Who should be the next coach of the Washington Wizards?

[cleek+wall]

orlandos coach gundy...theres no doubt in my mind thats hes a top coach

[hands11]

orlandos coach gundy...theres no doubt in my mind thats hes a top coach

No way do I want that guy. I would have to turn the sound off my TV when watching the game. Nothing is more annoying then listening to him freak out of the sidelines.

[Rafael122]

orlandos coach gundy...theres no doubt in my mind thats hes a top coach

No way do I want that guy. I would have to turn the sound off my TV when watching the game. Nothing is more annoying then listening to him freak out of the sidelines.

God forbid we get a proven coach who has pretty solid defensive teams.

I like Witt, bring him back or let him find another job. It'd be hard for him to stay here in an assistant role considering he was coach for about 40 games. I read in the Post that Flip's last year of his contract was a team option so it looks like aside from the assistants, Ted could conceivably get a new coach.

[hands11]

I saw in a Mo Evan video clip that he said he would be coaching the Wizards summer team.

Looks like he is going to stay involved with the team.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Coach Randy Wittman gets endorsements from Wizards players

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... _blog.html

I posted about this a few weeks ago. I was wondering how much the players would have to say about who it their next coach. Well, here they are chiming in.

“I like Coach Wittman as a coach. It would be nice to have him back,” John Wall said. “I think we respected him because when he was an assistant coach we respected him then. He’s an aggressive coach and always right there on us, making sure we‘re doing the right thing. When he took over, he was being honest with us. He said, ‘I think you all can be a better team, which you all are.’ He wanted us to play hard, he wanted us play as a team. Once we started doing those things, the season turned around for us and we started winning games.”

We will learn a lot about Ted and EG soon. Does it matter what Wall wants?

[cdouglas]

Are you sure you would want SVG to coach the Wiz? Whittman has this team playing defense and it would be sad for them to revert back to the defenseless team they were during Arenas era.

He had good defensive players with raw talent and potential in Earl Clark and DeAndre Liggins, and they just rotted on the bench all season. How much better would this team be, now and in the future, if SVG wouldn't refuse to play people who can't shoot the 3? He has stubbornly stuck with unproductive players and now, without Dwight, we have a team that can't guard anyone.

[fishercob]

Real quick on Wittman, the other thread title uses the word "Deserve," as if hiring Wittman should be some function of fairness. In business and pro sports, fairness doesn't matter -- at least not relative to doing what is best for the team and the organization. Wall saying "it would be nice to have him back" is very different than him openly lobbying for Witt's return. Randy has done a fine job, but if the organization goes in another direction, I'll have no problem with it.

I'm more than half way through Seven Seconds or Less. It is a wonderful book and I recommend it to anyone, but I specifically recommend to those who are trying to make judgments on D'antoni.

The main general arguments I hear against D'antoni are:
1) His teams don't play defense
2) His style can't win, especially in the playoffs
3) He is too old
4) He is a re-tread
5) It took me years to break my Pringles addiction and it would just be too hard...
6) his success is just a product of his players (Nash, etc)
7) he failed miserably in New York

I think most of these arguments either suck and are easily refuted or are sort of besides the point.

1) PHX was 16th in DRtg in 05-06 (the season chronicled in the book). The Suns had to hide Nash. They also had Barbosa, Eddie House, James Jones, and Tim Freaking Thomas in their regular rotation. They had no center on the roster. Kurt Thomas was hurt. Amare was hurt and didn't play defense anyway. There are plenty of locker room and coaches office quotes from the book that convince me D'antoni cares plenty about defense. Yes, he's an "offense first" guy, but has a lead defensive assistant (Marc Iavaroni) and has had terrible defense talent. And ho hum, when he finally got Tyson Chandler, his team's D was excellent.

2) You can't prove this statement wrong, so it must be right -- right? To me it's the equiavalent of saying Michael Jordan wasn't a championship player until he was 28, or Dirk couldn't win the big one until last year. You're only right until you're not. So....duh. I think Nivek has repoerted on multiple studies saying there's no correlation between pace and defensive efficiency. The funny thing is, reading about D'antoni, he reminds me of.....CCJ. D'antoni has the same self assured confidence -- arrogance -- about certain beliefs. He KNOWS he can win and has a great counter to every argument. It's ironic that CCJ is so anti MDA. They're sort of kindred spirits IMO.

