Who would you want to see as Phoenix Suns coach?

[passenger]

Since everybody is posting about firing D'antoni,and due to our late poor record,that's now definitely a big possibility.Who do you think would make this roster more efficient?Give me names from the possible/available coaches,not P.Jackson,Popovich..

I would like to see Don Nelson since his contrract is ending end of this year,or Larry Johnson

 

[FArting]

Since everybody is posting about firing D'antoni,and due to our late poor record,that's now definitely a big possibility.Who do you think would make this roster more efficient?Give me names from the possible/available coaches,not P.Jackson,Popovich..

I would like to see Don Nelson since his contrract is ending end of this year,or Larry Johnson

Who is Larry Johnson?

Jeff Van Gundy

 

[mjb21aztd]

I don't care as long as its a coach that uses his bench, and makes his team play defense for more then just 5 min throughout the game

 

[mojorizen7]

If the SUNS were to hire Don Nelson then i'd probably become a Pistons fan.
Hmmm...Lets trade gimmick offense "1B" for gimmick offense "1A." Nellie's been running that ticket-selling eye-candy offense for years with nothing to show for it.
No thanks.
Larry Johnson? This guy?

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[Divide Et Impera]

Larry Brown for me, please....

 

[MiamiHeat]

Who is Larry Johnson?

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?

lol

 

[MiamiHeat]

Larry Brown for me, please....

you realize no coach in the world can turn an elephant into a TV right?

an elephant is an elephant no matter who your coach is. if you want coach change, defense change, you are talking about the death of the PHX SUNS as you know them. you need major roster overhaul

 

[mojorizen7]

I would be satisfied with Larry Brown for 2-3 years.
Rick Carlisle.
Jeff Van Gundy.
Although with the current state of the team in terms of age, contracts, lack of draft picks,tied up salary's etc...i don't know how the above mentioned could be lured here.
Maybe we could promote an assistant(A.Gentry) or look for an up and coming assistant from elsewhere to serve as a stop-gap solution for a couple years when the job is more attractive. I don't have any names.
It would truly be a waste to have Amare Stoudemire play his entire career without being coached on the defensive end.

 

[mojorizen7]

you realize no coach in the world can turn an elephant into a TV right?

an elephant is an elephant no matter who your coach is. if you want coach change, defense change, you are talking about the death of the PHX SUNS as you know them. you need major roster overhaul

Yeah, thats generally the case. I think most of us are familiar with the term "rebuilding mode."
It's not like the SUNS and their fans just fell out of David Stern's fat womb a few years ago when Nashy arrived.

 

[MiamiHeat]

well you are basically saying you want to be rid of nash and the PHX SUNS

didnt know mojorizen hated his team that much

 

[mojorizen7]

well you are basically saying you want to be rid of nash and the PHX SUNS

didnt know mojorizen hated his team that much

Show me where it is that i even basically said that.
My disdain for Mike D'Antoni's philosophy is well known on this board.
If you're gonna misquote my words and regurgitate them in the form of childish comments like that then we'll have no further discussions.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

you realize no coach in the world can turn an elephant into a TV right?

an elephant is an elephant no matter who your coach is. if you want coach change, defense change, you are talking about the death of the PHX SUNS as you know them. you need major roster overhaul

I try to tell them that 35 year old players are not suddenly going to become good defenders regardless of the coach but no one listens.

 

[khilari]

I would hire Jeff Van Gundy and have him bring in Eddie Johnson and Dan Majrlie as assistant coaches. And after couple of years turn the team over to Thunder Dan. What do you guys think?

 

[mojorizen7]

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It's obvious that firing D'Antoni means the following:
1) We'll be in a re-building mode.
2) We'll be overhauling the roster.
3) We'll be a different team.
While overhauling the roster is impossible overnight with the current structure of contracts here, there's no reason for our younger core group to continue to play defenseless basketball under the current regime.
I believe there's still hope for Amare to become a willing and effective defender. The same goes for Strawberry and even Barbosa. These guys have the physical tools to be excellent defenders in this league IMO.
As much as it pains me to say, if the SUNS were to replace DA this summer, it would be wise to move Nash along with him(if he doesn't retire first) and try to get some future value there.
Thats getting way ahead of things though.
I believe that we can do some damage in the playoffs this year if we can just keep our heads above water and get there. The tempo will favor us more than in years past and D'Antoni HAS TO begin to realize where our strengths and weaknesses can be utilized and hidden sooner or later right....?

 

[BC867]

It's obvious that firing D'Antoni means the following:
1) We'll be in a re-building mode.

Is that necessarily the case?

We have an intelligent veteran team just waiting to be coached effectively. That includes Shaq and Amare utilized properly and a backup Center who is fossilizing on the bench.

