Trader_Joe wrote:
And yeah..maybe there isn't a coach that could maximize our players or turn us into a winning team, but I think there are plenty of coaches that could do better with this team.. I think even Hollins could do better IF he would simply put the team in the best positions to succeed, which pretty much starts and end with using logical line-ups. I think Hollins is the #1 reason we are underachieving (not our record necessarily.. no one expected us to be a good team) but we knew our team and our players going in. Based upon that almost all of us had higher expectations..like 40-42 wins and a low seed. Not 30 wins and the 12 seed in the East we are heading for.
There is a not a single player that I can think of that has improved under Hollins. Most have regressed significantly. I don't think it's a coincidence.
Also, the one thing I used to like about Hollins was our D.. but even that has fallen off a cliff. Thus I'm back to wondering what this guy brings to the team.. and I see nothing.
-Avery, PJC, Kidd have all done better..much better. And IMO Hollins has had as much talent as Avery/PJC
-He’s publicly blasted his players while telling JJ not to make public comments (even though JJ didn't mention names). He's helped kill their confidence and trade value.
-He takes no responsibility for failure, only success. He says he can't go out there and play or make the shots deflecting blame, yet when the team plays well he says it was because they bought into his system
-Most players have regressed under him. I can't think of one thing one player has gotten better at under Hollins. The closest has been Lopez's rebounding post ASG.
-Our shooters suddenly can’t shoot under him. Strange they could before. Maybe they aren't getting good looks in the offense? Or maybe they lack confidence?
-The players seem miserable and don’t want to play for him. Our body language is awful and I get the feeling D.Will, JJ, Lopez, Bogs all dislike him, while Jack and AA probably love him.
-We can’t win at home even though we've been pretty good there the last two years.
-He refuses to use analytics despite the rest of the league.. and sports as a whole understanding their value
-He plays favorites even though it hurts the team (Jack)
-His rotations are laughably bad
-His end of game strategy is ISO Jack
Actually.. I do like on thing about him.. the willingness to play the young guys. Brown, Jefferson, Bogs in particular. Past coaches probably wouldn't even think to insert them. Otherwise this guy is a fraud. He talks the talk and knows how to charm the fans/media with his tough guy rhetoric, but it's a all facade that many are starting to see through. There is a reason Memphis let him walk and they are doing better without him.
I think this roster is the worst and most inexperienced of the teams that have been in Brooklyn thus far. So I can't say the talent is comparable, especially adding the fact that Johnson, Williams, and Lopez have declined.
-I cannot blame him for the underachievement. There are three players on this roster who are supposed to bring it every night, be consistent, be reliable, and elevate the games of everyone around them. Lopez, Williams, and Johnson. The max players...who give questionable effort and are statistically putrid. The decline of Williams has been a work in progress. Lopez has always been soft, but now his game has really become bad with him settling for jumpers and barely showing up most nights. Johnson, to his credit has been the one reliable guy during his tenure here but age and overuse have now taken it's toll and he's nearly useless. He has also clearly checked out mentally. These three are the main reason why we are underachieving. There's no way around this issue.
-Now, regarding Johnson, I do blame Hollins for putting him at PF. It's just a dumb idea especially when Thad is more than ready to slide in at the 4. Also, I blame Hollins for being obsessed with having Deron play the two with Jack. But that goes back to his biggest sin imo, bad rotations.
-Who has regressed? The "big 3" have all been cruising for this for awhile, age, injuries, and just plain passiveness have finally broken down the cart. Mirza had health issues, which explains why he was terrible. Bojan sucks. Karasev sucks. Jack is a journeyman, can't say he's regressed. AA is what he is. Meanwhile: Plumlee is posting solid numbers as a starting roleplayer center. Markel Brown is clearly 1st rd talent that is being groomed. CJ busts his tail every time he hits the floor. Thad Young has looked great. Who are these players that are regressing? The young guys minus the euros all have thrived.
-Joe, please do not sit here and tell me that the players aren't shooting well because of Hollins. Every game the Nets get a ton of wide open looks and they fire up bricks, the only competent 3 pt shooter on the roster is Johnson. Alan Anderson is shooting his career average, which is sub 35%. No surprise there. Bojan cannot shoot. Karasev cannot shoot. Brown cannot shoot. Jack can't shoot threes. How is this remotely Hollins' fault? The whole "The team can't shoot because of Hollins" is not only grasping at straws, but it's dishonest because you're trying to imply that the Nets are missing because they are forced to shoot contested threes and that's ridiculous. You wanna blame someone for the lack of shooting then blame Billy King.
-The players are miserable because they finally have to deal with a coach that is brutally honest about them. If Lopez, Williams, and Johnson were so great how come Kidd hauled ass? He knew he couldn't win with a)King calling the shots and b)this core without guys like Pierce, Livingston, etc. AA and Jack actually compete despite their limitations so Hollins respects that more than the passive play of the "big 3". I don't care that they don't like him....Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, etc all displayed great respect for their former coach who got them to the western conference finals. Randolph, Gasol, and Conley are also competitors that don't take nights off, they play tough, physical, and aggressive. They earn their salaries.
Never once since they've been together could we say the same things about Williams, Johnson, and Lopez. When far superior players respect Hollins, while lesser thans who dog it most nights don't, that tells me that the fault lies in the fact that these guys are used to being coddled and having their fragile egos stroked instead of being challenged to be great.
-I don't care that he blasts the players in public. If Lopez didn't deserve the criticism I would have an issue with it...but he does. Everything that Hollins said about Brook was the god honest truth and fans who don't play favorites because Brook is a career Net have said this **** about him for YEARS. Now all of a sudden when a coach has the balls to say it, it's a problem. Instead of moping, they need to play better and consistently...but they don't.
-Deferring blame is a legit issue, but at the end of the day, he is right about one thing: He can't go out there and hit shots. He can't go out there and play hard. They players have to do that, and the record says that they have not for most of the season. You are however, ignoring when he credits the players for competing when they do win. He was giving the guys a lot of credit for the way they played on the road trip even despite the losses and was very positive about the team.
-Whose fault is it that we can't win at home? When Williams, Johnson etc talked about "this is a must win" game the days leading up to the Hornets debacle, and then came out passive, lackadaisical, and flat out FOLDED when the Hornets beat the hell out of them 30-6 in the first qtr, that's the coach's fault??
Watch the first 1 qtr of that game and tell me what Lionel did to make them play so badly.
-Analytics don't always tell the whole story, so I can see why he is averse to them. Me personally I believe balance is the key, using metrics to see who is efficient in which line ups, shooting, defense etc, but also using the good ol eye test to either keep riding players when they are working hard or pull them off the floor when they are dogging it. Analytics can't measure bull **** like this:
And that's why Lopez's ass is on the bench!
-He plays favorites even though it hurts the team (Jack)
-His rotations are laughably bad
-His end of game strategy is ISO Jack
Fair and honest criticisms, I also have the same issues with him.
But at the end of the day, saying he's the number one reason when you have 3 max players who are notoriously passive and inconsistent is not even remotely true.
