It doesn't even make sense. This HAS to be on Stotts. The salary cap keeps Paul from spending unlimited money on our roster, but I have never understood why we don't have the damn best staff money can buy. There's no salary cap for the staff.
It's not at all rare. In fact, it's very common and getting more so every year. Most teams have at least one guy, 6'10" or bigger on their staff, often a younger guy who can get out there and bang with the big men in practice. They are usually just called an assistant coach, but their job is to work with and develop the team's big men. Don't forget that Kim Hughes was a big man coach with the Clippers for several years before he came to Portland in the exact same role. Patrick Ewing was an assistant coach for 15 years, much of it in HOU, where he worked with Yao Ming and ORL where he tutored Dwight Howard. There are still plenty of older, former bigs on NBA coaching staffs (Walter McCarty in BOS, Jarron Collins in GSW, Juwan Howard in MIA, Aaron Gray in DET, Mark Madsen in LAL, Greg Foster and Scott Williams in MIL, Mark Bryant in OKC, Ed Pinkney in MIN, etc.), but the more recent trend is to hire younger big men that can get out o the floor and bang with the players, guys like Dave Bliss, who was first hired by OKC and then moved on to the Knicks where he has been instrumental in developing Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez, and Ben Sullivan in ATL. These days, the trend is to rest your veteran starters more and more during practice. Which means the young guys need big bodies to bang with and teach them the tricks of the trade. Here's a recent article on the subject, specifically about Dave Bliss: Latest NBA Hiring Trend: Younger, Smarter, Stronger Assistant Coaches in Demand With no big man on their coaching staff, the Blazers are definitely behind the times. BNM
My big man coaching dream team would be Kevin McHale and Bill Laimbeer. I know McHale is doing the broadcasting thing now and Laimbeer has been a head coach in the WNBA for a long time, but every man has his price and Paul Allen can easily meet, or exceed that price... BNM
Yeah, how's that working out for the Blazers? How's Meyers developed since Kim Hughes was fired? Noah Vonleh still doesn't have a single, reliable offensive move (and neither did Mason Plumlee while he was here) and was the lowest scoring player to start at least 41 games last season. The fallacy here is that the Blazers don't need a big man coach. We had a damn good one, who was getting results, fired him and haven't bothered to replace him in over two years. BNM
I was wondering if by gones could be by gones and they hire Kim Hughes back after the slap on the wrist...he's a real close friend of Neil's from what they both said...
He's also from the Midwest and used to spend time during the summers working with Meyers and Kaman in IL and MI. I think it would be worth it to re-hire him just to try to salvage something from that $41 million contract Neil and Paul gave Meyers. Right now, that's looking like a REALLY bad investment. Even if Hughes could just get Meyers back to where he had him two years ago, it would be a huge improvement. Based on the scuttlebutt in the huge Carmelo megathread, Meyers currently has as much, or more, negative trade value as Ryan Anderson. Which really sucks given that Meyers makes less than half as much and is 5 years younger. BNM
No. There are many, many examples of coaches across different sports (swimming, for example) where the successful coach wasn't similar to the player being coached. You're not happy with the development of our big man, and you see the problem as the coaches. You may be right, I'm not sure. But, the idea that the coach needs to be a big man is fallacious.
