Atkinson undefeated in the finals as Hornets head coach so far! I was already rooting for the Warriors but I have stepped it up a bit after the announcement.
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Atkinson is a guy that looks like heās stressed out most of the time. It may just be his face though. Some people just have looks.
Watching him on the bench with the Warriors heās often grimacing like heās in pain.
Heck I dunno.
Donāt really hate, underwhelming, meh,
A lot needed cover and convince in interviews about 118-190 Nets tenure. But fly on wall, I may have bought what selling too. But no matter sales pitch in room with suitsā¦after Lamelo green light and buy, this is our new head coach next 4 years.
23-33-43ā¦keep moving up and now this year 53!
J/k Kenny with such unrealistic expectationsā¦48 
How many wins shluld he have had with the roster he had with the Nets? Kyrie played 20 games in the covid-shortened season and Durant didnāt play at all. Before that they were a rebuilding and tanking team.
I remember one of the biggest things that KD didnāt like was that Atkinson was valuing Allen over Deandre Jordan in the rotation. Looks like he was very very right about that. Kyrie and KD wanted a yes-man coach.
Facts are facts, this has been one of the moat sought after head coaching candidates of the last several years (his name was near the front of the pack of every teams wishlist).
I mean, why didnāt we fire Borrego the first seaso. That we won 23 games?
Context is important, seems like a guy that gets the max out of players and gets guys to really buy in. I also think kur players will appreicate the grind that Kenny did overseas and the fact that his playing career ended due to Achilles tear.
Also very active in practice, I am really excited about this hire.
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Well at least it shows he has some passion. JB always had a āawww shucksā attitude.
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I honestly donāt get the aggravation that he didnāt emote enough. Seems like an odd thing to get upset with. Like not winning Iād get but clapping, acting animated, or breaking clipboards doesnāt do much for me if the product on the floor is bad.
I just feel that he had didnāt fight hard enoughā¦ especially for some of the really bad calls weāve had or for how poorly we played at times. Pull a Bob Knight and throw a chair! Haha Obviously, Iām kidding but I felt his lack of fight also rubbed off on the team, bc they acted the same wayā¦
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Mich youāre right. There are times where as a coach you need to get out of character to get the attention of your team and at times the respect of NBA officials.
JB was a very relaxed and casual individual which can play well most of the time but with a younger team you canāt be THAT casual and a players coach. To come from the Popovich tree that is very surprising.
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Itās not about the emotion or animation itself.
Itās one thing to be cool and calm but itās another to be seemingly indifferent. Yeah sure, I get it-itās a good leadership quality (to be cool under pressure).
But how many times did this hornets team lack a sense of urgency? They were often flat, lackadaisical, talked change but never actually changed. Thatās when a coaches personality blends into the team culture in a negative way.
No one is saying āemoting for the sake of emotingā or ābreaking things just to break thingsā. Itās us wanting the coach to look like heās invested and gives a fuck.
For example, if the team gives up 41 points in the first quarter to a g league OKC Thunder roster, please donāt just stand on the sideline with your hands in your pocket.
For example, when coach dean smith was livid with his starters heās often sub out all 5 of them and insert the walk-ons into the game for a while. Did coach smith expect the walk ons to win the game? Fuck no. He did it to make a statement.
Itās not about the action itself but the message it sends. And JBās actions for four years sent a āmehā message that lead to kind of a lackadaisical team attitude
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Coach Iām so with you on this. It started to bug me the season before this one.
The lack of emotion lead to a lot of hand wringing and generic āwe just gotta do betterā post game commentary over and over and over. Flaaaaatt.
From an energy and emotional output standpoint, Kenny Atkinson will be very different than JB
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With further thought, I think any disappointment I have about the hire emanates from the desire to see the MDA-Lamelo duo. I truly think that wouldāve resulted in something special. And Melo is the only thing that really matters currently in regards to the hornets future.
I can only hope that Atkinson will be a fine hire but I still think that MDA-Melo wouldāve been a sight to see. I do think Atkinson has the chance to be the shot of adrenaline this team has been lacking if anything.
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I agree that MDA mightāve been better for Lamelo, but in the long term Atkinson could be more beneficial. Hopefully we will see success, and Atkinson-Ball will grown together.
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Hey guys what about if we could bring in MDA as a lead assistant? Where is he working now and MJ has a lot of money to throw at the coaching staff?
I would say impossible. Atkinson was the assistant to MDA at Knicks, I could not imagine MDA being Atkinsonās assistant.
BUUUUUTTTT, what if MDA becomes the GM and Mitch takes a more behind the scenes role in the office?
Might be the only rational LaMelo fan Iāve seen. Most have been freaking out we didnāt hire Mark Jackson
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Bouk is waaaayyyy too immature to handle that kind of coach.
Mitch said more one time unhappy with discipline. KA was probably the best of the candidates to try and do something about other than Ham.
This doesnāt sound like worst thing to haveā¦
To go with equal opportunity team playing time and scoring, team>>>individual. At Nets interesting reads on how he and GM Marks established a ācollegeā cultureā¦follow our structure and directions, give maximum effort & hard work. A coach tells you to jump you ask how high(sheesh, big time hyperbole but get gist).
ā¦as long as organization has coach back a 1000% over players & their families & entourages.
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I really like this hire. Watching KA coach the Nets against the Hornets I couldnāt help but hope the Hornets find a coach like him one day. The success he had with a team that had no stars maybe not even NBA starters was impressive. Gave me hope that a team like the Hornets who didnāt have much talent at that time could find their own success if they didnāt find players.
Now heās here with more experience around successful, championship caliber squads? LFG.
a sad chuckle, i know why KA should definitely be a Hornets coach.
āHe moved from just developing and started learning some Xs and Os. I think heās now understanding out of bounds after timeout plays.ā
OK context, player said during 2nd Nets year. And yes X/Oās bad first couple, did show improvements 3rd playoff year. Should tell early if improvement outlier & a one year wonder, or regressed because of roster & Kyrie.
As with all our coaches, Iāll give them the full benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong.
I was with Uncle Bernie until the Brevin/Felton/McInnis wars.
I was with Sam āFine Ham Biscuitā until he traded Walter Hermann for Nazr. I liked Nazr, but the Claw was our true hero rather than Adam Morrison, and Sam stole our joy with that moveā¦definitely deserved to get locked out of the locker room by the players.
I was with Larry Frown until he decided to completely dismantle our playoff team right after we finally made it for the first time. That and his bad drafting, and making all his pgs spin at half court for no reason.
I was with Dunlap until Ben Gordon made him humble thyself with basketballs to the head.
I was with Silas the first time and second time until, of course, setting the record of that one season that shall not be named.
I was with Clifford the Big Red Dog until about the 500th press conference where he kept saying āits all on me, I got to do a better job, etc.ā I love his accountability, but at that point, he was correct, it was on him to do better, and they couldnāt any more.
I was with JB until that Miami game that the refs screwed us on the 3 point ruling that cost the game. Absolutely 0 fight with the refs on that call, I hadnāt been that disappointed/pissed off at a coach like that since Larry sabotaged the team the last year, but this was a singular moment rather than a long buildup.
So Iām with Big K.At right now. Maybe this will finally break the Hornet curse for once and we can win a playoff round or 2.
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