The dude just looks like a total hardass. Probably benches more than most active players on the team.
Gonna get controversial: NY is a plus. You know he won't take any sh** and will give it to the players straight, which apparently was impossible for Coach Silas.
Reel. Him. In. I know he's the first interview, and We have a LOT of work to do and guys to interview, but I hope they circle back and give him the job. He's the perfect coach for this team. He had good results with BKN, and now he has championship experience and he learned first hand all of the GSW tactics. I hate them with a passion, but their system works, and I think our guys would thrive in it. Come on Stone, get this guy!
Worth a listen. Mentioned he had a D’Antoni-like style, spread you out, heavy PnR with Brooklyn in the beginning. Started incorporating some of Kerr’s motion actions, off-ball screens, cutting, ball movement, etc. Worked wonders for Joe Harris, Dinwiddie. And now he has a couple years under his belt learning directly from Kerr. Love me a coach that’s willing to experiment and be creative to gain an advantage. Nurse is the same way, at least on the defensive side.
These Rockets, their best offense is getting to the rim. Other than Jabari, getting to the rim is what works best. It’s efficient, it opens up the three point line. Kenny’s defensive principles are great but offensively he muddies the paint up in favor of outside shooting. Lanes to the basket close up with his style. The hand off and roll collapses the defense, but we need offense that opens the lanes to the basket. He doesn’t seem to have any high post offense (think Alperen), KJ Martin would be almost worthless. I think Tate would thrive, Jalen Green would be fine but all our rim runners would be minimized. Give me someone else. Or at least run a different system than the one in Brooklyn.
Kenny Atkinson is the guy who turned Brook Lopez into a 3 point shooter to fit his 5 out system.... If the Rockets go with a coach that wants a 5 out system, I know a certain player first/player only fanbase that is going to be VERY upset.
Atkinson seems like a high energy, demanding coach with experience in multiple different systems and solid respect around the league, so if the Rockets ended up with him I'd be very satisfied. What I think is a legit concern though is whether he's enough of alpha personality to command our locker room and get total buy in. That's my #1 concern for any coach we hire. I think Atkinson is a B+ on that front. He's a no-nonsense guy, but his team in Brooklyn might have been the nicest, lowest entitlement roster in the league: Jarrett Allen, LeVert, Joe Harris, along with Dinwiddie and Russell trying to rebuild their careers. Obviously later he wasn't able to command the room with Kyrie and KD, but can't blame him for that. I like Nurse and Udoka a little more just because I'd have them as A+'s on this front. Nurse is a similar personality to Atkinson but with a ring and more ego, and Udoka might have the most commanding presence of any non-Pop/Spoelstra coach in the league (watch some of the arguments he got into with Grant Williams in Boston -- would love to see him talking to our guys like that to get them in line).
And can swim. (buh duh buh, TSH!, high hat) (unless they spend mid-August to mid-September back in their Bay Area home)
Lopez also turned in one of his best seasons that year, a slight improvement over the season prior in nearly every category despite playing fewer minutes per game.
I am not high on Atkinson. He lost his first two years with Brooklyn going 20-62 and 28-54 his first 2 years there. Went 42-40 in his 3rd year and reached playoffs 1st round. But his team declined in 19-20 going 28-34 under his lead before getting fired. The team ended the season as a 7th seed down from being 6th seed the year prior. Reports were that many of the players on the roster that year not named Durant or Kyrie wanted him gone. There were reports that he couldn’t adapt to the new players that were implemented. He also was reportedly not happy with having to coach Kyrie or Durant. This to me is disturbing and his track record has not been impressive.
