Two coaches fired in one move?

[KiwiMatt]

Sign him up and keep Sam as an assistant.

[worldK]

Sign him up and keep Sam as an assistant.

Bad idea. If your going to get a new coach, let him have free reign to choose his assistants. Forcing the former coach to be his assistant is creating unnecessary drama.

[bleedspeed]

Sign him up and keep Sam as an assistant.

Bad idea. If your going to get a new coach, let him have free reign to choose his assistants. Forcing the former coach to be his assistant is creating unnecessary drama.

I think you do it for the rest of the year. Certainly this would have to be handled with kid gloves and communicated with Sam and KG. Lip might know if there has been any hint of taking the interm tag off Sam, but it doesn't seem like that has even been brought up once outside. That says something to a degree.

[Monster]

It's been widely reported He took over as the defensive specialist soon after being hired by the Grizzlies.

If Joeger gets fired he makes a ton of sense as THE guy taking over this team. He already did some sort of interview contact with everyone here including Flip. He is from MN. He has experience. He is fairly young. He likes developing young players from when he was in the lower leagues. I don't know if he would be the guy we desperately want in the end but I would like bringing him on. I'll wait to see it (him being fired) actually happen before I get wrapped up in this too much. I've been hurt before...lol

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I was not opposed to the potential Joerger move two years ago when he jilted us at the alter, but I'm trying to understand the love for him now over Sam. The guy is about to be fired because the decision makers that see him every day think he is underachieving with the roster he has been given. Joerger has been given a roster with several very good players in the sweet spot of their careers (as opposed to the Wolves' roster which is mostly guys that are 20 or 40), and yet still Memphis lags the Wolves in most statistical measures this year. Offensively the Wolves average 6 PPG more than the Griz, with a better shooting percentage. And although defense is supposed to be Joerger's forte, Sam has his defense holding opposition to a lower shooting percentage both overall and on threes, despite the big step back they have taken with Martin in the starting lineup (and I agree that is a failed choice by Sam).

I'm trying to understand why a guy who is about to be fired and has his team ranking statistically behind Sam's despite having a roster full of guys at the peak of their careers is an upgrade over our coach. I agree that he is smoother with the media than Sam, but is that the reason we think Joerger is a better coach? There's a reason he's about to be fired, guys.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I was not opposed to the potential Joerger move two years ago when he jilted us at the alter, but I'm trying to understand the love for him now over Sam. The guy is about to be fired because the decision makers that see him every day think he is underachieving with the roster he has been given. Joerger has been given a roster with several very good players in the sweet spot of their careers (as opposed to the Wolves' roster which is mostly guys that are 20 or 40), and yet still Memphis lags the Wolves in most statistical measures this year. Offensively the Wolves average 6 PPG more than the Griz, with a better shooting percentage. And although defense is supposed to be Joerger's forte, Sam has his defense holding opposition to a lower shooting percentage both overall and on threes, despite the big step back they have taken with Martin in the starting lineup (and I agree that is a failed choice by Sam).

I'm trying to understand why a guy who is about to be fired and has his team ranking statistically behind Sam's despite having a roster full of guys at the peak of their careers is an upgrade over our coach. I agree that he is smoother with the media than Sam, but is that the reason we think Joerger is a better coach? There's a reason he's about to be fired, guys.

Kind of related...

- The Grizzlies are ranked #23 offensively and #24 defensively. The team's expected W/L record is 9 - 17.
- The Wolves are ranked #15 offensive and #20 defensively. The team's expected W/L record is 11 - 13.

The Grizzlies are 14 - 12 in real life.
The Wolves are 9 - 15.

Does that mean Joerger is better than Mitchell this season? Or vice versa? I don't know. I guess part of it is what you decide is most important from a coach.


[Note: As for the "sweet spot of their careers"... Memphis starts 3 or 4 guys over 30, with two of them 34 and the youngest one at 28. The first guy off the bench is a 35-year-old journeyman. The team's 3rd leading scorer is in his 15th season.]

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I was not opposed to the potential Joerger move two years ago when he jilted us at the alter, but I'm trying to understand the love for him now over Sam. The guy is about to be fired because the decision makers that see him every day think he is underachieving with the roster he has been given. Joerger has been given a roster with several very good players in the sweet spot of their careers (as opposed to the Wolves' roster which is mostly guys that are 20 or 40), and yet still Memphis lags the Wolves in most statistical measures this year. Offensively the Wolves average 6 PPG more than the Griz, with a better shooting percentage. And although defense is supposed to be Joerger's forte, Sam has his defense holding opposition to a lower shooting percentage both overall and on threes, despite the big step back they have taken with Martin in the starting lineup (and I agree that is a failed choice by Sam).

I'm trying to understand why a guy who is about to be fired and has his team ranking statistically behind Sam's despite having a roster full of guys at the peak of their careers is an upgrade over our coach. I agree that he is smoother with the media than Sam, but is that the reason we think Joerger is a better coach? There's a reason he's about to be fired, guys.

Kind of related...

- The Grizzlies are ranked #23 offensively and #24 defensively. The team's expected W/L record is 9 - 17.
- The Wolves are ranked #15 offensive and #20 defensively. The team's expected W/L record is 11 - 13.

The Grizzlies are 14 - 12 in real life.
The Wolves are 9 - 15.

Does that mean Joerger is better than Mitchell this season? Or vice versa? I don't know. I guess part of it is what you decide is most important from a coach.


[Note: As for the "sweet spot of their careers"... Memphis starts 3 or 4 guys over 30, with two of them 34 and the youngest one at 28. The first guy off the bench is a 35-year-old journeyman. The team's 3rd leading scorer is in his 15th season.]

That's interesting stuff, abe, and I don't know the answer. I guess I understand offensive and defensive shooting percentage, but I don't know how expected W/L is calculated. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that expected W/L is based on statistical rankings, but you also need to know how to win...and Memphis has that figured out better than we do. Mitchell detractors will pin that on him and say better coaching would lead to more wins. I point to the youth and inexperience of our roster, and think our young guys just haven't yet learned how to win.

I agree with you that Memphis relies on a few guys who are past their prime, but 4 of the 5 guys with the most minutes are between the ages of 28-30, and that's about as sweet as a spot can be. And their 5th guy is 34, which would be considered "young" by Wolves veteran standards. Most of the guys Joerger relies on are either right in or just past the peak of their careers and know what it takes to win in the NBA, and you can see why management is expecting more. In contrast, 3 of the Wolves' players in the top 5 in minutes are not old enough to vote yet. I think we can all agree that it is much more challenging to coach a roster like the Wolves' than one like the Grizzlies'. Taking the long view though, I'll take our roster every time.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

I prefer Scott Brooks. I think he'd be a great coach for our young talent.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I would love to have joerger as our next coach. I dont see us changing coach during the season but I would love to have joerger on board next season. He is a fine coach who can coach both offense and defense.

The current memphis team has peak already in my view. You can only go so far with a gasol/randolph/conley core. With their personnel, they are going to be a playoff team with no real shot at a championship. They need to shake things up.

Joerger on the wolves would be a good match.

That's all true, but they had a hell of a nice run of seasons. I'd take that over the misery we've suffered through over the past decade.