Who should be the next coach of the Washington Wizards?

[mohammed10]

OK - like many of you, it is becoming obvious that the 2011-12 version of our hometown heroes is laying down and not listening to Flip Saunders. It may be only a matter of time before Teddy Ballgame does what many of us have been pining for...fire Flip.

That said, who is a viable long term solution? Spitballing a few candidates...

Sam Cassell - worked with the team for the past two years, so he knows the players. Sam was always one of the smartest players on the floor when he played, but he may need more seasoning before Ted hands over the keys to the team.

Jeff Van Gundy - pretty good record as a head coach (430-318)...high profile guy that could get some butts in the seats for Ted. JVG took the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1999 (without Patrick Ewing), but never could get out of the first round with the Houston Rockets.

Brian Shaw - defensive-minded coach, with a good knowledge of the triangle offense that the Lakers ran...do we want to run the triangle in DC? Not that long ago, BShaw looked to be a shoe-in as the next head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers...

Bill Laimbeer - (At others' suggestion) former Pistons player & WNBA coach...seemed like a hot coaching commodity not too long ago. A no nonsense defensive minded coach that would seem to instill the 'bad boys' discipline needed in DC (could he help mold Wall into an elite, two way PG?).

Dave Joerger - Another others' suggestion, he is added b/c he has been successful at EVERY level (D-league, IBA, CBA, etc). Now an assistant with Memphis...seems to be primed and ready for the NBA level.

Open to other suggestions (any hot assistant coaching prospects out there?)...

[Nivek]

I'd like to see the job go to the guy I wanted to get the job last time: Dave Joerger. He's a youngish guy who had a ton of success in the D League. He has championships in the D League, CBA and IBA. He's been an assistant in Memphis the past 3 years. He has a better minor league resume than Flip (who had tremendous success in the minors) and Phil Jackson. To me, he's a no-brainer hire. I think he's going to have great success somewhere in the NBA.

[dobrojim]

I'll trust kev and the record on DJ.

If not him, maybe Laimbeer. I think he'd simply
beat the crap outta anyone that acted like a knucklehead.
Actually, that's not the kind of person I am. But it does represent
the level of frustration I've felt too often when watching this
team play.

[FAH1223]

Avery and Frank are Head Coaches right now, mohammad

[mohammed10]

Avery and Frank are Head Coaches right now, mohammad

Ahhh - touche, my friend.

Maybe I should edit the OP

[20MexicanosIn1Van]

I believe JVG has said he doesn't want to coach again.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Of all the things I have ever predicted, this is one I hope a decision maker for the Wizards organization will take and run with the most:

David Joerger is the best person to coach this team. He's worth whatever you have to pay in compensation (even a 2013 first) to pry away from the Memphis Grizzlies.

As much as I wanted Tom Thibodeau in 2007 to coach the Wizards defense, because I respected his body of work; I want Joerger twice as badly. I remember it was July 2007 that Thibs got away. No search engine required on that, either. This guy Dave Joerger is as sure of a can't miss as you can have in life.

Dave Joerger will make an excellent NBA coach. I hope it is for the Wizards. If the guy gets hired everything will change for the better.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

What about a college coach like Calipari, Pitino, or Izzo ?

[closg00]

DJ first choice, Laimbeer 2nd.

[fugop]

No on the college coaches, especially not Pitino or Calipari, and I say that as a Louisville alumni and diehard fan. Pitino isn't capable of giving up control to professional players, and Calipari isn't capable of disciplining professional players.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Frog march Flip pronto.

Let Cassel tank the rest of the way. Hire Joerger the day Memphis' season ends.

[doclinkin]

I was likely the first to tout Joerger on these boards, before he was coaching our D-League affiliate (Dakota not Roanoke) though he apparently has a knack for pissing off management. His emphasis is defense, every year managing to forge a defensive player of the year out of whatever scraps he could pick up in the CBA and D-League, etc. He's got a track record of coaching and teaching underdeveloped talent. I wanted him as a defensive consultant back then.

That said I wonder if a coach with Euro experience could make a run here (David Blatt for instance). Probably not since there's less room to discipline, restrict playing time, practice, etc.

I do expect Coach Cal could do alright with a John Wall led team. Aspects of his dribble drive motion offense are a better fit for what we already have than Flip's dictionary of a playbook, and given his ability to recruit at a college level his unctuous snake oil salesman act may help turn the team into a free agent destination. Change the image. Players seem to enjoy running under his system anyway.

