The Mike Dunlap Thread

[JT2006]

coaches develop too, surely. would hate to fire dunlap only for him to make some other team good in the future

Dunlap has been coaching probably longer than I've been alive. He's no spring chicken rookie coach either

but the level of play is different. why do rookie players get a pass but not coaches?

[mrknowitall215]

coaches develop too, surely. would hate to fire dunlap only for him to make some other team good in the future

Dunlap has been coaching probably longer than I've been alive. He's no spring chicken rookie coach either

but the level of play is different. why do rookie players get a pass but not coaches?

I wouldn't give a 30-year old rookie that has played professionally overseas for 10 years the same type of lead way for mistakes as I would give a 20-year old rookie that's coming straight out of college. That's why

[mrknowitall215]

To be in the clear, I don't think firing Dunlap is a option right now either. I'm just venting my frustration with some of his glaring mishaps as a coach because I'm tired of seeing this team lose, especially after having double-digit leads. If he's struggling with making in-game adjustments & substitutions in somewhat meaningless regular season games, I would hate to see him manage a team in a playoff series where coaching strategies make a difference almost as much as the talent on the roster

[JT2006]

yeah but how many coaches have had a rough start and then gotten better? Loads! Del Negro is killing it now in LA and he sucked ass for a while.

[mrknowitall215]

yeah but how many coaches have had a rough start and then gotten better? Loads! Del Negro is killing it now in LA and he sucked ass for a while.

Del Negro was .500 in his first two seasons with Chicago & took them to the playoffs in consecutive seasons, not to mention pushing the defending champs at that time Boston Celtics to a Game 7 in a memorable playoff series. He was only fired because he clashed with the GM Paxon about overplaying Noah during his return from a foot injury. He's also done a good job with the Clippers ever since & the more they add talent. I never recall Del Negro having these type of rough patches other than the 35-point comeback that he allowed the Kings to do under his watch (almost a contradiction )

[JT2006]

yeah but how many coaches have had a rough start and then gotten better? Loads! Del Negro is killing it now in LA and he sucked ass for a while.

Del Negro was .500 in his first two seasons with Chicago & took them to the playoffs in consecutive seasons, not to mention pushing the defending champs at that time Boston Celtics to a Game 7 in a memorable playoff series. He was only fired because he clashed with the GM Paxon about overplaying Noah during his return from a foot injury. He's also done a good job with the Clippers ever since & the more they add talent. I never recall Del Negro having these type of rough patches other than the 35-point comeback that he allowed the Kings to do under his watch (almost a contradiction )

the fans disagree and think the team could have been better, that's all I'm saying. No one thinks this team should be at .500. So why get **** when they aren't?

[mrknowitall215]

I'll be absent for a while come midnight to regain my sanity & optimism, but here's to hoping Dunlap improves as a coach despite the minimal talent on this roster while I'm gone

[Red Larrivee]

Can anyone following this team tell that Dunlap is having a positive impact? If you showed someone video of the Bobcats from the past two seasons, would they be able to tell that this season has a new coach?

What's Dunlap got out of the team that Paul Silas didn't?

Silas through 33 games last season: 4-29
Dunlap through 30 games this season: 7-23

I think most people would've bet this is a lottery team, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be a noticeable improvement.

[JT2006]

the defense looks different

[JMAC3]

I'm really getting tired of this team....

I'm really getting tired of some of you....

I do not understand how you can sit here and try and reason to yourself that this is all good for the team. Big Whoop we won 7 games out of our first 12 that is barely above .500 and some of you panic and think this team is going to make the playoffs and ruin our future. No we beat bad and injured teams we werent going to keep that pace all year. Now you are fine with losing 16 games and counting with no end in sight.

That is pathetic, as a fan of a team root for them to win and you want your team to win every game possible. These players deserve better and us fans deserve a H3ll of a lot better.

Dunlap is in over his head and I do not see him figuring it out. We are never going to be a contender under his watch no matter who we get in the next 5 drafts. The next step is finding a capable coach who can teach these guys how to win because all they are doing now is learning how to lose and two years of losing is a tough habit to break. We arent just going to go from winning 14 games to being the 8 seed even if we land the top pick.

[JMAC3]

the defense looks different

If you mean our rotations are so bad that all it takes is a pick at the top of the key and one pass and we give up a wide open three pointer, then yes it looks different.

We make whoever we are playing look like the best offensive team in the league. No wonder we get lit up from three every game because we constantly are leaving shooter wide open, not just open but wide open. This is the NBA and pros are going to hit those shots on most nights.

Dunlap is neither a defensive coach or an offensive coach in my mind. Playing MKG 25 minutes a game and having Kemba not show for games is not what I call being a developmental coach. Lets give credit to MKG and Kemba for being good basketball players, which I am sure does not have much to do with Dunlap

[SWedd523]

Can anyone following this team tell that Dunlap is having a positive impact?

you mean apart from the improvement shown by just about every player on the roster, must notably Kemba? Nope.

Dunlap is in over his head and I do not see him figuring it out. We are never going to be a contender under his watch no matter who we get in the next 5 drafts. The next step is finding a capable coach who can teach these guys how to win because all they are doing now is learning how to lose and two years of losing is a tough habit to break. We arent just going to go from winning 14 games to being the 8 seed even if we land the top pick.

I found this post to be hilarious. Thank you for the laughs.

I can't believe the WORST TEAM OF ALL TIME added nothing but a couple of chuckers, a rotational big, and the youngest player in the draft and isn't already a .500 team. Damn it!

The most talent devoid roster in the league, by far, with no big man who can score 10 points on even average efficiency is on pace to win double the amount of games they did last year and they at least look competitive on most nights which is a vast improvement on where they were last year. We've lost a number of games on buzzer beaters or mused last shot opportunities. A couple of those bounce our way and we aren't having this silly conversation. Such is life in the NBA.

