(before Shaq made the trip here).
Hilarious.

 

[SunsFanVegas]

I agree....it just sounds too much like damage control after the whole kindergarten collage fiasco. I just can't believe how much this team is in dissarray.

 

[nashman]

Totally arranged, man Kerr has done nothing good for this team yet. When is he going to admit he's and idiot as someone else pointed out he said I am either an idoit or genius, clearly not a genius.

 

[Mainstreet]

I learned long ago that yelling does not command respect. It might work on rare occasions where an already respected leader is trying to emphasize a point but that's about it. However, yelling usually indicates the leader has lost control and does not command respect. I've found strong leaders are generally quiet because they already are in control. They exude confidence.

If Porter is not in control of this team all the yelling, pep talks and collages will not effect things. In fact, it only emphasizes a lack of control.

 

[carey]

Read the article maybe? Sheesh

Edit.....

Sarver was behind the collages:

t's become so silly so early that owner Robert Sarver appealed to the team's sensibilities Saturday morning. It also appears Sarver was behind the 30-minute, team-building exercise where players made togetherness collages. (We all knew this was a team built on crafty veterans, didn't we?)

Porter also says that he'll be giving Nash more freedom:

Then the coach said the strangest thing. After returning from the locker room alone, Porter told the media that Nash might soon take a greater hand in this offense by controlling the ball more frequently. Nash could then create plays, shots and spacing. Effectively, it means the offense no longer starts in the post.

 

[nowagimp]

I learned long ago that yelling does not command respect. It might work on rare occasions where an already respected leader is trying to emphasize a point but that's about it. However, yelling usually indicates the leader has lost control and does not command respect. I've found strong leaders are generally quiet because they already are in control. They exude confidence.

If Porter is not in control of this team all the yelling, pep talks and collages will not effect things. In fact, it only emphasizes a lack of control.

I would put a different perspective on it. Terry porter is in a tough spot, he has a team loaded with veterans, mostly who respected the outgoing coach, partly due to the degree of success that was attained in DA's tenure(58W's a year, 4 yrs).

Add to that that Terry Porter is NOT a respected NBA coach, he has never proven he can coach a team to a winning record, let alone elite status. Porter is in a position where he needs to earn the players respect, to lead the way to success. But it will be difficult to incorporate his system within a year or two and attain that success with this roster.

Now I know all the "dumbtoni posters" here will try to discredit what DA has done here, but its the players that believe what they believe. ANd if you dont think these guys thought they could win it all in the "suspension season" with that roster and system, then you dont understand competitive athletics and the thin line between winning it all and being second best.

 

[Bufalay]

If the Suns end up going .500 this season it isn't because of Porter. It's easy to attribute a sharp drop in wins to a coaching change, but I can't really imagine D'antoni winning many more games with this team. A lot of posters seem to over-emphasize a coach's impact. Ultimately, the number of regular season wins is a measure of overall talent. It seems like a coach's true impact is felt in the playoffs, i.e. when two teams of similar talent levels play a 7-game series. It has been said many times that Porter's "style" might be better suited for playoff success than D'antoni's, unfortunately we probably wont get a chance to see it. I think that Frank Johnson could've won 60 games with the 2004-2005 roster.

 

[nowagimp]

If the Suns end up going .500 this season it isn't because of Porter. It's easy to attribute a sharp drop in wins to a coaching change, but I can't really imagine D'antoni winning many more games with this team. A lot of posters seem to over-emphasize a coach's impact. Ultimately, the number of regular season wins is a measure of overall talent. It seems like a coach's true impact is felt in the playoffs, i.e. when two teams of similar talent levels play a 7-game series. It has been said many times that Porter's "style" might be better suited for playoff success than D'antoni's, unfortunately we probably wont get a chance to see it. I think that Frank Johnson could've won 60 games with the 2004-2005 roster.

Your incredible imagination not withstanding, the only things that have changed this year from a 55 win team are porter, his system, mat barnes(a plus), robin lopez, dragic and minus skinner and giricek.