Yes, we would need to add a backup Point Guard with skills in passing and defense.

That, and a new coaching staff, could have the Suns up-and-running starting immediately.

A coaching staff that doesn't include Don Nelson, as previously mentioned. If we're going to bring in another Coach obsessed with small-ball, why make a change?

The team has been rebuilt. Many of us anticipated that Mike D'Antoni would be too stubborn to adjust to it. Shame!

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P.S.: I wonder if removing the D'Antoni's and promoting Alvin Gentry to temporary Head Coach -- right now -- would have immediate results.

Does anyone know if Gentry, when he coached, respected defense/rebounding/a ready bench/using players' strengths/playing them at their natural positions. Y'know, all the things that Mike D'Antoni doesn't.

 

[MiamiHeat]

Show me where it is that i even basically said that.

ok i will....

I said - you need major roster overhaul

and you said......

Yeah, thats generally the case. I think most of us are familiar with the term "rebuilding mode."
It's not like the SUNS and their fans just fell out of David Stern's fat womb a few years ago when Nashy arrived

You call Nash .....'Nashy'.......and it's well known Nash can't play a lick of defense.... you are asking for defense and you want to go into rebuilding mode....... so you want to be rid of the team you have.

so you said it.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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It's obvious that firing D'Antoni means the following:
1) We'll be in a re-building mode.
2) We'll be overhauling the roster.
3) We'll be a different team.
While overhauling the roster is impossible overnight with the current structure of contracts here, there's no reason for our younger core group to continue to play defenseless basketball under the current regime.
I believe there's still hope for Amare to become a willing and effective defender. The same goes for Strawberry and even Barbosa. These guys have the physical tools to be excellent defenders in this league IMO.
As much as it pains me to say, if the SUNS were to replace DA this summer, it would be wise to move Nash along with him(if he doesn't retire first) and try to get some future value there.
Thats getting way ahead of things though.
I believe that we can do some damage in the playoffs this year if we can just keep our heads above water and get there. The tempo will favor us more than in years past and D'Antoni HAS TO begin to realize where our strengths and weaknesses can be utilized and hidden sooner or later right....?

i hadn't thought of it 'cuz i fervently wanted to believe another coach could come in here and turn it around with a new philosophy, but sanders point is salient . . . you don't teach 35 year olds defense. jettisoning dantoni (of which i am in favor) does tend to mean starting over.

and though i never would have considered it . . . i think that does mean getting rid of nash. send him to a borderline contender for a young stud (ala devin harris) plus two firsts. try to recoup the firsts we've given away over the years. i'd also try to move shaq, if that was possible. for dimes on the dollar. maybe a 1st and 2nd. maybe a young backup type for grant hill? again, go into rebuild mode as early as possible around amare, diaw, barbs, tucker, and strawberry. you'd have the atl pick this year, our first next year, and whomever the young stud was with 3 additional firsts and the young backup player. you'd start the rebuilding project early enough to likely grow into something by the time amare can opt-out, thus convincing him to stay.

so who is the contender that desperately needs a pg that has an extra movable young stud and a couple of firsts?

too bad the celtics don't have a nice young stud player . . . nash would look good alongside kg, pierce, and allen.

same problem with cleveland . . . no youngin' we'd want, and you can bet lebron would love to play with nashty.

no good youngs in houston either. too bad they traded rudy gay. would have traded 'em nash for gay and 2 firsts.

think atlanta would bite? maybe josh smith and 2 firsts for nash? they've got a glut of young talent, so they don't need the picks and nash would be an upgrade over bibby and he'd love running with the athletes on that team.

no young stud on orlando that's intriguing enough other than dwight, who is untouchable. and that's a shame, 'cuz again nash would look real good there.

wow, going through the teams that's it. i can't come up with another team that would want nash, that nash would want to play for (rather than retire), that could offer us anything remotely interesting. that's depressing.

 

[Griffin]

If you bring in a new coach, here's a few things I think you are going to find out about our current team:

• The guys who are not playing much are really not that good yet, or not that good, period.
• Longer practices could mean you effectively put an end to Grant Hill's career and possibly shorten Nash's. Who was it that said that due to shorter practices they are able to save more energy for the actual game?
• Shaq is not the low-post scoring threat he once was.
• If the new coach is going to penalize players for defensive mishaps by benching them, Amare is not going to play a whole lot of minutes.
• Steve Nash's skill set is best suited for an open court uptempo running game. If you force him to play a conventional half-court grind-it-out type of game for 48 minutes, you take away his greatest advantage while exposing some of his most glaring weaknesses.
• The above statement can probably be said about a number of other players currently on our roster. This team was assembled with a purpose. You change the game plan completely, you might as well change the team, or at least most of it.