3) This one bothers the hell out of me -- the rampant ageism in these parts. It's not like he's decrepit. I don't think age has bothered Phil or Daly or Coach K or Hubie. What about his age affects his qualifications?

4) So he's been fired in the NBA, twice. Great, so was Rick Carlisle. Half as many times as Rick Adelman (who is 65 by the way). All coaches get fired, even great ones. It's a function of players' guaranteed contracts more than anything.

5) I'm off all processed foods for the time being, so I can handle this.

6) Whose success isn't a product of their players? Nash and D'antoni helped each other, sure. All that means is that they were a good fit. BUt speaking of his players, MDA got the best production anyone has ever gotten out of Diaw, Tim Thomas, Raja Bell, (not to mention Amare and Marion, but age and injuries play a role there). D'antoni certainly knows how to get production out of players that other coaches have not.

7) New York was a terrible fit and the roster was terribly built. No one was going to succeed with that roster. He did, though, preside over a little something called Linsanity.

I do not know if D'antoni is the right coach for the Wizards. I have some doubts, but am very intrigued by the possibility. I like a lot of his philosophy. He thinks that overcoaching makes players overthink (Flip?). He wants them to just play and play freely -- simply and beautifully. Lots of quick passing, tons of pick and roll. NBA defense has become so sophisticated that you have a better shot at scoring when a defense is on their heels than when they are dug in. This makes some sense to me.

I think we have better defensive personnel than the Suns ever had. While we don't have Marion or Bell, who were great and good, Wall has inifintely more defensive tools than Nash, and inside it's not close. I see no reason to believe that we'd be bad defensively with MDA coaching.

That said, MDA's teams nearly always lead the league or close in 3's attempted. HIs guards shoot threes and his bigs shoot some 3's too. John may improve his shot this summer, but I doubt any of us will want him shooting many 3's next year. None of our current young bigs are of the "stretch" variety. So even if we land Beal and Danny Green and Brandon Rush, there's still some concern that we're not skilled enough to play the way MDA would want. But Vesely and Nene and Booker and even Seraphin run the court very well. They pick and roll well. That aspect of things could fit like a glove. Eh, the more I think about it the more I think it could really work.

Anyhow, I urge you all to read the book. If nothing else, it's a great inside look into an NBA locker room and organization. It gives you an idea of just how much we *don't* know, given all that we see are the games and press conferences. I'm looking forward to finishing it next weekend, hopefully.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

fish, I think you like D'Antoni. I think you're on board with a decision that is probably going to happen. As I type this I have read above down to only where you say the 7 arguments either suck or can be refuted.

I'll read more later.

My main point is chemistry is EVERYTHING. I worry that people might underestimate the importance of not having not just Wall, but every other player have to adjust not just to a new head coach, but to an entirely new coaching staff and system. I'm worried about going all the way back to square one with anyone.

When I say Witt deserves, I didn't think about business or fairness as much as I thought about treating people right and right coming back to them. Eddie got fired 11 games after getting eliminated by Lebron's team in the playoffs. Eddie got fired with Gil and Haywood were injured. The same Caron Butler who broke his hand yesterday missed many playoffs, and almost as importantly, he and Gil missed many games that the Wizards under EJ would have won had they been healthy. Eddie got fired because a few players were consistently hurt. EJ was fired so they could bring in the great Flip Sanders.

Well, I might have been wrong about the Nene move. That's looking sweet.

I could be wrong and D'Antoni could come in and be great. Buh-bye Randy! Cya!

OTOH, I could say we all got to see that dummy, Nick Young, be a part of one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history. He was the HIGH SCORER. Not Blake or CP3. Nick was a key cog along with Evans and Bledsoe. The Wizards called him a few too many knuckleheads.

