What did you expect from Watson as the coach?

[Phrazbit]

This debate is a killer! If it was all down Steve Nash (and I'll admit I was probably on this side until two days ago) then what the hell is happening in Houston?!

It's all down to Harden? It can't be because he and the rockets sucked last year!

They made the playoffs and Harden had like a 29 PER. He had a monster season, their problem was they were ravaged by injuries and tuned out their coach.

What happened in NY when D'Antoni got fired and replaced by Mike Woodson (a terrible coach in his own right)? They had their best two seasons in ages after that coaching swap. In LA D'Antoni was so obtuse that he refused to play Howard and Gasol at the same time, essentially relegating Gasol to an 8th man for much of the season.

D'Antoni has been a colossal failure at every point of his career except for Phoenix and even in Phoenix they went like 4-17 when Nash didn't play.

I will give him his due, the team was a thrill to watch, he truly did change the league, however, he has some really severe deficiencies as a coach and month long run in Houston is not enough to convince me he has overcome them. His ball movement, faced paced style is what turned the league from the plodding crap it was in the early 2000s to the much more entertaining brand it is now, but he was a one trick pony who didn't bring anything else to the table (and being a lousy GM and practicing nepotism in his assistant hires didn't help either).

He is the Mike Martz of the NBA. They both changed their leagues, opened up offenses in such ways that other teams had no choice but to evolve and adopt their practices, but neither Mike Martz or D'Antoni showed an evolve themselves.

 

[Phrazbit]

I guess Thibodeau is not a good coach.

Please explain how he is a good coach when his team is losing?

I guess Mike is in a special category.

I cannot wait to hear the spin.

Thibodeau is the defense coach version of Mike. He wants to grind out ugly games and smother with defense, on offense he wants to chew up clock and control the ball. He does not have the players to do this in Minnesota, he is failing to adjust to his talent and he is falling on his face.

 

[BC867]

Our weather is great and it is a great place to live.

We should be an ideal destination for both players and coaches.

Why are they not joining this franchise????????????

Because the two-bit banker from Tucson is calling the shots.

 

[GatorAZ]

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[Matt L]

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I can't argue with any of this but I will say that we don't know what type of conversations are being had between management and Watson. Mgmt could be telling him to play Tucker and Knight to try and raise their trade value. I am hoping that once the trade deadline comes and passes the team will start giving heavy minutes to the young guys

 

[Hoop Head]

At first that read like a real article from a respected journalist but then I saw it was from a reddit poster. While some good points were brought up it lost me entirely with the swearing in the middle, that is when it became obvious it was a fan with an agenda vs a journalist.

 

[Errntknght]

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Is there some trick to using these links - when I click on them nothing happens. Same with all the links to social media but ordinary links work fine.

 

[Mainstreet]

Is there some trick to using these links - when I click on them nothing happens. Same with all the links to social media but ordinary links work fine.

I open them in a new private window by right clicking the link for options.

Personally I still like to copy a paste part of the article or tweet and then add a link. At least something shows up immediately.

 

[Errntknght]

I open them in a new private window by right clicking the link for options.

Personally I still like to copy a paste part of the article or tweet and then add a link. At least something shows up immediately.

I tried the 'right click & open in new window' and it worked just fine... I'll have to see if works on other social media links. Thanks Mainstreet.

I liked the article, too - not surprising since he agrees with what I've been saying about Watson's coaching.

I wonder if Earl will open up some more minutes for Bender due to his good performance - right on cue it was, too, right after slin went to such lengths to bomb him. Or bomb all us who want to see him play more, I guess I should say.

 

[slinslin]

Watson gave Bender more minutes in the past after he had a decent showing in garbage time. For example after the Golden State game, but Bender blew it. He will probably get more minutes next game after this performance where he suddenly found out how to rebound.
Either that or the Rockets simply didn't care about it anymore after being up 30.

 

[Mainstreet]

I tried the 'right click & open in new window' and it worked just fine... I'll have to see if works on other social media links. Thanks Mainstreet.

I liked the article, too - not surprising since he agrees with what I've been saying about Watson's coaching.

I wonder if Earl will open up some more minutes for Bender due to his good performance - right on cue it was, too, right after slin went to such lengths to bomb him. Or bomb all us who want to see him play more, I guess I should say.

In a way, the hire of Earl Watson as the Suns head coach sort of reminds me of the Suns hiring Lindsey Hunter as their interim head coach. In both cases they sort of slid into their position with little or no coaching experience.

I'm hoping Bender continues to get minutes. IMO, there is not much downside

 

[JustWinBaby]

In a way, the hire of Earl Watson as the Suns head coach sort of reminds me of the Suns hiring Lindsey Hunter as their interim head coach. In both cases they sort of slid into their position with little or no coaching experience.

I'm hoping Bender continues to get minutes. IMO, there is not much downside

ditto on Lindsey Hunter

If bender continues to get minutes that could jeopardize Tucker's chance at DPOY. However I expect Watson chose to sit him so that Harden didn't gang rape him again, great coaching. Tucker was Hunter's boy and now is Watson's. Great minds think alike.

 

[Errntknght]

In a way, the hire of Earl Watson as the Suns head coach sort of reminds me of the Suns hiring Lindsey Hunter as their interim head coach. In both cases they sort of slid into their position with little or no coaching experience.

There are similarities, to be sure... it's rather like they grabbed whoever happened to be standing idly nearby. Also, in both cases they did not have a firm idea of who would be their assistants, or if they did they were ignored or overruled. You want a guy who has two or three assistants who he knows can work effectively with him and each other - and has the cajones to insist on them or no dice. You don't want your new set of coaches scrambling to get on the same page as training camp begins - and perhaps never getting there. That's on McD - he should have known 'stand alone' head coaches have little chance of success.

