Head Coaching Candidates - Finalists Nurse/Atkinson/Griffin - Another New Poll Added

[Ron Swanson]

Atkinson hasn't been a Bud assistant in nearly a decade. Do people have such anti-Bud PTSD that they just irrationally think that we should avoid anyone from the Popovich coaching tree too? Nurse was a "Dwayne Casey guy" but it's almost like GM's understand these guys aren't pre-programmed robots and can run completely different schemes and philosophies once they're free to implement them as a head coach.

[Profound23]

All those coaches with half a brain just saw a guy get fired two years after winning the title.

If they come in and lose in the playoffs they are out. Look at LeBron’s coaches over the years. Nobody wants a job that might only be a 1 year gig. That’s what we are, if you fail you’re out.

No i dont buy that the management got tired of all the BS come playoff time the aweful half court O questionable lineups failures year after year to adjust.No way will an5 coach get 1 year bucks want a good scheme guy xa n os guy .Next coach is walking into a great situatiion where just tweaking the roster could very easily put you back in the finals

Imagine the next coach is a 3 seed and loses round 1. No way they bring them back another year with Giannis free agency looming

No need to worry about it, because if that happens Giannis forces his way out. We have to get this offseason right or this could be a wrap for us.

[machu46]

His record in Charlotte was obviously not good but didn't Borrego do some decent things offensively? Maybe he could be a lead assistant or something?

I don’t really know but I feel like he had charlotte around .500 multiple years…probably one of the better stretches they’ve had recently?


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[MVP2110]

Atkinson hasn't been a Bud assistant in nearly a decade. Do people have such anti-Bud PTSD that they just irrationally think that we should avoid anyone from the Popovich coaching tree too? Nurse was a "Dwayne Casey guy" but it's almost like GM's understand these guys aren't pre-programmed robots and can run completely different schemes and philosophies once they're free to implement them as a head coach.

I can't speak for others but the reason I don't want Atkinson isn't because he's a former Bud assistant, it's that he was a very average coach his 1st time around and we'd be banking that he learned a ton from Kerr with GS. I'm on record as I'm only interested in guys who have proven to be able to make postseason adjustments both game to game and in game and that doesn't describe Atkinson

[Ron Swanson]

I can't for the life of me understand how people hold the Nets stuff against him as a negative. He turned a lottery squad into a low-40's win playoff team with D'Angelo Russell and Jarrett Allen as his two best players. Then Kyrie/KD came in, nuked the locker room, and he was a predictable casualty. He got to coach what, not even a half season of Kyrie before they canned him? KD wasn't even back from the Achilles injury yet. In no universe did he underachieve with that roster.

[blazza18]

Feel like outside of Lue (probably) and Nurse (maybe) we're just not going to know how a coach is going to coach/react in the playoffs until we see it over a few postseason runs. We're all just guessing and hoping the one guy we like can be the next Spo.

[worthlessBucks]

Yeah those nets teams got a lot out of nothing. That’s coaching.

[MVP2110]

I can't for the life of me understand how people hold the Nets stuff against him as a negative. He turned a lottery squad into a low-40's win playoff team with D'Angelo Russell and Jarrett Allen as his two best players. Then Kyrie/KD came in, nuked the locker room, and he was a predictable casualty. He got to coach what, not even a half season of Kyrie before they canned him? KD wasn't even back from the Achilles injury yet. In no universe did he underachieve with that roster.

Except that isn't true. I posted the over/unders before each of his seasons earlier. He exceeded expectations 1 season, he failed to meet expectations once, and he hit them directly on twice. There is this myth that he overachieved with a downtrodden Nets team but it's just a myth outside of 1 single season.

[Badgerlander]

During his first three seasons, Atkinson built a more regimented culture with the goal of making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. In an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan, he laid out the inevitable difficulties that would come with bringing two marquee free agents into the fold:

"Our whole setup can be a bit rigid. We're like a college program, in some ways. We have this car wash of very specific things with very specific people.

"But I can already see it morphing into something it was not before. When Joe Harris was trying to make it in the league, he was saying, 'I'll do whatever you want.' Now we're dealing with veterans who are saying, 'OK, this is how you do it. But this is how I've always done it, and this has worked for me.'"

