Opinions of the Floyd hire--HR.com archive thread to be closed 6/16 @ midnight

[STHornet]

Horrible!

[cki3915]

I think the real issue here is the fact that the Hornets underachieved last season. They blew the Phily series. They lost too many games given their talent. They seemed to have no plan on offense for it seemed like the players were just running around the court waiting for BD or Mash to create. Their defense was also poor, esp. in the playoff series. The coach never had any sense of urgency and was more interested in being liked by his players than winning games. Silas had 5 years and the team went backwards.

The question is can Tim Floyd fix these problems. Well, lets look at what his strengths are. He's a good X's and O's coach, and the Hornets need some X's and O's work. He has in the past gotten a lot out of previosly marginal players, and taught them how to play the game. He has fire and he brings that fire to his team...even in Chicago they never quit on him. He has always said from the beginning of his UNO days that he prefers an up-tempo style of game, but he never felt he had the players at UNO to do that, and he was very successful at that..which means he can adjust to his players' talents. If you disregard Sam Smith's column (which gives Floyd some personality traits that I have never heard anyone ever say of him, and I know several people who know him), players around the league including some of his former players like him.

He will bring the 2 things to the Hornets that Silas didn't....fundamentals and fire. What will he take away that Silas had? Well, he will have to learn how do handle a superstar player, and 2 of them at that. He will have more say in personnell matters than he did in Chicago, and he will have to learn that. he will have to overcome the stigma of the record and leanr to ignore the national press whose coverage of this has been as shallow as I have ever seen from the idiot national sports press. (Say what u want about the T-P, 870, and the local tv stations, but they seem to research, study, report, and make objective conclusions....the national press just jokes around for punchlines)

AS for the cheap thing...ok it was a cheap hire...but these owners obviously do not believe in overpaying a coach. Why pay 5 million for someone if you think you can get the same results for 1 million?

Will he succeed. NO one can say for sure at this point, but I feel a lot better about this team with him than i would with a lot of other guys as coach.

[FeathrMan]

Well it was probably my last choice... When I heard of Carlisle being relesed I thought "wow, we should pick him up". I also thought maybe it would take the heat off of our desision for a coaching change. It did for a while, but now the heat is back on.

The Hornets said they wanted a coach with NBA experience. Well, if he cant be blamed for the situation in Chicago, then that situation can't really be counted as coaching experience can it? This hire also reeks of going with the cheapest canidate.

We are now a Laughing stock...... you know what though?? I dont care. Screw 'em. Nobody liked us before since the relocation, and Im kinda glad the owners don't care either. Speaking of the owners..... wait a minute!! Officially, it was BOB BASS who made the initial 'recomendation' to hire Tim Floyd. Maybe they were just following the advice of their top basketball guy. After all, they are simply business men. They never claim to be the most basketball-savy men on the planet, just basketball fans like the rest of us. The organization is hoping Floyd is the shot in the arm that this team needs. Well, I think he has the charicteristics to be just that. Plus, he will be the X's and O's coach that people who really follow the team knew we werre lacking.

I know my reply sounds a bit wishy-washy. Well, thats why I dont work in basketball. (if I had the money, Id buy the saints though )

All that being said... Good luck Tim, I think we all hope for the best for you, and here is your shot to be a succesfull NBA head caoach. I definatly belive you deserved one

[TheBigEasy]

Ok .. here are my thoughts. The first reaction to this hire was a big ROFL . And it is still ... kinda ...

I am a fan for quite 10 years now, some years more, some years less. But only the past season i have followed the Hornets and the NBA very close. I cant say to be someone who knows everything, and living in Germany having only the Internet as a source didnt help either. Thats why i can base my opinion only on what i am reading on the internet. I dont know Tim Floyd. Before he was first mentioned as a coach possibility for us, i havent heard anything about him. All i am reading now is that he has the worst NBA record, but a very good college record. But i am also reading, that college and NBA are two very different things. Based on his NBA experience, whether or not he had to deal with bad circumstances, this move was a bad one. Taking the circumstances in Chicago and his college experience and success into account, the move might not be bad at all.

But what really bothers me, is the money and the comments made by the owners when the search started. They said, they wanted a title NOW. They said it is not about the money. Actually i dont believe it. At least not the money part. Based on what i have read and heard over the season, i think everything is about money for George Shinn. All he wants is to make more of it. ESPN reported, Floyd will earn around 4.8 million $ for 3 years. Thats less than Brown gets in Detroit for 1! year. They said, he will help them sell tickets.

Actually i honestly believe, all the owners want is to make more money and only that. Ok, it is a business, but it is also sports. And the first thing for them to think about should be a title. And a title dont come cheap. And thats what this all is - cheap.

As for predictions for next year. No one can make good predictions, i wont. I dont know enough about Floyds coaching style. But it also depends on the player moves we make through the offseason. Will PJ stay? Who else will be brought in? What i believe is, that we wont go after a big FA. That just will not happen. The owners will again go the cheap way. And Elton Brand and Jermaine O'Neal wont come cheap.

So ... to sum it up, i think Tim Floyd is not the upgrade from Paul Silas the owners promised. There were better coaches out there, to some we dont even talked (like Carlisle), but now it is done and we have to live with it. I dont see the Hornets go deeper in the playoffs next year, but i dont see them miss them either. I just hope we advance further in the postseason.