Thats a pretty hard sell, your imagined reasons for the suns downfall, this team has a better bench and the same starters.

 

[AfroSuns]

I think the most important component missing is Faith , the key players on the team seem to have lost confidence in Porter's new system. It started with Nash and Raja's mumblings. then Amare, It was obvious the team was on the edge of imploding.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Your incredible imagination not withstanding, the only things that have changed this year from a 55 win team are porter, his system, mat barnes(a plus), robin lopez, dragic and minus skinner and giricek.

Thats a pretty hard sell, your imagined reasons for the suns downfall, this team has a better bench and the same starters.

a better bench? They still have no backup PG, Barbosa's been just atrocious this year, Boris is what he always is, Lopez is a rook who hasn't proved anything and couldn't do anything more than Skinner could (can't shoot the fifteen footer, is a mediocre rebounder, can block the occassional shot) and Grant Hill looks like he's ready to be put out to pasture, plus they're all a year older.

how exactly do we have a better bench?

and I don't see why you're getting snarky with the "incredible imagination" comment. it's like you take any kind of criticism to DA as a personal affront to YOU.

 

[cly2tw]

Robin is way better on offense than Skinner, by simply not standing in the way. And his p-n-r with Nash reveals him being much smarter.

 

[Bufalay]

Your incredible imagination not withstanding, the only things that have changed this year from a 55 win team are porter, his system, mat barnes(a plus), robin lopez, dragic and minus skinner and giricek.

Thats a pretty hard sell, your imagined reasons for the suns downfall, this team has a better bench and the same starters.

Several omissions from your list.

1. Marion contributed to 33 of those 55 wins.
2. Barbosa was still good
3. Hill had an anomalously injury-free season
4. Bell and Nash were clearly declining, a trend which one should reasonably expect to continue.

This team is getting old, their "window" closed when they got rid of Kurt. Your expectations are unreasonable and your perfunctory analysis has lead you to the conclusion that their failure to meet these expectations is the coach's fault.

 

[nowagimp]

a better bench? They still have no backup PG, Barbosa's been just atrocious this year, Boris is what he always is, Lopez is a rook who hasn't proved anything and couldn't do anything more than Skinner could (can't shoot the fifteen footer, is a mediocre rebounder, can block the occassional shot) and Grant Hill looks like he's ready to be put out to pasture, plus they're all a year older.

how exactly do we have a better bench?

and I don't see why you're getting snarky with the "incredible imagination" comment. it's like you take any kind of criticism to DA as a personal affront to YOU.

Matt Barnes was added a definite upgrade over GG, guys like marks pike etc were subtracted. For this the suns will go .500, are you kidding? Imagining that the suns would go .500 anyway with the system they are used to is just that, an imagination. The bench looks better to me, LB is LB, diaw is diaw, and Hill isnt out with appendicitis. Adding all up and if it added to 13 less wins, your math has alot of imagination. Are you denying that incorporating a new system and the mountain of turnovers that have come with it has no effect, like your buddy buf?

 

[Andrew]

Good for him, this team needs to get it together.

 

[nashman]

What has Porter ever done to have the players respect? Honestly? Thats why he was a questionable hire to start with, but Steve Kerr sold it and alot of people bought in. Mike D will probally win more games in NY with a bunch of scrubs than Porter with all the talent we have here. Yeah I know we are a little older but its not like these guys can't play anymore.

 

[mojorizen7]

Your incredible imagination not withstanding, the only things that have changed this year from a 55 win team are porter, his system, mat barnes(a plus), robin lopez, dragic and minus skinner and giricek.

Thats a pretty hard sell, your imagined reasons for the suns downfall, this team has a better bench and the same starters.

Porter
system(you obviously underestimate this)
barnes
no barbosa
older nash
older shaq
older hill
older bell
Yeah thats a hard sell when you've already written this team off as a failure after less than 20 games. Joy