The Kenny Atkinson thread Part II

[steady]

It seems fitting to have LeBron's compliments about the team put in this thread since it is all due to Kenny's work:

"They’re trying to play the game the right way,” James conceded after Cleveland’s loss. “That’s what they’re doing. They’ve got some good young pieces, those guys and they’re playing the right way and they’re sharing the ball.”

"They shoot the long ball and they shoot it,” James said. “They’re just playing free, free of mind, that’s exactly how they’re playing. They’re moving it, they’re sharing it and that’s good ball."

[steady]

People seem to appreciate Kenny Atkinson's player development, but sometimes it seems like they don't fully understand everything that he brings to the game and to this team.

He is that A+ student who has incredible passion and knowledge of the game. Is he going to be better at player development than in game adjustments right now? Yes, of course he is. But does this mean that he can't be a good coach at in game adjustments? Of course not. He is again a great basketball mind who has an incredible passion for the game.

And my guess is that right now, it's not that Kenny is missing the things that we are seeing, but that he is weighing those factors in the balance against other goals, including player development goals, that are also important for the team. My guess is we are seeing 1/100 of what Kenny is seeing when he thinks about how to develop this team.

[Prokorov]

People seem to appreciate Kenny Atkinson's player development, but sometimes it seems like they don't fully understand everything that he brings to the game and to this team.

He is that A+ student who has incredible passion and knowledge of the game. Is he going to be better at player development than in game adjustments right now? Yes, of course he is. But does this mean that he can't be a good coach at in game adjustments? Of course not. He is again a great basketball mind who has an incredible passion for the game.

And my guess is that right now, it's not that Kenny is missing the things that we are seeing, but that he is weighing those factors in the balance against other goals, including player development goals, that are also important for the team. My guess is we are seeing 1/100 of what Kenny is seeing when he thinks about how to develop this team.

Kenny Atkinson is the best thing to happen to the nets since we aquired Jason Kidd. he has done nothing short of an amazing job.

people want to bash him because they have this delusion we should be some win now 40 win playoff team

[steady]

People seem to appreciate Kenny Atkinson's player development, but sometimes it seems like they don't fully understand everything that he brings to the game and to this team.

He is that A+ student who has incredible passion and knowledge of the game. Is he going to be better at player development than in game adjustments right now? Yes, of course he is. But does this mean that he can't be a good coach at in game adjustments? Of course not. He is again a great basketball mind who has an incredible passion for the game.

And my guess is that right now, it's not that Kenny is missing the things that we are seeing, but that he is weighing those factors in the balance against other goals, including player development goals, that are also important for the team. My guess is we are seeing 1/100 of what Kenny is seeing when he thinks about how to develop this team.

Kenny Atkinson is the best thing to happen to the nets since we aquired Jason Kidd. he has done nothing short of an amazing job.

people want to bash him because they have this delusion we should be some win now 40 win playoff team

I think there is just a lot of frustration because the team was doing so well at the start so it is easy to assume there are simple fixes for what ails them, when there's not. There is just slow and incremental progress

it was never going to be easy to deal with front court situation. It was never going to be simple integrating DLo. It is never easy balancing egos and competing agendas.

[shakendfries]

Watch on YouTube

[TheBrooklynKidd]

This quote sums up my one problem with Atkinson as a coach:

“Jarrett is progressing nicely. I just hope we can get some consistency there, and we can start using him.”

This is incredibly hypocritical to say. Acy and Zeller have been anything but consistent but they still play more than Jarrett. Honestly not a single player on this roster has been consistent this season but RHJ comes close. Idk why he holds his rookies to standards that other players on the team don’t have to meet. He did the same thing with LeVert last year and personally I thought that if he had given LeVert the opportunity he should’ve had as our best perimeter player, he would’ve been in the convo for ROY. Now he’s costing Allen a spot on the all rookie teams because of “consistency” like anyone on this roster provides that.

Maybe I’m nitpicking and I should just be glad that we aren’t running the ISO heavy offenses of the past, but I think it’s a legitimate complaint.

[Ror1997]

I dont think he was referring to production when talking about consistency

[TheBrooklynKidd]

I dont think he was referring to production when talking about consistency

What do you think he was talking about?

[Ror1997]

I dont think he was referring to production when talking about consistency

What do you think he was talking about?

His feel for the game. Allen is really raw and sometimes he looks lost on the floor. I think the "so we can start using him" line implies KA thinks He's not quite ready. Which is fine as the kid is 19 and skinny as hell. JA shows flashes, like the block on Love last game, or that block against Schroder. But other times he looks lost. Everyonce in a while he'll watch a shot instead of boxing out for a rebound.

