OKC had Westbrook/Durant before Brooks joined and wasn't that good, and ever since he did, the team has been on a steady climb up the rankings. I'd say he's done a fine job. We're not talking about Mike Brown in L.A., here, who got his keys to a Ferrari and has since driven it right into a tree.
Good question. I don't remember. My guess is Seattle (OKC) wanted Green. Green is the definition of very little. Perkins is the best post defender in the NBA. Getting rid of Green allowed Ibaka to finally grab hold of the starting PF role and for Harden to become the lead scorer off the bench (Green stayed in with the bench and was the lead man for the 2nd unit). After watching his career, don't think of Jeff Green as a top-5 pick. Draft position is irrelevant when you have a track record. He's just a mediocre player that doesn't do anything well. The future 1st rounder is the Clippers pick this year which isn't worth much. OKC won that trade by a mile because it helped them take the next step. If the Celts could turn back the clock, they wouldn't do it even without Green's heart valve problem. He disappointed in Boston.
Jeff Green was hurting OKC, and he was the same player with Boston. Difference is, only Doc realizes that he shouldn't be playing him over better players, so Green doesn't play as often as he did in OKC. I guess you can call that being "exposed", but he really shouldn't have played all that much at OKC in the first place.
Well, one never knows what the deal was with Brooks and Jeff Green. I'm not a huge Perkins fan, but at a minimum whatever the deal was, they were able to get a better asset for their team. It's not as if KD, Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka were ready to take them to a championship yet anyway.
No, but the point is Brooks' favoritism towards Green kept Ibaka and Harden from emerging. Not too far into the season, it was clear Green was no better than before and Ibaka and Harden needed a bigger role. By exposed, I mean everyone that was still assuming KD/Green/WB were a developing big 3 found out only two of them had star potential and the other was just a bench player. When they made the trade, the Celts had the notion of Green eventually taking over at SF when Pierce retired or was traded. Fat chance.
Never more glad to be wrong. He wasn't stubborn against the Spurs and grew as a coach. Sometimes it takes being down 0-2 to force adjustments. Game 3 was not just a blowout, it was a mental shift in the series because both teams realized OKC could interrupt the clinic. They WAY the Thunder won that game shook the Spurs and gave OKC the confidence needed to snag the next 3. I'm not going to back down on the multitude of maddening mistakes Brooks has made. Young coaches don't have a right to be so stubborn IMO. But when the chips were down in these WCFs, there is no denying Scott Brooks rose to the occasion and went to another level as a coach. Hopefully it ends well in the Finals.
Definitely saw the growth of Scotty as a coach in this series; to make the right adjustments to overcome Pop is huge. Scotty > Spoelstra but I'd rather see Scotty v. Doc because it'd be a better battle.
On Rockets standards, at least their lottery pick actually PLAYED minutes, to see what he's capable of. Instead of riding pine and getting sent to the D-league, beat out by a 2nd rounder.
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Thank you, A 3PO- I apologize for getting carried away with the exclamation points- I get that way when it comes to Clutch City alumni.
Good to see Kenny reference his Rocket days in the trophy presentation last night. Since....you know....the old days are all we have to cling to as Rocket fans.... I'll never forget Brooks getting into it with that damn dirty Nate McMillan. Now look where they both are. Brooks is heading to the NBA Finals and McMillan just got CANNED. Karma.
http://www.indystar.com/usatoday/article/55452576?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Sports|s Brooks derives lessons from his NBA playing days of 1988-98. He started seven games in 10 seasons with seven teams but saw how a championship team operated in 1994 with the Rockets, under coach Rudy Tomjanovich.
Calm n collected exactly. Used Durant like Dream feeding the MAN the ball. Cool calm guy. He look ok!