I thought the most telling quote of the Blatche low-post touches hullaballoo was that John was saying he just runs the plays that are called. Fair enough, young team, everybody is learning, maybe you need the coach directing every play I guess. But one of the strengths of Calipari's system is that players are given freedom within a looser system of principles, which makes it tougher to guard against since they have room to improvise within their skillset. Granted it works for Cal because he is able to recruit better talent than everyone else, but still Flip's tweaks to his favored system so far have only seemed to benefit Nick Young, while other player's best skillsets haven't been used to best advantage. Yes we need a roster upgrade (chiefly: defensive rebounding; outside shooting) but I do maintain a conviction we could be doing better with what we have.

More than anything I think you show you have lost the team when you freak out in public after a preseason game, blasting the team as a whole through the media. This tends to lead to finger pointing and bad chemistry, lack of trust, accusations of favoritism. Shows piss poor leadership. Fails to change the image of the team leaguewide. And fails to inspire players to want to kill and die on your behalf.

For all his faults (defensive principles, in-game recognition, feel for substitutions, ) Eddie Jordan's ability to manage his team's emotional state saved his own coaching bacon a good 2-3 years past what I expected, since every time his ass was clearly in the sling the team would manage to pull out an improbable win, or streak, and players would defend him publicly, shielding him with their own reputation.

Flip? I expect they'd back up the bus that ran him over, just to make sure.

Either way Coach Cal has a positive reputation with a number of quality pro players, JWall most importantly, I'd be curious to see how his act work at a pro level if we couldn't pull in Joergs.

Or my Rudy Tomjanovich / Sam Cassell/ Hakeem/ Horry etc pipe dream. Sam as head coach, others as consultants etc.

[hands11]

Of all the things I have ever predicted, this is one I hope a decision maker for the Wizards organization will take and run with the most:

David Joerger is the best person to coach this team. He's worth whatever you have to pay in compensation (even a 2013 first) to pry away from the Memphis Grizzlies.

As much as I wanted Tom Thibodeau in 2007 to coach the Wizards defense, because I respected his body of work; I want Joerger twice as badly. I remember it was July 2007 that Thibs got away. No search engine required on that, either. This guy Dave Joerger is as sure of a can't miss as you can have in life.

Dave Joerger will make an excellent NBA coach. I hope it is for the Wizards. If the guy gets hired everything will change for the better.

You would have to think there are a lot of eyes on a guy with the track record.

Now that they have, a new owner, Wall, Jesely and another likely top pick, they should be able to attract a wider variety of coaches.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Frog march Flip pronto.

Let Cassel tank the rest of the way. Hire Joerger the day Memphis' season ends.

+1

[mohammed10]

Frog march Flip pronto.

Let Cassel tank the rest of the way. Hire Joerger the day Memphis' season ends.

I don't have a problem with this plan. Kick the tires on Cassell to see if he can infuse some life into this listless bunch.

[WizarDynasty]

I think we should get a Jerry Sloan disciple or one of his long tenured assistants or Greg Popovich assistant. Those systems have withstood the test of time. That would be my number one priority.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I was likely the first to tout Joerger on these boards, before he was coaching our D-League affiliate (Dakota not Roanoke) though he apparently has a knack for pissing off management. His emphasis is defense, every year managing to forge a defensive player of the year out of whatever scraps he could pick up in the CBA and D-League, etc. He's got a track record of coaching and teaching underdeveloped talent. I wanted him as a defensive consultant back then.

That said I wonder if a coach with Euro experience could make a run here (David Blatt for instance). Probably not since there's less room to discipline, restrict playing time, practice, etc.

I do expect Coach Cal could do alright with a John Wall led team. Aspects of his dribble drive motion offense are a better fit for what we already have than Flip's dictionary of a playbook, and given his ability to recruit at a college level his unctuous snake oil salesman act may help turn the team into a free agent destination. Change the image. Players seem to enjoy running under his system anyway.

I thought the most telling quote of the Blatche low-post touches hullaballoo was that John was saying he just runs the plays that are called. Fair enough, young team, everybody is learning, maybe you need the coach directing every play I guess. But one of the strengths of Calipari's system is that players are given freedom within a looser system of principles, which makes it tougher to guard against since they have room to improvise within their skillset. Granted it works for Cal because he is able to recruit better talent than everyone else, but still Flip's tweaks to his favored system so far have only seemed to benefit Nick Young, while other player's best skillsets haven't been used to best advantage. Yes we need a roster upgrade (chiefly: defensive rebounding; outside shooting) but I do maintain a conviction we could be doing better with what we have.