Hes just young and raw. Those guys are never gonna get major minutes unless they really force their hand.

[Ror1997]

Of course as I post that, Allen gets the putback in the game!

[TheBrooklynKidd]

Of course as I post that, Allen gets the putback in the game!

and a steal on the other end.

I see what youre saying, its just that Zeller and Acy all have similar mental lapses and sometimes are just physically incapable of doing what they need to do. I just dont like the double standard. Its great to see him getting real minutes early in this game despite no big man injuries. Hopefully Atkinson is starting to realize what he has.

[Ror1997]

Of course as I post that, Allen gets the putback in the game!

and a steal on the other end.

I see what youre saying, its just that Zeller and Acy all have similar mental lapses and sometimes are just physically incapable of doing what they need to do. I just dont like the double standard. Its great to see him getting real minutes early in this game despite no big man injuries. Hopefully Atkinson is starting to realize what he has.

Hes looking real good this game. Locked in

[dorkestra]

Atkinson is my choice so far for COY

[spaceballer]

Dude never stops working.

Read on Twitter

[Andy123]

This quote sums up my one problem with Atkinson as a coach:

“Jarrett is progressing nicely. I just hope we can get some consistency there, and we can start using him.”

This is incredibly hypocritical to say. Acy and Zeller have been anything but consistent but they still play more than Jarrett. Honestly not a single player on this roster has been consistent this season but RHJ comes close. Idk why he holds his rookies to standards that other players on the team don’t have to meet. He did the same thing with LeVert last year and personally I thought that if he had given LeVert the opportunity he should’ve had as our best perimeter player, he would’ve been in the convo for ROY. Now he’s costing Allen a spot on the all rookie teams because of “consistency” like anyone on this roster provides that.

Maybe I’m nitpicking and I should just be glad that we aren’t running the ISO heavy offenses of the past, but I think it’s a legitimate complaint.

Rookies need to set good habits , doing things the right way, atkinson is fine .. Believe ... Just trust that he knows how to develop guys better than u and me... And you are nitpicking its not a valid cimplaint

[Prokorov]

This quote sums up my one problem with Atkinson as a coach:

“Jarrett is progressing nicely. I just hope we can get some consistency there, and we can start using him.”

This is incredibly hypocritical to say. Acy and Zeller have been anything but consistent but they still play more than Jarrett. Honestly not a single player on this roster has been consistent this season but RHJ comes close. Idk why he holds his rookies to standards that other players on the team don’t have to meet. He did the same thing with LeVert last year and personally I thought that if he had given LeVert the opportunity he should’ve had as our best perimeter player, he would’ve been in the convo for ROY. Now he’s costing Allen a spot on the all rookie teams because of “consistency” like anyone on this roster provides that.

Maybe I’m nitpicking and I should just be glad that we aren’t running the ISO heavy offenses of the past, but I think it’s a legitimate complaint.

Rookies need to set good habits , doing things the right way, atkinson is fine .. Believe ... Just trust that he knows how to develop guys better than u and me... And you are nitpicking its not a valid cimplaint

Acy and zeller are EXTREMELY consistent. you are worried too much about the result and not the execution. they are always in the right spots taking the right shots making the right passes. both ar elow level role players, so they wont get consistent results, but they execute the system consistently. thats why kenny is looking for and what he should look for

[MrDollarBills]

Zeller has been reliable, solid, active and he was prepared for when his number got called after not playing to start out the season. very professional guy, glad he's on the roster.

[Prokorov]

Needed to bump this to give some props to Kenny, who has quietly had an outstanding season as head coach. I think he really gets over-criticized and not given nearly enough credit. When you break it down, it is really quite remarkable what he has done this season:

[*]Led the Nets to a 22-23 record despite losing his best player after just 14 games and seeing missed games from injury to several starters and rotational players. In addition to Levert, Crabbe has now missed double digit games. RHJ has missed 11 games. Demarre Carroll who has been an integral part of this win streak has missed 11 games. Dudley has missed a handful of games and is currently out, Graham missed most of the season. Napier is out with a hamstring. Despite that, the Nets have exceeded expectations and are currently the hottest team in the NBA.

it is EXTREMELY understated that Kenny lost his best player, yet has achieved a winning record since Caris went down (16-15) and has this team playing the best basketball in the east right now, maybe the NBA.