[BeesWax]

Can anyone following this team tell that Dunlap is having a positive impact?

you mean apart from the improvement shown by just about every player on the roster, must notably Kemba? Nope.

Dunlap is in over his head and I do not see him figuring it out. We are never going to be a contender under his watch no matter who we get in the next 5 drafts. The next step is finding a capable coach who can teach these guys how to win because all they are doing now is learning how to lose and two years of losing is a tough habit to break. We arent just going to go from winning 14 games to being the 8 seed even if we land the top pick.

I found this post to be hilarious. Thank you for the laughs.

I can't believe the WORST TEAM OF ALL TIME added nothing but a couple of chuckers, a rotational big, and the youngest player in the draft and isn't already a .500 team. Damn it!

The most talent devoid roster in the league, by far, with no big man who can score 10 points on even average efficiency is on pace to win double the amount of games they did last year and they at least look competitive on most nights which is a vast improvement on where they were last year. We've lost a number of games on buzzer beaters or mused last shot opportunities. A couple of those bounce our way and we aren't having this silly conversation. Such is life in the NBA.

+1

Finally someone who is realistic. We all new there was not enough change for this team to make a huge jump. Then you ask them to learn a new system and we should expect growing pains. They have looked much better as individuals. We just need time to let all our young players learn to play together.

[catch20two]

I'm with JMAC3 on his assessment. I'm not saying that we should fire Dunlap but he has to be held accountable for most of this losing streak. I'm not saying that we are a .500 team but we damn sure shouldn't be 7-23 on a 18 game losing streak. It's not rocket science that we aren't built to be a playoff contender but we are a whole lot better than last season's 7-59 team. The fact that we are competitive enough with MKG and Kemba to get double-digit leads on other teams says enough to validate that argument but the coaching has left a lot to be desired. All it takes is for the opposing team's coach to make one simple adjustment or tweak to his offense against our matchup zone and it's a free fall for us. I'll put the Blazers, Lakers, and last night's Hornets loss solely on Dunlap's incompetence as a coach. If you think otherwise then go watch the tape. Each of those teams evaporated our at least 18-point lead in less than one quarter by doing the same thing against our matchup zone, setting a screen on the on-ball defender and swinging the ball to the open shooter on the wing or corner. Even I as a almost 30-year old insurance agent could've coached our defense better through that comeback.

[catch20two]

I just watched Dunlap's postgame presser and he said one of the last things I wanted to hear as to what positives did he take from last night's loss. He said "One is that we found a zone that we can use in greater increments".

WTF

[Red Larrivee]

you mean apart from the improvement shown by just about every player on the roster, must notably Kemba? Nope.

If you fired Dunlap today, I'd be willing to bet that Kemba keeps playing like this all season. Kemba's worked on his game big time and has much more confidence as a player compared to last season. And what improvement has there been from just about every player? Sessions, Gordon and Haywood are proven veterans.

MKG's been what he's been advertised to be. Biyombo has the same production as last season. Mullens has improved a little defensively and rebounding wise, but is still one of the most inefficient big men in the league offensively. Henderson's shot looks better, but again it's hard to chalk that up to Dunlap.

I just don't see anything that leads to believe that if you put Paul Silas there tomorrow, you could tell the difference. That's the biggest factor in determining a coaching upgrade.

[NataFresh]

Wait, there are people who don't see improvement in this team? There are a ton of games that instead of losing in the last possession or two, we lose by 20 or 30. The fact that wins and not on the court play isn't the barometer is kinda sad and extremely dumb. The fact that people want the coach fired is also dumb, impatient and unrealistic and makes me wonder how long it'll take for some of you to realize that, if you ever do. It's also clear that you don't seem to get that this team is devoid of talent at the moment...there aren't a bunch of scorer's on this team, there are two(maybe 3 IF you count Mully). Do yourself a favor, this team wasn't supposed to be good in the first place, just sit back and just enjoy the development of Kemba, Biz(and yes he's improved, if you really don't believe that you're nuts), MKG and at some point Taylor. This is going to be a process, and a slow one at that...and really one that can only be enjoyed by watching the game, not the boxscore.

[Eoghan]

Keep in mind we've been hamstrung with injuries quite a bit this season. With the shortage of talent and experience on this roster, we need all hands on deck to be a competitive team night in and night out.

[James Gatz]

Can we at least let the guy play half a season before we decided he needs to go? This team was miserable last year. We consistently were blown out by 25+. While this season we've had some tough losses we are still a hundred times more fun to watch.

Kemba has gotten better. Biz has got better. Mullens has gotten better. That's the job Dunlap was hired for.

[JT2006]

I'm really getting tired of this team....

I'm really getting tired of some of you....

Then go home.

I do not understand how you can sit here and try and reason to yourself that this is all good for the team. Big Whoop we won 7 games out of our first 12 that is barely above .500 and some of you panic and think this team is going to make the playoffs and ruin our future. No we beat bad and injured teams we werent going to keep that pace all year. Now you are fine with losing 16 games and counting with no end in sight.

That is pathetic, as a fan of a team root for them to win and you want your team to win every game possible. These players deserve better and us fans deserve a H3ll of a lot better.

Dunlap is in over his head and I do not see him figuring it out. We are never going to be a contender under his watch no matter who we get in the next 5 drafts. The next step is finding a capable coach who can teach these guys how to win because all they are doing now is learning how to lose and two years of losing is a tough habit to break. We arent just going to go from winning 14 games to being the 8 seed even if we land the top pick.[/quote]
I can't take you seriously when you say "h3ll".