Anyone else think he'd be a nice fit as an assistant to this young group. You'd think a great PG like him would be nice to have around as a mentor to someone like Jerryd.
I dunno, I thought he did a pretty good job with Milwaukee, and I'm not really sure Phoenix was a very good fit in terms of personnel and his style. All things considered I think he'd be a fine assistant, but who knows if that's what he even wants or that's what the team wants out of him.
Well, he took a pathetic Bucks team to the playoffs. He probably would have done it again if not for injuries. (They didn't have the depth that we have) He tried like hell to get Phoenix to play defense, so they could advance in the playoffs, but the players wouldn't, and he was fired. Porter is a very good coach, who has been on the recieving end of two raw deals.
Porter got jacked in PHX. He was brought in to slow to get the team to play D and play playoff style basketball which incorporated more half court. The players didn't buy in and Steve Kerr set him out to dry. I thought he did a pretty good job in Milwaukee with what he had. One guy I wouldn't mind bringing back as an assistant, and who hinted when interviewed that he wouldn't mind ending his coaching career on a winning franchise, is Dick Harter. That guy would be great to have here as a defensive specialist.
Not a fan of his coaching. Why do you try to change the way Steve Nash plays when it is (1) so successful and (2) so very entertaining. I mean, I don't root for any team other than Portland, but if there's any team I'll watch it's Phoenix (or back in the day the Warriors when Baron was there) because it was just so damn entertaining to seem them fly up and down the court. In any case, I'd rather have Alonzo Mourning as an assistant. I think most people would agree with me on that.
Sounds more like a criticism of Steve Kerr, since he brought Porter in specifically to do that which you disdain. You can't fault Porter for attempting to do what his boss wanted. Personally, however, I agree with your general sentiment. I also wonder why Nash-style offense and Porter-style defense have to be incompatible. Couldn't they have tried to implement one without materially damaging the other?
I would agree that Suns basketball is VERY entertaining, but successful? Depends on how you define success. In any case that team will never win a championship with the way they play _efense, and have no inside game to go to when the jumper dries up; that's a huge problem in the playoffs when defenses are better, play is more physical and you end up with a lot of 'possession' basketball.
The only time that Suns basketball was even remotely successful in the playoffs the team was so talent laden that it could not help but be. Now that some of those players are gone, not so much.
Terry Porter is my all-time favorite Blazer, and #2 isn't even close. That being said, he's no assistant coach. He's a head coach. I hope he gets another opportunity elsewhere, but putting him under Nate is an insult.
Often times folks forget how important a roster is to a good coach getting a legit shot at succeeding. Lionell Hollins had multiple shots at head coaching but was always torpedoed with really bad teams. He finally got a pretty fair team for the first time in Memphis this year. I have observed quite a few Memphis games this year where he out coached his opponent. His young guys didn't always come through, but he had made the right move, diagnosed the right mismatch, or ran the right play.
I completely agree. and Hollins is an excellent example of pairing personnel with the right coach. I've watched at least 5 or 6 non-blazers Memphis games and he's done a great job of getting what I assumed to be selfish, offense-only chuckers to play good team ball, and to actually play defense. If Nate doesn't stick and TP wants the job, I wouldn't be shocked to see PA and KP offer him the job ... assuming a better candidate isn't out there.
Given that Dean Demopoulos and Monty Williams are often mentioned as head coaching candidates, I could see this happening. I think TP would be a good pick as an assistant, assuming of course that he's willing to take a back seat rather than trying for a head coach position again.
How many defensive specialists does it take on one staff to get the team to play above average defense?
There are tons of former head coaches out there that are currently assistants in the NBA. I'm sure they're happy to have a job! I think the assistants we have are fine, but if there is an opening I'd love to see him on our sidelines.
