re: SVG Meeting with Pels

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I was legit asking, not insinuating that no one had anything good to say about him.

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Yeah, he's definitely closer to Thibodeau than Gentry on the coaching personality/practice intensity scale. So that tends to have a chilling effect on the effusive praise, but also maybe something this young team in particular needs.

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Has anyone said anything positive about him other than JJ?

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I honestly agree that is my biggest reservation. At the same time, I expect Griffin is aware of his history as well and will make damn certain SVG is bought in and any concerns are addressed convincingly.

That said, setting aside SVG's willingness to reform his coaching technicals, the Van Gundy's have always come off as men with egos's and mentalities better fit for another era.

I know there are a lot of people that think great coaching = yelling at players and dressing them down like they are children, but that shite only works in situations where you are at the mercy of the coach. shite doesn't fly so well when your key players are richer than you and can demand a trade or get you fired on a dime. It requires fostering relationships of respect and mutual admiration. You don't want to be Uncle Gentry, but the Tom Izzo, Coach K, Will Wade approach isn't going to work in this league for a lot of players. And I do have concern because that approach, with a bit of neurosis, is moderately associated with the Van Gundy's.

All that said, he's still a guy I am comfortable hiring.

SVG is now the #1 guy on my list.

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That's not the process JJ describes. It was basically being honest and saying "you need to do this to play". In JJs recent interview with Coach K he talked about the summer after his 2nd year when he Stan didn't play him much. He basically spent 6 days a week working out to change his body and improve his athleticism and he said if he hadn't done that he might not have stayed in the league.

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To re-emphasize, I don't think he is quite some Tom Thibs or Coach K type tyrant(but certainly more on that end of the spectrum then near Gentry), I think like the Shaq comment, there is a component to his personality and coaching that can at times be somewhat unapologetically adversarial, dictatorial, and, at times, crass, and those sort of coaches tend to have some difficulties. At least when that approach migrates from guys like Reddick that feel their opportunities are fragile, vs the big egos you will ultimately need to manage and build mutual respect if you become a contender.

Keep in mind he is still at the top of my list of the reported candidates, so take this criticism as trying to see the positives and negatives, not me wanting to stack the deck and argue against him.

Because on the positive side it seems clear as a coach he runs a really tight ship, he has a strong basketball mind that is comfortable evolving and adapting, he knows how to set players on the right development path, he schemes relatively well, he's analytically minded, he has a proven track record when put in the right situation(which we can give him). I would even argue there are some shades of Carlisle in how I see SVG. In that like Carlisle, he found a strong bit of success but was ultimately labeled someone that couldn't get it done when Larry Brown took his team to the championship, then regressed in Indiana due to circumstances and fit. Then finally found the perfect fit in Dallas, where everything has clicked.

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sees that he thinks Lonzo is a catch and shoot 3 guard*

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Not really. He said he is a point guard in transition, but in the half court he is something else because of his inability to finish or hit free throws. Said if his 39% 3p% at the time on decent volume was for real, then he doesn’t need to operate as a PG in the half court and he could be more of a C&S guy in that setting while the offense runs through BI or Zion or someone else who can get to the rim and finish.

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Not really. He said he is a point guard in transition, but in the half court he is something else because of his inability to finish or hit free throws. Said if his 39% 3p% at the time on decent volume was for real, then he doesn’t need to operate as a PG in the half court and he could be more of a C&S guy in that setting while the offense runs through BI or Zion or someone else who can get to the rim and finish.

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That honestly sounds like a perfect summary of Lonzo and how to you would use him with BI/Zion...

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Who would have thought a year ago, Lonzo would be talked as a 3 point specialist

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Just contrarians

That's my thoughts. This fan base is small enough, there's no need to bring in a coach that will alienate them even more

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Doesn't matter what political position you hold

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Nah, don’t be disingenuous.

Just an opinion you don’t like