Speaking of coaches
It is well documented here of our concerns that BSHill is not the coach who can bring our group of young, talented players to the next level. We all know that BSHill just happen to be lucky enough to be the coach of the Magic at the time they drafted Shaq, and Hardaway instantly elevating Hill into coaching stardom. But his win/loss record since his first coaching this team speaks volumes about his inability to communicate with his players and develop a winning attitude and record. He couldn't get along with Hardaway for whatever reason, and now we wonder about his ability to get along with Francis, and just hope our group of young talent dosn't develop a distain for him as well.
Thinking about this during the all-star game tonight, I thought about a couple other coaches who walked into situations where they are getting all this praise for teams that they had absolutely no part in building..
Such as: Flip Saunders, Sure he did an ok job in Minnesota, he had Kevin Garnett and a decent supporting cast, and even took them to the Western Conference Finals, I know that is no small feat, but you know the old saying about being "close".
So now he is in Detroit, and you hear about great he has this team playing and everyone was wondering if they will break the old Bulls win/loss record blah blah blah.... What has he done? Nothing! He walked into a ready-built team and as long as he dosn't screw with it a whole heck of a lot, should walk away with a championship trophy...
Avery Johnson, Same scenario, He walked into a postition in Dallas that was helped put together by Don Nelson and crew, and now everyone is singing praises to him how he has the team playing and how good the Mavericks are. When in all actuality, all he has to do is not mess with the chemistry thats already there, maybe add a play or two that he desighed, and just let them play.
I won't even get into the whole Phil Jackson side of it tonight...
Thinking about this during the all-star game tonight, I thought about a couple other coaches who walked into situations where they are getting all this praise for teams that they had absolutely no part in building..
Such as: Flip Saunders, Sure he did an ok job in Minnesota, he had Kevin Garnett and a decent supporting cast, and even took them to the Western Conference Finals, I know that is no small feat, but you know the old saying about being "close".
So now he is in Detroit, and you hear about great he has this team playing and everyone was wondering if they will break the old Bulls win/loss record blah blah blah.... What has he done? Nothing! He walked into a ready-built team and as long as he dosn't screw with it a whole heck of a lot, should walk away with a championship trophy...
Avery Johnson, Same scenario, He walked into a postition in Dallas that was helped put together by Don Nelson and crew, and now everyone is singing praises to him how he has the team playing and how good the Mavericks are. When in all actuality, all he has to do is not mess with the chemistry thats already there, maybe add a play or two that he desighed, and just let them play.
I won't even get into the whole Phil Jackson side of it tonight...
posted by Ken @ 12:14 AM
7 Comments:
At 1:23 AM,
Ken said…
I think what bothers me most is, first BSHill couldn't get along with Hardaway, now he is back and he is unable or unwilling to get along with Francis to the point of possibly trading him. Who's it gonna be next after Francis? He just dosn't seem to have the right temperment to be a head coach. He blows up at the most inopportune times, you see him on the sideline stomping, and turning red and throwing clipboards. He looks like a little tyrant ready to explode. His offensive sets are in total disarray, his substitutions are a joke, and he seems to rule with an iron fist sort of mentality. I am no fan of BSHill, I only hope that Grant can stay around a few years and help develop some of this young talent we have, but if BSHill had anything to say about it, he would probably look at that as Grant trying to take over his position. Maybe i'm getting carried away now... i dunno..
At 5:21 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Really good observations, Omar. I was just talking to my dad (who lives near Orlando) last night, and we were discussing what a mistake it was for the Magic to hire BHill as coach, how poor a communicator he is, and how he always looks so angry on the sidelines (a young team like the Magic needs encouragement from their coach). You nailed all his faults right on the head.
I will give Hill credit for teaching the team to play better defense than it did last year. However, that has come at the expense of our offense, which is really struggling, as Omar detailed in his post. I can't wait to see the new starting lineup and bench rotation that Hill will use, now that we have Arroyo and Darko. Like most of us have said, he better not mess this up! Yes, the Magic have had lots of injuries this year, but as we all have seen, Hill has done an awful job with the bench rotation.
We're stuck with BHill for at least another season and a half, so all we can do is hope he sees the error of his ways and starts coaching better (is that possible?).
A thought about Phil Jackson... it's true that he has walked into ideal situations as a head coach, first with the Bulls, then his first stint with the Lakers. But don't forget, those teams could not win the NBA title with their respective group of players until Phil became the head coach! But it's going to be quite a while before the current Lakers team become title contenders, even with Phil coaching.
At 8:40 AM,
Matt said…
Excellent notes. When I remember last year's team with Dan Issel's offense, I remember fast pace and excitement. Granted they could defend nobody, but to be logically sound, were that group of players incapable of defending or they had too much fun that they didn't care? I think latter was the case. Like any other Issel's team, they were of the attitude that they could outscore any team. Hadn't they traded Cuttino, they could have been successful as their record to that point of the season showed.
I agree that Hill has improved the defense, but too much focus on defense, as Omar pointed out, has hurt the offense. He basically scraped the offensive book of the team that was not a smart move. He should have tweaked it to serve his defensive system not trash it.
I liked the observations on both Saunders and Jackson. As for Hill, I am in a dilemma. I want the team to show improvement for the rest of the season, which could be expected with Darko, but at what cost would that come? a year or two more with Hill? I hope not.
At 11:38 AM,
Big Figure said…
We'll see tomorrow,if the starting line-up is the same one that keeps losing,then coach hill has to be let go,b/c the magic wont make the playoffs,and might struggle to finish with last years record for that matter,that would be a shame,b/c Jdavis shouldnt be able to outcoach anybody,just pathetic!!Who will finish with a better record in their first year with the magic,Jdavis or BSHILL??
At 12:08 PM,
Big Figure said…
Oh and you can add larry brown to that coaching list,when he got to detroit,dumars went out and got rasheed to give him a ready made championship team,Rick Carlisle showed them how to be winners! And on another note,if hubie brown can make jason williams a quality player,then he could do wonders with steve,and look at the freedom gasol has now,on that note hubie could do wonders with dwight also,the magic should throw all kinds of money at hubie,before hubie memphis was a loser,after hubie theyre a playoff team,thats enough for me!
At 1:04 PM,
Matt said…
I second Hubie Brown's achievement with MEM and his potentials to do do wonders. Unfortunately, the current ownership is content on BS Hill and doesn't see, or doesn't want to see, his shortcomings.
At 5:28 AM,
Ken said…
Count me in for Hubie, it's amazing how he changed the Griz'z around, unfortunatly, like matt said, the current Magic admin seems to be stuck on BSHill for some reason.
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