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2879778-report-kenny-atkinson-didnt-want-to-coach-nets-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving.amp.html

“This is the NBA. Disagreements happen, it's an alpha male dominated environment, a highly competitive situation,” Spencer Dinwiddie said, being more tight-lipped than usual.

Atkinson preferred not to be around for KD, Kyrie

Multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that Atkinson wasn’t fond of coaching Durant and Irving based on what he saw this season, and would rather something happen now than at the end of the season.

That gibes with Marks saying he and Atkinson had been in discussions about this for weeks, even months now. It’s tough to embrace Atkinson putting so much into turning the franchise around, but ready to wash his hands of it months into this season.

Whether Atkinson didn’t bend enough to accommodate his accomplished veterans for fear of alienating those who knew him as something different, or the situation was too awkward to work, seems fair to speculate.

And it’s easy to like a “culture” from the outside before you have to put in the hard work that comes with maintaining it. It’s also easy to admire something from afar when you’re yearning to leave the Bay Area and Boston for something, anything else.

“Oh, it was definitely mutual,” a league source told Yahoo Sports.

For the Nets, their “culture” came at a cost and for anyone who thought otherwise, a culture only goes as far as the players allow it to, and even then there will be natural erosion over a period of time — hence why Marks alluded to Atkinson apparently telling him recently that “my voice is not what it once was here. It’s time.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/kenny-atkinsons-tenure-with-nets-comes-to-its-natural-conclusion-as-kd-kyrie-era-nears-014215773.html

[mke_design]

During his first three seasons, Atkinson built a more regimented culture with the goal of making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. In an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan, he laid out the inevitable difficulties that would come with bringing two marquee free agents into the fold:

"Our whole setup can be a bit rigid. We're like a college program, in some ways. We have this car wash of very specific things with very specific people.

"But I can already see it morphing into something it was not before. When Joe Harris was trying to make it in the league, he was saying, 'I'll do whatever you want.' Now we're dealing with veterans who are saying, 'OK, this is how you do it. But this is how I've always done it, and this has worked for me.'"

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2879778-report-kenny-atkinson-didnt-want-to-coach-nets-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving.amp.html

“This is the NBA. Disagreements happen, it's an alpha male dominated environment, a highly competitive situation,” Spencer Dinwiddie said, being more tight-lipped than usual.

Atkinson preferred not to be around for KD, Kyrie

Multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that Atkinson wasn’t fond of coaching Durant and Irving based on what he saw this season, and would rather something happen now than at the end of the season.

That gibes with Marks saying he and Atkinson had been in discussions about this for weeks, even months now. It’s tough to embrace Atkinson putting so much into turning the franchise around, but ready to wash his hands of it months into this season.

Whether Atkinson didn’t bend enough to accommodate his accomplished veterans for fear of alienating those who knew him as something different, or the situation was too awkward to work, seems fair to speculate.

And it’s easy to like a “culture” from the outside before you have to put in the hard work that comes with maintaining it. It’s also easy to admire something from afar when you’re yearning to leave the Bay Area and Boston for something, anything else.

“Oh, it was definitely mutual,” a league source told Yahoo Sports.

For the Nets, their “culture” came at a cost and for anyone who thought otherwise, a culture only goes as far as the players allow it to, and even then there will be natural erosion over a period of time — hence why Marks alluded to Atkinson apparently telling him recently that “my voice is not what it once was here. It’s time.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/kenny-atkinsons-tenure-with-nets-comes-to-its-natural-conclusion-as-kd-kyrie-era-nears-014215773.html

To be honest, Giannis would love that.

[El Pooch Grande]

Someone please tell me we are still considering Nick Nurse…

[Daver]

Someone please tell me we are still considering Nick Nurse…

I personally think whrn the smoke clears he will be the bucks coach unless he doesnt wanna come here but IMO hes the best of whats available even better than KA

[ReasonablySober]

Of the candidates mentioned so far, it's Atkinson by a mile.

Don't want Nurse.

[Daver]

Of the candidates mentioned so far, it's Atkinson by a mile.

Don't want Nurse.

Isnt anyone worried abput his overall record like 110-180 something like that.Wht you like him better than nurse maybe im missing something nurse is known for being a very good tactician and isnt afraid to make ingame adjustments.Nurse has a much much better record than anyone else out there

[ReasonablySober]

Of the candidates mentioned so far, it's Atkinson by a mile.