 

[MiamiHeat]

This team was assembled with a purpose. You change the game plan completely, you might as well change the team, or at least most of it.

yup 100% agree. thats basically what some fans on here are asking. the death of PHX SUNS as everyone knows it. thats the final consequence of the shaq trade, apparently.

if you would have told this to the world when the trade was made......boy.

 

[Griffin]

if you would have told this to the world when the trade was made......boy.

Don't misunderstand me. I have no problem with the trade and I have no problem with making adjustments to fit Shaq into our system. I only have problem with throwing that system out completely.

 

[MiamiHeat]

but that's the final consequence of the trade. throwing out the system completely if you want to play defense and change the coach.

it was universally believed that the trade for shaq was an 'indictment against mike d'antoni's system' because shaq will never fit into it. shaq and the suns said he will fit, everything will be fine and the suns will be better.


this leads me to believe that d'antoni had nothing to do with this trade. mayeb that was the plan all along.

 

[passenger]

Who is Larry Johnson?

Jeff Van Gundy

damn,that was supposed to be larry brown
larr johnson was nba player right

 

[passenger]

I would be satisfied with Larry Brown for 2-3 years.
Rick Carlisle.
Jeff Van Gundy.
Although with the current state of the team in terms of age, contracts, lack of draft picks,tied up salary's etc...i don't know how the above mentioned could be lured here.
Maybe we could promote an assistant(A.Gentry) or look for an up and coming assistant from elsewhere to serve as a stop-gap solution for a couple years when the job is more attractive. I don't have any names.
It would truly be a waste to have Amare Stoudemire play his entire career without being coached on the defensive end.

Rick Carlisle is one of the most underrated coaches,he did miracles in Indiana.

I don't want to see Jeff Van Gundy though,I don't think that'll be good fit.

 

[mojorizen7]

Some info on SUNS assistant Alvin Gentry.
http://www.nba.com/coachfile/alvin_gentry/index.html

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College - Appalachian State
Alvin Gentry, a 28-year coaching veteran, 19 in the NBA, returns for his fourth season with Phoenix. A three-time NBA head coach at Miami, Detroit and L.A. Clippers, Gentry has also been an assistant coach for 14 seasons, nine years under the trio of Larry Brown, Kevin Loughery and Doug Collins, who have combined for over 1,800 NBA victories.
Prior to the Suns, Gentry served as an assistant coach with the New Orleans Hornets as the East's No. 5 seed finished 41-41 in 2003-04. As a head coach, Gentry led the Clippers to an 89-133 mark (.401) from 2000-03. In 2001-02, in his second season as the Clippers' head coach, Gentry guided them to 39-43 record, the team's highest win total since 1992-93, and their mark of 31-51 in 2000-01 represented a 16-win improvement over the 1999-00 season.
He assisted the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team in training camp as they prepared for the 2006 FIBA Men's World Championships in Japan. He also spent five seasons (1995-00) with the Detroit Pistons, including the first two and a half seasons as an assistant under Doug Collins. He took over for Collins on Feb. 2, 1998 and registered a 73-72 (.503) record from 1997-2000.
Gentry received his first head opportunity with the Miami Heat, taking over as interim head coach for Kevin Loughery on Feb. 14, 1995, and finishing the season with a record of 15-21 (.417). He had served as an assistant with the Heat from 1991- 95.
Gentry's first NBA coaching job came with the San Antonio Spurs, where he spent the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons as an assistant coach under Larry Brown. Gentry then moved the Clippers for one season as an assistant under Mike Schuler.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant the University of Colorado during the 1977-78 season. After one year working in private business, he returned to the bench when he received his first full-time collegiate assistant coaching job at Baylor in 1980. Gentry then returned to Colorado as an assistant coach from 1981-85.
Gentry moved on to the University of Kansas as an assistant under then Head Coach Larry Brown from 1985-88, and helped lead the Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA Championship before leaving with Brown for the Spurs prior the start of the 1988-89 season.
He played point guard at Appalachian State for coaching legends: Press Maravich, the father of “Pistol Pete” and former Georgia Tech Head Coach Bobby Cremins. Gentry graduated from Appalachian State with a degree in management in 1977.
After graduation, his cousin, former NBA All-Star David “Skywalker” Thompson got him a tryout with the Denver Nuggets and although he didn't make the cut, he made an impression on Brown, who would eventually hire as an assistant coach with the University of Kansas and the San Antonio Spurs.
Gentry and his wife Suzanne have two children, Ryan Marcus and Matthew Jackson. He also has one daughter, Alexis.

 

[French Fries]

rick carlisle did wonders on a banged up pacers lineup, and he had an experience coaching a big guy. second choice would be van gundy who's had experience coaching a huge guy too, plus he's a defensive coach no matter how i look at it...

these are the guys i like, but not this season....