Key word in my post is 'Long'.. Whilst I respect Brandon is a great player,and likely a good person to boot, I've never been a fan of his slow-ball, and have always wanted the Blazers to trade him while his value was high. I wanted this because I thought he was overacheiving at the time and wasn't/isn't a particularly good leader. My opinion was formed years before we knew that his knees were shot. . .
What I want to know is when did Nate decide to go to an ISO heavy offense? Was that what Valvano ran at NC St? Did he learn it from Bickerstaff when he was a young Sonic? I know he didn't learn it from George Karl. Did he decide to go with it when the Blazers got Roy? His Sonic teams always seemed to be really big penetrate and kick teams. They also had a lot of good shooters on that team and great offensive rebounders, which was ideal for that system. It can't be all he knows, can it?
The choice for interim coach is clear. Who's the last guy who we hired to replace a long-term coach who got the team to run run run and played all the young guys? Why Kevin Pritchard of course!
I'll say this. When the message board board hacks smell blood, it becomes a frenzy. However, some good points have been made. Nate's style doesn't fit this group. Also, this group has terrible chemistry. The team needs a full make over.
I'd say shut Brandon down and let him heal for real, start Matthews at the 2 and give Rudy more minutes backing up the 2 and 3. Joel is back and that helps the post. Play out the season giving Cho through January to really evaluate the team. He either makes a trade/trades in February using the expiring contracts, or not. At the end of the season, it really feels like Nate will be done and I bet it will be a mutual descision. He'll get another job right away (Miami?) as he seems well respected around the league. This season was presented as the break-out season to compete with the Lakers all based on having a healthy team for the first time in 3 years - that obviously is not the case. So would it be better to make a move now with coach/players that won't get the team any closer to the WC finals this year (who is available right now that is better than Nate AND would do that (WC Finals) with this banged up group? What player are you going to be able to trade for that could get this team to the WC finals THIS year?) Or do you give Johnson, Mills, Batum, Matthews, Cunningham a year together to build chemistry and start this thing over next year with HOPEFULLY a healthy core of Brandon, LA, Joel, Canby and Oden? I vote for starting over and admitting this is a rebulding project. Just my $.02
I've made my opinion of Roy pretty clear over the years: he's a talker, not a leader. Very similar to Nate, in fact. Lots of gibberish... As such, I suspect the team is tuning Roy out as much as the coach at this point. He can't lead by example anymore, so his words ring empty.
I don't think shutting Roy down makes a difference. He can't "heal" because his problem is that his knees are permanently damaged. Sitting him out won't grow back menisci.
Maybe because he just signed an extension with Houston like last year? You can pretty much write off all coaches who are coaching on a team currently. Because your chances of them being let go, are slim, and even then it does nothing for us mid season. Want Adelman? Well he isn't going to be available when you fire Nate at point X.
This is true. With that in mind then, at some point you have to start looking at the future at 2 guard. Matthews? Fernandez? or a player not on the roster yet.
I don't think Rudy is any happier to be here than he was at the beginning of the season. So I guess it's probably Wesley because of the fact that he's under contract for the next 5 years unless he's traded. Really though? it's not just about looking at a position, it's about looking for elite talent EVERYWHERE up and down this roster. Cho's got his work cut out for him.
Under Bickerstaff, Nate could pass to Tom Chambers or Xavier McDaniel, but his primary option was Dale Ellis, a great catch and shoot SG who couldn't dribble, so he couldn't isolate. That wasn't an iso team. As Sonic coach, Nate used a jump shooting system like here (very few set plays going inside). His Roy and Aldridge were Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. It's all he knows as a coach, but now, Bickerstaff is filling in McMillan's memory gaps from his playing days.
I like Nate and vote Nate. That said, dos it seem strange to anyone else that Terry Porter is a sideline reporter here this year? Seems like an odd fit. Maybe he is actually a coach in waiting? He's watching the team every day, he's a legend here, and he's an ex-head coach. Terry Porter - the obvious choice.
