If not Stan, Who?

[magicmacd75 37]

OTIS SMITH will probably try to hire himself to the position!! He is such a basketball genius.

[dds21 47]

Mike D'Antoni

 

 

players like him a lot so he's good

 

 

[Justin Jaudon 221]

Brian Shaw,He's a players coach and has learned under the best coach ever Phil Jackson.

 

Oh yeah,it's a guy Dwight would like as well.

 

I get it. I do. You're thinking that he has to be good, because he coached under Phil. Well, so did Rambis. He's a players' coach. So is D'Antoni. "Players' coach" is just another term for "empty suit", most of the time. Dwight liking him shouldn't really factor so much into it. I'll put it this way. Phil Jackson and Kobe got along so well that when Phil wrote a book about his first stint in L.A., he basically painted Kobe as a petulant child. But Kobe grew up eventually, and they got back together "Jerry Maguire" style. Phil was like, "You had me at hello." Orlando needs to have the best coach available. In my opinion, right now that is Stan. Dwight needs to see that.

[The Magic Man 81]

I get it. I do. You're thinking that he has to be good, because he coached under Phil. Well, so did Rambis. He's a players' coach. So is D'Antoni. "Players' coach" is just another term for "empty suit", most of the time. Dwight liking him shouldn't really factor so much into it. I'll put it this way. Phil Jackson and Kobe got along so well that when Phil wrote a book about his first stint in L.A., he basically painted Kobe as a petulant child. But Kobe grew up eventually, and they got back together "Jerry Maguire" style. Phil was like, "You had me at hello." Orlando needs to have the best coach available. In my opinion, right now that is Stan. Dwight needs to see that.

Keep Stan for what another year of drama between him and Dwight,it's time for a change,get over it.

[A Better DJ & Photographer 453]

Barkley? Really?

 

I love Armstrong, but another assistant with no real reason to think he would be better. And didn't he just get arrested recently?

 

Which college coaches, exactly? Billy Donovan didn't really work out (even though I actually think he would do well with the current Orlando roster).

 

Mark Price? The shooting coach? You want to promote the shooting coach to head coach over Stan Van Gundy?

 

Barkley? Really? Why not Hakeem? Or Kenny the Jet? Or Clyde the Glide? Maybe Sam Cassell? How about Robert Horry?

 

I don't WANT to promote anybody over SVG... but choosing between him and Dwight is a no brainer.

 

Yes I think Barkley would be a great coach! He tells it like it is and IMO he would be a players coach. I would be concerned about him getting a lot of techs though.

 

DA? There's no reason to think he wouldn't be a great coach (but then again I'm a successful/positive kind of person) most great coaches started as an assistant somewhere.

 

College coaches? Coach K, Bill Self, Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, Jim Calhoun, John Calipari, Roy Williams, to name a few

 

No, not Mark Price the shooting coach, Mark Price the guy with the great BB IQ. Of the others you mentioned probably not although Clyde might be interesting

[DanA_TBDP 12]

I love how Melo being a cancer makes D'Antoni into a bad coach.

 

You realize how good his Suns teams were? You realize how good that team was in the Melo-less, Lin era (although short)?

[Franchero MVP 391]

Brian Shaw,He's a players coach and has learned under the best coach ever Phil Jackson.

 

Oh yeah,it's a guy Dwight would like as well.

 

Championship experience too. None of this panic crap.

[Magic Fan 4 Life 14]

I'd love to give Brian Shaw or Michael Malone a real shot and see how they do.

[Justin Jaudon 221]

I don't WANT to promote anybody over SVG... but choosing between him and Dwight is a no brainer.

 

Yes I think Barkley would be a great coach! He tells it like it is and IMO he would be a players coach. I would be concerned about him getting a lot of techs though.

 

DA? There's no reason to think he wouldn't be a great coach (but then again I'm a successful/positive kind of person) most great coaches started as an assistant somewhere.

 

College coaches? Coach K, Bill Self, Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, Jim Calhoun, John Calipari, Roy Williams, to name a few

 

No, not Mark Price the shooting coach, Mark Price the guy with the great BB IQ. Of the others you mentioned probably not although Clyde might be interesting

 

Okay. Assuming Barkley would want to be a coach, and agreeing that he does in fact tell it like it is, and would probably be a "players' coach", what makes you think he has the deep understanding and knowledge of the game, the ability to translate that into an effective gameplan, the necessary player management skills, the understanding of player rotations, and the ability to communicate all this not only with his assistant coaches and players, but with his GM and ownership? The fact that you like him?

 

DA was a gutsy player. The kind of guy you love to watch. And he was a smart player. Assuming that he will be a great coach based on this is like thinking Magic Johnson was going to be a great coach. There was no reason to think he wouldn't be, right? Or Michael Jordan? Why don't we just promote Ewing, at that?

 

Coach K is 150 years old. Bill Self is a thought, if maybe a little premature, so I'll get back to you on that one. Jim Boeheim is as much a college coach as there is in today's world. Tom Izzo would be a decent replacement if we absolutely had to do it, but I don't think there's any reason to think he'd be better than Stan, and I am all but certain he wouldn't come to Orlando if he wouldn't go to Cleveland to coach LeBron. Jim Calhoun is dead. John Calipari has not shown a lot in the NBA. And Roy Williams is the most overrated coach in college basketball history.

 

As for Mark Price, just combine my comments on Barkley and DA.

 

Not bad, though. A couple of decent thoughts with the college coaches. We're getting somewhere, at least.

[Justin Jaudon 221]

I love how Melo being a cancer makes D'Antoni into a bad coach.

 

You realize how good his Suns teams were? You realize how good that team was in the Melo-less, Lin era (although short)?

 

Who said D'Antoni was a bad coach. He's had his moments.

 

I wouldn't be so quick to blame everything on Melo. And the Lin era was too short to mean anything. And I do remember how good those Suns teams were. They had the two-time MVP and the games most dominant scoring big man, and yet he didn't win a championship with them. Never got to the finals. So why is he better than Stan? Because you think Dwight would like him? How long do you think Dwight would put up with no one even being asked to help him out on D? Do you think maybe D'Antoni's tendency to ignore defense in favor of Run-n-Gun might cause some eventual tension, there?

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Championship experience too. None of this panic crap.

 

:svgsad:

 

You really are a special kind of idiot.

[Capo d'Orlando 85]

Jerry Sloan. He once spoke at an assembly at my middle school; straight wisdom.

 

But seriously, I think one of Jerry's greatest assets is his ability to bring the best out of players, including studs like Adam Keefe and Howard Eisley. Heck, Mehmet Okur was an all-star under Jerry's system.

 

I still want SVG to stay though, if nothing else, I just feel more comfortable when there's a mustache on the sidelines.