OT: Grizzlies officially announce Lionel Hollins out as coach

[SlyPokerDog]

http://nba.si.com/2013/06/10/lionel-hollins-out-memphis-grizzlies-jason-levien-john-hollinger/

 

[PapaG]

The number 3 and number 5 seeds in the West just fired/didn't extend their coaches.

It's a player's league, no doubt about it. Why pay any coach top dollar, unless the team superstar gives the OK for it?

Denver is never going to get a better coach than Karl, and Memphis is already getting old in terms of their marquee players, other than Conley, who is an average PG.

 

[Rhal]

The number 3 and number 5 seeds in the West just fired/didn't extend their coaches.

It's a player's league, no doubt about it. Why pay any coach top dollar, unless the team superstar gives the OK for it?

Denver is never going to get a better coach than Karl, and Memphis is already getting old in terms of their marquee players, other than Conley, who is an average PG.

You forgot that the #4 seed in the west also fired there coach. As well as #8 bucks #6 Atlanta and #3 Nets. So a third of the coaches who took their teams to the playoffs were fired/let walk this year.

 

[magnifier661]

Lets bring him in! Defense!!!!

 

[STOMP]

my family moved to Portland in 1976 from NC when I was 10. I was already a Bball nut, but had never followed a pro team. Lionel was instantly my guy on the Trailblazers. I loved (and imitated) his cocked way back on top of his head jumper, quickness and all around game. I remember a last second half court bank shot he hit vs the Bulls for a W that about made my head explode.

I've been very happy to see him having success as a coach but also somewhat surprised. In the age of the player's coach, he seems more of a my way or the highway guy. While I enjoy it, he takes after Pop in his dealings with the press and that generally doesn't play well. Publicly questioning management following their trade of Rudy Gay was probably not the best career decision either. That said, with the success he's had in Memphis it would be surprising if no one gave him a shot

STOMP

 

[MickZagger]

Bizarre offseason in the coaching carousel.

 

[MickZagger]

Seems kinda like last year was the wrong year for my 'Zer's to have a coaching vacancy.

 

[speeds]

Team improved steadily with him as head coach. Guess he didn't like statistics enough.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Hollins is not a great coach, they can do better. I believe NOVoodoo, a Grizzlies fan, has been calling for this for a while now, even which the success.

Also, which superstars are firing all these coaches?

 

[MickZagger]

Hollins is not a great coach, they can do better. I believe NOVoodoo, a Grizzlies fan, has been calling for this for a while now, even which the success.

Also, which superstars are firing all these coaches?

Best defensive team in the league this year. Gasol evolved to become DPOY under this tutelage. GTFO!!!

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Best defensive team in the league this year. Gasol evolved to become DPOY under this tutelage. GTFO!!!

Gasol had way more to do with him being DPOY than Hollins did. How good were we at defense with McMillan?

Hollins is a bad offensive coach who also has trouble managing personnel and makes terrible substitutions.

 

[MickZagger]

Gasol had way more to do with him being DPOY than Hollins did. How good were we at defense with McMillan?

Hollins is a bad offensive coach who also has trouble managing personnel and makes terrible substitutions.

lol, trouble handling personnel yet he took a team with Z-Bo and Tony Allen to the Conference Finals. Memphis being the best defensive team in the league isn't a coincidence. How much do you wanna bet they won't be anywhere near that next year?

 

[NOVoodoo]

lol, trouble handling personnel yet he took a team with Z-Bo and Tony Allen to the Conference Finals. Memphis being the best defensive team in the league isn't a coincidence. How much do you wanna bet they won't be anywhere near that next year?

I'd bet my bank account that they'll be just as good.

David Joerger was responsible for their defense, not Lionel Hollins. A key defensive play's coming up, and who's running the huddle on the sidelines? Not Lionel Hollins... David Joerger. The word on the street is that he's the odds on favorite to become our head coach now, so I don't think having our defensive specialist assuming complete control of the team is going to make us worse defensively. We also have a great big man coach, Bob Thornton, and I doubt he's going anywhere.

You think having the league's best defensive player (Allen, not Gasol) might have played a big part in our defensive efficiency as well? I mean, Lionel limited Allen's minutes in favor of some horrible defensive rotations... rotations that ensured we'd drop two straight OT games in the WCF...

Really, Lionel should have been canned after he let the Clippers come back from a historic second half deficit last year. He can't and never has been a coach that can manage runs.

As for personnel, Allen, Randolph, and probably several other players hated the guy. There was a shit ton of internal fighting with Lionel, from the players, assistant coaches, and management. He was not well liked.

I hate how everyone points to the team's success this year, with the 56 wins and WCF appearance, and thinks that just because our team was good enough to get there, that means we had a great coach.

I say good riddance man... long time coming... hopefully he takes Henry Bibby with him.

 

[HailBlazers]

BAM^

I'd take Lionel over Cheeks.

 

[MickZagger]

I'd bet my bank account that they'll be just as good.

