Pels Hire Stan Van Gundy

[Pelicanidae]

simple answer for a simple question: because coaching STILL MATTERS - it just doesn't determine championships. Elite players do. You still need to have good coaching just to level the playing field so you're not at a disadvantage. We were at a disadvantage with Gentry. SVG can come in here and stress defense, discipline, and fundamentals. He can get us to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. But he'll still need elite talent to be a championship contender. That's a given.

You need elite talent to be a championship contender, this is absolutely true. It's also absolutely true that because everyone knows that, by the time you're deep into the playoffs you're generally facing teams which all have elite talent on them. At that point, having a coach who is smart and pro-active can win you a game or two, and in a close playoff series that can be the difference.

Coaching is not the most important thing, but it's still important.

[Snarly]

I hate this idea that any coach that was available is going to suddenly turn the Pelicans into a championship team overnight. How about a coach who can get this squad into the playoffs year in and year out? 2nd round? WCF? Once you build playoff culture, then talk about Contending. Whether it’s with SVG or another guy, it’s a process for your young stars.

[msusousaphone]

You need elite talent to be a championship contender, this is absolutely true. It's also absolutely true that because everyone knows that, by the time you're deep into the playoffs you're generally facing teams which all have elite talent on them. At that point, having a coach who is smart and pro-active can win you a game or two, and in a close playoff series that can be the difference.

Coaching is not the most important thing, but it's still important.

To win a championship EVERYTHING is important, right? So yeah, it's important. I never said it wasn't. I just said it was overrated. It's not like an NFL QB or EPL goalie where you HAVE to have a top 5 person to win. You may not even need a top 15. I mean, this finals.....Vogel vs Spoelstra. Before it started, people were saying that very same thing. "Spoelstra can steal some games". Then the finals happened and he didn't. Jimmy Butler stole games.

Now a bad coach. A bad coach can tank a team fast. I like SVG with this line of thinking.

[UNO Gracias]

I hate this idea that any coach that was available is going to suddenly turn the Pelicans into a championship team overnight. How about a coach who can get this squad into the playoffs year in and year out? 2nd round? WCF? Once you build playoff culture, then talk about Contending. Whether it’s with SVG or another guy, it’s a process for your young stars.

I’ll second that sentiment. Step by step, milk before meat. I thought we were on the right track with Monty in that he got us to the playoffs, so we had finally gotten to that next step. I was for letting him go, however I wanted a person who could take that team from getting into the playoffs to getting to winning a series. Sadly we followed up Monty with a wet fart in the form of Gentry. Gentry took us back a step (or two), and while injuries played a part in that, we never took the expected next step.

Now SVG has the pleasure of taking us from the ground floor to taking that next step. Will he do it? Who knows, we can only hope and pray.

[UNO Gracias]

I understand folks see SVG?s career and notice he has led his team to the playoffs more times than not, but let?s not play games here, those teams all played in the Eastern Conference where for the better part of this century the final seeds in the Eastern conference have losing records. I understand you can only play who is on your schedule, and it?s hard to get a win in the NBA, but I hope folks don?t believe that just by hiring SVG we will make the playoffs. Even with his hiring the Pels are an unknown, we need to wait this out before we go planning Title Parades down Canal St.

[DaFranchise80]

I hate this idea that any coach that was available is going to suddenly turn the Pelicans into a championship team overnight. How about a coach who can get this squad into the playoffs year in and year out? 2nd round? WCF? Once you build playoff culture, then talk about Contending. Whether it?s with SVG or another guy, it?s a process for your young stars.

I agree 100% with this take. Let’s crawl before we walk.

[Eman5805]

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

Another issue will be how he is able to manage the broken-down relationship with regards to Zion Williamson and the performing staff.

https://hoopshype.com/2020/10/21/is-...xecs-weigh-in/

The hell is that about?

[MichaelMcNamara]

Its nothing major. A miscommunication between staff and Zion when he left the bubble and frustration with him not getting more run when he came back. The two sides are on the same page now. That is a very exaggerated way to phrase what happened. Zion is gonna come back in great shape and fully locked in

[Pelicanidae]

Shamit was asked about this on Twitter.

Answer was this:

We have not but look - Zion wasn't happy with his limited play and burst minutes.

That causes natural friction between him and those who make those decisions - Nelson and Griffin.

