To Tank or not to Tank. That is the Question.

[nate33]

Plus infinity plus one.

Admittedly, there is some truth in willbcock's screed. Losing brings on irrational frustration...

But, as someone who spent ten years responsible for hiring, training and yes firing coaches, I see multiple signs of a coach who is a bad fit for this team. To wit:

1. Calling out players through the media. Often works short term, never long term. Be critical, but keep it in the family.
2. Walking out of practice... Impudent. Sends a message to players that you feel you are too good to coach them up.
3. Lack of consistency. The constant rotation changes sends a message that you don't have a plan.
4. standing up for a former player over a current one. Garnett over Dray. At any level, players want to feel supported and, yes, loved.

I could go on, but the bottom line is that Flip hasn't been a good fit to manage this group.

You have a point on issues 1, 2 and 4. I'll defend Flip on issue 3. The lack of a consistent lineup is mostly due to injury, guys returning from injury, suspensions, or the Arenas trade.

There was a little lineup confusion when Wall first got back from his first injury and Flip had to work out whether we should start a 3-guard lineup or keep Thornton as a starter. And then there was a little flux when Flip couldn't figure out whether to start Gee or Thronton. In both cases, the problem wasn't really Flip. It was that we didn't have a starting-caliber small forward. Other than that, Flip's starting lineups were mostly dictated by injury - except when he was disciplining Blatche and McGee.

Things have settled into place of late with the emergence of Nick Young as a consistent 2-guard, and with the acquisition of Lewis. I think Flip would like nothing more than to have a stable starting rotation consisting of Wall, Young, Lewis, Blatche and McGee.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

(Response to post below)

Which games should have been wins IMO? Miami game with most improbable loss. First LAL game. One loss to Charlotte. Very bad loss to Detroit. Those come immediately to mind. Coaching non-moves come to mind. Minutes with Nick on the bench. He's averaged only 25 or so minutes. He's winning his matchups decidedly at SG and even SF but was coming off the bench when Flip started Gil, Kirk, and Wall. The non-move was not benching Gil or Kirk or both. Another non-move is playing Blatche exclusively when he struggles and/or is tired. Booker has been effective in relief at PF jut rarely spells Blatche. Another non-move is not featuring the defensive tandem of Seraphin and Booker as backups more often.

I think had Flip mixed the lineups with moves to promote energetic play the team would have those wins, but it's all speculative. I see what one coach did, Collins, to win with a young lineup. He changed things but stayed positive.

Dat, Wittman's not my champion. I know about his past. Could be the next Tapscott if all he does ische same stuff. I think he would use the same guys differently and be a better rebuilding coach because he wouldn't play veterans exclusively. He was extremely positive in the win. Nick's quotes after the win gave me hope and I think in about 10 games if things don't improve Wittman should be named interim coach. Ted should replace EG and the coaching staff at season's end if things don't get better.

This team also needs a better coach.

I think Phil Jackson or Rick Adelman or Alvin Gentry with this exact same team would have 5-8 more wins. This team is 8-24 and I think it could have 13-16 wins and still be very alive in the weak East playoff hunt.

Randy Wittman has convinced me the single biggest problem with this team is not the players. I saw a different approach with this same personnel.

One game does not make a coach. Randy Wittman was terrible in Minnesota and fans there will happily tell you so. If you remember the first game Ed Tapscott coached. A win. A complete blowout. Young players got huge minutes and performed well. We ALL know what happened from there.

The overrating of the talent on this roster is ridiculous. Could we be slightly better if another coach? I'm sure we could, but 5-8 wins more is just not reasonable. Coaching can definitely make a difference but not that big of a difference. Especially with this bunch.

[sashae]

Gack, meant to post the below in this thread, but posted in the Hornets game thread instead...

CCJ, I like and respect your opinions a great deal, but I have to ask, are you missing the forest for the trees?

