Stan Van Gundy Out {merged}

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

I think Vaughn has a shot. But what I wont do is pretend to know how a guy will work out based on past stops. Frank Vogel looked like a dud after Orlando. D'Antoni was a COY in two places, a dud in two others. Gets the right opportunity, I bet he can win COY again.

It aint gonna be about the X's and O's with this new coach, it will be about getting buy in because the talent is here and more is coming. And I wont pretend to know who these spoiled kids will and wont buy in to

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Fair. If buy in is the game, than T Spoon should have more of a shot.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

How would they know that? Seems very speculative.

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Well in fairness they didn't say he lacked a plan just that he hasn't express his plan publicly with anything that would be called details.

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Originally Posted by Silverfoxx

Fair. If buy in is the game, than T Spoon should have more of a shot.

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She doesnt

Again, she is PERFECT as the supportive, hard nosed Aunt. Why make some guys dislike her when she is forced to take away minutes and opportunities?

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Originally Posted by da ThRONe

Griffin IMO has been a disaster.

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Agreed. He needs to go asap.

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Originally Posted by Wecandothis

Agreed. He needs to go asap.

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Where's my upvote button

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

She doesnt

Again, she is PERFECT as the supportive, hard nosed Aunt. Why make some guys dislike her when she is forced to take away minutes and opportunities?

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I'm not up for any internal 'gimmick' signings. You see all the other teams lining up to interview TSpoon? Me neither.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

I'm not up for any internal 'gimmick' signings. You see all the other teams lining up to interview TSpoon? Me neither.

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I dont think that argument alone has legs. Nobody was trying to get Nick Nurse when Toronto fired their Coach of the Year to bring him up. I am the furthest thing from Team Spoon but this argument against her does not carry water. You get the person you think is the best fit for you - whether there are 8 other teams after them or none

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

I dont think that argument alone has legs. Nobody was trying to get Nick Nurse when Toronto fired their Coach of the Year to bring him up. I am the furthest thing from Team Spoon but this argument against her does not carry water. You get the person you think is the best fit for you - whether there are 8 other teams after them or none

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Just two years of coaching (involvement with) men's basketball hardly prepares someone for one of the 30 most coveted coaching opportunities in professional basketball. It's slightly different than coaching the 'Lady Techsters'. If we are destined to go that route, Becky Hammond is much more qualified.

Just a random thought.
I wonder if Bledsoe's lacklustre performance was down in part to dissatisfaction with the coach, like the. If that's the case, it's a ********** move by Bledsoe, just like JJR parting backstab, but maybe another pointer to the value of a new gen coach vs old school.

Ran across this though. Can see why she's so well liked. There's talent on the coaching staff between her and Vinson. If she wasn't coaching she'd be great on tv. Also didn't know the back story with her and Kira. She's know him since he was a kid and she coached his cousin.

“Understand who you are, understand your value, understand your worth. You can not allow one person to tell you who you are and who you can not become...”
A little #MotivationalMonday from the great @Finisher_11 this beautiful morning. @PelicansNBA pic.twitter.com/BnOntTkLGr

— Ashley Amoss (@AshleyAmoss) May 10, 2021

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Ran across this though. Can see why she's so well liked. There's talent on the coaching staff between her and Vinson. If she wasn't coaching she'd be great on tv. Also didn't know the back story with her and Kira. She's know him since he was a kid and she coached his cousin.

“Understand who you are, understand your value, understand your worth. You can not allow one person to tell you who you are and who you can not become...”
A little #MotivationalMonday from the great @Finisher_11 this beautiful morning. @PelicansNBA pic.twitter.com/BnOntTkLGr

— Ashley Amoss (@AshleyAmoss) May 10, 2021

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Man her energy is ridiculous. I don't know if she's head coach material right now, but I definitely see why the players love her after 2 mins of listening to one story.

