Windhorst: Sam Mitchell won't be returning

[Coolbreeze44]

I'd prefer a coach below 50 for starters. I want to see a coach who can grow with this team, just as much as I want to see the players grow with him. Generally, the coaches in the 50s and 60s are on their last platform to get a title win, pushing for specific trades, have their coaching mentality/plays set. Definite no for Van Gundy or Thibodeau for me. Van Gundy has found a more comfortable job position, and I don't want to see another PBO/Coach. Thibodeau would push for the same, and I also don't like how hard he ran his Bulls teams into the floor. They were always gassed come playoff time, and he was so uninventive when it came to the offensive side of the ball. Pair all of those things with his lack of personality with the media and he just doesn't fit here.

This is my pool of candidates for the head coaching position:

Kenny Atkinson
Dave Joerger
Kevin Ollie
Sean Miller
Becky Hammon
Shaka Smart
Sam Cassell
Juwan Howard
Jay Larranaga
Nate Bjorkgren
Adrian Griffin
Tony Bennett
David Vanterpool

I'd be happy with any of these coaches, and would prefer one to become our head coach, and another our assistant. This firm should do its homework and will likely hit on a few of these candidates.

Does anybody here have any good/bad insight on any of the above coaches?

Of your list, I would advocate for Ollie (best fit IMO), Smart and Cassell. Do not like Miller, Howard, and Bennett. Love Becky Hammon, but she isn't anybody's candidate yet.

[TheFuture]

Why don't you like Bennett? The thing that intrigues me about him is his ability to consistently compete without having any star talent. Now, some may say that points to his inability to develop players into NBA players, but I cant remember UVA ever having a bonafide top recruit. Yet, he seems to always have them performing as a top defense that annually makes the tournament.

My current favorites are Atkinson, Ollie, Smart, Cassell, Hammon and Bennett. The thing about Cassell is that I really would like to steer away from any Minnesota connections moving forward, which is why I left Hoiberg off the list, but I felt with his short stint here and long career that he could be an excellent choice.

Atkinson, as previously stated here by TeamRicky, is going to be coaching the Dominican Republic team, has proven in the last few years that he can definitely develop players, has a lengthy European connection from playing there, and has a great connection with his players. He makes a lot of sense. He could possibly get Horford to join here with him, hopefully on a reasonable contract. Will be coaching Towns and Horford together on the Dominican team, and has a plethora of young talent to work with and develop.

Smart, Ollie, and Bennett have all proven to be able to win at the college level, and most without top talent like a Callipari. They all seem inventive in their personal approach to the game, and are good personalities.

Hammon proved she could lead a team to win in the summer league, and caught the eye of Popovich. That says a big deal to me. She's also very young, obviously a good basketball mind, and would likely go above and beyond with these young guys on her way to proving that woman can coach in this league, as she would be the first one to do so. Hey, the motherly impact could do some good to a bunch of 20 year olds going through some major changes in life as well, right?
:-d

[Monster]

On wolves Media types Britt is a columnist he isn't trying to get inside scoops and admits as much. Heck he actually says he hates watching college basketball. Plus the guy isn't just a sports writer he does music and stuff. Very different than they other guys.

So this hiring of a firm is just for show? Ok that's weird. So really Glen could have saved money and just skyped some guys and hired the one he wanted? I'm not buying it's just for show and sure they aren't going to be the the end answer but remember back the last time Glen opened up this type of search it seemed he did it himself and landed David Kahn. I feel a lot better about him hiring a legit search firm even with that manic dude with the Smile...ah that's why we hired him the smile. Lol

I think one thing that's significant is at the end of the season a number of wolves fans are giving Sam some props for the job he did. I never thought he should keep the job long term and while I get where LST is coming from with keeping the same guy if Glen feels like this is a good time to reset and get the right guys to lead the organization than let's do it and do it right. It's weird but that seems to be what Glen is doing. There should be plenty of options and like I said before oddly a lot of guys are going to have ties to the Wolves. Should be interesting. I think Milt and the guys already here are gonna be the ones drafting as it may not be a quick process. We will see I'm oddly relaxed about the whole thing.

[Coolbreeze44]

Why don't you like Bennett? The thing that intrigues me about him is his ability to consistently compete without having any star talent. Now, some may say that points to his inability to develop players into NBA players, but I cant remember UVA ever having a bonafide top recruit. Yet, he seems to always have them performing as a top defense that annually makes the tournament.

My current favorites are Atkinson, Ollie, Smart, Cassell, Hammon and Bennett. The thing about Cassell is that I really would like to steer away from any Minnesota connections moving forward, which is why I left Hoiberg off the list, but I felt with his short stint here and long career that he could be an excellent choice.

Atkinson, as previously stated here by TeamRicky, is going to be coaching the Dominican Republic team, has proven in the last few years that he can definitely develop players, has a lengthy European connection from playing there, and has a great connection with his players. He makes a lot of sense. He could possibly get Horford to join here with him, hopefully on a reasonable contract. Will be coaching Towns and Horford together on the Dominican team, and has a plethora of young talent to work with and develop.

Smart, Ollie, and Bennett have all proven to be able to win at the college level, and most without top talent like a Callipari. They all seem inventive in their personal approach to the game, and are good personalities.

Hammon proved she could lead a team to win in the summer league, and caught the eye of Popovich. That says a big deal to me. She's also very young, obviously a good basketball mind, and would likely go above and beyond with these young guys on her way to proving that woman can coach in this league, as she would be the first one to do so. Hey, the motherly impact could do some good to a bunch of 20 year olds going through some major changes in life as well, right?
:-d

I like Bennett as a college coach a lot. But he's one guy who I don't think translates to the pro game very well. Kevin Ollie can coach anywhere at any level. I don't know enough about Atkinson to have a worthwhile take. Becky Hammon is a personal favorite as a player and person, but she just isn't ready to lead an NBA franchise.

