Kenny Atkinson interviewed for Rockets HC position this week

Silas is still my number one but if this guy can come in and really have us playing some beautiful offensive and defensive basketball then I’m all for it.

Just no more iso and shooting 50+ 3s a game please.

 

That's a good point. Very blue collar management style that fits Tilman's empire of blue collar service industry workers. I worked with an IT Desktop manager who had the dictator-as-manager philosophy (even bragged about it to us fellow managers). He came from a warehouse job where everyone just punched out widgets 24/7. He got ran out of that job pretty quick and put into a more appropriate job of overseeing a call center (not even IT support).

 

The Nets giving up Dinwiddie and Allen for EG?

 

I'll pass on Kenny. Now he definitely coached some turds in Brooklyn but they started putting things together in his last season BUT, they did not want to retain his services. Assuming Kyrie and KD didn't want him as HC and they just brought in a big time baller yet he has not even been an HC in the NBA. Just judging him on wins and losses, not impressed.

 

No. NO. NO. HELLNO!

 

Na, I'm good. Give me Mark Jackson, Ty Lue or Sammy

 

Ya I know it’s asking for a lot.

I read somewhere that one reasons why Atkinson fell out with the vets on the Nets was bc he wanted to play Allen over Jordan. So if I’m the Rockets then I ask for both and see if we can strike a deal. I would be willing to give up Gordon, Rivers and a 2nd round pick for both. Nets can probably get more for both of them so maybe just Gordon for Dinwiddie.

 

Well.....what I can tell you is that you have in fact listed out 3 people.

 

add in John Lucas and you have the worst possible hires.

 

Is this real?

 

Whoever it is will have to be in line with morey’s vision. Things won’t change drastically around here until he’s gone. For better or worse.

 

Thank you for sharing your case, I appreciate posters that use substance to back up thier views.

I also respect long time posters on Clutchfans, and I think it's important people think for themselves and not just go with the herd. Also I think Kenny is a choice if we can't get other candidates but he does have clear issues.

So, as far as pace.

Atkinson's team had the #1 pace in the league in 2016-17, but were 28th in the league in Ortg that year.

Almost dead last of the 30 teams in the league:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BRK/2017.html

They had a 20 win record in the East, one less win than the coach from the previous season.

But I will provide pros for Atkinson later as well to be fair as his teams did improve, but I base judgment on final results honestly.

Many of the top coaches and teams in the the league use analytics, and I am also a fan for the record.

But the best teams and coaches also focus on the human element, like team chemistry, soft skills and leadership. His mentor Gregg Poppovich, who has actually won and had championship results agrees.

Gregg Popovich gives his interesting take on analytics



"That seems to be the general consensus by many that follow the game. Analytics certainly have their place in sports, but there are points where they go absolutely too far and really have no bearing.

Teams like Houston and Philadelphia have been strong proponents for analytics in basketball. While some moves have paid off as a result, others have not. It’s hard to replace the human element of the game and Popovich knows that. That’s why he has five NBA Championships to his name."

https://fansided.com/2016/01/04/gregg-popovich-gives-interesting-take-analytics/

I'll add more later as I get more time to address additional points.

 

Pop has 5 championships to his name because of 1 Tim Duncan.

The human element he brought drove Kawhi out of town, who went on to grab a championship on THE RAPTORS.

 

if KD and Kyrie were against him that does not sound good when two of your biggest stars are against you but we don't know what happen between the two so I would give him a chance but too many good coaches are out there to just go with him

 

Kawhi learned how to win and developed under Pop. He also played terrible in an elimination game against the Denver Nuggets recently and lost the series ending his season.

Atlkinson lost his job by not having strong enough connection skills with veteran players, who despite thier flaws, had actually won championships and knew what a winning culture and coaching looked like.

Kenny Atkinson
Bio: The pride of Northport, Long Island, got his first NBA head coaching gig with the Nets in 2016 and saw them through some of their toughest years before delivering the payoff with a surprise trip to the playoffs in 2019. His work was mentioned by Kevin Durant as a reason he signed with the Nets last offseason, but Atkinson never got a chance to coach him after getting fired in March.

The 53-year-old felt his voice was no longer being heard and reportedly failed to connect with Durant and Kyrie Irving.

https://nypost.com/2020/06/26/breaking-down-all-11-candidates-for-knicks-head-coaching-job/

 

while it’s true they were 28th in offensive rating in 2016-17, if u take a look at the roster, u can see why

this was their top 10 players in minutes played

1. Brook Lopez
2. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
3. Sean Kilpatrick
4. Trevor Booker
5. Isaiah Whitehead
6. Bojan Bogdnanovich
7. 3rd year Spencer Dinwiddie
8. Randy Foye
9. rookie year Caris Levert
10. Justin Hamilton

there is no way on earth u won’t be at the bottom of the league in offensive efficiency with that roster...there’s also no way u won’t be 1 of the worst teams in the league regardless of if you’re playing in the Eastern Conference

it’s not fair to use final results as the main indicator when a coach has been working with rosters that bad...most coaches are only as good as the talent they have to work with...we can look at our very own D’antoni to see how that’s the case

MDA was winning 50+ games with Nash, then went to NY with much worse rosters and racked up Ls...in LA, he won 27 games his final year there, then he links up with James Harden, and immediately wins 55 games and becomes COY...the next year he wins 65 games and makes it to game 7 of the WCF

the Nets overachieved in 18-19 under Kenny Atkinson

maybe Kenny Atkinson is a bad communicator and wears out his welcome, but I’m gonna need more than not getting along with the likes of Kyrie and KD before permanently giving Atkinson that label

Kyrie seems like just a terrible player to have to deal with as a coach

he literally just said this about his new coach last week



Kyrie Irving is a coach’s nightmare...they have to put up with his nonsense because of his talent

KD is extremely sensitive...100x more sensitive than a Harden or Westbrook...maybe they wouldn’t appreciate Atkinson yelling at them, but I have no doubt KD wants no parts of a coach like that because he’d catch immediate feelings

 

to me, this is like saying back in the day that if Dwight was against the coach, then it’s a bad look

Why are people on CF holding Kyrie’s feelings about a coach in such high regard? This is the same Kyrie who had issues with a champion like Lebron, quickly wore out his welcome in Boston with Brad Stevens there, and then he had issues in BK. Kyrie is a moron.

KD is too sensitive for me to be valuing his feelings so much

 

Because kyrie said him or KD can coach the team:

 

I could stand for Atkinson. Especially reading about his incorporation of offenses, I would just be excited from a player development standpoint. Imagine if over the years it wasn’t just House ending up a rotation piece. ONLY House was good enough to contribute anything meaningful? In 4 years?? And he had to go through some contractual hoops to do it too. Rgv lauded as their experimentation lab well why the hell are we having to trade to get these players back then? Player development needs a swift injection especially with the kind of contracts on the roster. Cheap talent is grown not so much signed and definitely not traded for...