Minnesota Sports Forum

Ok Yey another coaching thread right?!? Well in this one I was thinking of breaking down some options with good and bad. No coach we can get is perfect. Here are a couple of guys I have thought a bit more in depth about the last couple of days. Breakdown guys you would like or have interest in. I am interested in what people have to say in terms of positives and negatives of each candidate.

Thibs

He is likely the best proven get more out of a team coach available right now. He can coach defense. He has had young players succeed under him. He has had vets succeed under him. One problem he has for this job is we have Sam right now that coaches guys hard Thibs coaches guys hard too. That might not be the best way to go. Thibs seemed to rub people the wrong way and run players hard supposedly. That seems a poor fit after Sam. That doesn't mean you don't hire him for that reason but it is another reason to pause for me.

Scottie Brooks

He took a young team with a lot of talent from suck to contender status. Was it him or was it talent? Idk he had to at least be a worthwhile coach you can't win that many games inspite of a coach. He isn't an old guy and I would imagine many of these young players would be like "oh hey I know Scottie Brooks he coached OKC..." You would think he would have some instant credibility and players wanting him to take them to the next level like he did with Durant Westbrook Harden and Ibaka. He got fired but he wasn't replaced by some hot assistant or something it was Billy Donovan one of the best college coaches in the nation. Hey I am getting excited about Brooks. He has Minnesota ties and... But why did he get fired? He didn't make the right adjustments in the playoffs. He ended up playing ISO ball right? He couldn't get those big wins and didn't the defense start to falter also? Ok ok maybe he isn't perfect then. I was getting so excited there for a minute.

Is it crazy to think Jerry Sloan would be perfect for this group? Sure he is old but he could really jump-start this group similar to how Hubie Brown put the Grizzlies on the right path. Then in 2 or 3 years the team can transition to the long term answer. The job might look exceptionally attractive at that time. I'm guessing the Wolves would have more interest than Sloan would though. There is probably a reason that his name no longer comes up for openings.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Is it crazy to think Jerry Sloan would be perfect for this group? Sure he is old but he could really jump-start this group similar to how Hubie Brown put the Grizzlies on the right path. Then in 2 or 3 years the team can transition to the long term answer. The job might look exceptionally attractive at that time. I'm guessing the Wolves would have more interest than Sloan would though. There is probably a reason that his name no longer comes up for openings.

Wouldn't Sloan bench all these guys? I don't know if he has it in him to reach the Milennials. He'd probably trade away our talent for vets that hustle. I love Sloan I just think he lost Utah when they had a lot of promise, wasn't all his fault though. Williams turned out to be a real douche.

thedoper wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Is it crazy to think Jerry Sloan would be perfect for this group? Sure he is old but he could really jump-start this group similar to how Hubie Brown put the Grizzlies on the right path. Then in 2 or 3 years the team can transition to the long term answer. The job might look exceptionally attractive at that time. I'm guessing the Wolves would have more interest than Sloan would though. There is probably a reason that his name no longer comes up for openings.

Wouldn't Sloan bench all these guys? I don't know if he has it in him to reach the Milennials. He'd probably trade away our talent for vets that hustle. I love Sloan I just think he lost Utah when they had a lot of promise, wasn't all his fault though. Williams turned out to be a real douche.

Sloan is an interesting suggestion. He turns 74 in a few weeks I would imagine he is done. It's hard to imagine him really throwing himself into a situation with a really young roster at his age etc.

Scott Brooks NBA coaching record:

[hide]Team Year G W L W-L% Finish PG PW PL PW-L% Result
Oklahoma City 2008-09 69 22 47 .319 5th in Northwest -- -- -- -- Missed Playoffs
Oklahoma City 2009-10 82 50 32 .610 4th in Northwest 6 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round
Oklahoma City 2010-11 82 55 27 .671 1st in Northwest 17 9 8 .529 Lost in Conf. Finals
Oklahoma City 2011-12 66 47 19 .712 1st in Northwest 20 13 7 .650 Lost in NBA Finals
Oklahoma City 2012-13 82 60 22 .732 1st in Northwest 11 5 6 .455 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Oklahoma City 2013-14 82 59 23 .720 1st in Northwest 19 10 9 .526 Lost in Conf. Finals
Oklahoma City 2014-15 82 45 37 .549 2nd in Northwest - - - - Missed Playoffs
Career 545 338 207 .620 73 39 34 .534

Thibs NBA coaching record:


[hide]Team Year G W L W-L% Finish PG PW PL PW-L% Result
Chicago 2010-11 82 62 20 .756 1st in Central 16 9 7 .563 Lost in Conf. Finals
Chicago 2011-12 66 50 16 .758 1st in Central 6 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round
Chicago 2012-13 82 45 37 .549 2nd in Central 12 5 7 .417 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Chicago 2013-14 82 48 34 .585 2nd in Central 5 1 4 .200 Lost in First Round
Chicago 2014-15 82 50 32 .610 2nd in Central 12 6 6 .500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
394 255 139 .647 51 23 28 .451

JVG NBA coaching record:


[hide]Team Year G W L W-L% Finish PG PW PL PW-L% Result
New York 1995-96 23 13 10 .565 2nd in Atlantic 8 4 4 .500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
New York 1996-97 82 57 25 .695 2nd in Atlantic 10 6 4 .600 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
New York 1997-98 82 43 39 .524 2nd in Atlantic 10 4 6 .400 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
New York 1998-99 50 27 23 .540 4th in Atlantic 20 12 8 .600 Lost in NBA Finals
New York 1999-00 82 50 32 .610 2nd in Atlantic 16 9 7 .563 Lost in Conf. Finals
New York 2000-01 82 48 34 .585 3rd in Atlantic 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
New York 2001-02 19 10 9 .526 (resigned) -- -- -- -- --
Houston 2003-04 82 45 37 .540 5th in Midwest 5 1 4 .200 Lost in First Round
Houston 2004-05 82 51 31 .622 3rd in Southwest 7 3 4 .429 Lost in First Round
Houston 2005-06 82 34 48 .415 5th in Southwest -- -- -- -- Missed Playoffs
Houston 2006-07 82 52 30 .634 3rd in Southwest 7 3 4 .429 Lost in First Round
Career 748 430 318 .575 88 44 44 .500

Birthdates:

Thibs: January 17, 1958
JVG: January 19, 1962
Brooks: July 31, 1965

Besides the Big 3, some other names out there: Luke Walton, Kenny Atkinson, Steve Nash (?), Izzo, Avery Johnson, Mark Jackson, Calipari, McHale.

The Wolves have gone through a bunch of well worn or new but worthless coaches. My hope is at this point they could find somebody young, SMART, and hungry. That said I'd happily take a McHale or pretty much anybody for the rest of this season. But long term they need a good fit, someone positive, someone SMART. I think ideally it would be somebody young who fits well with the personality of the team. These guys need to be let loose, not restrained which is what is happening now.