The threads about coaches are kind of all over the place so here's the official thread. LAL signed Mike Brown. Lots of weird rumors about this signing. Buss'es didn't ask Kobe what he thought about Brown (which is a big deal to LAL fans apparently). Also he was allegedly the cheapest coach out there. Says hes going to get away from the triangle offense. Houston signs Kevin McHale. Another weird signing. McHale and Brown seemed like the two biggest morons out of all the coaching candidates this offseason. Apparently Rick Adelman and the Rockets' relationship soured because they wanted Adelman to groom some D-League coach to become the head coach in a few years. Adelman said fugg you but McHale said he's fine with it and thats where this came from (allegedly). Morey is a GREAT GM but this hiring looks terrible right now. Every time McHale speaks I cringe. Maybe I'm way off but he seems like a complete moron. Yahoosports reporting Adelman is on our short list: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Adelman-on-Warriors-short-list?urn=nba-358093 I really like Adelman but hes not really a coach who can "grow with the team" like Lacob seems to envision. That said, Jerry West hired 70 year old Hubie Brown to coach the Grizz and Hubie ended up winning COY with the Grizz. Adelman isn't known for being a great defensive coach but I think his defenses in Houston were quite good. Those great Kings teams weren't known for defense but they were contenders so they were probably better than given credit for. I don't want to compare Lee to Webber and Scola but I think Adelman would get the most offensively out of Lee.
I like Adelman too. I think he would be a good fit with the Warriors who have a lot of players who can handle the ball. Well, I actually wanted the Warriors to play like his Kings teams when they were good and how the Warriors seemed to emphasize at the start of last season. Perhaps the new ownership and the Jerry West move may encourage Adelman to consider coming back a little bit more.
Yeah I wonder how much influence West has in impressing some of the veteran coaches. This is a pipe dream but maybe JVG looks at West and thinks the owners are taking this seriously and have good decision makers up top and thinks maybe its a nice situation to be in? Hes from Martinez too and went to Menlo college. Like I said, pipe dream but who knows.
From what I read, West's first duty was to help in the selection or acquisition of a coach. He wasn't going to make the final decision, but he would play a big role. That's why I thought of the two coaches who turned the Warriors down for an interview before he came -- Jerry Sloan and JVG. According to Tim Kawakami, it appears the selection will come down to either Lawrence Frank or Dwayne Casey . I rather have a coach with a winning record like Rick Adelman. The reasons why it's Frank or Casey are in the article. What do you think of these guys? http://www.mercurynews.com/tim-kawakami/ci_18163597?nclick_check=1 UPDATE: Adelman was interested in the Lakers coaching job, but now is interested in the GM job with the Trailblazers. Owner Paul Allen is on vacation, so the search won't be underway until he returns. http://portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=130654755081962400
I like Frank and Casey among this class of coaches. That said, there are no real big time coaches available right now. Sloan told the W's hes done and JVG doesn't want to coach here. I wanted Frank before but I'm actually leaning toward Casey now. Shaw does seem out of the picture. LAL didn't want him and neither did anyone else. Phil Jackson's coaching tree is pretty unimpressive. I worry about players taking Frank seriously. Monta and Lee especially and they're the two leaders on the club it seems. Hes got a decent coaching history but he got a pretty good team in NJ with Kidd in his prime and a weak ass eastern conference. Never even made his high school team basketball team lol. Casey went 20-20 with the Wolves the season he was fired but it was a surprise to everyone when they let him go. It seemed like the team was really playing for him and he did have KG but if memory serves those T'Wolves clubs didn't have much talent outside of KG. He was an assistant under George Karl and Nate McMillan in Seattle then a HC with Minny and now hes an assistant under Carlisle. It doesn't necessarily mean he'll coach like those guys but thats a pretty good list of coaches to learn from. Frank has coached under Brian Hill, Byron Scott, and now Doc Rivers which aint bad either.
I guess reality is biting us in the butt. One is the triangle and the hiring of Brian Shaw. Unless it was Phil Jackson coaching it, the Lakers did not want to go back to it. I think the only other team playing it would be the Timberwolves and we know the trouble it has caused with Kevin Love vs Kurt Rambis. It probably would not fit with the Warriors players. Second, we wanted the "name" coaches and thought ones like Jerry Sloan and Jeff Van Gundy would "change" their minds because we "got" Jerry West now. Ha ha. Three, it would explain why a coach who wasn't popular, probably due to what happened with LeBron, was the leading candidate. I said I wanted a winning coach and Mike Brown's winning record is one of the best -- 272 - 138 for a .663 W-L percentage. His playoff record is .592 W-L percentage. Well, he is with the Lakers now and only has to convince Kobe to be in his corner. I would think the Lakers fans would come around if MB gets that. The record speaks for itself. So we're down to who again ?
Frank, Casey, possibly Shaw and NO lead assistant Mike Malone seems to be a darkorse. Maybe Adelman? Might be a few other candidates that aren't being reported. Like I said, these guys are solid and if they get it right it will be huge moving forward. No one blows you away initially though. This is kind of a random thought but with the whole Dwight Howard situation in Orlando I wonder how long Stan Van Gundy will be around. Hes a guy I really like and he'd be perfect for us. Its irrelevant I suppose because we're hiring someone this year and we'll stick with him but I wonder if SVG becomes available next offseason...