As far as Flip goes, I think Ernie got what he deserved. Abe or whoever never got talented defensive players. They didn't get rebounding or defense at PF. There were many holes; but they gave Flip all kinds of job security. Flip did NOTHING CLOSE TO AS GOOD ON THE RECORD as EJ. No matter how many people hated what I said about Flip's coaching, bottom line is that dude won 26 games, throwing people under the bus along the way. Eddie never did that and they ran him and people on this site still talk about him.

Randy Wittman just did a good job. He is not D'Antoni. He is not SVG. He is not JVG. He is not a minor league bb miracle man like Dave Joerger. All he is is a guy who has the respect of these players and he managed to coach them up to a 6 straight wins.

Hire somebody else and IMO you didn't treat Wittman right and IMO the Wizards DESERVE another Flip.

[fishercob]

CCJ, you will like D'antoni! He goes against the grain. He treats his players very well and is careful to never demean them. He is not interested in what is popular or how a decision will play with the media. He coaches how he believes he should coach. Incidentally, he also uses the "dribble-ats" and handoffs that EJ used to create movement and mismatches.

I hear you on chemistry. I understand there are risks involving "switching costs." I don't see how those risks are any smaller with Dave Joerger -- someone you have professed to like -- than with Mike D'antoni, someone towards whom you have expressed a disinclination.

I think there are plenty of ways the Wizards can do right by Wittman short of giving him the job. For one thing, they gave him the interim tag and allowed him to establish some value for himself on the market; they could have brought Tapscott in to steer the tank again. Secondly, they could give him glowing recommendations to help him land in another (better?) situation. I don't believe that not hiring Wittman will be bad karma for the Wizards.

[hands11]

Coach Randy Wittman gets endorsements from Wizards players

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... _blog.html

I posted about this a few weeks ago. I was wondering how much the players would have to say about who it their next coach. Well, here they are chiming in.

“I like Coach Wittman as a coach. It would be nice to have him back,” John Wall said. “I think we respected him because when he was an assistant coach we respected him then. He’s an aggressive coach and always right there on us, making sure we‘re doing the right thing. When he took over, he was being honest with us. He said, ‘I think you all can be a better team, which you all are.’ He wanted us to play hard, he wanted us play as a team. Once we started doing those things, the season turned around for us and we started winning games.”

We will learn a lot about Ted and EG soon. Does it matter what Wall wants?

I don't know what more the man could do to prove he earned his strips and should be given another year. I can't think of anything he really did wrong and I can think of a lots he did right not least of which, he connected with Wall and got him playing better. He also got KS playing the best ball of his young career. Ves got better. He got them passing the ball around and feeding the post. The pick setting got better. He just seems to be the right fit for this group. They respond to him and respect him. And you don't have to sign him long term. And you don't have to over pay for him.

I hope they Wizards don't get caught up in the "grass is greener" and marketing line of thinking. I heard a long time ago a saying. Sometimes the best move you can make is no move at all.

[cdouglas]

The only problem I have with Whittman is he played Wall 40 minutes I believe it was the game against Charlotte. Wall should never be on the floor that long.

[jivelikenice]

I have no problem with Wittman. I'd just like them to make a decision one way or another so that the new coach has ample time to implement and adjust offseason plans for the players they want to keep on the roster.

[cleek+wall]

ya , give whitten a full yr of control i guess. He knows the weaknesses and strengths of our players so why not

[rockymac52]

I saw in a Mo Evan video clip that he said he would be coaching the Wizards summer team.

Looks like he is going to stay involved with the team.

Haven't seen the clip or quote, but if Mo Evans is that confident that he'll be coaching our summer league team, that leads me to believe Witt is coming back.

[hands11]

fish, I think you like D'Antoni. I think you're on board with a decision that is probably going to happen. As I type this I have read above down to only where you say the 7 arguments either suck or can be refuted.

I'll read more later.

My main point is chemistry is EVERYTHING. I worry that people might underestimate the importance of not having not just Wall, but every other player have to adjust not just to a new head coach, but to an entirely new coaching staff and system. I'm worried about going all the way back to square one with anyone.

