I'd say maybe yes if Harden comes home. If not, then probably no, since we need a proven veteran and voice. Sam is not that. After Silas, you cannot just take a flier on another assistant, no matter how much we love him as a person and former player.
Well, first, I was addressing the thread topic. So, I do think Udoka is our best coaching option. Next, while I agree that our FO has underperformed and we should have a robust development plan, I still think that by far the biggest and most important thing in a rebuild is drafting an all nba level player. You could be the smartest organization in the world but if you don't have that (and you're not a destination city) then you really don't have anything. Look at what the Spurs have done since Kawhi left. Everything else is kinda noise. Whoever gets Wemby (or whoever turns into a superstar from the next few drafts) will be discussed as the next up and coming team and it won't have much to do with the organization being geniuses. I'm actually less concerned with how bad we suck right now than how mediocre we'll be when we "start trying to win". I'd rather tank for another 5 years than spend the next 20 yrs overpaying free agents and having no real chance at a title.
Udoka's team managed to lose Udoka and got even better - I think that makes him the worst coaching option. I mean, not really, but it's as logically valid as saying he's the best coach with any certainty - that's really inherently unknowable as to who the best is. I think Coach of the Year award is literally the dumbest award there is, or at least up there with MIP. It vacillates between "who is coach of the best team" and " who is coach of the team that we thought sucked but ended up good" - I don't see much science in terms of trying to tease out the causal inference of coaching (which is extraordinarily complicated IMO) and that the same coach at different times will get different results based on all sorts of confounding factors I mean, did anybody see JB Bickerstaff, who was absolutely loathed here - LOATHED, as the head coach of a rags to riches Eastern Conference juggernaut 6 years later? Because that's what he is, it's just random as all hell.
Not saying he's THE best coach. Just saying he's OUR best option. But, generally, my thought on NBA coaching is that there's a tiny group of them that push a team to be slightly better than a sum of it's parts. Then, there's some that don't make the team worse with bad decisions. Then there's many that make their team worse for one reason or another, usually because they have a vision for how a team should play without regard for who's actually on the team. Udoka took a team to the finals, we can say his team got better if they win the finals (which they may do). But he has shown that he at least won't make the team worse. It's rare the worst team in the league has any shot at a guy with that resume. I think there's been stats that show Stephen Silas' offense generates one of the highest amounts of open shots (it's what he was known for before coming here), we just don't have any players to make them. He may be a good coach with the right team. But, if your point is that NBA coaching has minimal measurable impact. I agree. As I've said, really the only thing that matters in this league is getting a great player. Everything else is just about not screwing things up around them.
Lol I never saw JBB as failure even here, you still believe the average fan represents what's good and what's not so good in the league? I thought he was average and better than McHale.
I have advocated for Sam I am in the past. Even suggested Mario Elie as an assistant. But now I am firmly in the Quin Snyder camp. Guy will run a system that fits his personnel rather than the other way around and he has experience as a college coach teaching basketball to young men. That's exactly what this team needs to take the next step.
I’m on board with the ET. Love the guy. However, the questionably toxic one, per Boston’s WEEI: I love the ET. I am on board with his candidacy. However, what would Sammy be like in the HC chair??? I still favor the possibly toxic one. This from Mannix:
With Udoka now a free agent, he’s expected to be a strong head coaching candidate this summer, reports Mannix. The Celtics came within two wins of the NBA championship last season. That’s the piece of Udoka’s resume that teams will probably look at first, assuming more distressing information doesn’t emerge.
Make a gladiator pit in Toyota Center. Have Sam and the other candidates duke it out. That might be more exciting than Rocket games.
I just want a coach that says play right or ride the bench. A guy who doesn't get caught up in personal feelings. A guy who when he walks in the room the players go "oh $hit, shut up and listen." That's who the Rockets need next. No more Mr. Niceguy. Any players that are bothered by that or don't put out the extra effort, dump them, they aren't Championship material. You need players who ask the coach what to do and then try to go above and beyond that.
While Sam is a Rockets legend to the old crowd .... Half the fanbase probably has no clue who he is. He hasn't played as a Rocket since 1996 .... I can't see how that excites those who weren't around to watch the Clutch City Rockets.
I think Elie would be a better option, but I don't see any former rockets coaching this team. Udoka would be by far the best option, but it is a little concerning that there are a few player's moms that might catch his eye.
The difference is Silas joined the league as an assistant coach through nepotism. Cassell is a assistant coach because he has years of NBA experience as a quality guard in the league. That's experience. That's veteran experience. Players are going to respect someone like Cassell more because they know he also went through the grind.
To be fair, Demeco Ryans may be galvanizing some people now, but give it 5 games into next season and reality will set in. A coach can't make chicken salad out of that Bill O'Brien Legacy Texans roster. My point being I don't think getting the fans hyped matters at all. The ideal coach needs to be someone with a very proven track record of individual player development, IMO. Sam as an assistant? Sure.
