OT: Scott Brooks fired after 7 seasons with OKC
primarily because of their head coach rather than their star players?
I think a coach can ruin a talented team's chances several different ways, but I doubt a coach can turn a low-talent team into NBA champions.
I agree with that to an extent. The coaching here has been masterful, as well as the ability to build a really solid roster with players who are unselfish and know their roles. There is no true superstar on this team. This is their starting 5 - Horford (NTH), Korver, Teague, Millsap, Carroll.
Agree with your first sentence completely. Disagree with your second though - not sure they have enough firepower throughout the roster to be considered co-favorites for the title no matter who they get to replace Brooks. They USED TO have that depth level but the Hardin trade changed that for the worse.
IMO I would guess a lot of the people gnashing their teeth and rendering their garments over his firing are the same people that bemoan the NBA for playing a style (hero-ball) that hasnt been employed by successful teams in almost 10 years.
And it looks like a LOT of experts have problems with their "NBA IQ" given his rather pedestrian rankings when judged by his peers
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12561256/2015-front-office-rankings-t…
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24720910/nba-coaching-ra…
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2207716-power-ranking-all-30-nba-hea…
should start catching some heat too. Ownership refused to pay the luxury tax in order to keep Harden, then they traded him 6 months before they had to. Not to mention trading a first rounder for a poor fit in Dion Waiters. The Kanter move was okay and I think he'll be fine alongside Ibaka, but they've botched a lot of decisions. They took a late 2nd rounder (Josh Huestis) 27th because he agreed to be a D-Leaguer, instead of a player who could contribute. Then the injuries hit and depth wasn't there.
People here point to the addition of Smith, Shumpert & Mozgov as being the turning point in the season for the Cavs but the reality is it was the removal of that ball-hogging, three-point launching, no defense playing waste of court space that got us going in the right direction.
I can still see that selfish jerkoff pounding the air out of the ball at the top of the key while Love, Lebron, Irving & Andy would be standing around watching him. And with 3 seconds to go on the shot clock he'd either fire up a contested three or try and out-of-control runner. Both of which seldom worked.
When I heard what we were able to get for him in return I thought our GM should be immediately made executive of the year in the NBA. Waiters is a team killer.
Picture a younger and slightly more athletic Stephon Marbury......
You got a first rounder for him. Horrible, horrible move by OKC.
He's with our Shon Morris. Shon, what do you have for us?
I think it's a little odd given all the injuries this year, could've made sense to fire him the past couple years though. The rumours have been there, looks like they finally pulled the trigger.
Should be some interesting names out there: Thibs, Kevin Ollie, Cal, Donovan..
oh and this
Dammit man that's hilarious! I almost burst out laughing in class with my students writing an essay. Sheesh.
if you enjoy this kind of dumb humor https://www.facebook.com/nbapls
You seem pretty easily amused.
Thunder fan here to chime in...
Yes, Brooks has a stellar win percentage and had an injured KD all season. But this is a pretty solid move. The Thunder have been amongst the most talented teams for years but could never put it all together. Most people think they need a new voice, and with KD a FA after next season, next year might be their last chance to win it with this group.
Brooks has won a lot beceause he has KD and Russ and Ibaka and Harden (sigh). His offenses are stagnant and don't maximize talent. They just score a lot because they are so talented. He gets out-coached a lot in the playoffs and makes bad decisions like playing Perk as much as he did for so long.
This isnt a reaction to missing the playoffs this season. This is about having 7 years to see a coach in action and deciding to make a change. Get a new voice in who can push them and actually run an offense and hopefully be healthy next year and make the run.
The Mavericks?
Young team and another top 5 pick coming our way. Orlando really needs a good coach to put it back together.
This is my nightmare (my other is Billy Donovan).
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I wish nothing but misery on OKC as a franchise. Which sucks because I obviously love McGary and I already liked Durant and Westbrook. But their owner is such a lying weasel that I never feel bad watching their franchise have bad luck. I hope they hire a terrible coach who makes nothing but terrible decisions other than playing McGary 40 minutes a night.
Of course, the real blame falls on Howard Schultz, who was a naive putz to believe that Clay Bennett was ever going to even lift a finger to keep the team in Seattle. Why he ever thought he should trust a man like Clay Bennett is beyond me--the man had lying snake written all over him.
People still watch the NBA?
That's hilarious.
Go. Away.
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It's a shoe and apparel commercial.
Yes people still watch the NBA, in fact Sunday's game between Cleveland and Boston was the 3rd most viewed first round playoff game ever.
If you think watching Curry, Thompson, and the Warriors ot efficient teams like the Spurs or Hawks with complex offenses are boring, then you don't like basketball. Not to mention the incredible job Brad Stevens is doing in Boston, Lebron and Kyrie in Cleveland, DRose playing well again despite his lack of knees, etc.
The NBA is a cruel place to coach. Look at his record and he has done a lot. It's like Avery Johnson with Dallas. In pro sports, don't expect a coach to be around long.
boom
/overreacting guy pretending not to get the sarcasm
OKC season was bad because of injuries and injuries of any kind kill a teams season,
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Exhibit A - OKC lost the NBA Finals because Pat Riley disciple Erik Spoelstra made adjustments following a game 1 loss and coached circles around Brooks the remainder of the gentlemen's sweep. People automatically chalk it up to Miami being the more talented team... I'd take KD/Westbrook/Harden/Ibaka over Bron/Wade/Bosh any day of the week, even 3 years ago. It actually might've been easier back then because Harden & Westbrook hadn't established themselves as ball dominant alpha males yet, so they would've been more accepting of their 2nd & 3rd banana roles.
Exhibit B - Kendrick Perkins.
Brooks didn't have to do anything fancy, elaborate or reinvent the wheel... Can you imagine the kind of offense a steady dose of pick and roll with Westbrook and Durant would have created? John Stockton and Karl Malone don't have a tenth of the athleticism or offensive talent as those two and they created a decade plus HOF careers for themselves running just that. It's an impossible decision.... Go under the screen, Russ pulls up for an open 3 or midrange jumper. Fight over it, he drives into a wide open lane for a dunk, layup, corner 3 or lob to Serge. Double Westbrook, then KD, the leagues most potent and diverse scorer, gets wide open looks.
Word on the street is dissension in Chicago. D. Rose making it back for the playoffs is a nice story and will make their matchup with Cleveland more interesting and watchable, but they're not getting past the Cavs, period. This current Cleveland roster has more experience together than the 22 games Chicago's D. Rose lineup was able to put together, and Cleveland has home court and the 3 best players on the floor. It's not unheard of for successful coaches to be let go of franchises for what seems like no good reason. Jim Harbaugh anyone? Jimmy Johnson? Thibs would turn OKC into a top 5 defensive team. Hell, Kerr turned GS into the best this year. They'd meet GS in a classic WCF, and the winner would beat the Cavs next year.
Playing Kendrick Perkins is literally one of the dumbest coaching decisions in the past decade of professional sports
Look at some of the great coaches in the Western conference. Popovich, Kerr, Rivers, Carlisle and even Hornacek. They have the talent to win big with the right hire.
About damn time. He had virtually no offensive system and none of the Thunder's role players improved. Will be interesting to see who they get. Thunder are cheap so it may not be a marquee name.
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