Who should be the next coach of the Washington Wizards?

[Dat2U]

Sadly, if my connections hold any weight whatsoever.....seems like D'Antoni is pretty much guaranteed to be the next coach. The odd claim? Donnie Walsh comes in as GM as well....

NYK south. The Walsh hiring would be great, D'Antoni not so much.....

Didn't fishercob or was it Jim that said it looks like Mike is the next coach? Where there's smoke...

...there's fire.

Yep, it was fish.

Thoroughly disappointing about D'Antoni. Although the Walsh angle is a new one, but it makes some sense. I suppose D'Antoni is the guy bought in to help get John Wall to the next level but I would have preferred a defensive minded coach and someone that isn't a retread.

Walsh would be a significant upgrade over Ernie but I would have liked Kevin Pritchard or a young upstart from the Spurs or Thunder front office. Walsh is definitely old school and while I'm confident he's not going to make any Foye/Miller for lottery pick type deals his results in NY were decidedly mixed.

However Walsh & D'Antoni is a less bitter pill to swallow than Grunfeld & D'Antoni. If that's the case, my only question is why wait till the off-season to make a change? Get Walsh on board now so he can evaluate the roster and prepare for the draft. Last thing I'd want is a lame duck GM making a decision as important as selecting a top five pick.

[DallasShalDune]

D'Antoni would be a good coach with Wall and Nene. Also, Beal could be Joe Johnson-esque in his offense if we were to draft him in the 3-5 range.

[willbcocks]

I hate D'Antoni. This would be such a stab-in-the-back ending to years of tanking.

[jivelikenice]

Dat, In terms of the draft I wouldn't call Walsh's results mixed. Gallinari @ 6 was a very good pick, Fields in the 2nd round was very solid, and Shumpert @ 17 looks like a steal and was not a highly regarded pick at that point. His only miss was on Jordan Hill. I haven't seen much of him so I don't know if its on him or lack of starting opportunities.

Again, I like the idea of D'antoni. I understand the thought of bringing in a young upstart, but its just as risky, if not more than hiring a "retread". More importantly this franchise is not in position to "mess one up" IMO. The Wizards are a doormat and a national joke now. Ted can't risk having another season liek this one. Interest will further decline & we'll lose all credibility. You also have to look at where we are in terms of young talent. We just had #1 pick 2 years ago and are likely to add a top 3-4 pick to him. How many chances will you get to have two picks that high? We know Mike will bring two things to the table, a good (and exciting offensive system) and a system that caters to point guards. He has a clear strength as a coach that he should be able to implement anywhere he goes. Who else offers that? Its a path to respectability & is our best chance to also see how good of a player Wall can develop into. I'm not saying D'antoni should be here 10 yrs, but lets let him build up Wall's weaknesses and give this team confidence on at least one side of the ball. Right now they can do neither. In 3-4 yrs if the team is performing but stuck in the middle of the pack based on D, then you can go for your upstart. By then our young guys will be vets and will know how to play and how to win. Right now they don't know that and an upstart might not know that either.

[miller31time]

Dat, In terms of the draft I wouldn't call Walsh's results mixed. Gallinari @ 6 was a very good pick, Fields in the 2nd round was very solid, and Shumpert @ 17 looks like a steal and was not a highly regarded pick at that point. His only miss was on Jordan Hill. I haven't seen much of him so I don't know if its on him or lack of starting opportunities.

Again, I like the idea of D'antoni. I understand the thought of bringing in a young upstart, but its just as risky, if not more than hiring a "retread". More importantly this franchise is not in position to "mess one up" IMO. The Wizards are a doormat and a national joke now. Ted can't risk having another season liek this one. Interest will further decline & we'll lose all credibility. You also have to look at where we are in terms of young talent. We just had #1 pick 2 years ago and are likely to add a top 3-4 pick to him. How many chances will you get to have two picks that high? We know Mike will bring two things to the table, a good (and exciting offensive system) and a system that caters to point guards. He has a clear strength as a coach that he should be able to implement anywhere he goes. Who else has offers? Its a path t respectability & is our best chance to also see how good of a player Wall can develop into. I'm not saying D'antoni should be here 10 yrs, but lets let him build up Wall's weaknesses and give this team confidence on at least one side of the ball. Right now they can do neither. In 3-4 yrs if the team is performing but stuck in the middle of the pack based on D, then you can go for your upstart. By then our young guys will be vets and will know how to play and how to win. Right now they don't know that and an upstart might not know that either.

I'm not planted in the D'Antoni camp but this is a very well-reasoned assessment, IMO.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

D'Antoni's system catered to Steve Nash. He can shoot a three. Jeremy Lin? He can shoot the three. For all his success he had Amare, Nash, Shawn Marion all in their prime.

D'Antoni is older than Flip. He is not going to have patience or creativity. He is not going to be any more committed than Randy Wittman. I don't like this. This is typical of what the Wizards would do. Hire an old coach who just got fired somewhere else. D'Antoni is so good that the Knicks are doing better without him.

