Portland Coach- And Then There Were Two

[Pinwheel1]

I'm not a big fan of retreads, but....

Lenny Wilkins 75-89 (In Portland before being fired)
Lenny Wilkins 150-74 (First three years after Portland in Seattle. 1 championship, 2 finals appearances, 3 conference finals)

I guess every situation is different?

Jerry Sloan
94-121 with Chicago
Utah..............

 

[Natebishop3]

I just think the whole thing is fucking hilarious because they went through this whole thing and I'm pretty sure Kaleb is getting the job. If they hire him, after all the bullshit they just did, it will look pretty ridiculous.

 

[Sedatedfork]

Between these two, I kind of hope they hire KC and just give him some good assistants to coach up the players. You have a pretty young team with a lot of new pieces. I think they could really rally behind KC and he has the endorsement of the players. Stotts does not excite.

 

[Natebishop3]

Between these two, I kind of hope they hire KC and just give him some good assistants to coach up the players. You have a pretty young team with a lot of new pieces. I think they could really rally behind KC and he has the endorsement of the players. Stotts does not excite.

I think that was the plan the whole time. Give you two options, one of which is completely horrible, so the winner by default is the guy Olshey wants.

I think the whole thing was a sham. Canales has been operating as the head coach this whole time. He ran the workouts for the draft picks, he ran the summer team, and I get the feeling that this whole coaching search was just a dog and pony show.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I just think the whole thing is fucking hilarious because they went through this whole thing and I'm pretty sure Kaleb is getting the job. If they hire him, after all the bullshit they just did, it will look pretty ridiculous.

Not to me. I think it would be ridiculous to hand it to Canales without looking at every possible option. But based on the last few coaching hires by other teams, I just don't see a lot of great options.Plus I don't think it hurts Kaleb any by having him beat out the other applicants rather than just inheriting the job.

That is if he gets the job.

 

[Sedatedfork]

I think that was the plan the whole time. Give you two options, one of which is completely horrible, so the winner by default is the guy Olshey wants.

I think the whole thing was a sham. Canales has been operating as the head coach this whole time. He ran the workouts for the draft picks, he ran the summer team, and I get the feeling that this whole coaching search was just a dog and pony show.

Yeah, it kind of looks that way. Really an odd coaching search to be honest. Offer the job to Jerry Sloan and PJ. See we are serious! Whirlwind interviews. Brian Shaw doesn't even make it out of the first round of interviews. And then... hire the guy you basically said would get the job on your first day as GM.

 

[Natebishop3]

Yeah, it kind of looks that way. Really an odd coaching search to be honest. Offer the job to Jerry Sloan and PJ. See we are serious! Whirlwind interviews. Brian Shaw doesn't even make it out of the first round of interviews. And then... hire the guy you basically said would get the job on your first day as GM.

See, this is my thinking as well. Throw a couple of pie-in-the-sky offers to Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan and then bring in a bunch of bums for Kaleb to beat out. The fact that Shaw and Malone didn't even make the finals tells me something is fishy.

Not to me. I think it would be ridiculous to hand it to Canales without looking at every possible option. But based on the last few coaching hires by other teams, I just don't see a lot of great options.Plus I don't think it hurts Kaleb any by having him beat out the other applicants rather than just inheriting the job.

That is if he gets the job.

Do you really think the other three candidates were stiff competition? Nobody around the league is talking about offering Stotts or Elgin Baylor a headcoaching job.

 

[ironcrotch]

Charlotte hired Mike Dunlap, Orlando hired Jacque Vaughn. None of those guys are named Mike Malone or Brian Shaw.

Something must be fishy.

 

[Sedatedfork]

The team is going to be pretty below average to average next year. Let's see how the rookies play. Maybe KC grows into the position? This isn't necessarily a bad thing. A weird coaching search though. Compare how the Seahawks are managed (another Paul Allen team) to how the Blazers are managed. Pete Carroll is all about competition. You earn the position (including the coach). The Blazers are not run like that at all whatsoever. Just look at last season. What exactly did Felton earn? What did Jamal Crawford earn? I hope the new coach aka Kaleb Canales takes a Pete Carroll approach to the season.

 

[Natebishop3]

Charlotte hired Mike Dunlap, Orlando hired Jacque Vaughn. None of those guys are named Mike Malone or Brian Shaw.

Something must be fishy.

Brian Shaw pulled his own name out of the running for Orlando.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Brian Shaw pulled his own name out of the running for Orlando.

Just out of curiosity who did you want? Personally I have no idea who they should have hired. I would be guessing the same as all of us. I know very little about any of them. I am assuming that the Blazers used the time to find out a little about each one. I just don't get the logic in thinking this whole thing was a charade.

