https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1...820313601?s=21
Well now that that’s over, what’s next?
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https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1...820313601?s=21
Well now that that’s over, what’s next?
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Finally. Now let's get this roster together.
Conservative and Uninspiring, but okay with it.
Well, there it is
Stan Van the Gundy Man
ESPN reporting with @_andrew_lopez: Stan Van Gundy has agreed to a deal to become the next coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 21, 2020
Just to embed the tweet
Good hire. Not saying it's a home run, but if you look at our past coaches records, I think SVG will go down as one of our best coaches. Now that's not saying much, but still. Feel free to quote me in 4 years telling me how wrong I was if it doesn't work out but I think he's going to instill some basketball discipline this organization hasn't had in a while. JJ has nothing but good things to say about him.
Great hire.
I mean, I’m not against it. But whatever. It won’t matter if they bring in someone like Atkinson or some great assistants.
One thing is defense shouldn’t be a problem. He’s going to build a ********ing wall.
Wtf I wasn't expecting this
I would of preferred somebody out of the blue like the pacers did
Finally some news. I'm ready for a full season of Zion and Ingram.
lets goo
This at least gives me hope. I’m not fully convinced on Van Gundy, but this is a much shrewder hire than Gentry. I quit watching the Pels for a while when Alvin became head coach because I was so disappointed with the appointment. He was a proven loser. This is a solid compromise to me.
I’m excited to join a talented New Orleans Pelicans team. It will be an honor to work with our players and to work for Mrs. Benson and David Griffin, Trajan Langdon, their staff and the great people of New Orleans. I can’t wait to talk to our players and get the process started
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) October 21, 2020
Just want to note, here's a thing Van Gundy said on the Lowe Post podcast:
SVG on the ''use Lonzo like a wing on offense'' train? All for it. He does not have half-court lead guard chops, let someone else do it and play to his strengths while he's here, however long that is.Quote:
I think sometimes we get too focused on what guys can't do. [Lonzo Ball] has a nice package of skills. They've got other ball handling parts and pieces. He does not need to facilitate everything in the half court. [...] A hybrid role.
Huh? The Detroit run by Gundy was horrendous with him having complete control. Then, you have him quiting (resigning) from the Heat and then go on to win a championship without him. Gundy had his legacy held up by a prime Wade and Dwight to some debate.
Still... I give credit when it's due. When you hand Grundy a talented team. There is no falling off a cliff year after year. He's consistent. So, what needs to happen is that the front office has to overcome it's franchise issues in acquiring talent and managing personnel. You put Gundy in a position to succeed with talent/ good staff and he will.
Take note of the people who don't like the hire now. By the time the whole staff is announced I bet most of them are on board.
I just don't get why people have to have a grade or an opinion right away. Just wait to see the whole staff, hear the whole picture
I have heard that time in Miami and Orlando ended out of his control (Riley and Howard forced him out). His time with Detroit was unremarkable, but he isn’t a bad hire. I will be interested to see who he has join his bench.
Every human on Earth has an initial impression about everything they came across in their lives.
Very much exacerbated by the anonymity of the Internet; no one is really held to account unless extreme cases
The ability to critically think and shift - or not shift - judgement accordingly, is a big indicator of intelligence
This hire does nothing for me. Best of luck to Van Gundy, I would have preferred someone that hasn't been away from coaching so long, but whetever.
I think recency bias with the Detroit run really damage the perception with SVG. Yet, it's a fair assessment to be not excited for him. He had 4 years in an inferior conference and did very poorly as not only the coach, but president of operations. When you're given that much power and fail. There is little room for excuses. At 61 years old, there is very little to be excited about Stan.
Can I blame for people not being excited or jumping the gun to make a judgement... Not at all.
Pros - He's 6'6 and deceptively explosive, first (or second?) healthy pre season. Holds records for single season UCLA assists record
Cons - I don't know what fashion he got most of his assists in college, but he didn't drive and score in traffic much. Can you become a creative passer in the half court just through reps on the practice court? The answer is perhaps
Pros: Tall, lengthy, relatively athletic, has improved as a catch and shoot 3 point guy. Don't care about his UCLA assists record, frankly. Plays good defense when he bothers to do it. Absurdly good ''linkage'' passer; that is, finding the extra pass and setting up shots, particularly in transition or full court.
Cons: Mediocre handle, relentlessly bad shot selection, shoddy decision making, can't finish at the rim at all, doesn't drive and therefore doesn't pressure defenses, dreadful FT shooter, can't run a PnR really at all.
If you take him off ball and use him almost like a 3&D wing in the half court, then you maximise his improved shooting and his defense+size combination against other guards, while minimising the damage his awful half-court initiation can cause. SVG seems to have noticed that, and seems to be interested in at least trying him in more of that auxiliary role, where he's a PG in the full court/transition but hands it over in HC. That's the best use of Lonzo, at least right now.
Of course, if you improve Lonzo's play and impact by moving him to 3&D wing the majority of the time, then his impact will go up but his secondary role will also make you inclined to pay him less: true, primary initiators are more valuable and therefore more expensive than decent roleplayers. That introduces an issue with his upcoming second contract.
In fairness to SVG, being good at one thing does not mean you'll be good at another. SVG was a bad GM, which set him up to be a bad HC, for obvious FO/HC issues.
When it comes to just being a HC, he's been really very capable in his career. Especially defensively.
Zion should be getting a lot of on-ball reps this year. If you want to maximise him, you want to be drawing out as much of his ball-handling as possible. I believe he has it in him. Now, it's also true that it would hurt him to be given all of that responsibility to early, but we also have Ingram who can do some ball handling, and Jrue can still do it as long as we aren't asking it of him 100% of the time.
Obviously long term you need a guy, but for right now I'm find with that PG by committee approach.
JJ Redick on SVG:
Quote:
There's no perfect coach. I think Stan had a bigger impact on my career than any coach I've played for [...] Stan, probably the best coach that I've played for in the NBA. I hate that Shaq had to say that about him, or that we had to talk about this, because I always felt like in a playoff series Stan was going to get us a win. He would make an adjustment or come up with a game plan in game 3 or game 4, or even steal one in game 1, like 'I'll do this and they're not expecting it' and it worked a lot of the time. He would always get us a game because he worked so hard, he was so prepared, and he took so much responsibility for what he could control. He was great for that.
I hope he can adapt to life in the western conference. Different style of play out here.
Astute observation by SVG regarding Lonzo, glad he has been paying attention. I am not super familiar with him but if he places a huge emphasis on defense I will be very happy.
For those wondering who will handle half-court creating responsibilities, BI has more skills in that regard than he showed last year, Jrue can help there, and hopefully NAW will make some strides.
But recall that Zion said at one point he sees himself as a turbo-charged Draymond Green... he has already shown glimpses of great passing, and if he improves that handle...
Can you imagine Zion averaging 13 rebounds a game and leading the break where he gets either a monster dunk or hits BI or JJ for the three because he has sucked in three defenders to stop the Zion dunk per every single opposing coach's instructions?
Oh my goodness...
I dont mind, trust.
Kendrick Perkins wanted us to hire Marc Jackson or Jason Kidd...I feel better about the hire now.