When I say Witt deserves, I didn't think about business or fairness as much as I thought about treating people right and right coming back to them. Eddie got fired 11 games after getting eliminated by Lebron's team in the playoffs. Eddie got fired with Gil and Haywood were injured. The same Caron Butler who broke his hand yesterday missed many playoffs, and almost as importantly, he and Gil missed many games that the Wizards under EJ would have won had they been healthy. Eddie got fired because a few players were consistently hurt. EJ was fired so they could bring in the great Flip Sanders.

Well, I might have been wrong about the Nene move. That's looking sweet.

I could be wrong and D'Antoni could come in and be great. Buh-bye Randy! Cya!

OTOH, I could say we all got to see that dummy, Nick Young, be a part of one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history. He was the HIGH SCORER. Not Blake or CP3. Nick was a key cog along with Evans and Bledsoe. The Wizards called him a few too many knuckleheads.

As far as Flip goes, I think Ernie got what he deserved. Abe or whoever never got talented defensive players. They didn't get rebounding or defense at PF. There were many holes; but they gave Flip all kinds of job security. Flip did NOTHING CLOSE TO AS GOOD ON THE RECORD as EJ. No matter how many people hated what I said about Flip's coaching, bottom line is that dude won 26 games, throwing people under the bus along the way. Eddie never did that and they ran him and people on this site still talk about him.

Randy Wittman just did a good job. He is not D'Antoni. He is not SVG. He is not JVG. He is not a minor league bb miracle man like Dave Joerger. All he is is a guy who has the respect of these players and he managed to coach them up to a 6 straight wins.

Hire somebody else and IMO you didn't treat Wittman right and IMO the Wizards DESERVE another Flip.

Funny. I thought that was my main point. lol Maybe you could work me in a footnote or something.

I am really worried that changing horses mid stream could not turn out well. There is just no good reason to change right now. Not at this stage of the rebuild. It would be a risk to do it and literally no risk involved in not changing. They finally changed the culture. The players have bounded with Whitman. They are playing good schemes. What can a new coach add that Whitman hasn't already added ? I hope the players come out even stronger in their support of him. If they want him to stay, they need to step up and say it loudly while it still matters.

[hands11]

I saw in a Mo Evan video clip that he said he would be coaching the Wizards summer team.

Looks like he is going to stay involved with the team.

Haven't seen the clip or quote, but if Mo Evans is that confident that he'll be coaching our summer league team, that leads me to believe Witt is coming back.

http://www.nba.com/wizards/video/2012/04/27/427wizminmoWEBmov-2080164

Here is the video.

Not sure I draw the same conclusion you do regarding what he is saying and Randy though. I remember reading Mo is slotted for a front office down the road. He deal would be a EG and Ted, not with Randy.

I wish I could make that connection.

After the Mo video. Watch the Randy video. So impressive. He just says all the right things. He expects nothing from the team and isn't worried about it. He is right. He will coach some place. I just hope it is here.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The funny thing is, reading about D'antoni, he reminds me of.....CCJ. D'antoni has the same self assured confidence -- arrogance -- about certain beliefs. He KNOWS he can win and has a great counter to every argument. It's ironic that CCJ is so anti MDA. They're sort of kindred spirits IMO.

Since you put it that way, he must be pretty good, fish.

(j/k "A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." Proverbs 29:23 KJV "Check yourself before you wreck yourself" Ice Cube).

So he's been fired in the NBA, twice. Great, so was Rick Carlisle. Half as many times as Rick Adelman (who is 65 by the way). All coaches get fired, even great ones. It's a function of players' guaranteed contracts more than anything.

You're right, that was lame.

I'm off all processed foods for the time being, so I can handle this.

If true, you and I are kindred spirits. I am back to eating clean, after totally falling off the wagon and back into the fast food diet world. I was also snacking my issues away and gained a bit of weight. I will correct it because I'm committed to sticking with this now.

Whose success isn't a product of their players? Nash and D'antoni helped each other, sure. All that means is that they were a good fit. BUt speaking of his players, MDA got the best production anyone has ever gotten out of Diaw, Tim Thomas, Raja Bell, (not to mention Amare and Marion, but age and injuries play a role there). D'antoni certainly knows how to get production out of players that other coaches have not.