You never know when they may need to fall back on these interviews. Just like it is not a waste of time in bringing in lots of players to evaluate before the draft. You never know when you might have a need for one of them. Even if it is 2-3 years down the road. "Due diligence" might be an over used term, but it is not a bad thing to do.

But I agree they need to wrap it up this week.

 

[crandc]

Well, Zbot, Felton and Crawford are no longer Blazers. So they "earned" trips out of town.

I don't think the search was a sham. It's not like there were shitloads of hot coaching prospects. And it makes some sense to know whose on the team first, since different coaches work better with different types of players. Eventually a coach earns the right to put his/her stamp on the team.

 

[Natebishop3]

Just out of curiosity who did you want? Personally I have no idea who they should have hired. I would be guessing the same as all of us. I know very little about any of them. I am assuming that the Blazers used the time to find out a little about each one. I just don't get the logic in thinking this whole thing was a charade.

You never know when they may need to fall back on these interviews. Just like it is not a waste of time in bringing in lots of players to evaluate before the draft. You never know when you might have a need for one of them. Even if it is 2-3 years down the road. "Due diligence" might be an over used term, but it is not a bad thing to do.

But I agree they need to wrap it up this week.

I would have gone with Shaw or Malone. Actually, I would have loved to have Sloan, but he said no. I think he would have been great for Lillard.

With that said, I think some of us believe this was all a charade because Olshey pretty much came in on day one and gave the job to Canales. The "search" has gone on for roughly a month now and the final four candidates are all pretty "bleh". I just got the feeling that Olshey made up his mind before he even started the process, but since Kaleb doesn't really have the support of the fanbase as a whole, they decided to do a thorough search to at least present the image that they looked outside the organization. That's just my theory on it.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Jerry Sloan
94-121 with Chicago
Utah..............

Exactly. Benefit of the doubt I guess is what MM 2.0 is all about

 

[Sedatedfork]

Well, Zbot, Felton and Crawford are no longer Blazers. So they "earned" trips out of town.

True. And with a young team you can foster a pretty good competition. The question will be after Batum's big contract, if Batum flops this year, will the coach cut his minutes?

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I think I would opt for Stotts as he will probably be able to make the tough decisions and maintain the players respect. Canales seems like he's their buddy.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Color me completely underwhelmed. We have the richest owner in sports. Coaches don't count against the salary cap or luxury tax. We just overpaid to keep Nicolas Batum a Blazer (and he does count against the cap and luxury tax). Why not grossly overpay a QUALIFIED, PROVEN coach to lead this young bunch? Instead, the two "best" candidates they could find have a combined NBA head coaching record of 123 - 183 regular season and 1 - 4 post season.

Seriously, WTF? That's the "best" they could find?

I don't care how good a guy Kaleb is, I want these young guys learning from a coach with a proven system. And, I don't view this season as a throw away. Whether, or not, we end up in the lottery doesn't matter to me that much (I'd prefer to make the playoffs so these young guys can get the playoff jitters out of their systems), but I don't want a team that settles for losing and accepts it just because they, and their coach, are young and inexperienced. When it comes to basketball, there are two columns in the standings: wins and losses. There is no "excuses" column. I want our young players to learn and grow. Let Kaleb continue to learn and grow as an assistant. The combination of young, inexperienced players and young, inexperienced coach looks like a recipe for disaster to me.

Stotts is older, and has a bit more experience as a head coach, but his resume is less impressive than several of the other candidates they interviewed. And, if he's the only alternative to Canales that's even interested in the job, they simply aren't offering enough money to lure the right coach to Portland. Cutting corners on this hire will set back the development of our young players and that's a false savings. The players cost way more than the coach. So, you're better off in the long run overpaying a good coach than underpaying for crap.

BNM

 

[Pinwheel1]

So, you're better off in the long run overpaying a good coach than underpaying for crap.

BNM

But who is this good coach you are referring to? PA over paid last time to get what was considered a good coach. Who is it this time? I doubt Sloan and Jackson turned the Blazers down because of money.

 

[crandc]

BNM, in fairness, I think the Blazers were willing to overpay Jackson and Sloan. Which qualified coaches were available? Seems there were assistants and retreads. I'd rather give an assistant a shot than go for Van Gundy (either). Not sure why Shaw or Malone didn't make the cut but it seems the Blazers were not the only ones with available coaching jobs who passed them up. Either they underwhelmed in interviews or maybe want to go to a win now situation. I admit I'm not jumping for joy but I don't believe this was all a fake.

 

[Natebishop3]

Color me completely underwhelmed. We have the richest owner in sports. Coaches don't count against the salary cap or luxury tax. We just overpaid to keep Nicolas Batum a Blazer (and he does count against the cap and luxury tax). Why not grossly overpay a QUALIFIED, PROVEN coach to lead this young bunch? Instead, the two "best" candidates they could find have a combined NBA head coaching record of 123 - 183 regular season and 1 - 4 post season.

