Minnesota Sports Forum

https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/qa-assistant-coach-joseph-blair

Who will coach the defense now?

This is kinda weird to me. The thing I will say about it is he wasn't exactly a proven guy to lead a defense. Maybe the Wolves will end up with someone more experienced.

Who are some potential replacements for Blair?

lipoli390 wrote:Who are some potential replacements for Blair?

I'm available and I was able to pass Rosas my resume when I walked past the Wolves contingent. :)

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Who are some potential replacements for Blair?

I'm available and I was able to pass Rosas my resume when I walked past the Wolves contingent. :)

Let me know if you need a reference. :) If they pass on you, I have a couple other ideas. How about Luol Deng? Andre Miller? I have no idea what they're doing or whether they're interested in coaching. But they always struck me as two of the smartest basketball players who got the most out of their abilities. Luol was a really good defender.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Who are some potential replacements for Blair?

I'm available and I was able to pass Rosas my resume when I walked past the Wolves contingent. :)

Let me know if you need a reference. :) If they pass on you, I have a couple other ideas. How about Luol Deng? Andre Miller? I have no idea what they're doing or whether they're interested in coaching. But they always struck me as two of the smartest basketball players who got the most out of their abilities. Luol was a really good defender.

Yeah I could see both of those guys doing well as coaches of some kind.

Culver was making his case as a player coach.

In all seriousness I have no real ideas of who they should hire. Finch promoted Blair because he saw something in him and apparently he wasn't the only one. They should hire someone from the coaching staff of either the Jazz or Suns. 4 minutes to go in this game and the score is 55-45 Utah...

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Who are some potential replacements for Blair?

I'm available and I was able to pass Rosas my resume when I walked past the Wolves contingent. :)

Let me know if you need a reference. :) If they pass on you, I have a couple other ideas. How about Luol Deng? Andre Miller? I have no idea what they're doing or whether they're interested in coaching. But they always struck me as two of the smartest basketball players who got the most out of their abilities. Luol was a really good defender.

I know Marcus Camby wanted to get into coaching a few years ago, but said that at the time he was just enjoying being retired and being a father. He also said that he knew it would be something for him to do in the future. I'd like to think Camby could be of some value to a defensively-challenged Wolves team -- especially of value to Karl-Anthony Towns.

The more I reflect on it, the more perplexed I am about Blair's last-minute decision to leave the Wolves for a position with the Wizards. The Wolves had just promoted Blair to be one of only three "front of bench coaches" on the team along with Micah and Pablo. He was also put in charge of the Wolves defense. And he was also selected to coach the Wolves Summer League Team. Jon K's initial report that Blair left for "a more prominent role" with another team doesn't ring true. Short of being named head coach, you can't get a more prominent coaching than what the Wolves had just given him.

Maybe Blair really wanted to live in the Washington DC area. Maybe he's very tight with Wes Unseld. Or maybe he just couldn't stand the thought of another lottery finish with the Wolves and assumed he'd have a much better chance of making the playoffs with the Wizards. But it's not like he bolted for a sure-fire playoff team and he certainly didn't land with a championship contender.

On the other hand, perhaps there's an internal issue we're not aware of. Maybe he doesn't like working under Finch. Maybe he can't get along with Pablo or Micah, although it's hard to imagine anyone having a hard time getting along with Pablo. Such a sudden and unexpected departure right after being promoted and featured in the Wolves organization just seems really odd to me.

I hope the Wolves can bring in a former NBA player with some gravitas to replace Blair. I have no idea who that might be or who is even available and interested. But getting the right guy in to replace Blair will be another test for this organization. I hope they don't simply promote Jeff Newton no matter how well he does as the team's Summer League coach.

lipoli390 wrote:The more I reflect on it, the more perplexed I am about Blair's last-minute decision to leave the Wolves for a position with the Wizards. The Wolves had just promoted Blair to be one of only three "front of bench coaches" on the team along with Micah and Pablo. He was also put in charge of the Wolves defense. And he was also selected to coach the Wolves Summer League Team. Jon K's initial report that Blair left for "a more prominent role" with another team doesn't ring true. Short of being named head coach, you can't get a more prominent coaching than what the Wolves had just given him.

Maybe Blair really wanted to live in the Washington DC area. Maybe he's very tight with Wes Unseld. Or maybe he just couldn't stand the thought of another lottery finish with the Wolves and assumed he'd have a much better chance of making the playoffs with the Wizards. But it's not like he bolted for a sure-fire playoff team and he certainly didn't land with a championship contender.

On the other hand, perhaps there's an internal issue we're not aware of. Maybe he doesn't like working under Finch. Maybe he can't get along with Pablo or Micah, although it's hard to imagine anyone having a hard time getting along with Pablo. Such a sudden and unexpected departure right after being promoted and featured in the Wolves organization just seems really odd to me.

I hope the Wolves can bring in a former NBA player with some gravitas to replace Blair. I have no idea who that might be or who is even available and interested. But getting the right guy in to replace Blair will be another test for this organization. I hope they don't simply promote Jeff Newton no matter how well he does as the team's Summer League coach.

It is weird Lip. I have a possible at least partial explanation. What if Blair wasn't throughly excited about being the defensive coordinator or at the very least felt like another opportunity would utilize his skills better? I believe Blair has never been a front row assistant and he had 2 teams willing to give him that spot. It's also possible he thinks the Wizards opportunity as a better path to a head coaching gig. He won a G-league championship as the Vipers head coach in 2019 so it's possible he has his sights set on a head coaching gig. In a vacuum the Wolves coaching staff is basically the same level of success/experience situation as the Wizards. Finch is a guy that got his start last year mid season And the Wizards are starting with a first time head coach. It's still weird and another thing I find strange is the Wolves let him go. I wonder if we will find out some more info that somewhat clears this up. Like Blair has some tie to the East coast or is super tight with Kyle Kuzma or something. Lol

As weird as this is did anyone really know who Blair was before a few weeks ago? It's possible he is a top assistant and we really lot out but it's possible he is just another guy. I hope they find a really quality guy to replace him.

Well...at least we don't have Jason Kidd coaching here...