Yeah, in hindsight, the assistants didn't get it done. But, they did lose something when Sampson left.
It would be fun to try Kenny Smith as a head coach if this was a video game, but unfortunately it is real life. He would either be the next Steve Kerr or Don Chaney....flip a coin. It would be interesting if he could get Elie and Cassell to join his staff, along with the mandatory Chris Finch.
I'm becoming more intrigued by the day with Kenny as coach. Big step for him and one he must be confident of if he really is considering it, given the good lifestyle he has and gig on Inside. Why would he want the hassle of the 82 game long haul, travel, being away from family, pressure etc etc etc if he didn't think he was capable.
We would be going from a star player on the peripheral of a reality TV show to a coach that starred in a reality TV show. What could go wrong?
If Kenny Smith is hired it will be because Les insists on it. There is no way in hell that Morey wants Smith over the other candidates.
If Joerger ends up with the Kings, Vogel in either NY or Memphis, and one of JVG/Les doesn't want to work with the other one, I think Smith starts to look pretty good to Morey too.
Whether Les wants him or not, even Les realizes that Kenny will have to come in and blow everyone away with his interview. if you are in the workforce, and have interviewed before, you know when you do bad and when you do well. Kenny will clearly have to come in with a plan, with strategies, and with a voice of authority in the interview. if he does all that, it's still obviously a huge risk, but at least mitigated some by the fact that he should be friendly to FAs, and that he interviewed really well. All that said, even just listening to him on podcasts or on tv, its impossible to see how McHale could have blown anyone away with an interview, and he got hired somehow. I mean, he doesn't say dumb stuff, but there's nothing revolutionary ever coming out of his mouth. hard to imagine he said anything more than preaching "playing the right way" type stuff. If it was up to me, and Kenny is coming in, his interview has to go way way beyond that. Meaning very specifics on how you'd coach, types of players and styles, what you see in the NBA, defensive thoughts, etc. Plus, being an obvious leader.
easy- money is much better than whatever he is making at TNT. let's say the latter is $500k-$750k/year. just a mildly educated guess. as a coach he'll command 5x that, minimum. i think he can manage the travel.
He must be making money also with his reality TV show (is that still going?). I don't think he's short of a $$. So I don't see money as being a main motivator. Can't remember where (might have been on Inside) but didn't Kenny have lunch with Les several weeks ago? Or was awarded something in Houston?
Rockets don't want to hire great coaches because their salary are high? Again this organization sucks.
What is Kenny saying about Hardens defense and our defense in general? I havent followed TNT half time shows in a while
How are they awful? They hired Jeff Van Gundy (who people would love now), Rick Adelman (who is widely considered a great coach), and Kevin McHale (who has the best winning percentage in Rockets history). Although people may not have thought McHale was the best coach (I'm one of them), they won a lot of games with him. So two good coaches and McHale. And McHale won a lot. So I don't see how they have been "awful" on coach hiring.
They have 15 more candidates to interview is enough to prove they are headless chickens... So many scrub coaches can get interview chances. Christ Finch? LOL...
