Well, so much for Larry Riley as GM

This is the real world, where relationships matter. Lacob's son interviewed and was hired by Kerr, that's huge.

Pritchard may be good but the stories that came out of Portland about his ego and inclination to blame others, including his supervisors (the owner), would tell me to take a pass on him.

 

...And with Rumors swirling about Riley coming back to the bench I wouldn't be surprised to see Lacob's buddy Erik Spoelstra as coach. That is, unless Smart really shows something this season.

 

Marion asked for a trade, and was looking for a huge deal, which wasn't given even though the Suns were on pace to make a push for a title run and many people wanted to just give it to him. You can't really just look at the moves 1 by 1. He had a plan, moved some pieces around, and the end product made it to the conference finals. Now I don't think Kerr was in the top 10% of GMs, but I think he was moving in the right direction. I prefer him to Riley any day of the week. As for Spoelstra, I'm not impressed either, but the connection to Lacob is there. I was just saying that I could easily see that Duo in the future.

 

Devil's advocate here: The good reason may be just to get Owner, Coach and GM on the same page. If they can do that, the collective sum of the parts may be greater than the individual pieces. Who knows. I'd love to see a franchise without traces of the previous regime.

 

You got selective memory, CH. The Suns already were a playoff team before Kerr got there with Mike D'Antoni. I'd say it was Nash, Stoudemire, maybe Shawn Marion (He was still good and then went downhill), and the bench players like Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa and Raja Bell who continued to get the Suns deep in the playoffs. Terry Porter was a mess and Kerr got lucky getting Alvin Gentry. No doubt the Suns were still a good team, but they couldn't get past the Lakers. After that, they went downhill and Kerr was fired. We'll still have to see how Larry Riley does, but so far he's got the Warriors doing better than the Cohan years. He deserves a chance to continue because so far he's fine. I criticized him for not using the trade exception and trading second round picks for cash, but I think that was more Cohan's doing and not Riley. He didn't select Greg Monroe at #6 and people were scratching their head about it. We'll have to see how Udoh turns out.

 

That Suns teams (constructed for D'Antoni) and the team that went to the conference finals were completely different teams. He didn't overpay for players and moved others because he had pieces that could replace them. Remember that the Lakers were given the gift of Pau Gasol I don't blame Kerr for not being able to get passed them. Utah, San Antonio, Dallas, Denver were all pretty loaded teams as well.

I don't think Riley deserves anything. He's made a few decent moves and a few bad ones. I'm not sold on Kerr, but he's head over heels better than Riley, IMO. Of course, if you can find someone better, then do it.

 

I do agree with you on getting the owner, management and coach on the same page, CH. This should include the players, too, into believing in the team and organization. Those are the things championships are made of, but I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, we should get rid of Robert Rowell (He reminds of Dr. Chilton who takes care of the worst asylum in the US. The guy who Hannibal Lecter had for dinner.) Tim K had a good piece on why:
"I’m thankful for Warriors’ GM Larry Riley, who, as MT-2 reports, did not blame a vast referee conspiracy for the fact that his team is called for so many fouls.

It’s because they’re not a very good defensive team and so often go small, which means reaching, grabbing and the piling up of NBA illegalities.

Good to hear someone from the W’s front office utter common sense instead of the typical excuse-making frenzy.

Speaking of common sense, yes, the W’s miss David Lee because he gives them things they don’t otherwise have, and they are 1-6 since his injury.

But let’s also remember: In this span, the W’s have lost to Chicago (without Carlos Boozer), Denver (without Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin), the Lakers twice (without Andrew Bynum) and now Houston (without Yao and Aaron Brooks).

When Lee was healthy, the W’s got a victory over Memphis (without Zach Randolph).

You get injuries. This happens. It’s not just the Warriors who have to deal with them and often they play teams that have just as many or more injuries.

So if you’re a team with common sense, you don’t moan and wheedle about free throws and foul calls. The Warriors don’t have players who can get to the line and they’re playing small, which forces them to reach and grab on defense.

Also, they’re getting beat consistently on penetration, which frees shooters at the three-point line when the defense has to over-rotate.

Sounds like Keith Smart apparently already is starting to lean towards a pattern of referee-complaining and the injury-excuse-making.

I think he’s a good guy, learning on the job, but maybe he just can’t break the excuse habit, since he’s been with the Warriors for so long. It’s Cohan Style. It’s Rowell Style.

In case you forgot, the Cohan Style, a very, very brief bunch of highlights:

-Giving Stephen Jackson a huge contract extension two years before it even had to be contemplated just because he befriended the team president;

-Bragging that the W’s just landed the hottest commodity in the market when they acquired Raja Bell (for SJax when SJax demanded a trade), only to let his contract expire quietly to save Cohan money;

-Letting Devean George’s and Speedy Claxton’s contracts go away, too, after promising to use their contracts to acquire more talent at the deadline;

-Giving away Marco Belinelli (now Chris Paul’s backcourt mate on 11-3 New Orleans) because there supposedly was no roster room for him because of the greatness of Anthony Morrow, only to let Morrow sign free-and-clear with New Jersey after the season.

And excuses. Making lots and lots of excuses, from the time Garry St. Jean was making them (oh, those awful injuries to Fortson & Sura!) to the Rowell Era, which continues.

I could go on and on and on… but that’s enough for now. It’s Cohan Style."

Read more here:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawaka...-and-jeter-time/comment-page-1/#comment-72553

 

I bet our current owners know more about basketball than Cohan ever did in his entire life. I would welcome any changes to the front office that could put us in perennial playoff contention. Right strategy, right vision, execution... Of course, we'd still need luck on our side. We've gotten screwed heartily by anything ranging from the stupid draft lottery and from massive injuries. I mean David Lee went out two weeks because of a Wilson Chandler snake bite. It should have been David Lee owned Chandler's face with his elbow, end of story. On to Detroit.

 

I'd like to remind everyone that it takes baby steps before you get anywhere. You do not just go from doormats to the penthouse immediately.

You want to hold out Pritchard as better than Kerr? What about the Oden selection over Durant? That's going to be remembered as a franchise killer. He was the GM, he's stuck with that as part of his history unless it comes out that he was vetoed by someone higher up.

Spurs look like the ultimate front office right? They let Scola go and have not done a whole lot after getting Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. Roger Mason was a high priced failure; so was Jefferson last year (he's getting better though).

There's always hits and misses. Ainge was not looking like a such great GM for the first 5 years before getting Garnett and Allen. McHale was actually looked upon as the better one with his selections of Garnett and Marbury then the run to the Western Conf. finals with Cassell, Garnett, etc.

Mitch Kupchak? Looks great now with the Gasol trade and how Odom has fit in now. Before? Shaq trade did not look so good. Free agents? He's the guy who game Vlad $50M as a FA. Vujacic got $25M. He's not coming here nor is Jerry West.

My point is, if Kerr's an upgrade (IMHO it is) then it should happen.

 

Interesting posts. I'm willing to give CH his take on Kerr being instrumental in getting the Suns to the WC Finals. Still, he made mistakes and got fired (or quit?) so I don't think he's ready to replace Riley. Riley made his big trade for David Lee (one of the guys I was pimping last year), Dorell Wright and getting rid of Mags. That's enough to give him more run this year. We'll have to see how Udoh does. I'm confident Riley will get us a backup PG.