The Next Head Coach

[rsavaj]

What really bothers me is McDonough's statement over the weekend that there are only 2 roster spots available for next season.

Has he made this decision on his own or has he sat down with Watson already and decided who THEY want to keep and who they want to bring back.

NBA roster (15 Total - 12 active)

Players with contracts for next year (8)

Bledsoe, Knight, Chandler, Len, Tucker, Warren, Booker, Goodwin

Player options (1) Jenkins and Williams I think reportedly signed a multi year contract near the end of the season.

Free Agents (4) - Mirza, Leuer, Price, Budinger

Since we only have 8 players under contract It appears to me that we have the option of adding 7 players. Because of his statement I expect he wants to sign some of our free agents for next year. Why in the world would you commit to any of those guys prior to thoroughly exploring the total free agent market and draft? Which one of those free agents is so exceptional that we should not consider anyone else? Remember this group participated on a team that won 23 freaking games last season. Other than Mirza none of the other free agents could earn consistent minutes on a lousy team, unless both PG's went down, aka Ronnie Price.

I really think McDonough and Watson have already charted the direction of this franchise for next season. Which means that management has once again lied to the fan base. Who and when were the other potential head coaches interviewed? Who was interviewed? McDonough said that there was going to be a search for the right fit. What happened?

I have backed McDonough to a fault. At this point I have serious doubts about his ability as a GM. If we do not see a more exciting and watchable team next year, he should be fired. I am not saying he has to win a championship or even make the playoffs. I want watchable basketball. It has been a long time since we have seen that in this town.

take everything a GM says around this time of year with a gigantic grain of salt. He's not gonna come out and say "yeah we're looking for 8 new guys this summer"

[RaisingArizona]

Not happy about this.

[saintEscaton]

Just another stop gap solution . An indefinite interim if you will until we can attract qualified candidates

[MathiasPW]

He got credit at player development and he already has credibility with our players.

It makes sense. It's a patient approach. It's a statement we won't compete for another couple of years at least

[NaturalBuns]

Good move by McD.

Watson gets it develop these young players hard and he proved that this year in short time he is the man for the job

[lilfishi22]

He certainly is not our only problem but I think I have plenty of support on my side of the fence. He is a lousy shooter and playmaker as well as an over rated defender. He can't finish on the break and makes poor decisions. Most teams have an athletic freak at the 3 that are very good shooters and or finishers or lock down defenders.

If he is the lock down defender some suggest I would love to see the stats to back it up. If he is then I will eat the proverbial crow. With the injuries and the poor roster we sported this season he had to be played.

If we ever expect to be relevant going forward with him starting at the 3, we are dreaming.

JMO

He's not a lock down defender, he hasn't been for at least a season. But he's still a good "3 and D" player on a great deal who we regularly put on he opposing team's best offensive player whether they are 6'2 or 6'10. But the main reason why I like him on this team is because he's a team player, through and through. He doesn't take shots away from anyone, he plays hard whether he's starting or coming off the bench, he doesn't complain about being matched up against the Lebron's, Harden's, Durant's or even the Griffin's or Z-Bo's of the league. Of course, a small group of his detractors would bring up his DUI and how he's a bad influence...I just don't take any stock in that at all. The team regularly talks about the intensity he brings on the court and in practice, the blue-collar attitude PJ brings and his understanding of how important that attitude is for the young guys, especially in practice.

“For me, it’s not points, rebounds, anything that’s in the box score,” Tucker said. “It’s getting the 50-50 balls, it’s getting all the hustle plays. It’s being able to help your teammate, making a team take the shots we want them to take. It’s those things that lead to wins.”

And if it's a matter of the haters bringing up PJ all these minutes and taking away minutes from TJ, well PJ was playing 28mpg while TJ was playing almost 23mpg when he was still healthy. It was only after TJ went down that PJ reverted to playing ~34mpg.