I read that, MDA first made think of donating to charity, fish. No doubt MDA can get production, but will he stress young guys out. I have to pray to be a patient, kind, loving dad. When I'm warm I'm warm but when I'm passionately opposed to something, I think the emotion is a bit much. I don't want to personalize and say MDA is the same way. I don't know. Is he?

fish, I LOVED the Suns and the style of offense he had with those players. One of the best coaching seasons I ever saw was the season prime Amare was injured, but MDA used Boris Diaw at C. That team was terrific. The Suns were a couple suspensions (that I thought were bogus) and a Nash bleeding substitution away from doing a lot of damage in the playoffs. I will always think SA gangstered a victory when Horry slammed Nash. Mike D had some great teams.

But Nash was the man, fish ...

7) New York was a terrible fit and the roster was terribly built. No one was going to succeed with that roster. He did, though, preside over a little something called Linsanity.

If Wall develops a more reliable three point shot, YES, the Wizards would be a terrific fit for MDA.

do not know if D'antoni is the right coach for the Wizards. I have some doubts, but am very intrigued by the possibility. I like a lot of his philosophy. He thinks that overcoaching makes players overthink (Flip?). He wants them to just play and play freely -- simply and beautifully. Lots of quick passing, tons of pick and roll. NBA defense has become so sophisticated that you have a better shot at scoring when a defense is on their heels than when they are dug in. This makes some sense to me.

I think we have better defensive personnel than the Suns ever had. While we don't have Marion or Bell, who were great and good, Wall has inifintely more defensive tools than Nash, and inside it's not close. I see no reason to believe that we'd be bad defensively with MDA coaching.

That said, MDA's teams nearly always lead the league or close in 3's attempted. HIs guards shoot threes and his bigs shoot some 3's too. John may improve his shot this summer, but I doubt any of us will want him shooting many 3's next year. None of our current young bigs are of the "stretch" variety. So even if we land Beal and Danny Green and Brandon Rush, there's still some concern that we're not skilled enough to play the way MDA would want. But Vesely and Nene and Booker and even Seraphin run the court very well. They pick and roll well. That aspect of things could fit like a glove. Eh, the more I think about it the more I think it could really work.

Anyhow, I urge you all to read the book. If nothing else, it's a great inside look into an NBA locker room and organization. It gives you an idea of just how much we *don't* know, given all that we see are the games and press conferences. I'm looking forward to finishing it next weekend, hopefully.

fish, if MDA is named coach I will embrace the change with enthusiasm. I am sure he will do better than he did in NY. Washington really is a lot better defensively than the Suns. However, they don't quite have the shooters or one dominant scorer.

I think Beal, Denmon, Barton (transition game extraordinaire and rebounding at SG), Green (hits a three and can play C in small ball), Crowder (will be a star in that type system), are all great picks.

Very nice post, contrary to what I think they should do, fish. You could be right.

The players will have to buy in to the coach, and he will have to have them and their interest in his heart or the Wizards will have Flip all over again in a different system. My thought was ride continuity a while until Wittman falters or they lose love for him and tune him out.

The plan I WOULD be down with is to hire Joerger. He's young and he's destined to be great.

[fishercob]

CCJ, I appreciate you reading everything I wrote and your very thoughtful response. Mahalo, buddy.

[Brenice]

Witt earned the respect of the players. For the life of me, I can't understand how McGee earned more minutes than Seraphin under Flip. Nick didn't earn minutes either. Witt makes you earn them, by playing the correct way. The players like and respect Witt.

Now, we just need the refs to respect Witt.

[closg00]

Witt earned the respect of the players. For the life of me, I can't understand how McGee earned more minutes than Seraphin under Flip. Nick didn't earn minutes either. Witt makes you earn them, by playing the correct way. The players like and respect Witt.

Now, we just need the refs to respect Witt.

Flip is the reason

“I really like this coach, because he gives me my opportunity,” Seraphin said. “And I like Flip, too. He don’t really let me play. So I like Witt. After Flip go, I had a meeting with him. He was like, now you will get your opportunity, you will play. So now you have to get it. That’s how I did, I think so, and I really like this coach, he give me confidence and everything.”