Collins, Johnson, and Mitchell to be given second interviews
by Tanner Steidel on May 17, 2010 11:42 AM PDT
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Per Phil "The Thrill" Jasner and Bob "Roller Coaster Ty" Cooney
The 76ers, being as careful and as judicious as possible in their search for a new coach, are preparing to offer second interviews to Doug Collins, Avery Johnson and possibly Sam Mitchell, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The source also mentioned that Portland Trail Blazers assistant Monty Williams remains a wild-card possibility.
Who may the leading candidate you ask?
The source indicated that Collins, currently a TNT analyst, has emerged as the front-runner, but that management wants to be as thorough as possible in deciding on a successor to the fired Eddie Jordan.
Avery Johnson keeps garnering the most praise from the fan polls here at LB so a majority of you guys/girl should be happy. I'm still not sold on Johnson due to his suspect playoff record and inability to adjust to situations. He also thinks (or thought) Lou Williams is (was) a starting point guard caliber player.
I'm most excited about Sammy Mitchell reportedly being asked back for Round 2. He knows the strengths and weaknesses (psshh, this team doesn't have weaknesses) of this squad and sounds like he'll tailor the gameplan and strategy towards taking advantage of everything he's got.
Doug Collins? Bleh.
No Budenholzer? No Turner? No "Thunder" Dan? Yay retreads!
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I’d like for Monty to get a second interview so we can still have some hope of a guy with vision coming in.
That cake looks delicious.
by Tanner Steidel on May 17, 2010 11:47 AM PDT up reply actions
Monty would probably be second on my list, if that was the case.
by Jordan Sams on May 17, 2010 11:50 AM PDT up reply actions
Ugh ugh ugh ugh. Sam’s the man. Monty 2nd. Then no to Avery and no thank you at all to Collins. Feh.
Vision is the absolute last thing Stefanski wants right now, because it implies risk. He wants a risk-free slight improvement of about 5-6 games he can show the Dark Lord. Therefore, he needs a ‘name’, who will be predictable in all ways. I’m not even sure why he would want to save a job where he must look over his shoulder at all times to avoid the Dark Lord’s wrath. I’d rather sell used cars.
The Sixers…where risk management happens!
I suspect this criticism is a bit unfair. IMO, it is correct to primarily evaluate candidates on the basis of various head coaching performances. But there is a subjective element to determining first, how good those performances were relative to the roster, and second – where they didn’t occur in an NBA context – how the coaches skill would translate to the NBA.
I see Stefanski as coming down on the side of mostly looking at W-L record for evaluation and mostly emphasizing NBA head coaching vs. other leagues. Personally, I would put more weight on the subjective quality of each team’s execution relative to personnel and give non-NBA experience more of a chance if there wasn’t an NBA candidate I was really happy with. So I would probably pick a different coach than Stefanski, but I don’t see the approach he is currently taking as unreasonable or without good motivation.
Stefanski’s approach is “reasonable”, in that it will get what can be gotten out of the team in a predictable way, which, assuming a certain level of progress by Jrue, and possibly a bit of “getting back to where he was” from Thad, will be about where they were with Andre Miller. 40 wins, low playoff seed, 1st-round exit.
These more established coaches come in, like Eddie Jordan, with their “system” in place, The “system” is exactly what this team does not need. This is a team of (very) young, athletic players without real basketball skills. They need someone who can grow with them, will be creative and flexible and find ways to maximize what each player can do and teach them what they should do. Someone with new ideas, new thinking, new perspective.
Possibly even someone who will suck for a year or two, while the team is infused with fresh young talent and purges the roster of some less-talented players. It’s not just the coach here. This team needs a major infusion of young talent.
I still feel like Stefanski’s primary motivation is to save his job by showing a modest improvement in the team’s record. I hear what you’re saying, but I disagree with you as to Stefanski’s ultimate motivations and reasoning.
Would anyone like to place bets that Collins gets the job by the first week in June?
Just feel relieved that if this hire is a disaster, we will have a new GM.
The hire won’t be a disaster. They’ll win more games than last year, but at least half of it will be because of the new rookie and the development of Jrue IMO.
I listened to Joe Maloof’s interview on SVP show today, and he said in the past he always tried to sign veterans and make his team better in the short term. Back then he told Ryen Russilo he didn’t believe in being bad, to become good. Now, he said he learned from his mistakes, and sometimes you just have to accept that your team is mediocre and re-build. Too bad Snider hasn’t come to this realization yet.
I wasn’t referring to Collins specifically, I just think he’ll be the one to get hired. If I had to compare coaching candidates with draft selections, I would say Collins is Cole Aldrich – safe with minimal upside.
So then, what does that make Eddie Jordan?
Sorry if it has been brought up here but for some reason on 610WIP they had the Magic VP on and he said we would be better off with a retread and that we have a better team then everybody thinks. Again sorry if it has already been brought up but thought you guys would like to know if you hadn’t heard about it and was wondering your thoughts if you did hear it.
Haven’t heard it. That’s what a lot of people seem to think, but I’m not one of them. If by “a lot better” he means this year’s Atlanta Hawks in a couple years, then sure. But that’s the Sixers ceiling unless they get a lucky bounce in the lottery. And I’m sorry if that’s not what I want to build towards. I’d much rather take my lumps with a rookie head coach, possibly rack up a couple more lottery picks, and have my core (and my coach) entering their prime when EB’s contract expires – then make my run.
I just really want to hear Avery Johnson have a press conference with the local media every night….
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Unfortunately I think it’s all about bringing in the fans for next year.
They’ll pick the coach who can draw the most fans— Avery Johnson.
I agree that Avery Johnson would bring the most fans to the arena…..for a variety of reasons. But I don’t see Stefansky hiring an ego like that. It would be too much of a threat to his power. He’s also the most expensive one in the lot.
Collins is the safest choice to keep his job for now without giving up say on personnel decisions…..unless Collins is demanding that too…..but I think probably not.
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