Grant Williams: Ime was my favorite Celtics coach

[Roy H.]

Grant Williams names Ime Udoka as best coach he's played for

Clutch Points: “I thought he was the best of both worlds… [He] has a grit to him that allowed him to relate to players in a personal level… Ime [Udoka] is probably the best one I’ve played for.” Grant Williams on his favorite Celtics coach (via @OldManAndThree)

That reminds me of:

I love Coach K. I love Brad. I love Joe. I love all those guys but just a different kind of a relationship I had with Ime. Probably like my most favorite coach I've had and that's not a knock on anybody.

It's interesting that both Celtics who have played under Brad, Ime and Joe preferred Ime.

[bdm860]

I think Udoka had a unique cred/aura.  To me he had kind of an Uncle Phil/John Thompson presence the way he seemed to carry himself, despite not being that big (compared to NBA players at least), he just felt like an imposing presence.

Then there's his resume, not highly recruited, did the JuCo route and low-level D1 schools,  As a pro, bounced around the minor and international leagues before finding carving out his spot in the NBA. He knows what it takes to grind and earn your spot.  This can appeal to the non-star players. 

But also played with and against Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, LeBron, Durant, Wade, etc.  This can help appeal to the star players.

And then coaching.  Coached under Pop, and coached Duncan, Kawhi, Embiid, Durant and knocked out LeBron and Wade's super team as an assistant.

Sure a lot of coaches have similar resumes (Kerr, Ham, Willie Green, Ty Lue, etc.), but they don't have that same imposing presence, IMO.

There's also the legend of him single-handedly beating up an entire team by himself. as well as being tied down to a well known TV/movie star, that helps his cred too.


One thing that stood out to me is the the time Smart injured Curry.  Steve Kerr is having a fit blaming Smart.  Ime stone cold says Smart did nothing wrong.  If I was a player, hearing Ime have my back like that would comfort me.  Brad Stevens, Joe Mazzulla, Nick Nurse, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Darvin Ham, Willie Green, etc. could all say the same thing, but it wouldn't feel the same, they just don't have that same "authoritative" presence that Udoka had.

[Ed Monix]

Grant Williams names Ime Udoka as best coach he's played for

Clutch Points: “I thought he was the best of both worlds… [He] has a grit to him that allowed him to relate to players in a personal level… Ime [Udoka] is probably the best one I’ve played for.” Grant Williams on his favorite Celtics coach (via @OldManAndThree)

That reminds me of:

I love Coach K. I love Brad. I love Joe. I love all those guys but just a different kind of a relationship I had with Ime. Probably like my most favorite coach I've had and that's not a knock on anybody.

It's interesting that both Celtics who have played under Brad, Ime and Joe preferred Ime.

That doesn’t surprise me.

I’ve always thought that elite motivators & communicators win championships as head coaches, and elite strategists are their assistants.

The best example being Phil Jackson & Tex Winter.

[SHAQATTACK]

I hear he was in good with ladies too 

[86MaxwellSmart]

I keep hearing Media types saying things like: Joe is learning, he'll get better....C's don't have time to wait around for their Coach to get to Championship level, we're just wasting the prime "Championship" Years of our players careers. Dumb.

[jambr380]

I keep hearing Media types saying things like: Joe is learning, he'll get better....C's don't have time to wait around for their Coach to get to Championship level, we're just wasting the prime "Championship" Years of our players careers. Dumb.

I am definitely not a huge fan of Joe and would have been totally fine if we moved on from him this offseason, but I do think our players will stop having a hissy fit about him being coach and properly listen to him and our now experienced coaching staff. The players seemingly never got over Ime being fired last season and the coaching staff even seemed miffed at Joe's hire.

I doubt Joe is this savant-like coach like Brad was, but I am confident everybody will at least be on the same page this season.

[liam]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

[Celtics2021]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

Yep.

[Silas]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

I'm 100% with you on this Liam.  I am sick and tired of Ime was the best.  The guy screwed us big time and doesn't deserve our time and energy. 

[Roy H.]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

The front office let us down just as much by not filling out the coaching staff in a competent manner. And, when it was clear that Joe didn't have control of the team, he should have been replaced by a veteran coach.

[Ed Monix]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

The front office let us down just as much by not filling out the coaching staff in a competent manner. And, when it was clear that Joe didn't have control of the team, he should have been replaced by a veteran coach.

Well said

[jmen788]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

Was it him or our front office? his "crime" was not something any other player or coach has ever been thrown out of town for. I think rumor had it that he slept with one of the ownership groups wives? Maybe that is why. But even though I personally did not love him (didn't dislike him either, just had no opinion), I never understood why our team is the moral police? Must be something about what he did that we don't know.. just does not make sense.

[Goldstar88]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

Was it him or our front office? his "crime" was not something any other player or coach has ever been thrown out of town for. I think rumor had it that he slept with one of the ownership groups wives? Maybe that is why. But even though I personally did not love him (didn't dislike him either, just had no opinion), I never understood why our team is the moral police? Must be something about what he did that we don't know.. just does not make sense.

Well, we were never told of the transgressions so I’m not sure that’s accurate.

[liam]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

I'm 100% with you on this Liam.  I am sick and tired of Ime was the best.  The guy screwed us big time and doesn't deserve our time and energy.

Yeah, he totally did.

[Big333223]

Ime let everyone down and probably cost us a title.

I'm 100% with you on this Liam.  I am sick and tired of Ime was the best.  The guy screwed us big time and doesn't deserve our time and energy.

Yeah. It's a shame because it does seem like he's a really good coach. Whatever he did to get himself fired really screwed everything up for last year. It's a shame.