I do not remember the last time the Warriors ownership took this long to actually hire a coach. Don't get me wrong. It is a good thing. I am glad there is actually a process. There was a stretch there where the team was hiring coaches out of nowhere left and right. June is coming, which means the draft is coming closer. The next question after who the Warriors hire, is will they hire a coach before the draft? I suppose, after all of these interview being conducted, it seems that it will be done before the draft. But what do you guys think or know? Will we have another draft without a coach?
I highly doubt it. Coaching vacancies are getting filled. I don't think we're imminent on a coach but probably in the next week or two maybe even less.
Interesting, Lacob flew to SA to interview Budenholzer: http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/2011/05/31/joe-lacob-to-interview-spurs-mike-budenholzer/ Also its been reported Lacob has spoken to Mark Jackson multiple times.
I am not a big fan of Mark Jackson. But maybe that is mostly for his broadcasting. I wonder if Budenholzer is getting interviewed because of the relentlessness of Lacob. If anything he has proven to be a good negotiator given the purchase of the team from Cohan even though Ellison was going to outbid him easily. On top of that he did the Jerry West hiring who said he was very impressed with the ownership group here.
Is Budenholzer the preferred candidate among you guys now? I know noting about him but hes been lead assistant in SA for a few years now and has been with their organization since like '93. Played professionally over seas. I'd love to get some of that Spurs defense and ball movement but you never know how assistants will be as coaches. Casey has red flags in that hes a bit old and has been interviewing for HC jobs for years and years and only been hired once. Frank never even made his high school team and could easily lose the respect of the players. Had a nice run in NJ but he took over a good team with Kidd in his prime and established leadership and respect already in place. Mark Jackson has never coached at any level. Its interesting that he gets so much consideration to be a HC yet doesn't seem to want it bad enough to take on a job as assistant coach for a few seasons. That seems to be the only thing standing in his way of being a head coach and he won't even take two or three years to get there? Big time red flag IMO and if you need an assistant coaching staff to make up for your HC's deficiencies than that HC probably shouldn't be a HC at all. Mike Malone is the darkhorse in all of this it seems. Little known about him. Still apparently in the race. Shaw and Persons have been eliminated. Wonder if Shaw would still want an assistant job here though. Hes jobless with Phil out in LAL no?
This sounds like great news. From the Spurs blog: What changed to pique Budenholzer’s interest in the Warriors? Something has happened since the end of the season for Spurs top assistant Mike Budenholzer that has led to a change in his attitude about pursuing the vacant Golden State job. Budenholzer told Express-News NBA reporter Mike Monroe before Game 6 of the Memphis series that he would prefer not to be mentioned as candidate for any of the vacant head coaching jobs across the league. But in the month since that pronouncement was made, Budenholzer’s interest in the Golden State job has intensified. CSN Bay Area.com reported that Budenholzer has emerged as a legitimate candidate for the vacancy created when Keith Smart’s contract wasn’t renewed. After 15 seasons on Popovich’s staff, it is presumed that Budenholzer in the leading candidate to replace Gregg Popovich as the Spurs’ head coach when he chooses to retire. But that day could be several seasons away if we are to take some of Popovich’s pronouncements last year as a guiding point. The story has some intriguing theories why Budenholzer might be interested in starting his NBA head coaching career with Golden State, a franchise that has made one playoff appearance in the last 17 seasons and hasn’t had an All-Star player since Latrell Sprewell in 1997. First, new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber are determined to rebuild their product. Most importantly, they have lured iconic NBA legend Jerry West out of retirement to join their ownership team. West’s hiring proved the Warriors are determined to play with the big boys. The new Warriors’ owners have already instituted plans to issue a fan contract with several tangible guarantees such as guaranteeing a playoff berth. It’s a bold move from management that expects the team can be turned around quickly. That Budenholzer might have seen how lead Lakers assistant Brian Shaw was overlooked and not hired when Phil Jackson retired, despite early assurances he was the leading candidate. Whatever the reason, Lacob’s trip to San Antonio today to meet with Budenholzer shows that he is interested in him. And the fact that Budenholzer is willing to meet with him seems to indicate that he might be interested as well. The only other known candidate Lacob has met with is ABC-TV analyst Mark Jackson, whom he has met with twice. Jackson has no NBA experience as an assistant coach or a head coach although he was prominently mentioned as a potential candidate for the New York Knicks job before Mike D’Antoni was hired. Jackson has brought numerous catch phrases into the NBA lexicon as an analyst – most notably “Mama there goes that man” and “3-Ball Corner Pocket.” He does a nice job with ABC-TV in his work with their lead broadcasting crew. But he can’t match Budenholzer’s coaching pedigree or his experience. Dallas assistant coach Dwane Casey and Boston assistant coach Lawrence Frank are other potential candidates. Casey presumably couldn’t be hired until after the NBA Finals conclude. But the fact that Budenholzer is talking to the Golden State owners today indicates that he is a legitimate candidate. http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursn...-pique-budenholzers-interest-in-the-warriors/