David Joerger was responsible for their defense, not Lionel Hollins. A key defensive play's coming up, and who's running the huddle on the sidelines? Not Lionel Hollins... David Joerger. The word on the street is that he's the odds on favorite to become our head coach now, so I don't think having our defensive specialist assuming complete control of the team is going to make us worse defensively. We also have a great big man coach, Bob Thornton, and I doubt he's going anywhere.

You think having the league's best defensive player (Allen, not Gasol) might have played a big part in our defensive efficiency as well? I mean, Lionel limited Allen's minutes in favor of some horrible defensive rotations... rotations that ensured we'd drop two straight OT games in the WCF...

Really, Lionel should have been canned after he let the Clippers come back from a historic second half deficit last year. He can't and never has been a coach that can manage runs.

As for personnel, Allen, Randolph, and probably several other players hated the guy. There was a shit ton of internal fighting with Lionel, from the players, assistant coaches, and management. He was not well liked.

I hate how everyone points to the team's success this year, with the 56 wins and WCF appearance, and thinks that just because our team was good enough to get there, that means we had a great coach.

I say good riddance man... long time coming... hopefully he takes Henry Bibby with him.

The grass isn't always greener...

 

[NOVoodoo]

The grass isn't always greener...

Yeah, in hindsight, with all of the horrible coaches out there, we could have done worse than Lionel, but there were so many things that annoyed me about the way he ran our offense. He really placed too much faith in the wrong players, lacked faith in our best players, and would tolerate a lot of things offensively that the average fan wouldn't have even tolerated. There are so many examples, so it's hard to be specific, but if you want, I could definitely bring up specific examples. Defensively, we were great, but that's all Joerger/Thornton. The Hollins/Bibby side of the equation was more responsible for our offense, our rotations, and game management... three areas that we consistently failed at miserably.

True, we don't know how Joerger is going to do in the Head Coach role (it might be a little presumptuous to assume he's got the job, because they're apparently interested in George Karl, but he's got to be the favorite right now). Still, Hollins wasn't the answer, and I'd like to give a guy the reigns that is both more defensive minded and more popular amongst the team.

Maybe I'm spoiled from the Hubie Brown era. That guy was an incredible coach with incredible philosophies. Everyone we've had since has just been a figurehead (especially "the Czar," who a relative of mine saw in the Memphis airport the other day... really hope we weren't interviewing him, but I can't figure out why else he'd be in Memphis in June).

 

[MARIS61]

Sad.

They were certain to be in the finals next year but instead will forever remember this season as the best the franchise ever saw.

 

[NOVoodoo]

I hate how everyone points to the team's success this year, with the 56 wins and WCF appearance, and thinks that just because our team was good enough to get there, that means we had a great coach.

Case in point -

Sad.

They were certain to be in the finals next year but instead will forever remember this season as the best the franchise ever saw.

 

[jlprk]

It's a player's league, no doubt about it. Why pay any coach top dollar, unless the team superstar gives the OK for it?

Hollins is not a great coach, they can do better. I believe NOVoodoo, a Grizzlies fan, has been calling for this for a while now, even which the success.

Also, which superstars are firing all these coaches?

That's what I was wondering. Voodoo, did the guy who called me the L-word 20 times in 3 days make up a whopper?

 

[oldmangrouch]

That's what I was wondering. Voodoo, did the guy who called me the L-word 20 times in 3 days make up a whopper?

He called you a Lepidoptera?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Lets bring him in! Defense!!!!

That was my first instinct. I think Hollins might be a nice fit in Portland if Stotts doesn't work out.

 

[BBert]

That was my first instinct. I think Hollins might be a nice fit in Portland if Stotts doesn't work out.

Blazers fans love ex Blazers. If he can get us a championship the Blazers might even retire his number.

 

[magnifier661]

That was my first instinct. I think Hollins might be a nice fit in Portland if Stotts doesn't work out.

I still can't believe Memphis did him like that. So what if he was a hard personality! The dude had playoff and reg season success on a roster with no legit superstars. That says a lot about the coach. Maybe his coaching subs weren't desirable, but the guy got the entire team to play within his system. Hell he even got Zach to play solid defense too!

I would try and bring him in as an assistant coach at a high pay grade. I know he would rather have a head coaching job. Maybe we call him head coach A or B while stotts is either A or B. Allen has the money to get er done!

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Hollins seems like an old school coach. Will be interesting to see how the Griz do next year, but it sure appeared that Hollins was getting the most out of that roster and the team overachieved in the playoffs.

Maybe both KS AND NOvd have it right, Memephis ran into a couple injuried plagued teams and that is why Hollins, a bad situational coach, was able to win a couple of playoff series.

If the next coach is going to give Zach a little slack . . . well that will be interesting to watch play out.

 

[Pinwheel1]

It may have been time for Hollins to move on. Apparently players get tired of the same voice yelling at them. Karl would be an interesting choice. But if management thought Hollins bitched about curious trades, wait until George has an issue.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

My best memory of Lionel in a Blazer uniform was hitting perhaps the biggest shot in team history against the Chicago Bulls in Game 3 of the 1977 First Round. Regarded by some as the loudest crowd roar in team history.