Who would you like as our next head coach? (Poll updated - Top 3 choices or less)

[bwgood77]

Updated with new poll based on new info and elminating previous poll participants with 1 vote or less

Additions -

KJ - one who is a leader, being mayor in Sacramento and holding is ground to keep the Kings there, a guy who is no nonsense and obviously knows point guard play and could be a great mentor for young point guards.

George Karl - likely to be a head coach, been to conference finals in both conferences (two different teams in west, taking one to NBA finals).

Scott Brooks - good with young guys, perhaps gives us a shot in the dark at Kevin Durant and maybe even Westbrook?

Jeff Van Gundy - been mentioned by some around here.

Earl Watson - Some seem to want to keep him around

[bwgood77]

Then, in addition to Luke Walton, who has been brought up a bunch, and Tom Thibodeau who has also been mentioned often, there is Ettore Messina who won 4 Euroleague titles and coaches under Pop this year, which is probably some very valuable experience. And Dan Majerle.

[Damkac]

Thibs is good for contender but not for rebuilding team. I don't know much about other guys but I wouldn't mind a coach who worked under Pop.

[Dr Manute]

I vote for Ettore. Someone who learned from Pop is my choice.

[NTB]

I want a tough coach, not like Jeff "Never gets angry" Hornacek.

[letsgosuns]

http://heatzone.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2015/12/21/gerald-green-heat-are-first-team-to-believe-in-my-defense/

Jeff Hornacek had a defeatist attitude about you?
“I don’t know what it was. I’m with the Miami Heat now. I don’t got nothing to say or no words for the Phoenix Suns organization.”

How many former players does it take for people to realize how terrible the coaching staff and management is right now? Pathetic. GET RID OF HORNACEK ASAP. He lost the team last year. No one listens to him anymore. Any coach that has self respect would have suspended Marcus Morris last year for what he did during a game. These players have no respect for Hornacek and Hornacek is soft. Get a new coach in there.

[Kyler Murray]

I would go for Thibs just to find out if discipline is what this team misses the most. If not, then it's talent, so we search for the right players.

edit

I really like Melvin Hunt, I remember him making a terrific impression 1-2 years back around the league.

[Saberestar]

I don't know who would be the best option out there, but I think that McDonough like Bjorkgren. He has been promoted quickly and he knows really well our youngsters. He seems an smart guy, but I don't know if he is tough or just a good boy like Hornacek.

Gaines is another decent option that we have on our staff. He won a championship with the Mercury.

I would say clearly NO to Messina... he has won in Europe a lot, but he is maniacal. He thinks he is more important than the players, he lose his mind too many times.

[bwgood77]

I don't know who would be the best option out there, but I think that McDonough like Bjorkgren. He has been promoted quickly and he knows really well our youngsters. He seems an smart guy, but I don't know if he is tough or just a good boy like Hornacek.

Gaines is another decent option that we have on our staff. He won a championship with the Mercury.

I would say clearly NO to Messina... he has won in Europe a lot, but he is maniacal. He thinks he is more important than the players, he lose his mind too many times.

Yeah, I've heard some bad things about Messina, but I figured maybe with a year under Pop might ground him a bit. Yeah, if McD would consider Gaines or Bjorkgren, then it makes sense to fire Hornacek earlier, to see how they do this year.

I know if we lose tonight Sarver will be ready to fire Hornacek, but it might be better to wait until after New Years so a new coach wouldn't have to start out against Cleveland, SA and OKC. But we do have Denver and Philly before that. We really have to win these next 3, or at least two of them to have much hope at turning around the season. But you can say that for every team that is 8 seed or below.

[kennydorglas]

I want Thibs. For a long time.

[bwgood77]

I just found an interesting article about Carlisle. That is one reason I like that Melvin Hunt would have been working for him for a year. We need stuff EXACTLY like this for our players.

Dallas is always adding new wrinkles, because nobody outworks Carlisle. When Pachulia arrived, Carlisle introduced himself by saying he had just watched Pachulia's last 100 shots in Milwaukee, Pachulia said. When Pachulia was settling into bed in Portland around 2 a.m. Dec. 1, hours after a loss to the Kings and a short flight north, he got a text from Carlisle asking him to come to Carlisle's room for film study.

The new plays and video work can be tough to internalize, so Carlisle has stepped up his game-day tests, players say. He has ditched pen-and-paper for iPad-based exams. Players watch clips of the Mavs or their next opponent, and the clips freeze at key moments. Then a multiple-choice question pops up asking what the Dallas player pictured should do: switch on defense, pass to a cutter, go under a screen, etc. The team grades players on speed and accuracy, though some of the veterans, including Nowitzki, blow off the tests.

Not Pachulia. "I was like, 'Come on, a test?'" he said. "I did this in school, but not in basketball. But it works. You take the tests, and you start to remember things better."

In one of their first healthy practices, the Dallas Mavericks were running through a set when Zaza Pachulia noticed the few holdover players from last year's Mavs seemed confused.