[*]We start 3 players 22 and under... Russell, Kurucs (a second round rookie) and Allen a second year 19 year old. That in itself is pretty remarkable. Obviously Russell is talented, but Kurucs and Allen are playing like 10 year veterans... and not just in spurts. night in and night out those guys contribute. both picked late... whcih credit to marks... but taking late 1st and second round rookies into the starting lineup as key contirbutors isnt easy... especially in Kurucs case where its also his first time in the country. Integrating very young, late round picks into the rotation/starting lineup while winning is something most coaches struggle to do... even ones with lottery picks.

[*]Development. With the exception of players battling injuries (Crabbe, RHJ, Graham) EVERY. SINGLE. NET has shown drastic improvement this year under kenny. Russell is having a breakout year playing at all-star level. Dinwiddie is having a breakout year playing at near allstar level and is one of the front runners for 6MOY. Levert was having a bust out into an allstar year... Jarrett Allen has made big steps forward giving us 12/8/2 in just his second year. Kurucs has been unreal for any rookie let alone a second rounder giving us 11/4/1/1 on 60TS% as a starter. Ed Davis is having one of his best seasons. Napier has had some huge outbursts.

A coach would get credit for just 1 guy having a breakout year or just 1 late round/pick rookie busting out... kenny hss 3 guys having break out years and 2 young guys showing out.

[*]Zone Defense. This gets brushed aside the most... most teams cant even play it for a few possessions. The league has so many shooters now, zone is extremely tough to get away with. The nets not only play it for a few possesions, they play it for huge portions of entire games. And there is only 1 way to do that -- all 5 guys need to be on the same page, know all the rotaitons, be 100% disciplined and not help outside their responsibility, go 110% on close outs while havign the control to recover and rotate, and to challenge shots at the rim. Nets do it as good as anyone ive seen play zone since they put the defensive 3 second rule into effect. You just dont see alot of zone... and when you do its usually either picked apart or just for a few possessions. Nets have gone to it very extensively, and outside of the milwaukee game, its been very successful... thats great coaching.

[*]Next man up. Atkinson has this team roling along with a "do your job" "next man up" attitude. guys are always ready for when their opportunity might come and are ready for the challenge. 1 through 15 every guy expects to be ready and when called on expects to do their job well. its a new england (barf) patriots/spurs like chemistry, continuity, and culture. thats extremely tough to achieve. guys have bought in... they would all kill for kenny. they are in it with him 110%. they have bought into the team concept.

Russell doesnt complain when he is benched late/to close out games
Dinwiddie doesnt complain when he is benched late/to close out games
Russell doenst complain when he gets pulled after taking a bad shot
dinwiddie doesnt complain when he is pulled after arguing non-fould calls
Allen doesnt complain when he barely plays a 4th quarter
Faried doesnt complain getting DNPs
RHJ didnt complain when dudley got the starting job. dudley didnt complain when he lost it
Carroll isnt complaining about not starting
Crabbe didnt complain when he lost his starting spot to Harris
Not a single players complains about shots or minutes

it seems small and simple. its hard to achieve and harder to sustain.

[*]Misfortune. The nets have gotten 4 apologies from the league this year on critical late calls that likely cost them games. We blew a couple crazy games (pelicans we were up 3 with under 10 seconds left and threw the ball out of bounds with no pressure). We got beat on 3 buzzer beaters, including a step-back jimmy butler 30 foot contested three. Despite all that we are a .500 team. flip 1/3 of those losses and we might be closing in on the celtics for that 5 seed.

[*]Modern Basketball. Nets have necome one of the models in the NBA for their style of play. We lead the NBA in points off of drives and drives per game. We take and make the 5th most threes in the league. We allow the fewest 3PT attempts in the NBA and the 3rd fewest points from roll men in pick and rolls. we force the 4th most long two point attempts (16-22 feet). i dont have the official stat but on a YES broadcast last month it said the nets averaged the most passes per possession in the league

[*]Rotations. He gets criticized for it so much... most of it knee jerk hindsight/overreaction cause we are losing... for his rotations. but he has done an elite job here. it isnt easy to find minutes for 13 guys in an NBA rotation. we typically run in 11 guys a night and as many as 12-13. No one complains about minutes and he gets the most of every player without having to rely on garbage time only to get guys minutes. D

Kenny might not win or be top 5 in coach of the year, but honestly, he deserves to be in the running. the guy has been an excellent coach this year... and he has done it in ALL aspects of coaching:

-developing players
-coaching the team to wins
-managing egos
-getting guys to buy in
-getting the team playing modern basketball
-fitting 11-13 guys into a rotation
-improving as the year goes on

[Prokorov]

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