You guys gotta decide what it is/find important in a coach. Because in season, its all complaints about rotations and xs and os, etc - and thats why a guy should get fired. Then, when arguing for Spoon its her energy and how liked she is, which has nothing to do with what seems to be your guys top priority when games are actually played

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Ran across this though. Can see why she's so well liked. There's talent on the coaching staff between her and Vinson. If she wasn't coaching she'd be great on tv. Also didn't know the back story with her and Kira. She's know him since he was a kid and she coached his cousin.

?Understand who you are, understand your value, understand your worth. You can not allow one person to tell you who you are and who you can not become...?
A little #MotivationalMonday from the great @Finisher_11 this beautiful morning. @PelicansNBA pic.twitter.com/BnOntTkLGr

? Ashley Amoss (@AshleyAmoss) May 10, 2021

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I can't speak for how she is as a coach, but I was at Louisiana Tech when she was named head coach. I often times played pickup games (more of a teacher/student pickup game) and she occasionally had played. I remember one time specifically where there was a girl playing basketball two courts over that was still a student at Ruston High School. She noticed and said she immediately had to go because the appearance could violate NCAA rules. Always stood out to me how ridiculous that was, but spoke of her character of not even being willing to bend rules and to do the right thing.

Probably carries herself similarly with everything else she does, and the players notice, so they have the absolute respect for her as a person.

I am not saying we have to go with Spoon, although I am very interested in the idea. I don't think player relations are independent of the rotations and xs and os, etc. It is not a feel good thing with player relations - its also about how to get the most effort out of a player, how to understand what they are the most comfortable with and how to get them to do what you need. Old school coaching was telling people what to do because you are the boss. Phil Jackson got his rep because he was able to relate to his players and lead them into being a cohesive, symbiotic team that played off each others strengths and was able to deal with the egos of world champions in their field. Too often when people are complaining about x's and o's its because the coach is stuck on their vision of how the game should be played and how the players should be used. Spoon's ability to relate to the players and reach them where they are and inspire them to try new things to better themselves and succeeding at that suggests she would not be limited by her attachments to a specific system or predetermined role for a player.

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Originally Posted by Rampart

I am not saying we have to go with Spoon, although I am very interested in the idea. I don't think player relations are independent of the rotations and xs and os, etc. It is not a feel good thing with player relations - its also about how to get the most effort out of a player, how to understand what they are the most comfortable with and how to get them to do what you need. Old school coaching was telling people what to do because you are the boss. Phil Jackson got his rep because he was able to relate to his players and lead them into being a cohesive, symbiotic team that played off each others strengths and was able to deal with the egos of world champions in their field. Too often when people are complaining about x's and o's its because the coach is stuck on their vision of how the game should be played and how the players should be used. Spoon's ability to relate to the players and reach them where they are and inspire them to try new things to better themselves and succeeding at that suggests she would not be limited by her attachments to a specific system or predetermined role for a player.

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All that is fair. So, what do we know about Spoon's approach as a coach, strategies, willingness to scrap a game plan and adjust on the fly?

Nothing. Not saying she is bad, but we have nothing. And I just find it interesting how what we evaluate a coach or coaching candidate always seems to be a moving goal post depending on the one we like and the one we dont. Heck, I remember a big critique of Monty was that he didnt get up a yell enough. Its just always shifting. Why? Because we have no idea what it takes to be a good coach, and beyond that, how much a good coach vs a not good one even matters.

Here that thing goes again, great sage of rumorville, acting like it knows what the peons don't.

This is a holy strawman argument that NOBODY made just now.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Here that thing goes again, great sage of rumorville, acting like it knows what the peons don't.

This is a holy strawman argument that NOBODY made just now.

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Actually, I said that I dont know and that nobody knows......so try again buddy

You are truly the worst at this debate thing

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Actually, I said that I dont know and that nobody knows......so try again buddy

You are truly the worst at this debate thing

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Maybe you just can't read your own words. People simply said they see why players like her so much.

You respond with

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"Then, when arguing for Spoon its her energy and how liked she is"

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Thats your quote. Go read it. It's gibberish since NOBODY made an argument for her as head coach.

Just shut up trying to put people in their place all the time.

Minister Avery Johnson married Sean Payton and the chick Skylene over the weekend. So there is that. Pics are over on Saints Report

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Maybe you just can't read your own words. People simply said they see why players like her so much.

