I started this thread to see what the pulse of this site is as to who should replace coach Clifford should he be dismissed soon or at the end of this season.
What do you all think of recently fired Milwaukee Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin? I have searched for top available head coaches and none of the coaches listed have coach Griffin which to me makes no sense. He should be in the top three head coaches listed in my opinion.
If this threads topic has been discussed throughout the forum and is deemed to be misplaced then delete it. I just thought as a topic in deserved it’ own thread.
That would be most everybody’s first choice but aside from the obvious who does everybody else consider a top choice? My second choice would be recently fired head coach Adrian Griffin.
If not Bud, I think Charles Lee was also in Atlanta on Bud’s staff while Peterson and Schnall were there. He’s been an upcoming name for the past couple seasons, and is on the 40 under 40 list from The Athletic as well. So maybe he’d be a good alternate choice.
A coach who shouldn’t have been fired in my opinion. Doc Rivers has failed plenty of times in the playoffs since his one title. It is not like Adrian Griffin was well below 500 when the axe came down. I am not as astute in basketball as those who fired him but his team was doing quite well when they fired him. I don’t see how they could tell he would do worse in the playoffs than their choice to replace him. Besides it is not like every boss that fires an employee made the right choice.
Charles Lee…as in the revolutionary war major general Charles Lee? Who disgraced beloved George Washington in a scathing letter questioning his leadership?? I don’t think so.
If we are going with a new coach and want to shop in the certified pre owned lot, Bud makes sense. But he’s not that distinct from Clifford. He’s just had better talent to work with.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Peterson gives Cliff a year. Cliff had that very affable stint with the Nets as an advisor and got on well with KD. That’s got to go a long way with a people-person head of Basketball Ops. Only question would be what’s the exit interviews look like this year.
I’d be ok going a Charles Lee, Sam Cassell route but i have no idea how much of a gamble that would be considering our last foray into hiring.
Wonder about the possibility of identifying a promising young coach, letting him AC for a year under Clifford with everybody understanding the goal is for the younger coach to take over the next year.
No idea if that’s feasible in the professional coaching world.
Teague, Millsap, Korver, Horford, Carroll, Thabo, Brand, etc… and those first 4 were All Stars. His other Atlanta teams were 38, 48, 43, 24 win teams - pretty Cliffordesque. But His almost firing the year before winning the ring was where he seemed very Cliff like. They defended the 3 about as weird as we do and he was constantly getting dragged about his rotations. I don’t know he’s the savior folks think he could be.
I’d think the top retreads would be D’Antoni, Jackson, Bud, Kenny, Stotts. The common names that always seem to pop for AC to HC is Charles Lee, David Vanterpool, Sam Cassell. I would think Becky Hammon would be a bonafide name in the hat too with her shot-from-a-cannon performance in the WNBA. Stackhouse got a lot of focus a few years ago, and I think Dawn Staley would be a name folks cannot immediately dismiss (especially in the Carolinas seeing how she’s crushed it with our USC).
I was pissed we didn’t seem to even entertain Charles Lee during the Kenny-for-hire weeks. I wanted us to bring in either him or Darvin Ham leaning toward Lee. I don’t recall why I was so high on him at the time but I was.
I still think it’s very real that we might have another year of Clifford as HC (unless’n there’s some “he ain’t the one” from Melo during exits).
I may take some flat for this but both women I would not hire. I am as dubious of the WNBA as I am college. It is more about consolidated talent then it is strategy and coaching. The NBA is far more competitive from top to bottom. I feel the same way with NFL coaching from college to the pros. Where college is more about recruiting.
The name I do like there is Mark jackson. But if I remember a lot of the players did not like him and Golden State and that was the main issue. So I wonder if he’s too hard driving the personality.
If Clifford is replaced, I think an “unknown” guy is best. Seems like the trend is going with young unknown guys. Minnesota, OKC, Memphis, Boston, Orlando, and New Orleans are doing well under first time head coaches who most people didn’t know much about from a coaching perspective.
As I’ve said before, Schnall has a lot of relationships with college coaches. With the way the NIL is driving some coaches away from the college game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of them look at the NBA. Personally, Nate Oates at Alabama runs some nice offense and I think he could get some looks.
On the retread tip, a former point guard would be great for Melo. Steve Nash comes to mind at first, but I’m sure there are other options out there as well.
Lastly, while getting some vets on the roster helps, a coach that can motivate and keep a locker room focused as a strong suit and connected is most vital. Especially in the NFL, we’ve seen a trend toward men who can lead and command a locker room. That’s really needed here.