"Broken relationship" is exaggeration. https://t.co/3FwBD6o2eN

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 21, 2020

Broken relationship is an absurd over-statement meant to drive hype. Zion wasn't happy with limited minutes and rest restrictions, which we all knew months ago. That was a source of disagreement. Nothing more.

[luckyman]

Shamit was asked about this on Twitter.

Answer was this:




Broken relationship is an absurd over-statement meant to drive hype. Zion wasn't happy with limited minutes and rest restrictions, which we all knew months ago. That was a source of disagreement. Nothing more.

This was also said by Windfat on ESPN yesterday. That the Pelicans organization needed to get back in good graces with Zion. As if they hadn't bent over backwards for him enough already.

That raised my eyebrows yesterday, but considering the source, worthy of being ignored.

[msusousaphone]

Haha. His rookie season and they're already starting the "Zion to LA" groundwork. Clickbait media is so toxic.

[PELICANSFAN]

Its nothing major. A miscommunication between staff and Zion when he left the bubble and frustration with him not getting more run when he came back. The two sides are on the same page now. That is a very exaggerated way to phrase what happened. Zion is gonna come back in great shape and fully locked in

Is the report true that he did not have a personal chef and instead, his mom handles his cooking and diet? I remember reading that somewhere and thought it was odd if true.

[Eman5805]

Its nothing major. A miscommunication between staff and Zion when he left the bubble and frustration with him not getting more run when he came back. The two sides are on the same page now. That is a very exaggerated way to phrase what happened. Zion is gonna come back in great shape and fully locked in

Typical. Annoying that I fell for it. If briefly.

[Silverfoxx]

Its nothing major. A miscommunication between staff and Zion when he left the bubble and frustration with him not getting more run when he came back. The two sides are on the same page now. That is a very exaggerated way to phrase what happened. Zion is gonna come back in great shape and fully locked in

Is there any slight concerns for Zion metabolism (I'm assuming) or body structure? I'm confident Zion will come back in great shape, however I'm concerned what happens when he have minor injuries or needs time off.

[Silverfoxx]

Is the report true that he did not have a personal chef and instead, his mom handles his cooking and diet? I remember reading that somewhere and thought it was odd if true.

Zion said it himself in a Men's Fitness article. Even more odd/trolling his him and his camp doubling down on his weight and him taking pics eating a hand full of cake. I'm slightly concerned about his professionalism and him taking solid advice. It's the same for alot of our players on our team like for example Lonzo. I'm confident the training staff laid out a plan for what Zo should work on this off season, and he hires a trainer who has him committing silly floaters and stepbacks. To MM point, alot of young guys just have to get humbled and become professionals which takes them getting traded multiple times at later age to get sometimes. I just hope Zion is not one of those guys. It's a sticky subject matter with Zion following his Parents, vs Professionals and trying to maintain a healthy relationship with Zion camp whenever they make a suggestion that's long term harmful for him potentially.

[JJackisangry]

Thankfully for us, Zion is in the 2nd year of his rookie contract, so he can be as discontent as he wants (not to say it isn’t exaggerated heavily). I personally think we butchered last season in more ways than one (it started with retaining a lame duck coach).

The PR between the Griffin and the fans was laughable. The Zion situation (also tied into the PR between Griffin and the fans) was poorly handled. This is our clean slate to set things right. There was promise. We have to avoid the same pitfalls as last year and get this team playing defense. Make sure there is less miscommunication between our players/fans and management. It has to be better. Last season was handled poorly.

[luckyman]

Zion said it himself in a Men's Fitness article. Even more odd/trolling his him and his camp doubling down on his weight and him taking pics eating a hand full of cake. I'm slightly concerned about his professionalism and him taking solid advice. It's the same for alot of our players on our team like for example Lonzo. I'm confident the training staff laid out a plan for what Zo should work on this off season, and he hires a trainer who has him committing silly floaters and stepbacks. To MM point, alot of young guys just have to get humbled and become professionals which takes them getting traded multiple times at later age to get sometimes. I just hope Zion is not one of those guys. It's a sticky subject matter with Zion following his Parents, vs Professionals and trying to maintain a healthy relationship with Zion camp whenever they make a suggestion that's long term harmful for him potentially.

The article I linked below? It has a picture of him with birthday cake. He can have birthday cake. Nothing unprofessional about that. He's not a robot. And here is a quote from his mother on his diet:

His mother handled the diet, adjusting her southern cooking style to feed a professional athlete. “All the sauce, the bacon, that stuff—he can’t have that,” Sampson says. What he does have a lot of is salmon.