[worldK]

I like dave jeorger the best. He is under contract with a playoff team right now but his name is being mentioned and flip did have him on his list of coaches before he passed away. We probably would have to asked permission again from the grizzlies but I believe he is the best candidate for the team. He can coach both offense and defense and is young and charismatic enough to lead this team.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Why don't you like Bennett? The thing that intrigues me about him is his ability to consistently compete without having any star talent. Now, some may say that points to his inability to develop players into NBA players, but I cant remember UVA ever having a bonafide top recruit. Yet, he seems to always have them performing as a top defense that annually makes the tournament.

My current favorites are Atkinson, Ollie, Smart, Cassell, Hammon and Bennett. The thing about Cassell is that I really would like to steer away from any Minnesota connections moving forward, which is why I left Hoiberg off the list, but I felt with his short stint here and long career that he could be an excellent choice.

Atkinson, as previously stated here by TeamRicky, is going to be coaching the Dominican Republic team, has proven in the last few years that he can definitely develop players, has a lengthy European connection from playing there, and has a great connection with his players. He makes a lot of sense. He could possibly get Horford to join here with him, hopefully on a reasonable contract. Will be coaching Towns and Horford together on the Dominican team, and has a plethora of young talent to work with and develop.

Smart, Ollie, and Bennett have all proven to be able to win at the college level, and most without top talent like a Callipari. They all seem inventive in their personal approach to the game, and are good personalities.

Hammon proved she could lead a team to win in the summer league, and caught the eye of Popovich. That says a big deal to me. She's also very young, obviously a good basketball mind, and would likely go above and beyond with these young guys on her way to proving that woman can coach in this league, as she would be the first one to do so. Hey, the motherly impact could do some good to a bunch of 20 year olds going through some major changes in life as well, right?
:-d

I like Bennett as a college coach a lot. But he's one guy who I don't think translates to the pro game very well. Kevin Ollie can coach anywhere at any level. I don't know enough about Atkinson to have a worthwhile take. Becky Hammon is a personal favorite as a player and person, but she just isn't ready to lead an NBA franchise.

Atkinson is growing on me. I honestly didn't know much about him a year ago, but the more I read about him, the more I like him. I'd have to say he's in my top 4 guys now and he's a younger alternative to Thibs, JVG and Brooks. He's mentioned pretty prominently for most recent head coaching jobs, more so than even Luke Walton. Lauded as an expert at developing young talent by many including Adelman, very passionate and works all hours, supposed to a top Xs and Os guy and is top assistant at Atlanta which arguably has had the top defense in the NBA this season. He also is connected internationally and is viewed as a players coach. He'll be coaching Domincan Republic team, so he's connected to Horford in multiple ways and could help lure him here. He's 48 years old so he's a bit younger than the trio of 50 something coaches we are considering. And to my knowledge never been fired from a coaching job. In fact, he was the only assistant retained by the Knicks when they made a coaching change.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I've said this before, but we need a proven [good/great] NBA head coach here and not someone trying to get their feet wet. I'm not a fan of a young team being led by a young, rookie coach. There's just too many things that can go wrong. And as I've pointed out before, Fred Hoiberg and Billy Donovan, while I like both of them, haven't really shown a smooth transition to the NBA. Better to go after someone who's already made some noise in the league, preferably in the playoffs.

[Coolbreeze44]

I've said this before, but we need a proven [good/great] NBA head coach here and not someone trying to get their feet wet. I'm not a fan of a young team being led by a young, rookie coach. There's just too many things that can go wrong. And as I've pointed out before, Fred Hoiberg and Billy Donovan, while I like both of them, haven't really shown a smooth transition to the NBA. Better to go after someone who's already made some noise in the league, preferably in the playoffs.

What's wrong with the job Donovan has done?

[Monster]

I tend to agree with Cam on getting a guy that has legit experience and there are plenty of worthwhile options with experience deep in the playoffs. Heck there are 2 coaches available that have coached in an NBA finals. I'll say this about Donovan that his coaching staff had a pretty rough season he lost some really good assistants and those guys matter. I was t sure what I thought about Donovan as an NBA coach but I think there was plenty to keep that team back to judge his first season as a disappointment.

A couple thoughts on the field as so see it right now.

Best coach available Thibs. Playoff experience, overachieved, young players developed, vet guys came in and played well under him, your team will play defense and play hard. There are some downsides but Thibs seems like the best coach if you are just talking pure coaching.

Safe bet and fit.

Scottie Brooks seems like a nice fit. He has done this before all the way to a finals where he was out psyched. Has ties to the Wolves seems like a nice personality to be the face of a franchise. His upside seems limited because of what he wasn't able to do but he seems like a nice fit. Not saying he is the right guy but safe and fit Brooks makes a lot of sense.

Young up and coming guy.

I haven't decided who my guy here is. So many names are out there and the unproven worries me. May ewe get the next great coach or maybe we end up firing him 1.5 years later. There are a couple younger guys that also have some HC experience.

[Monster]

Also FWIW I was listening to Jalen (Rose) and Jacoby show on the way home from work and they were taking about Towns winning ROY and that turned into talking about the potential HC jobs and they both thought the Wolves was the best one with Towns and the young core they have. They both agreed they thought Thins would be great there. Interesting some national media types saying that about the Wolves not just homers like us.