You respond with Thats your quote. Go read it. It's gibberish since NOBODY made an argument for her as head coach.

Just shut up trying to put people in their place all the time.

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Oh, okay....then tell me the pro-Spoon arguments. Not just here but on twitter, the Pels pods, the Bird Writes, Fletch, etc

I didnt point to a specific person and say, "YOU said your argument for her was X"

I am saying what the general pro-Spoon arguments are. And the only ones I have seen are that she is liked and her energy. If you can find me others, I would love to see them. Meanwhile, for other candidates its "When he was a coach of X team, they were 2nd in the league in points per possession on out of bounds plays and their D rating improved 15%"

Its just funny to me that when you like a candidate, X and Y are the important criteria and when you like another candidate its A and B. I am at least comfortable enough saying I have no clue who will be a good coach and I also have no clue how important a good coach is

It is more than that she is liked but rather she commands the respect and is listened to by the young core of the team. Since her job with the Pelicans was to help develop that core that is big and stands out. People want to ignore her coaching work in Women's Basketball at the college ranks so they are focusing on what she has done in the NBA. I'm not sure if you are passively trying to point out that she has not been a head coach in the NBA or blindly questioning why people are not commenting on her what she has done as a coach of X team.

Since we have lost the trust of NBA all star players like AD, Chris Paul etc in the past and seem to be repeating this currently with SVG what she has done seems particularly relevant. Especially in light of getting the young core to improve when young players have historically been ignore and given little playtime historically here. We have just tried a head assistant from a very successful program followed by an Old School hard as nails coach. Neither worked that well.

We could talk about her make thing the Hall of Fame and the respect she earned as a player. If people are more open to discussing what she did as head coach for Louisiana Tech then we could research her X's and O's , clock management etc. If we can pull up current interviews maybe we could find discussion on her general philosophy. We could talk about how things went in the summer league when she coached.

With the Pelicans luck . favoring someone who does not become the head coach seems the safest spot as "I told you so" is the easy play. Is there something about how she did in the Summer League or as the HC for L Tech that you do not like ? Do you not like that she does not have head coach experience in the NBA ?

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Originally Posted by Rampart

It is more than that she is liked but rather she commands the respect and is listened to by the young core of the team. Since her job with the Pelicans was to help develop that core that is big and stands out. People want to ignore her coaching work in Women's Basketball at the college ranks so they are focusing on what she has done in the NBA. I'm not sure if you are passively trying to point out that she has not been a head coach in the NBA or blindly questioning why people are not commenting on her what she has done as a coach of X team.

Since we have lost the trust of NBA all star players like AD, Chris Paul etc in the past and seem to be repeating this currently with SVG what she has done seems particularly relevant. Especially in light of getting the young core to improve when young players have historically been ignore and given little playtime historically here. We have just tried a head assistant from a very successful program followed by an Old School hard as nails coach. Neither worked that well.

We could talk about her make thing the Hall of Fame and the respect she earned as a player. If people are more open to discussing what she did as head coach for Louisiana Tech then we could research her X's and O's , clock management etc. If we can pull up current interviews maybe we could find discussion on her general philosophy. We could talk about how things went in the summer league when she coached.

With the Pelicans luck . favoring someone who does not become the head coach seems the safest spot as "I told you so" is the easy play. Is there something about how she did in the Summer League or as the HC for L Tech that you do not like ? Do you not like that she does not have head coach experience in the NBA ?

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I would love if people did all those things. Like I said, I have nothing against her. Wont claim to know if she would be a good coach or bad. Or if coaching really matters that much. I am only commenting on how I have been a fan of this team for decades, covered them, wrote about them, read hundreds of thousands of message board posts, etc and I have never seen people advocate for a coach based on only being liked and respected by the players. It is almost always scheme talk, past win-loss record, pointing to specific development of specific players, etc

And now, all of a sudden it changes. Thats the part I find weird. But I would LOVE if someone researched and found me ideas about schemes she would use, coaching principles, etc. like they usually do for every other candidate

Teresa Witherspoon: 55 years of age.

