Love me some JVG. But he is basically a carbon copy of Ime's coaching style. His teams were always prepared to battle every single night.
This Thibs/Udoka style is just dumb. Focus on regular season record, defense only, have no team cohesion, and no extra gear or plan for the playoffs. A smart team would fire him and the GM. The roster as is does not fit the style of the coach or a style conducive to winning in the playoffs. We have both massively underachieved in the playoffs series we should have won and achieved the ceiling this team is capable of in the regular season.
This is an outdated critique. JVG was a coach in an era where defense won championships. Do people think he's so inept that he would still be that style of coach today? I'd lean on the side of the fence that he's so smart (lightyears away from Udoka, so this is a putrid comparison) he'd adapt to whatever era he's in.
JVG has actually grown a lot in his thinking about the game. Yes, he’s the old school defensive minded guy, but he’s picked up a lot over the years watching offenses and has even stayed grounded in the game with his assistant gigs. He might be a lot more flexible now offensively than ime is. I think it would be a fun hire for Portland. I’d say that at least the floor is likely to be fairly high, even if he’s still a defense only guy. But I bet he would surprise people offensively. People have the capacity to evolve.
No, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed, truly incompetent. Combine that with his ego, deflection, and narcissism... This is the package we're dealing with. He doesn't have to try to lose.
Ime has the intelligence of a peanut. He uses his challenges in the first quarter on a nightly basis which is moronic when games are typically decided in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. He can’t even design a simple inbounds play for his team. He wasn’t a great player and isn’t anywhere near a great coach.
Players had issues with Malone who was harsh on players and created a toxic atmosphere. Also had a public feud with the GM. He also underachieved after that championship. Jokic is not Sengun. He can shoot midrange and beyond 25 ft.
Thibs took them to ECF last year. Mazzula didn’t win a championship immediately. Instead he lost to a lower seed in the ECF his first year. They went out and got 2 all stars and Pritchard got 2 years better and won. He underachieved again the 2 years after the title year
Fans keep saying Udoka took away minutes from Sheppard. Players don’t play because either there’s other players in front of them or they’re not good enough. In Boston, Pritchard was an inconsistent player but wanted more minutes. He also fell out of Mazzula’s rotation the next year. Here’s how Udoka handled the Pritchard situation. Udoka said he preached patience to Pritchard, who at one point had said publicly that he wanted to be traded. He ended up signing an extension with the Celtics and elevating his game, but the road to success was not a straight line. He had fallen almost completely out of Joe Mazzulla’s rotation in the 2023 playoffs, averaging just 5.6 minutes per game. Eventually, Pritchard earned Mazzulla’s trust and played in all 82 games during the 2024 season. ”That’s what you love about him, the edge, the toughness and staying ready,” Udoka added. “So when the trades happened we brought Derrick (White) and got rid of a few, Romeo (Langford) and (Aaron) Nesmith. That gave him opportunities and he was always ready. We knew he would be. Just had to be patient and kind of wait his turn.” Keep the edge, be pissed that you’re not playing, yeah, which I like about him. … It was that simple,” Udoka said of his message to Pritchard. “We have these guys in front of you that we just signed and we were trying to figure out our team obviously, Sometimes, there is a logjam for minutes at a particular position, Udoka said. It took patience, but eventually, Pritchard earned his chance to flourish. https://www.boston.com/sports/bosto...itchard-playing-time-comments-quotes-celtics/