Whatever.

As far as I'm concerned this is just like hiring Flip.

[Ruzious]

I wonder if Chi would be open for a trade... for Thibs - the way they've been so slow in handling his situation. Considering how well Rose developed under him - and his defensive genius rep, it might be worth considering.

[FAH1223]

D'Antoni is older than Flip. He is not going to have patience or creativity. He is not going to be any more committed than Randy Wittman. I don't like this. This is typical of what the Wizards would do. Hire an old coach who just got fired somewhere else. D'Antoni is so good that the Knicks are doing better without him.

Whatever.

As far as I'm concerned this is just like hiring Flip.

I agree. So depressing.

[dobrojim]

Sadly, if my connections hold any weight whatsoever.....seems like D'Antoni is pretty much guaranteed to be the next coach. The odd claim? Donnie Walsh comes in as GM as well....

NYK south. The Walsh hiring would be great, D'Antoni not so much.....

Didn't fishercob or was it Jim that said it looks like Mike is the next coach? Where there's smoke...

it was Fish. I don't have those kinds of connections.

[dobrojim]

Dat, In terms of the draft I wouldn't call Walsh's results mixed. Gallinari @ 6 was a very good pick, Fields in the 2nd round was very solid, and Shumpert @ 17 looks like a steal and was not a highly regarded pick at that point. His only miss was on Jordan Hill. I haven't seen much of him so I don't know if its on him or lack of starting opportunities.

Again, I like the idea of D'antoni. I understand the thought of bringing in a young upstart, but its just as risky, if not more than hiring a "retread". More importantly this franchise is not in position to "mess one up" IMO. The Wizards are a doormat and a national joke now. Ted can't risk having another season liek this one. Interest will further decline & we'll lose all credibility. You also have to look at where we are in terms of young talent. We just had #1 pick 2 years ago and are likely to add a top 3-4 pick to him. How many chances will you get to have two picks that high? We know Mike will bring two things to the table, a good (and exciting offensive system) and a system that caters to point guards. He has a clear strength as a coach that he should be able to implement anywhere he goes. Who else offers that? Its a path to respectability & is our best chance to also see how good of a player Wall can develop into. I'm not saying D'antoni should be here 10 yrs, but lets let him build up Wall's weaknesses and give this team confidence on at least one side of the ball. Right now they can do neither. In 3-4 yrs if the team is performing but stuck in the middle of the pack based on D, then you can go for your upstart. By then our young guys will be vets and will know how to play and how to win. Right now they don't know that and an upstart might not know that either.

I see a chicken-egg problem here

Was D'Antoni successful as a coach in PHX because he made Nash into an
MVP or was Nash being an MVP the reason why D'Antoni was successful.
We don't have Nash. Wall is a very different type of player.
Also PHX lucked into Amare who should have been drafted higher.

I am very skeptical of D'Antoni as a potential hire.

[Rafael122]

https://plus.google.com/u/0/11583341380 ... vi2HohzTEi

[dobrojim]

hadn't thought much about the fact Walsh is already >70

how many years does he have left?

[jivelikenice]

D'Antoni's system catered to Steve Nash. He can shoot a three. Jeremy Lin? He can shoot the three. For all his success he had Amare, Nash, Shawn Marion all in their prime.

D'Antoni is older than Flip. He is not going to have patience or creativity. He is not going to be any more committed than Randy Wittman. I don't like this. This is typical of what the Wizards would do. Hire an old coach who just got fired somewhere else. D'Antoni is so good that the Knicks are doing better without him.

Whatever.

As far as I'm concerned this is just like hiring Flip.

I don't know if the 3 from the pg as important to the system as you may think it is. Jeremy Lin at the height of Linsanity (Nets game through Cleveland game at the end of February) shot 32.5% from the 3 pt line. In 6 of the 13 games he didn't even make a 3. Look at Felton. The Knicks offense was clicking before they made the Melo deal and Felton was shooting only 32% from the 3 pt line as well. Better than Wall obviously but I don't think he was ever considered a consistent threat from the 3 pt line by opposing coaches. The sytem is about spreading the floor & running high pick and roll which will allow the pg room to drive and attack the D via passing or scoring. What Wall did against Detroit on on Thursday is what I would envision his role/impact being in a D'antoni offense.

I also disagree with this being just like a Flip hire. Flip was a decent coach, but what was he known for? He was considered to be an offensive mind but his offenses have never put teams on their heels like D'antoni's. Mike brings something definitive to the fold that this team needs, an identity. We never had an identity under Flip.

[Knighthonor]

I have a question.

In professional sports, how do you evaluate quality in a coach?

I ask, because I remember how the Colt's coach made the superbowl many times, but was fired once Manning was out and the team started to suck. But was that all the coaches fault?

there has to be some test for quality right?

