This is the conundrum, but it’s moot anyway. No way Tito eats that extension 1 year in. Last year was the time to dump Ime and you would’ve got a first round pick for it, but that ship has sailed. Very frustrating for those of us who were cautioning this in the off-season. Can’t help but vent, but I must admit it is useless. I can only hope that Ime gets better or the organization puts some constraints on his power and forces him to live with an offensively minded assistant head coach. I also pray they don’t blow our future up by jettisoning our young core and draft picks for another win now vet like Giannis and still be outcoached consistently.
As horrible a thought as it is, I actually think it's very likely if they're all-in on Ime more than the core which seems to be the case so far.
Ime’s not perfect, but those blaming him for all the offensive problems are off base. No coaching scheme can be blamed for ostensibly average shooters combining to shoot the worst 3pt % in NBA history over a 5 game stretch.
I think the Fire Ime thread existed long before that, they basically started it couple months after his hiring.
I agree it’s not all on Ime, but I think it’s hard to argue that he is a good in-game coach. His rotations have been horrendous and his inability to rotate from what is not working in-season is apparent. Look how long he stuck with the zone and the double bigs. Sticking with guys like Jabari and Holiday in games when they clearly don’t have it. We have been terrible at in-bounding the ball since he got here. Surely that should be something attributable to a lack of detail in his coaching. Every college coach in the country knows how to attack a zone and he puts Adams and Jabari in the middle who clearly don’t have the skillset for it. We have plenty of problems, but Ime is clearly at the forefront of most of them. I hope Amen’s, Sengun’s, and Durant’s greatness can overcome Ime’s coaching, because he is here for the long haul. Tito ain’t going to eat that salary.
I'm not defending as I think the offensive strategy vs these hybrid zones is poor. But it isn't just IME, he has an entire staff of coaches and its much harder to claim this entire group doesn't have a plan for that. I will say that this forum has a looong history of folks lining up with pitch forks and torches when ALL of our coaches had a losing streak. On and on and on about how much they suck and are complete idiots etc. It happens because FANatics are giant fans of another potential coach who has any and all answers. Others set laughable standards like one that I read saying unless IME wins the championship he will never trust him again etc. The whole thing is always way overblown. History will likely repeat itself as well as we will probably have a winning streak at some point and this thread will go strangely silent. OKC lost a fair number of games including to the lowly Hornets... I wonder if its time for them to get out the pitchforks and torches, maybe they have.
I get it, but my criticism of Ime is long-standing, not knee-jerk. I was totally against his extension and advocated letting the Knicks have him for a first round pick. I predicted most of Clutchfans would be calling for his head half-way through this season. His lack of offensive acumen and stubborness to a fault was apparent to me long before this season began. I believe he is a narcissist, which makes it almost impossible to make positive changes or take advice from others. I have no doubt we will have a winning streak at some point. Likewise, I have no doubt that we won’t make it to the WCF as long as Ime is coach, unless virtually all our competition has injury issues. On the bright side, I think we have two potential young superstars on our roster that will outlast Ime’s tenure.
Every NBA team has fire the coach threads with lots of participants. It is definitely without a doubt knee jerk most of the time. Have a rough stretch and boom that's what fans do. Over-reactions are what big time fans are all about. Winning streak and POOF they die until the next rough stretch reinvigorates them. 100% of our Rockets coaches have had this. Often with exactly the same folks screaming they are all idiots who couldn't devise a plan to guide a fork with food to their mouth. That said no doubt some of our strategy is poor and clearly adjustments are slow but it is not nearly AS poor as is being portrayed. Coaching an NBA team is definitely wildly complex trying to turn a room full of millionaires who often think they are the greatest players alive into a cohesive unit. Then there is influence from owners, fans, press, agents and more. I cannot imagine.
I'm completely done with Ime. I haven't seen any growth from our young players. The games are absolutely brutal and thoroughly unenjoyable to watch. I didn't agree with making Sengun a "score-first" player. I didn't agree with spending 0 time developing Reed Sheppard. I didn't agree with making Amen the defacto point guard. I didn't agree with having Brooks take 20 shots a night. I didn't agree with running 2 bigs who can't shoot outside 10ft and one that can't reliably shoot even 3ft close to the basket. I didn't agree with trading for KD. (You can't tell me that this wasn't heavily pushed for by Ime). The dude takes 0 accountability and his body language has become generally terrible to watch.
At the very least we need an offensive assistant who can run the Princeton offense. We have the absolutely perfect big man for that system. Aldeman's son, currently in Denver, would have been PERFECT! If they plan on keeping him, let Ime handle the defense and bring in someone who knows how to coach that style of offense.
Just like abusive relationships, expectations are tempered and you get happy with what you settle for “At least we edged out the Giddey less bulls!” Trading baskets all game, working our ass off to get a bucket at home to edge out the bulls has become our ceiling and Udoka supporters are all for it
Ugly ass 1990s basketball. Another game struggle to score 100. Can we fire him already? It’s cost nothing except the owner’s money. Doesn’t affect the salary cap, the apron, the luxury tax, nothing. Just the owner’s money. “YoU waNnA sPeNd tHe OwNers MonEy!?” Well yeah I wouldn’t have given him a ****ing 6-year extension either. Let’s build a roster with 10 forwards, 5 centers, no guards, no shooters, yeahhh! “Muh fizuhcality, muh tuffness!”
He is really not a head coach who can take you anywhere. Severely limited but probably stuck with him.