Don't want Nurse.

Isnt anyone worried abput his overall record like 110-180 something like that.Wht you like him better than nurse maybe im missing something nurse is known for being a very good tactician and isnt afraid to make ingame adjustments.Nurse has a much much better record than anyone else out there

All I know is what I've read, and people smarter about basketball stuff than me say that what Atkinson did with the Nets was incredible.

As for Nurse, I don't like his face. Too punchable. Has a Canadian background and that doesn't help. Very suspicious.

[Daver]

Of the candidates mentioned so far, it's Atkinson by a mile.

Don't want Nurse.

Isnt anyone worried abput his overall record like 110-180 something like that.Wht you like him better than nurse maybe im missing something nurse is known for being a very good tactician and isnt afraid to make ingame adjustments.Nurse has a much much better record than anyone else out there

All I know is what I've read, and people smarter about basketball stuff than me say that what Atkinson did with the Nets was incredible.

As for Nurse, I don't like his face. Too punchable. Has a Canadian background and that doesn't help. Very suspicious.

Very good answer on nurse to funny those damn canadians lol good reason not to hire him.

3 of KAs seasons were brutal the 1 42,-40 one was ok.I dont know i do think if anyother else other than KA had a overall record like that 90% of this board would say no fricking way

[chonestown]

Someone who has a very good overall record is Mike Budenholzer.

[BuckFan25226]

During his first three seasons, Atkinson built a more regimented culture with the goal of making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. In an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan, he laid out the inevitable difficulties that would come with bringing two marquee free agents into the fold:

"Our whole setup can be a bit rigid. We're like a college program, in some ways. We have this car wash of very specific things with very specific people.

"But I can already see it morphing into something it was not before. When Joe Harris was trying to make it in the league, he was saying, 'I'll do whatever you want.' Now we're dealing with veterans who are saying, 'OK, this is how you do it. But this is how I've always done it, and this has worked for me.'"

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2879778-report-kenny-atkinson-didnt-want-to-coach-nets-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving.amp.html

“This is the NBA. Disagreements happen, it's an alpha male dominated environment, a highly competitive situation,” Spencer Dinwiddie said, being more tight-lipped than usual.

Atkinson preferred not to be around for KD, Kyrie

Multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that Atkinson wasn’t fond of coaching Durant and Irving based on what he saw this season, and would rather something happen now than at the end of the season.

That gibes with Marks saying he and Atkinson had been in discussions about this for weeks, even months now. It’s tough to embrace Atkinson putting so much into turning the franchise around, but ready to wash his hands of it months into this season.

Whether Atkinson didn’t bend enough to accommodate his accomplished veterans for fear of alienating those who knew him as something different, or the situation was too awkward to work, seems fair to speculate.

And it’s easy to like a “culture” from the outside before you have to put in the hard work that comes with maintaining it. It’s also easy to admire something from afar when you’re yearning to leave the Bay Area and Boston for something, anything else.

“Oh, it was definitely mutual,” a league source told Yahoo Sports.

For the Nets, their “culture” came at a cost and for anyone who thought otherwise, a culture only goes as far as the players allow it to, and even then there will be natural erosion over a period of time — hence why Marks alluded to Atkinson apparently telling him recently that “my voice is not what it once was here. It’s time.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/kenny-atkinsons-tenure-with-nets-comes-to-its-natural-conclusion-as-kd-kyrie-era-nears-014215773.html

I completely forgot about this.

That's actually awesome. For a young coach in that position to have the stones to basically say "eff these divas" and want out is somewhat incredible.

[aboveAverage]

I don’t think that’s a good sign actually. Being a title-winning coach means having to coach superstars and deal with their egos. I want someone who has experience with that and not someone who wanted out because they wanted to run a college-like system. That makes me reconsider Atkinson as a serious candidate.

[drew881]

I don’t think that’s a good sign actually. Being a title-winning coach means having to coach superstars and deal with their egos. I want someone who has experience with that and not someone who wanted out because they wanted to run a college-like system. That makes me reconsider Atkinson as a serious candidate.

Guessing he probably has learned something managing Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green the past couple of years?

If not then maybe he is better suited to take over another upcoming team.

More importantly, what is his X and O philosophy on both sides of the ball?