With the team as it stands right now, I don't think anyone truly believes that Flip is the foundation upon which you build a franchise. We lack way, WAY too much to consider Flip the steward for this team say, 5 years hence. He's a coach for adults, not for kids -- which is all we've really got at this point. Yes, guys like Howard, Hinrich, and Lewis may be self-motivating, but the key actors on our squad are not. They need to be taught, and need to learn how to be pros.

All that being said, we lack way too many pieces at this point to worry about the minutia of every rotational decision that Flip makes on a game-to-game basis. He's going to do it wrong, one way or another, but in the end it's not going to matter. The bulk of the guys on the team now are likely not here next year as we once again clear the decks for a new influx of something. With any luck, the ping-pong balls may fall our way once again come draft season, and another piece of the puzzle may get inserted with Wall and McGee (I'm still not sold on NY1 as a true bit of the core -- as with any complex puzzle, you try to sort your pieces into piles to see how they'll start fitting together. Nick may look like a piece that goes here or there, but in the end he may not quite fill out the picture.)

As we go into the offseason (only a 1/3 of the way through the actual season) we can marinate on the type of coach that'd be optimal for us. Do I long for a guy like Thibodaux that would have marinated our guys in defensive teachings? Absolutely. We'll have to see what Ted wants to do, in the long run.

My hope is that Flip and Ted come to some sort of mutual agreement with regards to his contract, and Flip can walk away to another vet squad rather than continue to suffer through a situation here that he obviously had not signed up for. That'll get us in a position to either promote Sam I Am or bring in someone else... and then who knows. But for now, perspective on the tough season we're having is paramount. If we continue to eat each other up in this forum like some sort of sick basketball ourobouros, no one's going to come out happy.

[DMVleGeND]

I'm starting to warm up to this "tanking" plan.

To tell you the truth, I think it would be better for us to finish 18-64 than 28-54. We obviously need more pieces, and it's going to be hard to obtain those pieces if your team is not very good and you're not picking very high in the draft, especially in a weak one. Free agents don't want to come to a bad team, so we need to obtain the best players we can get through the draft. Whether you want to upgrade at PF by taking Sullinger/Kanter, or want to take our SF of the future by taking P. Jones/T. Jones/Barnes, those names probably wont be available if we're picking 7th. Just look at the Pacers. There always mediocre, but they're never bad enough to get a really high lotto pick that's going to help them reach the next level, and it looks like it's going to happen to them again this season.

An that "losing mentality" stuff is BS. It's a myth.

Every player in the NBA has a massive ego, has never been told ‘no’ in their entire lives, is a multi-millionaire, and thinks the world revolves around them.

The idea that any of these guys would start to doubt themselves because they lose a lot is ridiculous. The Thunder lost 62 games Durant’s rookie year. That allowed them to get Russell Westbrook. Now they are money. The Magic lost 61 games Dwight Howard’s rookie year. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and they wound up picking 11th, and got Fran Vasquez.

It wont be garbage time if John Wall is out there. And if he crushes the other team’s lineups, well good, because that what he should. If he doesn’t, then he has a ways to go. Deron Williams played 3 years at Illinois. Surely the NBA scrubs are better competition than Williams faced his sophomore and junior year.

[Hoopalotta]

It'll be about another month before it's time to properly rot for the loosening, but.....





Do not stand in the way of the tank!



Given our situation, we're looking to be pretty close to a lock for top 6, but probably not too far up into the absolute top slots. That's rather convenient given the egalitarian look of the draft pool, but the incentives are getting rather compelling at the organizational level for fostering further hardwood debauchery. I don't know how far they will or can go with it by way of trades and such.

[closg00]

It is not clear yet who we would be tanking for at this point, a top-3 pick may be all that is needed in this next draft.

Edit: I look at who's ahead of us in the playoff hunt and I find myself being resentful that we are not really in the mix at this point. With a coaching upgrade, we are certainly as-good as the teams at seeds 7 & 8 and just as -good as the other teams in the hunt for that 8th spot.