NBA Playing Experience: None

NBA Coaching Experience: 2 years as a Developmental Coach (whatever that is).

Ready for one of the top 30 jobs in professional Men's Basketball? Not no...HELL NO!!!

Credentials for one of the top 30 jobs in Men's Basketball...NONE.

Sadly, we are here again and this is my broken record...she is a proven winner at every level, including coaching NBA players. It might not mean much to this board, but we need to be relevant because I am willing to bet ticket renewals have tanked and new season tickets are non-existent and that matters. Yeah, I understand winning counts but the Pelicans need to make a splash today, not wait until maybe next March for the city to get interested. Not everyone is a basketball junkie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2_qjmgwCT8

Although at this point, my guess she is just waiting for Pop to retire, but what do I know?

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Teresa Witherspoon: 55 years of age.

NBA Playing Experience: None

NBA Coaching Experience: 2 years as a Developmental Coach (whatever that is).

Ready for one of the top 30 jobs in professional Men's Basketball? Not no...HELL NO!!!

Credentials for one of the top 30 jobs in Men's Basketball...NONE.

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To play the other side (because I know the argument against this): What were Steve Nash's credentials?

So, before anyone says that, Brooklyn had guys who already knew the game. If we had hardened, experienced guys who already knew the fundamentals, had been through wars and didnt need to still build a foundation for their game, I would be totally fine with a coach with little experience. Making Nash coach of the Nets was fun. Giving him the Memphis job two years ago, by contrast, would have been insane.

So, please dont bring up the Nash argument fellow poster, because that roster and ours is not apples to apples with regard to what it needs from its HC

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Originally Posted by WildlifeAirGrp

Sadly, we are here again and this is my broken record...she is a proven winner at every level, including coaching NBA players. It might not mean much to this board, but we need to be relevant because I am willing to bet ticket renewals have tanked and new season tickets are non-existent and that matters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2_qjmgwCT8

Although at this point, my guess she is just waiting for Pop to retire, but what do I know?

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Hammon has credentials similar to many men who will get jobs. We are discussing Spoon.

Also, ticket sales shouldnt even be a .0000001 percent factor for this decision. Because if you blow this hire and lose Zion, you arent selling any tickets at the end of this decade because this team will be in another city. You dont make a hire this year for some ticket sales. And this is a common mistake people make when they debate - they think more points are better than less. Its the opposite. Only list your strongest points, never list one that weak just to have more because your opponent will tear that one down and by proxy make the others appear weaker. Quality, not quantity young man

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

To play the other side (because I know the argument against this): What were Steve Nash's credentials?

So, before anyone says that, Brooklyn had guys who already knew the game. If we had hardened, experienced guys who already knew the fundamentals, had been through wars and didnt need to still build a foundation for their game, I would be totally fine with a coach with little experience. Making Nash coach of the Nets was fun. Giving him the Memphis job two years ago, by contrast, would have been insane.

So, please dont bring up the Nash argument fellow poster, because that roster and ours is not apples to apples with regard to what it needs from its HC

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Nash brings familiarity with men's basketball and the knowledge of what it takes to be successful in the NBA.

I'll pass on hiring a PR gimmick in favor of hiring a coach. I'm not interested in being Beloved (apologies to Toni Morrison), I'm interested in winning basketball games.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Nash brings familiarity with men's basketball and the knowledge of what it takes to be successful in the NBA.

I'll pass on hiring a PR gimmick in favor of hiring a coach. I'm not interested in being Beloved (apologies to Toni Morrison), I'm interested in winning basketball games.