TheBigEasy

[desolatos]

on a poll on yahoo.com people can decide which team did the best move on head coach change
first: cleveland cavaliers (about 35%)
last: new orleans hornets (about 3%)

no more comments...

[Displaced Yat]

I've got mixed feelings. Much like everyone on here, my initial hope was JVG, which didn't pan out (why did he sign with a Western Conference team though...?). After that, I looked at several others - basically, hoping to land a proven NBA coach that would look like, from Day One, a "step up".

I am a New Orleans native, a Hattiesburg resident and a Southern Miss alumnus. Tim Floyd has ties to all three, which makes him, at the very least, a good person in my book! Everything I've ever heard about him as a person has been positive. With the exception of the Bulls fiasco, he's been successful everywhere he's been. All of that makes me glad that he's been hired by the Hornets.

However, he has not yet proven himself at the NBA level - that makes me disappointed in the hire. Initially, it doesn't cast a good light on the franchise or the way it's run. I hope that doesn't hurt us in areas like FA, etc.

To me, Floyd comes in with a unique background - an NBA coaching rookie with experience. Because of his previous NBA job, he hasn't proven himself bad or good, making him, in effect, a rookie. However, having been in the NBA already, he's already taken care of that initial learning curve, so we won't have to suffer through that. One advantage; many people slam the Hornets owners and, sometimes, the franchise. However, considering the NBA background Floyd has, this could seem like heaven to him! Heck, he actually, for the first time, has NBA players to coach in the NBA!

Bottom line; I'm disappointed that we didn't get a proven winner. However, I have a lot of respect for Floyd as a person, and if we couldn't (for whatever reason) get a JVG, etc., then I'm all for Floyd as opposed to a Joe Blow that we don't have any previous ties to. I'll approach the near future with cautious optimism that the Floyd we've seen in the past (the winner) will re-surface now that he has a decent team to work with.

[Greenie]

I say give him a shot. He hasn't coached a game yet for the Hornets. If he doesn't pan out he'll be gone before we get our feet wet in the Western Conference.

[Rocket Man]

I never wanted Silas to go. What "next level" were they talking about? Better managment? I think we will be like the Rockets tthis coming season. We have a Steve Francis (Baron Davis), and we have Mashburn, Wesley, Brown, and Magloire, just like last year, but we will have poor coaching (hence, Tim Floyd) so we will probably end up like 38-45. Tim Floyd is no Paul Silas, and he never will be. He proved in Chicago.

You know what? just read the commentary I wrote on the issue. It should be posted soon.

[slug]

I'm, generally getting a bad feeling about the Floyd hire. It may be just me, but he seems to come off as arrogant when I hear him talk in interviews. Also, I just happened to catch one of the local sports segments the other night when they brought those guys in for workouts--they show Floyd sitting in a chair at the end of the bench with his legs crossed, laughing and talking with the guy next to him..it just kind of rankled me..he seems to be acting like Phil Jackson (who I hate but respect) with that demeanor. maybe he's trying to shed the "treat NBA players like college players" label, I don't know. I really hope he turns out great and we win, but every snippet interview and clip I see of him irritates me...This concerns me mostly because I would definitely fall into the category of someone who's from NOLA and wants to show blind loyalty to a homeboy, but right now I don't like him. I wanted the Czar.

[NBALive@TheHive]

Tim Floyd was never my first choice, but now that it's happened, it's HAPPENED.

I've loved this team for 11 years now, a relocation of the team, the death of a favourtire player, the thought of cheap ***** owners, non-existent appearance in the Finals and not even the hiring of the L's worst winning % coach will stop that.

I'm going to get behind Floyd and be as optimistic as possible.

Go Floyd! and GO HORNETS!!

[CharlotteDude]

Short and sweet:

Gut judgement - the Floyd era will be a disaster along the likes of Mike Ditka.
Two years tops.
Playoffs to 1st round in year 1, losing record year 2.

[Bfauble83]

The Hornets now suck...

[Julie82]

The Floyd hire proves where ownership's interest lie. They couldn't have been more obvious if they had hired a high school basketball coach. Predicition is a two year max stint and no playoffs. Unfortunately.

[tiger]

Between 45 - 50 wins, at least second round of playoffs. Top three in the East. Good fundamental basketball. Good hire.

[JOE in NO]

IMO, the Floyd is hiring is solid. As far as X's and O's, I find that Floyd is a better coach than Silas. The biggest key to his success is how the players and coaches can get along with each other. If there is poor communication and little trust between the playes and coaches, then this ship will sink. On the other hand, if the players listen to what to Floyd will bring to the table (fundamentals, defense, ect) AND Floyd responds positively to player feedback, this team WILL win the East. The talent is pretty much there to win the East next year, the Hornets just need to add a big man. The Hornets underachieved under Silas, and that's why he was fired. Anything below or even equal to what Silas accomplished will and should be considered a failure; The Hornets must adavance to at least the East Finals to "move up that next step."

This has just about all it needs to make the next step. As long as the ship stays on course and isn't set off by rifts between players and coaches, than this team will succeed under the new guidence.