Agree entirely. Been saying since i saw it that this just felt like year 6 (e.g. direct continuation from his last stint). I had just quietly hoped, before season start, he would be more like years 1-3.
See, really we are clueless. Jordan and Mitch are playing 4D chess! They knew this would happen. They knew cliff would play all of the delicate flowers on the roster way too many minutes and they would get hurt. They knew this would bleed wins.
They knew he would be crusty old cliff and lose the team.
Now they can fire him by Christmas and trade off the team for 200 2nds.
Boom. 
It was completely a marriage of convenience. We needed someone who wasnāt a complete joke and had some respectability. And Mr. Basketball lifer loves a challenge, so since he was not otherwise engaged, was very intrigued by the offer.
But all this was before assault-gate, weed-gate, dui-gate, ankles-gate, and shoulder-gate, so it couldāve been worse if Cliff didnāt want to dive into this train wreck - like a Sam Vincent rehire.
1 Like
Iāll say this and move on from my Cliff post-game frustrations. What ended my appreciation of Cliff in his first stint (and I went from hinting at this in year 4 to outright stating it in year 5 on the old site) was that he wasnāt only not putting players in the best situations to succeed, he was putting them in situations that they were likely to fail at. This was a pattern for his tenure but it just became glaring toward the end. A really clear example to me is when he subbed in Jeff Taylor with seconds left in a game where he had logged no minutes, and in fact, had not played in several games. Hereās the BBall Index so you can see it. Note that he was inserted to inbound the ball in what I believe was a tie game w/ seconds left on the clock.
Taylor was fouled once the ball was inbounded and made 1 of 2. We lost the game by 3. While you can honestly argue that a pro basketball player needs to make his FTs regardless, this is an insane ask in every way.
Cliff did this often. He would put guys in good positions to fail.
His calling out PJ on the lack of getting that deciding rebound (not blocking out one of the bigs, assume it was Mobley) was the same. He might have not said his name but he was talking about PJ only. Hereās my issue; PJ can and has successfully played a small ball 5 in his career. JB proved that. PJ has logged 0 minutes at the 5 since May last year. Cliff for the first time moved him to the 5 with seconds left in OT. How about play him, I donāt know, maybe 5 effinā minutes earlier in the season so he has SOME feel for the role. Man that stuff just frustrates the crap out of me.
Ok, rant over. I reserve the right to have another one next week.
1 Like
Haha, you have the right to rant about this team as much as you want. Can make it the Eastley Weekly Rant.
I was on the pro DāAntoni train during the search, not that heād necessarily be any better in this situation, but just the fact that it was a different approach to the game with someone who has proven they can win. Iām sure he was asking for more guarantees with his status to take on this team, but thereās no question the offense would look much better.
The thing I do like about Cliff is his absolute frankness about everything. No sugarcoating or handholding. And his assessments are normally correct (decision making during the games can be questioned, but his accounting of what is wrong is normally good).
I remember during his first run, every press conference was always putting it on himself, saying I need to do a better job getting the guys prepared, I didnāt do a good enough job, etc. I actually donāt mind him calling out PJ or whoever, I think this blunt approach about toughness and defense are exactly what is needed. My ears donāt hear it as the blame game at this point, but more of a tough love, in a way most of the young guys havenāt had to face yet in their careers.
And I know he tells the team and players the exact thing in person. JB wouldāve kept everything in his pretty little head, where players had no idea what was expected or where they stood. I donāt think it was right to fire him, especially since they didnāt have a good replacement, and just made a change for change sake.
My biggest hope is if the lottery gods deem us worthy, it can entice Quinn Snyder to come out of hibernation and take the reins to get us back on the right track, and have more than one playoff appearance every decade.
Iām so conflicted, because I love Cliff interviews and appreciate most of what he has to say on the game in general. But, what he says (prior to the season and in general interviews) isnāt really translating onto the court.
Weāre clearly in for another HC search in the off season. I just hope itās with the top pick in the draft in our pocket, as that will greatly help attract higher calibre applicants.
I donāt think it would translate into the floor regardless of the head coach. I think we could have Phil jackson, dean smith, coach k, and pat riley in their prime and it still wouldnāt translate onto the floor with this roster.
It hasnāt been working for a long time. And itās why almost a year ago Iāve been banging the drum to trade rozier and Hayward.
I donāt really care who coaches this team. It doesnāt work. Still donāt have a big man.
I have to disagree all of those coaches would add 5 to 10 wins.
Clifford is the worst in game coach the hornets have ever had. That is a big statement.
We do need players all so . But i think the center position would be fixed if we did like every other team does and play our high pick rookies the first year.
It was weird to hear Kevin OāConner, Kevin OāBlasarian, Kevin Oācannibus, Kevonnnn (felt I had to Vernon that) say āI f**king hate Steve Cliffordā a few weeks ago on either The Mismatch or the show he did with one of the other Ringer hosts (Logan Murdock?). I donāt think that was about this year per se, but his dog-housing young players (Monk, Bamba in particular but donāt recall if he went down that rabbit hole).
1 Like
I think weāve seen, in JB and Cliff, guys who might have good basketball minds and might be good coaches, BUT theyāre clearly not good HEAD coaches. We really need that guy who comes into their own when making in-game adjustments and quick decisions.
1 Like