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I think you are going too far by labeling her a PR gimmick and nothing more. A person doesnt have to be an F to be worse than and A or B. To me, there are simply people with better resumes for what this organization needs at this moment. Dont have to totally discredit one human being to choose another. That is done far too much on message boards and twitter when people talk basketball. No need for it

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

I think you are going too far by labeling her a PR gimmick and nothing more. A person doesnt have to be an F to be worse than and A or B. To me, there are simply people with better resumes for what this organization needs at this moment. Dont have to totally discredit one human being to choose another. That is done far too much on message boards and twitter when people talk basketball. No need for it

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Oh, no Mac, I'm not discrediting her. In her field she was quite successful...maybe even Springfield successful. But let's not be so naive as to conflate women's basketball with men's basketball. They are two distinct games that require two different skill sets and coaching styles to be played successfully. Two years as a "Developmental Coach" doesn't bridge that chasm.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Oh, no Mac, I'm not discrediting her. In her field she was quite successful...maybe even Springfield successful. But let's not be so naive as to conflate women's basketball with men's basketball. They are two distinct games that require two different skill sets and coaching styles to be played successfully. Two years as a "Developmental Coach" doesn't bridge that chasm.

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Then how come men can be great womens basketball coaches?

I would let this one go, the arguments you are making are not solid. That one was easy to disable. A woman can coach mens sports, just as a man can coach womans. Unless you want to make some kind of argument that men are superior and can do both and woman can only do one, and I would advise against that

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Then how come men can be great womens basketball coaches?

I would let this one go, the arguments you are making are not solid. That one was easy to disable. A woman can coach mens sports, just as a man can coach womans. Unless you want to make some kind of argument that men are superior and can do both and woman can only do one, and I would advise against that

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I've coached both (albeit on a high school level) and I assure you it's considerably easier to coach the women's game where X's and O's are the blueprint for success because woman are a lot more open to instruction. Testosterone, on the other hand, has a hard code to crack

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Because if you blow this hire and lose Zion, you arent selling any tickets at the end of this decade because this team will be in another city.

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You just say these things, bruh...

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

You just say these things, bruh...

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So, if we lose a 3rd generational guy, in a market that cares about football 100x more than basketball, you would bet on the Pels staying?

C'mon, imagine you were a fan of another team and didnt have a bias towards the Pels and some dude offered a million dollars if you could guess the next team to relocate. Pels wouldnt be in your top 5?

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Originally Posted by As I See It

I've coached both (albeit on a high school level) and I assure you it's considerably easier to coach the women's game where X's and O's are the blueprint for success because woman are a lot more open to instruction. Testosterone, on the other hand, has a hard code to crack

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So, now the argument is that men are better than women at getting young black men to fall in line? You sure you want to go with that one???

You are welcome towards your opinion. I just dont think your arguments are based in anything factual. Writing off an entire sex for a job is not something that I think is wise to do. I fully expect a few women to be successful mens basketball and football coaches in my lifetime

There's no way in hell Griff would hire the first female head coach in history given what's at stake. It's not even fathomable

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Hammon has credentials similar to many men who will get jobs. We are discussing Spoon.

Also, ticket sales shouldnt even be a .0000001 percent factor for this decision. Because if you blow this hire and lose Zion, you arent selling any tickets at the end of this decade because this team will be in another city. You dont make a hire this year for some ticket sales. And this is a common mistake people make when they debate - they think more points are better than less. Its the opposite. Only list your strongest points, never list one that weak just to have more because your opponent will tear that one down and by proxy make the others appear weaker. Quality, not quantity young man

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I get it...but this franchise is teetering on the brink. It's a Catch-22, but with the Hawks and Suns making a splash, it only exacerbates our situation. At this point, only the people on this board seem to care about the Pels. I'm the guy they should be concerned about. I went to one game last year and left early. And I do appreciate your candor on my post and others.

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Originally Posted by WildlifeAirGrp

I get it...but this franchise is teetering on the brink. It's a Catch-22, but with the Hawks and Suns making a splash, it only exacerbates our situation. At this point, only the people on this board seem to care about the Pels. I'm the guy they should be concerned about. I went to one game last year and left early. And I do appreciate your candor on my post and others.

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The tickets get sold if Zion is here and if the team wins. Griff has one more shot at this. He is gone if this hire doesnt work. I promise, he is not thinking about next years season tickets. Not even a tiny bit

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

So, now the argument is that men are better than women at getting young black men to fall in line? You sure you want to go with that one???

