The Sonics will now embark upon a coaching search. Howard Schultz is going to go get a guy that he believes can win a championship. Rumors around the NBA had Shultz interested in Phil Jackson when he was considering a return. If that is in fact true it tells you he will go to the top to find a championship man.
The early names that should be mentioned include Phoenix Suns assistant Marc Ivaroni, former Chicago Bulls Head Coach Doug Collins, Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo, former Maverick Head Coach Don Nelson and current Sonics assistant Bob Weiss.
Ivaroni was a lead candidate for the Blazers job until they hired Nate McMillan. Ivaroni has an established coaching back ground as an assistant. He has a strong relationship with Wally Walker.
Doug Collins and Don Nelson are both favorites of Sonics General Manager Rick Sund.
Tom Izzo has been floating his name around NBA circles for the last year or so. He has interested in both the Minnesota job and the Detroit job. He is a college mate of Howard Schultz and the two maintain contact today. Schultz has gone to Final Fours to support Izzo. College coaches generally fail in the NBA, however Izzo is thought of as one of the brightest names in the business.
Weiss is a far better coach then people realize and his role in the team’s success was larger then he is given credit for. Weiss has been a head coach in the NBA and has been stuck with some poor teams and had relative success. He knows the personnel and is at the core of the score early score late philosophy of this team. He is a much better candidate then the most people realize.
Finally what about Lorenzo Romar? He is an incredible man. He has played in the NBA and has shown his coaching talents. He could be a long-term answer.
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8 comments:
I'm voting for Lorenzo Romar. He has a philosophy similar to Nate's, understands NBA players, and would bring the necessary energy to keep up the momentum started last year. Whoever they get needs to be defensive minded, and have a smaller ego than the team. This is Ray's team and the coach mostly needs to stay out of the way. I wouldn't bring in Flip or Doug Collins or Tom Izzo. I would consider Bob Weiss to maintain some continuity, but think LO is the best candidate.
My gut feeling tells me that the Sonics sat on this one way to long. In reading between the lines, it wasn't even that close. He had to wait until the end of the month to talk to Portland, because Seattle wouldn't let him. Big Mistake!!! Lost out on a great coach in Casey and now they find themselves scrampling. This is very typical of how this management is so reactionary and continue to show very limited ability to forecast. This all starts at the top with Schultz, he doesn't get it. You can't operate a sports franchise like a company. The rules are just so different. What a sad day it is and probably will go down as the worst Sonic day in history. I bet they end up with some unproven coach that will have to incorporate his philosophy. Major set-back!!!!!!!!!
I think its obviuosly not an ideal situation to be in, but we have our personnel more or less in place and that is what made this team so good. Nate McMillan was an excellent coach but time and time again in the nBA we've seen that coaches are really nothing more than the sum of their players. I think there are some other great options out there and I'm sure the sonics will choose a coach that will continue seattle in their winning ways
I think Paul Silas would be a great candidate because he can be a mentor for the big men. He was intigued by the thought of maybe being a candidate for the Sonic position and I think he would do well if he was given the opportunity.He should keep Weiss and Sikma for continuity and maybe groom Sikma to be an heir apparent. (He is young enough and doesn't seem to want to relocate his family). He could also use Lenny Wilkens as a consultant and maybe bring a defensive minded assistant coach like a Dennis Johnson to work with guys like Flip and Damien. I think Paul just got the bad end of the deal in both his stints and I like the way he played as a player using all of tricks to frustrate the other players. I think that Flip would be good but he might cost mnore than they are willing to pay.
I really wish Nate would've taken the job sooner so Dwayne Casey could've taken over. That really is a shame.
That said, I'd go with Bob Weiss. I think he'd do a pretty good job. He knows the team and the team likes him.
I really wish Nate would've taken the job sooner so Dwayne Casey could've taken over. That really is a shame.
That said, I'd go with Bob Weiss. I think he'd do a pretty good job. He knows the team and the team likes him.
You know that Wally's on the cheap so they might as well go with Ivaroni. I mean I know alot of rookie coaches fail like Jim Cleamons and Terry Stotts, but then look at recent ones in Lawerence Frank, Stan Van Gundy and Mike D'Antoni. Plus you know that he is used to a uptempo style like in Phoenix, but obviously is defensive minded going back to his playing days in Phili. Plus he seems pretty mild mannered and we know Ray has not been able to get along with a strong minded coach as when he was with George when they were both with the Bucks.
As a Sonics fan, I don't blame Nate for striking while the iron is hot and looking for a new coaching opportunity. However I think he has made a mistake in going to Portland. In the nearly 10 years that Paul Allen has been in sports ownership, I have seen very little in his ability to build an organization. Nate's situation is very similar to Mike Holmgren who was wooed away by Allen from a very successful stint as coach of the Packers to coach our Seattle
Seahawks.
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