http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.s..._most-comments
The New Orleans Pelicans would be foolish to duplicate the Oklahoma City Thunder's mistake.
There is no surety that team ownership will evaluate Monty Williams' performance this season and conclude that the coach did an outstanding job steering a once-foundering team into the postseason.
But they should.
A coaching change for the Pelicans would be a monumental blunder.
Williams doesn't deserve to meet the same fate as the Thunder's Scott Brooks, who was sent to the coaching gallows though he had his team in the hunt until the final day despite the fact that OKC played without the reigning most valuable player, Kevin Durant, for most of the season, then lost Serge Ibaka down the stretch.Though the ubiquitous internet trolls might disagree, Williams did a remarkable job with a flawed roster that seemingly needed to be continuously tweaked throughout the season in an effort to erase lingering imperfections and compensate for unforeseen injuries.
Television analyst and former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy, who was an assistant with the New York Knicks when Williams broke into the league as a player, said the job Williams did with the Pelicans this year is beyond praise-worthy.
"You know what? More so than any strategy, I think Monty's greatest strength is his equilibrium," Van Gundy said last week before working the Pelicans' first game against the Warriors. "I think it showed in his team when (Anthony) Davis went out and they played well.
"That, to me, is the most remarkable thing about their season. I just don't think when you go through a major rebuilding project, for whatever reason, you ever get the credit when you're a pretty good team. People always nit-pick what they think could have led to more wins. And I'll say this: I think Monty has absolutely maximized their talent level. All the injuries, you're forced to trade a transcendent start like Chris Paul and what you got back at the end of the day was very little. It's incredible what Monty and his staff had to endure.
"To me, the validation is not the win over San Antonio (to capture the eighth playoff spot). The validation is your star standing up after the game and professing his love for you on national TV. To me, there's nothing that speaks more as to why Monty Williams is a great coach and his ability to connect to a great young player."
Something to think about now. Firing Monty would send us backwards not forward. If we fire Monty we are basically starting all over again. How do you feel?