You are welcome towards your opinion. I just dont think your arguments are based in anything factual. Writing off an entire sex for a job is not something that I think is wise to do. I fully expect a few women to be successful mens basketball and football coaches in my lifetime

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Please, I've said nothing about "black men" or "falling in line". Please don't turn this into a racial commentary.

I only pointed out that coaching women (black white, brown, pink with gray polka dots) requires a different skillset than coaching men (black, white, brown or blue). A women, inexperienced in the men's game, who has had a distinguished career in the woman's game is not prepared to coach a game beyond her familiarity nor the psyches she will likely encounter.

Can she do it and be successful? Perhaps. But is "perhaps" the basis you want to rely on for your next coach?

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

So, if we lose a 3rd generational guy, in a market that cares about football 100x more than basketball, you would bet on the Pels staying?

C'mon, imagine you were a fan of another team and didnt have a bias towards the Pels and some dude offered a million dollars if you could guess the next team to relocate. Pels wouldnt be in your top 5?

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I'd put them there right now. Doesn't mean I like the thought. It's my only connection to the sport. If there's no product I can go to arenas and watch, I'm not going to care much more than I do about baseball.

It all depends on Gayle. She's 74. She could live to be 90. But she might not. If succession passes the team on to a person more concerned with cashing in than keeping the NBA in NOLA...yeah. Not a thought I wanna entertain.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

I'd put them there right now. Doesn't mean I like the thought. It's my only connection to the sport. If there's no product I can go to arenas and watch, I'm not going to care much more than I do about baseball.

It all depends on Gayle. She's 74. She could live to be 90. But she might not. If succession passes the team on to a person more concerned with cashing in than keeping the NBA in NOLA...yeah. Not a thought I wanna entertain.

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I say things I believe to be true, not things I want to believe.

I think fans are fooling themselves if they dont think its a real possibility. And this offseason might be the one we look back at as the thing that kept them here or it was their final chance to save it and they blew it. Not saying it to make waves. Saying it because I believe it is an objective truth

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Please, I've said nothing about "black men" or "falling in line". Please don't turn this into a racial commentary.

I only pointed out that coaching women (black white, brown, pink with gray polka dots) requires a different skillset than coaching men (black, white, brown or blue). A women, inexperienced in the men's game, who has had a distinguished career in the woman's game is not prepared to coach a game beyond her familiarity nor the psyches she will likely encounter.

Can she do it and be successful? Perhaps. But is "perhaps" the basis you want to rely on for your next coach?

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I think every candidate available is a "perhaps" -- if there was a definite, they would be hired.

On a long enough timeline, almost every coach fails. And yes, mens basketball and womens are different, yet men have figured out how to be successful in both. I still fail to see your reasoning why women can only be successful in one

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Please, I've said nothing about "black men" or "falling in line". Please don't turn this into a racial commentary.

I only pointed out that coaching women (black white, brown, pink with gray polka dots) requires a different skillset than coaching men (black, white, brown or blue). A women, inexperienced in the men's game, who has had a distinguished career in the woman's game is not prepared to coach a game beyond her familiarity nor the psyches she will likely encounter.

Can she do it and be successful? Perhaps. But is "perhaps" the basis you want to rely on for your next coach?

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We know Spoon can handle the psyche of Zion and Kiara at the very least , and from the sounds of it BI and the other young players. If anything this argument strengthens her position IMO. I agree Becky Hammon has a clear advantage on any other team and possibly this one as well despite any connections Spoon has made. Since we have recently failed with a Players coach and an old hard school disciplinarian I do not trust our ability to chose a coach , male or not, that our young core can connect with. Once again , I am not saying we need to make a splash with a female head coach, but if I see an argument for another coach I want to see how they will relate to our young core and be able to get them to grow in a way that at least matches Hammon on the Spurs or Spoon here. Winning a championship in previous years as an assistant didn't work, being a supposedly culture oriented , hard working, defensive specialist hasn't. It is just seeming more and more it is about getting that core of players to listen and be engaged.