More than anything I think you show you have lost the team when you freak out in public after a preseason game, blasting the team as a whole through the media. This tends to lead to finger pointing and bad chemistry, lack of trust, accusations of favoritism. Shows piss poor leadership. Fails to change the image of the team leaguewide. And fails to inspire players to want to kill and die on your behalf.

For all his faults (defensive principles, in-game recognition, feel for substitutions, ) Eddie Jordan's ability to manage his team's emotional state saved his own coaching bacon a good 2-3 years past what I expected, since every time his ass was clearly in the sling the team would manage to pull out an improbable win, or streak, and players would defend him publicly, shielding him with their own reputation.

Flip? I expect they'd back up the bus that ran him over, just to make sure.

Either way Coach Cal has a positive reputation with a number of quality pro players, JWall most importantly, I'd be curious to see how his act work at a pro level if we couldn't pull in Joergs.

Or my Rudy Tomjanovich / Sam Cassell/ Hakeem/ Horry etc pipe dream. Sam as head coach, others as consultants etc.

doclinkin, I like to give credit where credit is due. You were the first to mention the D-League affiliate of the Wizards and its coach, Dave Joerger.

You also mentioned David Blatt first. I like him but recall thinking he seemed bound to remain overseas. He seems like a winner to me.

I would like to mention a name that hasn't been brought up: Reggie Theus

1. Theus was a very good scorer and passer at 6'7' or 6'6". He should relate to Wall immediately.
2. He and Bill Laimbeer spent last season as Timberwolves assistant coaches. However, Theus has much more head coaching experience.
3. Theus coached New Mexico state to marked improvement and the NCAA Tournament in 2 seasons.
4. Theus already has NBA head coaching experience. He coached the Kings to 38-44. He was summarily (IMO unfairly) fired the next season when the Kings had an injured Kevin Martin and had traded Artest. That team had a roster worse than this Wizard roster and was 6-18 when Theus was fired.
5. Theus works now as a television analyst. He is comfortable in front of the camera and is an excellent communicator. He exudes charisma. He knows how the media works. He will be very well received (initially) by young players. Because he understands television, he will not create negative press no matter how bad his players are.

So, I like Joerger (by far) the best. doc mentioned him first. I read a lot about his accomplishments and all he's done is win everywhere he's coached. Since there are some things doc brought up about Joerger that might indicate he will not survive in the corporate culture (please management even if they don't know or appreciate just how good your way is); then I would entertain other coaches besides Joerger.

--Blatt, Laimbeer, and my second choice for now, Reggie Theus, are people to interview at the start of next season.

--Let Sam Cassell captain the Titanic/Wizards the rest of this season.

[closg00]

You ever had a boss that you hated or disliked but you had to put-up with him/her because they were the boss? You showed-up and did your work, but were never motivated to do more than just the minimum. You probably even under-performed. That's how I see Flip and our players.

I think the players would rally around Cassell and work hard for him if were to be named interim coach.

[WizarDynasty]

i think its important to choose a coach that comes from a proven playoff tested system. Also the system that the coach is most familiar with allows for the point guard to make alot of decisions with the ball. I think a jerry sloan system---stockton and deron williams, develops a point guards basketball iq.
I see parker and avery johnson in Popovich system and think that system is also playoff tested and develops and empowers a point guards decision making. Since the wizards franchise player is also a point guard, think assistants from these two system should take priority because both systems have performed well deep into the playoffs for multiple years.

I think when you choose a coach, you want to choose a coach that has come from a multi year playoff tested nba basketball. Flip's system is not playoff tested for multiple years to go deep into the playoffs. Sloan and Popovich system.

[hands11]

You ever had a boss that you hated or disliked but you had to put-up with him/her because they were the boss? You showed-up and did your work, but were never motivated to do more than just the minimum. You probably even under-performed. That's how I see Flip and our players.

I think the players would rally around Cassell and work hard for him if were to be named interim coach.

No doubt there would be a surge. Sam is a little fiery dude. I never thought they should have made a switch before but it is feeling more and more like the timing is right if they wanted to do it.

But regardless of coach, it's going to take a few games to get the line up right. They need to get Vesley on the court. And Mason should be able to play today.

Even Flip can do that and he will.

I almost feel sorry for Flip. He had to deal with all the crap and once we are through the worst of it, he will likely get replaced. At least he got paid well for dealing with it.

Dave Joerger sounds like a fine choice. Any chance Sam and Joerger could exit together ?

Though the idea of running the triangle is something I like.