So for you and anyone to bring up PJ as "the captain of our April fishing trip each of those years", I ask that you really look at the flaws and issues with this team like no passing PG's, horrible defensive/offensive schemes, disgruntled players and then re-evaluate how much PJ really is contributing to those factors.

[NaturalBuns]

Earl Watson?

Meh. Fine.

I don't think he makes it through the season.

Willing to bet he last longer then jeff

[lilfishi22]

Earl Watson?

Meh. Fine.

I don't think he makes it through the season.

Willing to bet he last longer then jeff

I think he last as long as Jeff, if not less. Unless Watson finds something that works, he's a goner.

[saintEscaton]

Earl Watson?

Meh. Fine.

I don't think he makes it through the season.

Willing to bet he last longer then jeff

I think he last as long as Jeff, if not less. Unless Watson finds something that works, he's a goner.

The real question is his will he last longer than McD who is on his final year of his contract?

[lilfishi22]

I certainly hope so. The lone bright light through these 3 seasons with McD has been the youth. I can see an argument for dismissing him but I think it's like that saying, better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

[GMATCallahan]

I understand the high scorers are going to get the accolades from the casual fans and press. I would say most sports journalist now-a-days have worked their way through the ranks of amateur bloggers. Modern journalism is in a very, very sad state where its about pushing out many sensationalized pieces versus high-quality well-researched writings. But anyways my point is that those who don't put up big scoring numbers are often ostracized by the casual fan. Tucker is a perfect example as was Channing Frye. Both of them brought different strengths to the team besides scoring. Sauron's gaze has been especially intense on both these players looking for and sensationalizing any perceived flaw that so-called-fan might observe. The gaze is so concentrated those fans tend to miss Frodo and Sam trudging their way up Mount Doom (e.g., the valuable things other than scoring done by the player)

Yes, fans underrated Channing Frye as well, although the reason there had more to do with him failing to fit the profile of a traditional power forward (or center). Of course, they failed to understand that his value as a floor-spacer and ball-mover helped optimize more prominent players such as Steve Nash, whom those same fans celebrated.

Although there have, of course, been exceptions, sports journalism has never constituted the bastion of the 'best and the brightest.' Most sports journalists do not really know the games that they cover, they possess little fidelity to empiricism, research, and historical context, and they are not critical thinkers who interrogate and dissect the social and economic dynamics of the sports that they cover. For the most part, they are and have been expedient storytellers who regurgitate hype and reinforce mythology. And the blogging universe that you make note of exacerbates those tendencies.

One positive development is that the growing emphasis on statistical analysis creates greater opportunities for necessary revisions of the normative narratives. However, much of that analysis also takes the form of uncritically embracing the latest metrics regardless of their quality and basis. Thus a junk metric such as PER becomes an oft-cited gauge for NBA prowess. And overall, journalists tend to cite statistics without comprehensiveness or an understanding of the game.

Being a good journalist should really mean being a scholar in terms of one's approach; most journalists, and almost all sports journalists, fall far short of that bar.

If one is a baseball fan, check out Brian Kenny on MLB Network. He constantly mocks sportswriters and the typical cliches, and while he is fully invested in statistical analysis, he also understands where the most fashionable metrics have their weak spots and limitations. Indeed, he is constantly interrogating the conventional wisdom and never afraid to buck it if indeed it comes up short.

Basketball badly—badly—needs someone like him on television.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGhGBy5qGhg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8oYUPoAufQ

[NaturalBuns]

Willing to bet he last longer then jeff

I think he last as long as Jeff, if not less. Unless Watson finds something that works, he's a goner.

The real question is his will he last longer than McD who is on his final year of his contract?

I don't see McD on the hot seat he's drafted really well.
Has stashed tons of picks

[bwgood77]

I can already see signs of how good a coach Watson will be.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Earl_Watson/status/739967642094600192[/tweet]

He even says you need to pass if you're a point guard.....subtle messages to players on the team.