Camden wrote:Joerger has a history of winning in his background. Five league championships (IBA, 3 x CBA, D-League). First year as an NBA head coach he won 50 games while his best player, Marc Gasol, missed 23 games. As a 40 year old man, he's been incredibly successful in his career to this point. I'd also say he has NBA championship level potential. The way he coached his Grizzlies against the Thunder in the first round this year was spectacular. If Conley stays healthy and Z-Bo isn't suspended for Game 7, I fully believe that OKC goes down. Joerger exploited OKC's weaknesses and even beat them in some strengths (small ball lineups). You talk about Mitchell getting the most of his players, but let's bring up how Joerger made Nick Calathes, James Johnson, Beno Udrih and Jon Leuer legitimate rotation players at different points of the season. He also re-energized Courtney Lee's career.
Those two playoff teams Mitchell had were easy outs in the East and looked sloppy in their one-and-done series. 2007, his 3-seed Raptors lost to the 6-seed Nets in six games. That Nets team won 34 games that year. 2008 is easier to understand as they lost in five to a good Orlando team. Point was, Joerger looked good as a playoff coach. Mitchell looked.. not good.
"In any case, I find it difficult to argue that Dave Joerger's pro results have been more impressive than Sam Mitchell's."
This has to be just a case of you backing up a guy you were a fan of. If Mitchell wasn't a former Wolves player, would you look at his resume and advocate for him? Probably not.
I'm a compassionate man, cam, and I'm trying to perform a public service here. Right now, there seems to be some likelihood that Mitchell will be our next coach, and I want to keep you guys away from bridges and ledges when it happens :) . But yes, I also fully admit that my admiration for Mitchell colors my opinion.
You make some good points about Joerger's performance vis a vis Mitchell in the playoffs, and it's one of the reasons I was excited about Joerger coming here. But on the other hand, step back a minute and compare the rosters Joerger and Mitchell coached when they won 50 and 47 games, respectively, and tell me which is the more impressive performance. I mean, honestly:
Bosh
Nesterovic
Garbajosa
Carter
Ford.
How many of those guys would have started for Memphis this year, or even for the Wolves? If Mitchell can win 47 games with that group of clowns, I'm intrigued with what he can do here.
