Kenny Atkinson interviewed for Rockets HC position this week

so u still haven’t looked at the rosters he had...

Idc what conference you’re coaching in, if u have the talent those rosters had, u aren’t winning sh*t

 

I get he had bad rosters, but low win % in the east, and assistant experience on mostly bad 20-30 win teams except 1 anomaly season the Hawks won 60 games overachieving by at least double digit games and swept by Lebron Cavs. 48 wins the next season before Atkinson wen to the Nets for more 20 to 30 win seasons.

Maybe i'm lost on him coming from some amazing coaching tree, maybe in college? What exactly is the excitement for this guy? I've seen him mentioned more than any other coach at this point and seems to be a favorite and i'm really lost on the WHY of it all.

 

Just what i asked for. Thanks. Interesting. Not sure if that's going to work with our ISO heavy star in his 30's now. Doubt were goin to get Harden and Russ to buy in to a heavy pass oriented team.

 

He’s .500 over his last 2 seasons, many would consider that an overachievement with the roster and significant injuries.

Something that stood out to me is the Nets played a lot like the Rockets. High pace, lots of 3s, PnR’s etc. Nets were top 10 in FTA last two seasons, top 5 in 3PA last two seasons.

I found myself impressed in multiple games we played against them. Specifically the OT comeback in Houston last year, and the win they had this year.

The development and implementation of key players has also been impressive. Dinwiddie, Dlo, Levert, Allen, Harris all broke out under Atkinson.

I’m on board with this one.

 

we’re not gonna be GS, but I doubt he’ll do a D’antoni where nobody moves and just stays in their spots behind the 3 point line

lowering the ISO a little and installing off-ball activity, something we had none of, could make a noticeable difference

I would hope Morey wouldn’t dictate what he does offensively and just let him do what he feels is best

 

Every Hawk season he was with Mike Budenholzer. They were never bottom dwellers. They were sub .500 once. He was with MDA on the Knicks. He was in Houston in 2007/2008 under Rick Adelman in player development.

Do you forget who the Nets were when he got there? Any coach would have failed to win games. It was a dead man walking job. They had no picks, no players and no hope. He turned a bunch of castaways into an attractive enough core to get two superstars to sign up. Sadly, those two superstars didn't want to play in the system he created and they wanted their friend Deandre Jordan to get minutes over young center Jarret Allen. Every player pre KD and Kyrie raved about his ability to rally the team. You are doing mental gymnastics to disparage a man who got a raw deal.

He's not my #1 choice but goodness he is a lot better than other names mentioned.

He is a work horse who obsesses over minor details. I don't expect him to be hired but he seems like he would really impress Tilman. He posseses a similar grittiness that we see with JVG that isn't common these days.

https://nothinbutnets.com/2020/04/06/kenny-atkinson-brooklyn-nets/

 

I don't know if he'll be a success, but if there's anybody I want to take a chance on or think we may have the least disruption and most continuity with for Harden, it's this guy. He's one of my top 2 choices, probably, so I'm down.

Now watch it be a disaster.

 

The kid who dies in every South Park episode? Good for him!

 

Atkinson took over a Nets team that was one of the 2-3 worst in the league. They were a 20 win team where Brook Lopez was his best player....

His team went from 20 wins to 28 wins to 42 wins and then last year his team was 28-34. However in his last season he was without LaVert and Kyrie for over half the season and had to play Prince out of position. Even with all that, he had a mediocre group 8th in the league in defense.

He has developed a number of mediocre prospects into really productive players and for the talk of Kyrie Irving not liking his style, there were a number of players that were upset at Atkinson leaving on the Nets roster.

Atkinson is very good at coaching defense. He is able to put players in position for the highest statistical outcome of success (he was 3rd in the league last year).

The issues I have with him are that he is known as a very strong culture guy, but also someone that believes as the coach he makes all the decisions on the court during games and in practices. If he doesn't want to play someone (DeAndre Jordan), then he will not play him, even if it costs him his job.

Atkinson wants his practices intense. He has often insisted on going through the drills with players, he will even play with them in sets and is known to throw an elbow or two.

Here is what Kyrie Irving said about Atkinson:

“I want to give a shout out to Kenny Atkinson because some people came out and was like, ‘Yo, KY and KD got Kenny fired.’ And look, that was completely false,” Irving said. “Listen, Kenny was great for the group that he served, and I was very appreciative of what he was giving us throughout the season when we were playing. We always heard how great Nash was or saw how great Nash was as a player, but also when you get to know him as a person, you understand why he can co-exist with us because we don’t need somebody to come in and put their coaching philosophy on everything that we’re doing and change up the wheel and, ‘Yo, you guys need to start doing this,’ and we start running on the first day of practice, and it’s just like, “No.’

“I want somebody, I need somebody that’s going to understand that I am a human being first. I serve my community and where I come from first, and then basketball is something I come and do every single day because I love [it], and also I have the right ingredients and people around me to come in and do my job at a high level, and I know that they will hold me accountable to that level. It’s no disrespect to Kenny or any other coaches I played with, it’s just Steve coming in at this moment and then following up with putting together a great coaching core was going to make us more successful.”

So essentially Irving was not going to practice hard like Atkinson insisted on. He was not going do what the coach wanted, he wanted to have the freedom to practice and prepare the way he wanted.

How will Harden and Westbrook theoretically view Atkinson? I don't know, they are veterans like Kyrie, but neither of them are known to be difficult to coach as far as from an effort or attitude perspective. Also, Kyrie won a title and Harden and Westbrook have not and that seems to be their top concern.

I went and looked at some tape of Atkinson in the playoffs. He was slow to make some strategic changes in some cases, but he did make them and he also forced the Sixers to not play some of their more valuable players.

 

@Nook what would it take to get Jarrett Allen?

I would also imagine Kenny would guarantee DeMarre Carrol would return.

 

Most p***y way to spin the Allen Iverson 'We talkin about practice' line ever.



Irving needs a PR person. Saying anything but 'Team comes first' is the wrong answer for a pro athlete.

 

please hire Atkinson...I’d much rather have him than a retread like JVG, Ty Lue, or a Sam Cassel

I’m most worried about how Atkinson would overcome Russ getting completely ignored by defenses in the playoffs and making dumb decision after dumb decision

 

Can not wait until he plays Bruno 30 MPG.

 

That sounds really famliar. Maybe too familiar.

 

Apparently ego should be spelled I.R.V.I.N.G.

 

He might be able to teach Bruno how to play basketball. I like Silas more, but I have a feeling Tilman won't like his personality. He wants some coach that will "step on their throat" like that matters. It all comes down to adjustments, developing young player(s) (well, undrafted free agents he'll have to turn into gold), and not making Westbrook look like a replacement level player making $40m a year.

 

I’d be happy with Atkinson. He was one of my early favorites and still is.

The Nets are a good landing spot for Gordon as well. Maybe the Rockets could get Dinwiddie and Allen back.