Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said Monday morning that he was stunned to learn he had been granted permission to talk with other teams after leaving FedExForum last week believing management would begin negotiations to retain him. “I thought everything was good. I was excited when I left (last week)… The next thing I know I’ve been given permission to talk to other teams,” Hollins said in a 28-minute radio interview on First Call with Peter Edmiston on Sports 56 WHBQ/87.7 FM. “People need to know from my perspective that I don’t want to talk to any other teams. I want to be here. I told the media after our exit interviews that if the team offered me a contract that I felt was fair, I’d sign it the next day.” ... Hollins sounded surprised, saying that his conversations with Levien have all been positive. “I want to coach the Memphis Grizzlies, the team that the city has embraced and that has the potential to go further with a few tweaks and adjustments,” Hollins said, later adding that “I feel very comfortable with being here and working with management. I never knew there were philosophical differences except the ones that the media put out there because of my answers to questions.” Management wants to be convinced that it can have a constructive working relationship with the coach. Hollins opposed the team’s decision to trade Rudy Gay midseason but then came around and rallied his troops to a franchise-record 56 wins in the regular season. Hollins’ comments about the role of analytics have often been construed as critical of Griz CEO Jason Levien’s analytics-driven front office. Griz vice president of basketball operations John Hollinger, a former ESPN.com writer, leads the team with regard to the use of analytics and also issues regarding the salary cap. Hollins acknowledged that he confronted Hollinger after Hollinger walked onto the court and engaged forward Austin Daye during a practice, an incident first reported by Yahoo Sports. Hollins said the report was overblown. “John and I talked about it afterwards, and we laughed about it,” Hollins said. “I just reacted I didn’t know who it was. I didn’t care who it was. If it was President Obama, I probably would have reacted the same way. It wasn’t my motive to show management that I run things. It had nothing to with anything other than that I reacted to somebody jumping on the court.” Griz management will likely weigh who might be suitable to replace Hollins if an agreement can’t be reached. It is widely believed that Griz lead assistant David Joerger would be a prime candidate to replace Hollins. Joerger has been referred to by some media as a “superstar” coach that the team would hate to lose. Hollins questioned the logic of losing his job to an assistant, citing several examples of other young, upcoming coaches who left organizations for the opportunity to become a head coach. “Why would you move a proven coach, who has shown what he can do to bring in an ‘upcoming superstar?’” Hollins said. “To me, that’s ludicrous. …It’s puzzling when I hear comments like that. I love Dave Joerger. We have a great rapport. We’ve spent every summer, since I elevated him to my first assistant, talking philosophy and concepts.” LeGarie also represents Joerger. ... His heart, though, clearly is in Memphis. “I believe in Memphis. I love Memphis,” Hollins said. “I never had any intention of going anywhere. I don’t have any intention of going anywhere. I love Memphis. … Our business is very fickle. When you’re producing as a coach you get to stay. When you don’t produce, you have to leave. Bottom line.”
Sounds like Hollins understands the business dynamics and working relationships. And is respectful of what boundaries are, and what it takes to succeed. It probably still WON'T matter philosophically and monetarily though. A newer regime is in and they'll want to implement their way with coaches who utilize it the most. So might be a stalemate for a while (Another "Rockets Adelman" like situation basically)
They may improve because of this. The right coach should be taking input from the front office in this regard. The modern coach must be receptive to result oriented analytics. I suspect Hollinger is looking to the future and seeing that Tayshaun Price is not a long-term solution. I wouldn't be surprised if they traded him to free up playing time for Austin Daye next season. They probably feel that he could make strides with this group. I doubt they'd do anything like trade Randolph. He's a beast.
If they let him go, they Grizzlies will suck. Lionel is a big reason for their success. ...then Kwame will start making threads about how Gay, and not Lionel, is the reason for their failure.
kinda hilarious if Hollins becomes the coach of the clippers- he took them out of the playoffs in 2 tough series in consecutive years. Would be weird to see them turnaround and hire him. It would be a smart move and could be a great fit, but then again, the Clippers aren't known for making smart moves.
Yes! I think it will be a huge mistake to get rid of Hollins. He's gotten them to start playing winning basketball and they're still a young team getting used to being at the top of the Western conference. I remember them and OKC being the "little brothers" of the West not too long ago. And look at those 2 teams now! Having Hollins there will keep them competitive for the next couple of years!
Sounds like the right decision to let him go. You need to have the coach on the same page as the GM. The team will suffer if you have those two pulling in different directions. Part of the problem might be Hollinger stepping on toes because he doesn't have a lot of experience working in NBA organizations. But, if you're going to go with Moreyball, you need to make the rest of the organization align with that that decision.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Brooklyn Nets, according to NBA coaching sources, have today formally requested permission to interview Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins</p>— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/341641885779124225">June 3, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sounds like Hollins realizes he may have overplayed his hand and the door is about to smack his behind on the way out.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Lionel Hollins is out as Griz head coach. His contract won't be renewed, sources told the CA. Story coming at <a href="http://t.co/CxcAZdJXK2" title="http://gogrizzlies.com">gogrizzlies.com</a></p>— Ronald Tillery (@CAGrizBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/CAGrizBlog/status/344221581175816193">June 10, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
awesome! that puts our rockets at the 4th seed** with a week to go in the season. **only to drop to seventh in our annual collapse.
I'll repost this here since it's more applicable to this thread: Memphis fans are extremely upset and expressing a lot of anger and outrage at the organization on the Grizzlies' official facebook page as a result of the decision to let Hollins go. Out of over 500 comments, there are NONE that support the move...WOW!
