<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">THE WARRIORS' OUTLOOK is rosier than it has been at any point of the past decade, but I wouldn't want to be Mike Montgomery heading into the 2005-06 season. Except for those seven-figure annual bank deposits, that is. Think about it ... - The fans are so convinced Monty II is going to be something special, they're snatching up tickets by the row. - Chris Mullin has fallen in love with his roster, so much so he believed the best thing to do with the No. 9 pick in the draft was to add a specialist. - Everything revolves around a point guard who has had knee, back and Achilles' tendon problems and who sat out a total of 51 games the past two years. You've got to know Montgomery lies awake at night realizing if Baron Davis goes the way of Barry Bonds next season, the coach might not be around to see the organization make its 12th consecutive lottery visit in the spring. That's not to say the Warriors won't have possibly their longest season since the Don Nelson days. It's just that there's so much pressure on Montgomery ? with Mullin's hand-picked successor (Mario Elie) now serving as his chief assistant ? he's likely to enjoy it far less than most people. </div> Source
I dont think the pressure should be on Monty, it should be on Baron Davis. He is the one that turned around the franchise, not Monty. Monty did worse than our previous coach, but if the Warriors succeed it will be because of Baron Davis, not Monty. Thus, Monty will not get the axe if Baron goes down to injury for a long period of time and we dont end up making the playoffs. Monty is not the savior nor the goat...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I dont think the pressure should be on Monty, it should be on Baron Davis. He is the one that turned around the franchise, not Monty. Monty did worse than our previous coach, but if the Warriors succeed it will be because of Baron Davis, not Monty. Thus, Monty will not get the axe if Baron goes down to injury for a long period of time and we dont end up making the playoffs. Monty is not the savior nor the goat...</div> If Montgomery isn't helping this team play better or win, doesn't that make him the goat, one way or the other? Also, I don't think it should matter if the coach has pressure on him or not. This is the NBA. If you can't handle pressure, then...maybe he should go back to college; I mean like this article says, if the pressure affects his ability to be productive as the coach, then, I think Stanford wouldn't mind to have Montgomery back. This pressure Montgomery has on him should motivate him more than hurt him. And like the article on the Warriors coaching staff putting in a new defensive scheme that should work, is probably an indication that this pressure is making Mike work harder to get this team to win and make the playoffs. However reading that Diogu article about Ellie challenging Ike, is something I like to hear about. I think Mike Montgomery didn't challenge his players last year, enough(or should I say at all?).
I dont think Monty is a good coach for us long term. I think he really was brought in to teach fundamentals and set the foundation for Ellie to take over in 3-5 years...
Baron was the catalyst,but Monty and the rest of the team had to step up for the W's th do so well in the "second season" last year. They got halfway up the mountain,need to keep climbing and remember to not get careless.
Aren't we being a little bit premature about what Monty can and can't do as a coach? A first year coach taking over a bad team can only be successful if his players are willing to buy into his system. Unlike other college coaches, he doesn't have an ego to interfere with managing his players and he has a system which is excellent for creating offense in the half court (just nobody knew it last season to feel comfortable with it). The other thing Monty needed to do was get to know his players to see for his eyes what they can do and play to their strengths. Hopefully this offseason they will find out a way to design plays around getting the ball to the mismatch, playing team defense, and just executing. The Warriors historically have never executed well. It was all disorganized ball, no discipline, and no fundamentals in off the ball movement. It was just pure athleticism and teams can't win on that alone. We just can't have Baron and 4 other guys standing around waiting. Everyone needs to be moving. I think Monty can get the team to execute after our team has seen teams like the Pistons and the Spurs, also suprises like the Sonics and Bulls. I mean Monty ain't a John Wooden hall of famer for nothing. Give him a chance to really work with his team before you bash him and think Ellie is going to be the bomb.