Just answering the question -Developmental coach whatever the hell that means - since it is her performance in this job, not that she is liked, that people bring her name up

that position focuses on the development of recently drafted players. so the improvements we saw in Hayes, Zion, Kira, NAW etc were her responsibility, what she worked on. If you think those players got significantly better and are an important part of the team then consider that she was assigned to work directly with them to teach them how to be an NBA professional and how to work on their game to make it more NBA ready. She would be responsible for film breakdown, skill set evaluation, set skill goals with players etc

Most likely she would not interact with BI, Ball, Addams, Bledsoe etc because after a number of years in the NBA players seem to move towards specialists

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

I would love if people did all those things. Like I said, I have nothing against her. Wont claim to know if she would be a good coach or bad. Or if coaching really matters that much. I am only commenting on how I have been a fan of this team for decades, covered them, wrote about them, read hundreds of thousands of message board posts, etc and I have never seen people advocate for a coach based on only being liked and respected by the players. It is almost always scheme talk, past win-loss record, pointing to specific development of specific players, etc

And now, all of a sudden it changes. Thats the part I find weird. But I would LOVE if someone researched and found me ideas about schemes she would use, coaching principles, etc. like they usually do for every other candidate

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I am not an advocate for hiring Spoon, but if I had to guess, it may just be fans hoping for anything that keeps Zion happy in hopes of not losing him. Not saying it is right or wrong. Just speculating on why the reasoning is different now for some.

Spoon has had more NBA coaching experience than Steve Nash did. So why not? It’s kind of a figurehead position anyway. Get your assistants to handle the practices and even a lot of the in game stuff, and you take the credit and put on a good show, to make the team you’re coaching look like an attractive place for players to go.

If nothing else Spoon will give us a lot of positive press for a while, and if it keeps your stars happy go for it. And who knows, she might even be a good head coach as an added bonus.

Lmao

https://www.tmz.com/2021/06/22/maste...on-williamson/

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Originally Posted by AusPel

There's no way in hell Griff would hire the first female head coach in history given what's at stake. It's not even fathomable

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um, wat?

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Originally Posted by Freyfamilyreuni

Spoon has had more NBA coaching experience than Steve Nash did. So why not? It?s kind of a figurehead position anyway. Get your assistants to handle the practices and even a lot of the in game stuff, and you take the credit and put on a good show, to make the team you?re coaching look like an attractive place for players to go.

If nothing else Spoon will give us a lot of positive press for a while, and if it keeps your stars happy go for it. And who knows, she might even be a good head coach as an added bonus.

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Make or break year for Zion, and ultimately for the future of the franchise in New Orleans...... and you're cool with hiring a figurehead coach as a PR stunt to try and improve one of the youngest teams in the league?

All to get you some positive press? ... oh and there's the 'added bonus' of her actually being a 'good head coach'. Since Steve Nash, a hall of fame NBA player, had less coaching experience and he did well coaching a team with 3 all-stars on it, it can't be THAT hard for Spoon, right?

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

I say things I believe to be true, not things I want to believe.

I think fans are fooling themselves if they dont think its a real possibility. And this offseason might be the one we look back at as the thing that kept them here or it was their final chance to save it and they blew it. Not saying it to make waves. Saying it because I believe it is an objective truth

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Well, there's a 0% chance that Gayle moves the team. So the team moving would be predicated on her selling...and I don't know why she would sell. Probably a moot point, as one of Hollinger's justifications for a move was the lease expiring...and I'd bet big money that the lease is extended before Zion could leave anyway.

I get the view from the outside...no fan support, no corporate base, stars keep leaving. I'm sure I'd see it the same way if I lived in Seattle. But we heard all the same stuff about losing AD would mean the team would move, etc. What's the historical evidence for losing players leading to franchises moving? Not Seattle to OKC, Not Charlotte to NO, not Vancouver to Memphis...

I wouldnt look at it as: Losing Zion will make them move.... as much as - due to fan support, overall community apathy, the market, etc, this was a franchise that would have been a major candidate to move but having a Zion makes a lot of those things go away, and no longer having him brings them right back into the spotlight.