 

[SirStefan32]

ditto on Lindsey Hunter

If bender continues to get minutes that could jeopardize Tucker's chance at DPOY. However I expect Watson chose to sit him so that Harden didn't gang rape him again, great coaching. Tucker was Hunter's boy and now is Watson's. Great minds think alike.

Are you trolling, or do you seriously think Tucker is a candidate for DPOY? He happens to be the best one-on-one defender on a team that is beyond awful on defense, but nobody in their right mind would vote for him as THE best defender in the league.

I am not impressed by Watson, but some of the criticism here is just silly.

 

[Phrazbit]

Are you trolling, or do you seriously think Tucker is a candidate for DPOY? He happens to be the best one-on-one defender on a team that is beyond awful on defense, but nobody in their right mind would vote for him as THE best defender in the league.

I am not impressed by Watson, but some of the criticism here is just silly.

yes, he is trolling. Unless he is claiming D'Antoni is better than Red Auerbach then assume justwin is being sarcastic.

 

[JustWinBaby]

Are you trolling, or do you seriously think Tucker is a candidate for DPOY? He happens to be the best one-on-one defender on a team that is beyond awful on defense, but nobody in their right mind would vote for him as THE best defender in the league.

I am not impressed by Watson, but some of the criticism here is just silly.

Why

Watson was making a case for him a couple of days ago.

A coach that has lost 3 out of every 4 games he has coached in the NBA deserves some criticism.

What thing that Watson does makes you believe he is ever going to be worth a crap?

He has been a loser his entire NBA career. He is a perfect fit.

 

[slinslin]

A coach that has lost 3 out of every 4 games he has coached in the NBA deserves some criticism.

What a joke, a coach whose only team he coached so far was projected by all neutral observers to be one of the 3 worst teams in the league.

What thing that Watson does makes you believe he is ever going to be worth a crap?

He has been a loser his entire NBA career. He is a perfect fit.

You sound like you have been a loser all your life.

 

[hcsilla]

I think that the ineffectiveness and painful outlook of Suns' offense mostly connected to Tyrone Corbin. He did prefer mid-range shooting at UTA and SAC as a head coach.

 

[Mainstreet]

ditto on Lindsey Hunter

If bender continues to get minutes that could jeopardize Tucker's chance at DPOY. However I expect Watson chose to sit him so that Harden didn't gang rape him again, great coaching. Tucker was Hunter's boy and now is Watson's. Great minds think alike.

I assume you are being sarcastic about Tucker having a chance to be DPOY but you are not far off when it comes to the Suns. Watson has heaped praise on Tucker.

Watson wants the Suns to build around Tucker's defensive mindset.

“If you go through the NBA and you were to ask every player about P.J. Tucker, I guarantee you everyone would say he’s one of the top defenders in the league,” Watson said. “Players have this unwritten and unspoken respect that we have for each other, and you know who can really play and who can’t. P.J.’s been magnificent for us. He plays with his heart.”

“You look at our team and what we need to build upon,’’ Watson said. “We know we need toughness. We know we need defensive-minded players. We already have one, so we want to continue to build around (Tucker’s) personality on defense.”

I understand what Watson is saying about Tucker's defensive mentality, but I do not want the Suns building around Tucker... period.

The quotes above are from a Doug Haller article dated 12-21-16.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...-defensive-mindset-around-pj-tucker/95730966/

 

[Mainstreet]

There are similarities, to be sure... it's rather like they grabbed whoever happened to be standing idly nearby. Also, in both cases they did not have a firm idea of who would be their assistants, or if they did they were ignored or overruled. You want a guy who has two or three assistants who he knows can work effectively with him and each other - and has the cajones to insist on them or no dice. You don't want your new set of coaches scrambling to get on the same page as training camp begins - and perhaps never getting there. That's on McD - he should have known 'stand alone' head coaches have little chance of success.

I did not understand the lack of a hiring process (interviewing other head coaching candidates) when the Suns hired Watson. Maybe they would have hired him anyway but (IMO) they should have at least done their due diligence.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

What a joke, a coach whose only team he coached so far was projected by all neutral observers to be one of the 3 worst teams in the league.



You sound like you have been a loser all your life.

Well that's a bit harsh...don't you think?

 

[slinslin]

don't think so depending on the language he chose in the first place, he has no business calling Watson "a career loser", the Suns a perfect fit for "career losers" and Watson "not worth crap".

While at the same time annoying everyone about random Mike D'Antoni stuff who by the way had a losing record for most of the franchises he worked for

Denver 14 wins 36 losses
New York 121 wins 167 losses
Los Angeles 67 wins 87 losses

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Well I mean...Watson wasn't exactly an All-star back in his playing days...and he never played for any real successful teams. He's destined to fail as the coach for the Suns, so losing is kind of something he's very accustomed to...unfortunately.

 

[slinslin]

So not being an allstar makes Watson a career loser?

And how does this influence his coaching ability?

What about Michael Jordans playing career vs Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr, Ainge, Sloan etc? Who is the better basketball executive now?

 

[Mainstreet]

Well that's a bit harsh...don't you think?

Well I mean...Watson wasn't exactly an All-star back in his playing days...and he never played for any real successful teams. He's destined to fail as the coach for the Suns, so losing is kind of something he's very accustomed to...unfortunately.

No one deserves to be called a "loser." Good job of pointing it out AsUpRoDiGy.