We have a LOT of talent in the squad and a legit big 3 of Tatum-Porzingis-Brown. I don’t think this team has to score the most points to be one of the most unstoppable offenses in the league. And then, there’s the defense. KP was a legit rim protector last year, and we add him to a team with terrific perimeter defense in White-Brown-Tatum.
I don’t question the talent. But I am worried about the coaching. Joe has a full offseason + training camp to get things right but it feels to me like a young player expected to perform at the highest level. Kinda like how Tatum, as awesome as he is today, had to endure a lot of growing pains before blossoming. Cassell can help but what other asst coaches are available to help Joe harness this all star squad of a roster?
It's always a concern, though I think the impact of an NBA coach on the actual xs and os in the game is less than say an NFL coach. I feel like if you have an NFL coach on one end of the "coaching involvement" spectrum, where they essentially manipulate the players on field like pieces on a chessboard, vs a soccer or rugby coach on the other end where once the game starts the game is basically in the hands of the players, I feel like basketball is closer to the soccer paradigm than the NFL paradigm. His inexperience will matter less in that case if he has experienced players that know what they are doing.
That said, where he can and will have an outsize influence is in the general direction of how the team plays, how they practice, what type of identity they want to have, what the culture of the team will be, etc. And it won't be just him that will be exerting that influence, it's his coaching staff as well. That's where I think Joe struggled a lot last year - less in the nightly management of the team during games (which is where most of the criticism of him was aimed at, because to be fair that's that part of him most of us as fans see) but more in instilling the team's defensive identity and emphasizing that in his team management, and holding players accountable.
I think the circumstances in which Joe was hired made it hard for him to put his foot down, he didn't know if he had allies in his coaching staff given he inherited them a week before the season, he didn't know how the players would respond to him, and then for half the season he was "interim" which implied he was only a caretaker. So why should players respect him? This season all those excuses are gone - he has a team of staff that he presumably had input into picking, he has a whole offseason to really plan what type of team he wants them to be, he has players that he (presumably) had an input in bringing into the team, and he has a year of experience in the NBA. I'm expecting him to be better this year, and he will need to be, as the honeymoon period (if ever there was one) is well and truly over for him.
If you think about it, despite the fact that he (in some people's eyes) was an abject failure last season, his team was still a game away from the Finals. With a full offseason under him, a better coaching staff to support him and players that better fit his ideal of how he wants the team to play, he should be better.
Topic: How much does coaching worry you? (Read 2420 times)