[keynote]

It's rare for a team to hire the same kind of permanent coach three times in a row. EJ, Flip, and D'Antoni all have different offensive philosophies, but they all have a well-earned reputation for being offense-minded, player-friendly (i.e, non-disciplinarian) coaches.

Don't teams usually oscillate between offensive-minded and defensive-minded coaches (and, between "players' coaches" and disciplinarians)? Often, it's just a pendulum swinging back and forth, but at least it indicates that the Owner/FO wasn't satisfied with the last approach and wanted to try something new.

Now, I'm not sure that I want a PJ-esque screamer, either. But I'd think that a team attempting to instill a culture change would opt for a coach with different strengths than the previous two permanent coaches.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It's rare for a team to hire the same kind of permanent coach three times in a row. EJ, Flip, and D'Antoni all have different offensive philosophies, but they all have a well-earned reputation for being offense-minded, player-friendly (i.e, non-disciplinarian) coaches.

Don't teams usually oscillate between offensive-minded and defensive-minded coaches (and, between "players' coaches" and disciplinarians)? Often, it's just a pendulum swinging back and forth, but at least it indicates that the Owner/FO wasn't satisfied with the last approach and wanted to try something new.

Now, I'm not sure that I want a PJ-esque screamer, either. But I'd think that a team attempting to instill a culture change would opt for a coach with different strengths than the previous two permanent coaches.

Honestly, I think Ted Leonsis will be a LOSER of an owner. He stuck with EG too long. He's going for the big name, retread, old fart coach. I hate this. Walsh is even older. These moves are cliquish and lack anything but status and safely tried roads. Leonsis should not really expect anything but more of the same--frustration and losing, but paying top dollar to do so.

The thing to do would be to PROJECT who can be the best coach moving forward. Dave Joerger is a top assistant on a progressive, winning team. All the young man, I repeat YOUNG MAN, has done is win games as a coach. Hiring this guy is a no-brainer. If you want someone who is going to bring tireless energy and enthusiasm, along with patience, you go young.

As far as GM goes, this one is also a pretty doggone easy call. Troy Weaver is young but has all the right connections. He's been around the best in the business and he's part of OKC's success. I don't know how you can hire a GM and tell him who you want to be the next coach.

I think the Wizards are simply doing Walsh/D'Antoni because it is a combination that has already been together and they come as a package deal. Familiarity and "Old Boy" network are fully in play.

I don't like it at all.

[jivelikenice]

CCJ, Ted has owned the team 2-years. Can you really say he's stuck with EG too long? If he gets re-signed I'd agree with you, but not until then.

Also like I mentioned earlier, this team is not in position to miss right now. Got to make something happen to stay relevant and to take advantage of having been able to draft Wall and likely get another top 3 pick this year. But no need to re-hash the whole arument.

I don't mind Walsh's age. Young doesn't always mean better. Walsh at 70 identified Shumpert this past draft and he is the steal of the draft. He found Fields in Rd 2. He took Gallo in '08. His is a proven talent evaluator and he has shown no dropoff there. He's not resting on a resume he built 10-years ago. Why not develop a successor under Walsh? Is that such a terrible thing?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

EG made the Nene deal, which though it looks tremendous so far, I would wager it won't in 2 years. Thirteen million a season is much too much. Walsh comes as a package deal. It's not him I mind, it's HIS coach. Troy Weaver is ready to make his own mark. No successor needed.

jivelikenice, the recent moves EG has made of undone some horrible moves EG did over the years. He should have been out of a job before this season started. He and Saunders should have been gone IMO. Ted stuck with both too long as far as I'm concerned.

[fishercob]

My prediction about peoples' reactions since reporting the D'Antoni rumor seems to have been correct. People are very against it -- it seems mostly based on D'antoni's age, the perception that he doesn't coach defense and/or discipline, and the fact that he hasn't won multiple championships.

I have some counters to these "arguments" in my head, but I'm going to keep them to myself for the time being. Instead, I have ordered a copy of Jack McCallum's book "Seven Seconds or Less," which chronicles the Suns' 05-06 season during which the author was an embedded reporter with tons of access. I got it for $4, including shipping, off of Amazon. The book is supposedly fabulous. I'm going to try to educate myself before taking a strong position.

Who's with me? WizFans book club!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My prediction about peoples' reactions since reporting the D'Antoni rumor seems to have been correct. People are very against it -- it seems mostly based on D'antoni's age, the perception that he doesn't coach defense and/or discipline, and the fact that he hasn't won multiple championships.

I have some counters to these "arguments" in my head, but I'm going to keep them to myself for the time being. Instead, I have ordered a copy of Jack McCallum's book "Seven Seconds or Less," which chronicles the Suns' 05-06 season during which the author was an embedded reporter with tons of access. I got it for $4, including shipping, off of Amazon. The book is supposedly fabulous. I'm going to try to educate myself before taking a strong position.

Who's with me? WizFans book club!

That would be a novel approach for me.