Official Head Coach Search Thread

[CTMagicUK 1,491]

I think those that aren't supportive of a Skiles hire, myself included, actually have legitimate concerns (if it happens) and I think its a bit insulting that those who disagree are dumbing it down to the fanbase "freaking out". Just my opinion.

 

It's completely fine having legitimate concerns. Skiles certainly isn't my first, second or third choice. I even have legitimate concerns about Thibs. But saying "Henny will be gone in 2 years because we'll under achieve" isn't raising any concerns it's just making a grand statement because you don't like Skiles as the candidate.

 

A legitimate concern is "he seems to wear out his welcome after 3 years" or "his offenses have never been great even when he had Jason Kidd". See how I did that without ever saying "Henny should be fired if we hire this guy".

[TreyMachine 399]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/scott-skiles-was-the-least-of-the-milwaukee-bucks-problems/

 

Here's what I got from reading this article:

- Skiles is a perfectionist that demands hard work and smart play from his players. When they showed a lack of either, they were benched.

- His idea of a defense-first team didn't line-up with Milwaukee's GM, who brought in two undersized chunkers after having his team go 18-6 before Andrew Bogut got hurt - of which at the time they had a top 10 defense.

- Even when he had his iso one-on-one team, he still managed to create an offense that played to their strengths, but never really liked the roster that he was given.

 

Here are my thoughts of this situation:

1. This might be a smokescreen to get the Bulls to panic. If we want Thibs bad enough, I do believe that Hennigan would give up a future 2nd round pick. So, again, if we really want Thibs, I think this is a smokescreen.

 

2. If it's not a Smokescreen, I'm looking at the teams he's had and how they've done. With the Bulls, he had Ben Gordon and a Luol Deng-centered team that finished with 50 wins in 2006. Before that, it was Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, of which they too made the playoffs and were competitive.

 

3. He's never been a great offensive coach, but he's never had players that were particularly good on offense individually. His calling card is defense and competitive fire, which we know is what the Magic roster is being built around. He may be a poor man's Thibs, but he also never had a roster like Thibs had (centered around a premier PG).

 

4. I look at the teams he had and the players he had and he seems to get the most out of his players. Where I think he needs to learn (and I hope he's grown) is allowing for the care of the players as humans rather than soldiers.

 

5. My fear, like others, is that his teams start to tune him out after year 3 or 4. I wonder if this is the product of him or the type of players that he was given to coach (CHI - Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes, Thabo Selfolosha; MIL - Brandon Jennings, Monte Ellis, Larry Sanders). The players ORL has currently are guys who work hard, are competitive, and are extremely humble. There was a notion that JV couldn't coach and players finally took over (Elfrid's "I got sick and tired and just started pressing" talk last year), but from what it looks like with Skiles, this won't be the case.

 

6. Lastly, if this truly does happen, I still do trust management. After looking at the evidence of what he's had to work with, I see Henny and Skiles being on the same page in terms of character and vision for this team. It would also be a nice "welcome home" tribute to Skiles, whom I do think got his time cut short with Orlando due to Penny's uprising and Skiles expendability b/c of this.

[TreyMachine 399]

And I wouldn't be too worried about Skiles and Tobes. Stan didn't play JJ his first year either, and their relationship ended up just fine. Skiles was trying to win, and throwing in a rookie with limited understanding of defensive schemes usually causes more problems than it fixes, unless the guy is LeBron talented. Tobes put up good numbers in Orlando, but Orlando had the luxury of not needing to actually win, only to develop players. Orlando didn't all of a sudden start racking up wins with Tobias Harris leading the charge. He put up numbers and they still lost a whole lot of games. Tobias is mature enough to understand that.

 

Sorry, second-year 20-year-old. either way he was very raw.

 

This brings up a good point. Even without the Skiles hire, I don't know if I see Tobias fitting into the team. However, I think that Tobias is more seasoned and I'm sure that both, as men, would be able to talk over their differences. Tobias doesn't strike me as a man who holds grudges and in the end, like Skiles, is more worried about helping his team win games.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

here's the thing. Skiles is an alright coach but he's going to be gone in 3 years and free agents aren't thrilled with him.

[Franchero MVP 391]

here's the thing. Skiles is an alright coach but he's going to be gone in 3 years and free agents aren't thrilled with him.

 

Exactly. Henny has to hit a home run with this hiring. Is he really gonna take this chance?

[Nyce_1 311]

Most magic fans aren't happy with this news but most Bulls fans, who have had Skiles and Thibs, think this is a good hire for us.

 

Thibs is my first option but I'm on board with Skiles. Good defensive coach that holds players accountable. After spending 2 yrs out the league, hopefully he's learned how to be a better coach through some self-evaluation. SVG was our plan B and that worked out great for us. Hopefully we get the same, or better, results with Plan B Skiles.

[Nyce_1 311]

here's the thing. Skiles is an alright coach but he's going to be gone in 3 years and free agents aren't thrilled with him.

Free agents are thrilled with money & winning. From the jump, Alex & Rob has said big FA signings were a thing of the past. If this hire works out, I see zero problems with us signing those hole-filler FAs.

[Bauncey Chillups 288]

Mods please keep this thread sticked for the next few seasons

 

Second-rate organization hires a second-rate coach, makes sense

[Justin Jaudon 221]

here's the thing. Skiles is an alright coach but he's going to be gone in 3 years and free agents aren't thrilled with him.

 

Those are two rather big assumptions. I get what you're saying, I do. You believe he's a builder not a winner, and you believe that free agents wouldn't like his personality (though I'm not sure what that is based on, other than pure conjecture and maybe a comparison of his personality to that of Stan VG, who Dwight didn't like). But no options out there have championships as head coach of an NBA team. Rick Carlisle bounced around a few times before winning a title in Dallas, and his attitude and supposed lack of player-friendliness were the reasons he was fired in Detroit and his reputation was hugely questioned after everything that went down in Indiana. Skiles may be in a similar situation in his career as Carlisle was after the Pacers gig.

[Magic4Ever-more 4]

I agree, I am tired of the homerism with this organization with the Brian Hill 2 times garbage!! Go out there and get us the best coach possible that has experience and that Free Agents want to play for! I am tired of second rate coaches like Vaughn, Hill, Davis, Etc. Bring us our Chuck Daly, bring us our Van Gundy. Translation: convince Brooks or Thibs that this is a Championship class organization that they want to be part of!

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Free agents are thrilled with money & winning. From the jump, Alex & Rob has said big FA signings were a thing of the past. If this hire works out, I see zero problems with us signing those hole-filler FAs.

 

Right but if the choice is between us and Boston or Philly and we all over the same amount of money the free agent wouldn't choose us.

[ILoveOrlandoMagic 12]

Is Scott the leading candiate just because he is a former Magic player? I would be disappointed with this hire since he is a medicore head coach