Also if that house picture is him and his brother in nola (I assume it is with the elephant ears plants), looks like they found a nice spot by the lake. Looks like the hill levee in the background.

https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a...son-interview/

[Biasvasospasm]

I think this is the absolute best choice they could have made, Lue included, based on what we know about these guys (Doc Rivers would have been good, too, for many of the same reasons). There was no coach available with a more consistent track record and reputation as a defensive teacher, and a guy who is going to prioritize the things that have been unacceptable under Gentry: defensive effort (especially rebounding and transition defense), executing defensively, and limiting turnovers. For me, this is not about trying to go "all in" for the 8th seed and a 1st round exit. It is about the guys we need to be our best players learning habits on the defensive end that can lay a foundation of success. Zion, Brandon Ingram, and to a lesser extent Lonzo Ball all took significant steps backwards last year on defense. The habits and priorities we saw on the court last year and in the bubble were the habits of a losing team. I love what I'm hearing about creating a culture where the team is held accountable and more importantly starts to hold themselves accountable. You don't want it to be toxic, demeaning, or patronizing, going off into Jim Boylen territory, but getting better has to start with an honesty about what is and is not acceptable for winning in the NBA. When Gentry said the effort against the Clippers and Kings was acceptable, you saw a disconnect with reality. Everyone says that Stan is blunt to a fault, and this team needs some of that.

I've seen a lot of concerns about a 61 year old white guy connecting with young Black players, and there may have been choices who would connect better generationally. My thoughts are he doesn't need to be best friends with any of them, there just needs to be a mutual respect and an ability to take honest feedback. But I do think this will reveal a lot about the priorities younger guys on this roster. I think if Brandon Ingram wants to be coached hard and be a two-way player, both things which he has said, Van Gundy has a track record that says he can help him do that (Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis, who were both more limited athletically than BI, were 2/3 of the starting frontcourt of one of the the best defenses in the NBA under Stan). I think if Zion wants to be a two way superstar who wins at a high level, Stan has shown he can take a similar athletic force and get him there. I think he is exactly the right coach for these guys at this moment, because if you spend the formative parts of your career in a setting where defense matters, you build habits that allow you to be successful. We have guys who have the talent to be high level offensive players, and talent tends to be the determinant of that. A lot of defense is effort, discipline, preparation and communication. If they can buy into that, we can win. If they can't, after switching from a coach who has never shown he can coach a high quality defense to a guy who has on multiple occasions, you start to know it's an issue with the players.

[GuardianAngel25]

I actually like the hire a lot. If it’s not working out early then we move in a different direction but I think he can do really well here. I’m a fan of the Van Gundys and their knowledge of the game. I can’t wait to watch the Pels now and I am back on board with my season tickets!

[da ThRONe]

I'm kind of warming up to Van Gundy. Still would have preferred a younger coach that actually coached the last 2 seasons. As long as he's here more to teach and develop than he is to try and win games I can definitely see this working out. But if this hire means keeping Holiday, and Redick I think it's a mistake.

[UNO Gracias]

I'm kind of warming up to Van Gundy. Still would have preferred a younger coach that actually coached the last 2 seasons. As long as he's here more to teach and develop than he is to try and win games I can definitely see this working out. But if this hire means keeping Holiday, and Redick I think it's a mistake.

Because they are old?

[13 - 3]

Because they are old?

Look at who the Pacers hired. Bet you did not think of that.

https://www.nba.com/article/2020/10/...ren-next-coach

[Wecandothis]

Van Gundy is a good coach. The polar opposite of Gentry. The man emphasizes defense. A disciplinarian that holds players accountable. The run and gun frenetic pace on offense is done look for a more structured offense and slower pace. They may move Favors for a big that can shoot I think Ibaka would fit. I wonder what he would do with Lonzo. I think Ingram will handle the ball more in the half court probably much more pick and roll. Expect some roster changes to fit Van Gundy's system.

[wuggie]

I just want to see some type of stability and discipline after Gentry. I think Stan can bring that with his coaching style and leadership. If he's too much or just doesn't fit, he can always get fired. People always say this or that type of coach would be better, but let's be honest, it's a crapshoot for the most part. There are so many factors that come into play when building a successful team, so I don't blame Griffin for going with someone who is more proven at this point. It makes sense to me, just wishing for the best.

[da ThRONe]

Because they are old?

No because I believe the window for deep playoff success for us will open in 2-5 years if ever. By then they'll be old.