"I started making fun of them," Pachulia told ESPN.com. "I was like, 'You ran this last year, right?' And they said, 'No, this is the first time we are seeing this play.'"

Only then did Pachulia grasp the challenge of playing for the Mavericks. The NBA's quirky chameleon franchise is in its fifth season of turning over damn near the entire roster as a way of staying lean for its rabid -- and mostly failed -- pursuit of star free agents. Every season, it feels like a house of cards. And every season, the Mavericks win games -- enough to stay in the thick of the playoff race.

"Ever since we won the 'chip [championship], we've been looking at a new core basically every year," Dirk Nowitzki told ESPN.com. "It's been rough. Hopefully some of these guys will be around here for a while."

It turns out, Dallas needed a slight recalibration, rather than a total overhaul. The team traded a few pick-and-rolls for more intricate pieces of five-man basketball chess: classic Carlisle and Terry Stotts "flow" sets, with Pachulia and Nowitzki helming the elbows and a whir of on-ball and off-ball screens unfolding around them. Only three teams have set more on-ball screens, and only five have nailed opponents with more off-ball picks, per SportVU data and numbers crunched to ESPN.com by Vantage Sports.

The offense has been a perfect fit for Pachulia, a cinder block screen-setter and expert passer who has saved the Mavs' season after Dallas stole him from the Bucks for nothing.

When they want to keep things simple, the Mavs can still score directly out of the pick-and-roll. Pachulia can't dunk like Chandler, but Chandler can't pass and dribble in open space like Pachulia. The Mavs don't drive or dunk as much as they did with Chandler vacuuming up space, but some of the big-picture results are the same: the most catch-and-shoot jumpers in the league, lots of 3s and killer ball movement.

I guess are main problem might be the following..

The Mavs have collected smart players who read the game in snapshots, guys who can improvise an off-ball screening ballet and understand how to cut against the defense's expectations. They keep you guessing all over the floor until someone breaks.

We don't have that.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14368804/dallas-keeps-striking-free-agents-seem-matter-standings

[AtheJ415]

We should throw Calipari in here. I mean, if we get Terrence Jones, why the hell not? Then, in 2 years, he can convince Cousins to come join us.

[bwgood77]

We should throw Calipari in here. I mean, if we get Terrence Jones, why the hell not? Then, in 2 years, he can convince Cousins to come join us.

Not sure how good he would be without clearly more talent than 99-100% of all other teams. It's not like he had exactly a good experience in his first nba stint.

[AtheJ415]

We should throw Calipari in here. I mean, if we get Terrence Jones, why the hell not? Then, in 2 years, he can convince Cousins to come join us.

Not sure how good he would be without clearly more talent than 99-100% of all other teams. It's not like he had exactly a good experience in his first nba stint.

Very true. And I personally don't think his X's and O's have ever been strong, but the one thing we know is that he's able to get through to half our roster at that point (except for Archie). Plus, he ought to give us a leg up with Demarcus. They supposably hada great relationship.

[bwgood77]

We should throw Calipari in here. I mean, if we get Terrence Jones, why the hell not? Then, in 2 years, he can convince Cousins to come join us.

Not sure how good he would be without clearly more talent than 99-100% of all other teams. It's not like he had exactly a good experience in his first nba stint.

Very true. And I personally don't think his X's and O's have ever been strong, but the one thing we know is that he's able to get through to half our roster at that point (except for Archie). Plus, he ought to give us a leg up with Demarcus. They supposably hada great relationship.

I suppose we could have a chance at Cousins in 2018, but the only way we would at all have an edge up on other teams if he gets traded in, say, 2017, is if he made it clear the only place he would re-sign is Phx. If he were to get traded before 2017, I don't see how he has any say in the matter. But I doubt Calipari goes anywhere anyway.

[Revived]

I would want Thibs but I know Sarver would never hire a defensive coach like that because he wants the Suns to always be a cute and fun fast break offense team.

I like Messina as well.

Tyronn Lue would be an interesting option also. He can actually get through to basketball players.

Another perhaps more popular name around here would be Sean Miller.

[bwgood77]

I would want Thibs but I know Sarver would never hire a defensive coach like that because he wants the Suns to always be a cute and fun fast break offense team.

I like Messina as well.

Tyronn Lue would be an interesting option also. He can actually get through to basketball players.

Another perhaps more popular name around here would be Sean Miller.

I thought of Sean Miller too, who I think would be pretty good, but I'd really rather he stay at AZ.

[bwgood77]

I updated poll to include Dan Majerle, who I meant to include at the beginning. Unfortunately that reset the poll.

[rsavaj]

I will say that the Thibs supporters(myself included) better be ready to see our young guys riding the pine for the rest of the season if he's actually hired. You can't complain about the young guys not getting minutes on one hand and then clamor for Thibs on the other.

[Christine-In-AZ]

From Jeff to Jeff. Throw a bunch of money at JVG

Big "no"s to Thibs or Majerle.

Luke Walton...really?