Seriously, WTF? That's the "best" they could find?

I don't care how good a guy Kaleb is, I want these young guys learning from a coach with a proven system. And, I don't view this season as a throw away. Whether, or not, we end up in the lottery doesn't matter to me that much (I'd prefer to make the playoffs so these young guys can get the playoff jitters out of their systems), but I don't want a team that settles for losing and accepts it just because they, and their coach, are young and inexperienced. When it comes to basketball, there are two columns in the standings: wins and losses. There is no "excuses" column. I want our young players to learn and grow. Let Kaleb continue to learn and grow as an assistant. The combination of young, inexperienced players and young, inexperienced coach looks like a recipe for disaster to me.

Stotts is older, and has a bit more experience as a head coach, but his resume is less impressive than several of the other candidates they interviewed. And, if he's the only alternative to Canales that's even interested in the job, they simply aren't offering enough money to lure the right coach to Portland. Cutting corners on this hire will set back the development of our young players and that's a false savings. The players cost way more than the coach. So, you're better off in the long run overpaying a good coach than underpaying for crap.

BNM

This.

100x This.

 

[HailBlazers]

in fairness, I think the Blazers were willing to overpay.. Which qualified coaches were available? Seems there were assistants and retreads. I'd rather give an assistant a shot than go for Van Gundy. Not sure why Shaw or Malone didn't make the cut but it seems the Blazers were not the only ones with available coaching jobs who passed them up.

And That.

 

[e_blazer]

Guys like Sloan and Jackson are proven winners at the end of their respective careers. They're looking for one last shot at winning it all, not the chance to see their career winning percentage slip by coaching a rebuilding team. They're already wealthy and a few more dollars from PA isn't worth damaging their legacy. The way I see it, I'm fine with a young team being coached by a coach who's still hungry. Caleb or Stotts will be fine for now. If they don't work out in the long run, they'll be replaced in a couple of years when this team is ready to contend.

 

[oldmangrouch]

I could forgive just about any other flaw in a candidate, as long as they brought in a guy with a track record for player development.

Does that describe either Stotts or Canales? Then what was the frickin' point? They might as well have thrown a water-balloon off the top of the RG and hired however it happened to hit.

 

[Boob-No-More]

BNM, in fairness, I think the Blazers were willing to overpay Jackson and Sloan. Which qualified coaches were available? Seems there were assistants and retreads. I'd rather give an assistant a shot than go for Van Gundy (either). Not sure why Shaw or Malone didn't make the cut but it seems the Blazers were not the only ones with available coaching jobs who passed them up. Either they underwhelmed in interviews or maybe want to go to a win now situation. I admit I'm not jumping for joy but I don't believe this was all a fake.

Everyone has their price, even Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan. If they turned down PA's initial offer, double it. I would have been fine with Phil Jackson's proposal of hiring Brian Shaw with Phil as president and assisting at home games and player development. Phil's biggest objection is travel. So, let him stay in Portland. He'd be here for home games, training camp, etc.

If we're going for an assistant, why not one from a proven winner, with a proven system like Budenholzer (or Shaw)?

BNM

 

[Stevenson]

For the record, Pat Riley was a radio color commentator - the Antonio Harvey role - before he was picked to coach the Lakers. Point being, you never know who's got "it." I think maybe Caleb does. I hope so.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Guys like Sloan and Jackson are proven winners at the end of their respective careers. They're looking for one last shot at winning it all, not the chance to see their career winning percentage slip by coaching a rebuilding team.

That's why I liked the idea of Shaw as head coach with Phil as team president and assisting at home games/practices and training camp. A lot of player development occurs in training camp and practices. That's where Phil can add value - without it impacting his career winning percentage. And, he was open to this. Shaw is a Phil disciple - well versed in Phil's system. So, Shaw + Phil >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Skippy the video coordinator.

BNM

 

[MickZagger]

Mexican > Black Head Coach.










Thats for those of you that hate on White Centers

 

[MickZagger]

Who do you think is going to fill out Canales staff?

Hopefully Grg's is one of em.

 

[MARIS61]

BNM, in fairness, I think the Blazers were willing to overpay Jackson and Sloan. Which qualified coaches were available?

All current and retired coaches are "available".

All that is needed to negotiate with Popovich or Adelman is their team's permission, which can be bought.

 

[ironcrotch]

Who do you think is going to fill out Canales staff?

Hopefully Grg's is one of em.

Someone on the radio mentioned that Bill Bayno would probably be interested in coming back if Canales got the job.