There are also plenty examples of the opposite - where someone skilled at an endeavor is able to leverage their experience to help others improve in that same area. Whatever the case, do you agree that Meyers, especially, and Noah, as well, haven't exactly improved by leaps and bounds? If that's true, whatever we are doing now is not working. With the additions of Collins, Swanigan and Nurkic, it's time to try something new (or old, in the case of rehiring Hughes). BNM
Meyers: He hasn't grown, but I don't think it's particularly basketball related - maybe we need a better sports psychologist? Noah: Not sure. His defense has vastly improved, but he's not even looking at the basket. Seems like the coaches are trying to simplify things for him and it's worked. However, it'd be nice if he didn't need things THAT simplified.... Hopefully, with his new defensive chops, he can turn his attention to offense which I have no doubt he'll be good at.... if he plays with confidence (perhaps a coaching issue?). They're not going to rehire Hughes. I just wish they would have demoted him and ban him from the media. I DO like the idea of hiring someone new, I just don't think they need to be 6'8" or taller. Finally, I don't think the onus is just on the team to hire someone. Our players with their huge salaries can hire big man coaches themselves, e.g. like Biebs has done this summer. I loved it when his new coach he hired yelled "You're a Shooter" at him edit: my issue with the coach is completely different! I think the coaches should demand that Aminu shoot like a normal basketball player - i.e. cut out the rainbow shots.
Chief has been working on his shooting with CJ starting sometime last season.....not a bad shooting coach for him. People forget Chief is still pretty young himself and improving ..coachable guy
I think it'll look better now that he's healed ...he was banged up last season and should be healthy...I expect him to be much better....Chief is a steal at his price
But he was improving substantially, before Hughes was fired. He hasn't just regressed, he is now significantly worse than he was as a rookie. I think Neil, or more likely Paul, underestimated the impact firing Hughes would have on Meyers. Meyers grew up without a dad and I think he looked to Hughes as a sort of substitute father figure. Maybe that's just pop psychology and speculations on my part, but they were both Midwest guys and worked out together in the Midwest during the off season. I really think it was Paul, not Neil that was behind the Hughes firing. As mentioned, Neil and Kim were close from their Clippers' days. Neil may have been fine (more blatant speculation) with demoting or chastising Hughes, but Paul seems to come down hard on anyone who oversteps their bounds or says anything remotely critical of the organization (KPee and Cho). He also seems to hold grudges against these guys, which likely means no Kim Hughes rehire, and I wouldn't be surprised if Myers has been "discouraged" from hiring Hughes as a personal coach/trainer. I get that Hughes overstepped his role, but what was done was done. It's not like Hughes' comments caused LaMarcus to leave. They did not, Aldridge had already made his decision. I think it's the way it was said that likely pissed off Paul. The whole "we lost LaMarcus Aldridge" quote could be construed as critical of the organization, that they didn't do enough to try to keep Aldridge. Not that Aldridge chose San Antonio, but that the Blazers had "lost" him. The very next sentence out of Hughes' mouth: "We will go young and we depend on Meyers [Leonard] to play a lot of minutes." Well, we all know how that worked out. Obviously, Kim Hughes believed in Meyers and thought he could continue to help Meyers improve. At this point, for whatever reason, the Blazers have pretty much pissed away any potential Meyers Leonard had to become a decent NBA player. Let's hope they don't do the same with Zach Collins. I know it ultimately comes down to the player, but giving that player everything possible to help them reach their potential is also a function of the organization. BNM
Bob Hill was well known as one of the best big man coaches (he's still highly regarded). I don't think he is even 6 ft. tall. Nor did he play NBA ball. So I don't think it's right to think about the height of the coach, or even NBA playing experience.
I agree with this.....heavy weight boxing coaches look like horse racing jockeys or sweaty pawn shop owners more often than they look like athletes....as much as I dislike him as a broadcaster...Hubie Brown is a hell of a big man coach...or small guard coach...he just understands fundamentals on that level...his book is brilliant...I just wish he wouldn't quote it line for line every game he calls. over and over and over.....Hubie should just coach, period.
Thibs turned Noah into DPOY and NBA 1st Team. I didn't think much of Noah for his first few seasons. He didn't look like he had any skills.
A true defensive coordinator on the bench like Thibs started out is under rated in value. Doc looked great when he had Thibs...Pops had Malone as a defensive coordinator...Nate McMillan was a great defensive coordinator for the Pacers and team USA ..my biggest complaint about Stotts is that he eliminated that job description and made everyone a generic assistant coach...it's correctable though
