Lon: Good nurturing Mother, Bad hunting father

[jerrywest]

Nurturer vs. Hunter:

Hawks were rebuilding and Lon was brought in as the guy who can teach the kids. And teaching he has done. He has helped blossom JT, DJ, Dion, Ira and Nazr. But Babs did something nobody thought he could do. He did 3 awesome trades and majically transformed a rebuilding team into a contender. Suddenly Lon has to take the next step way earlier than the expiration date of his contract. If Babs says Lon fits this team's mold he will contradict himself since he was brought in

for teaching the young guys.

He has been a wonderful nurturing mother. But does he have the skills to be the hunter father. Does he have the killer instinct? Is it something you can teach a 50 year old?

His instincts and inability to adjust have already cost us 2 games. Thats 15 games out of 82 games. Can any NBA team afford 15 less wins? Is his contract or more importantly the contract of our next coach worth more than 15 wins and countless playoff wins? Can Lon handle playoffs?!?!?! Remember, every playoff wins builds your character to take the next step. And the more we delay our next steps, the smaller our window of opportunity becomes.

I think he would be a great coach for Denver Nuggets. Jerry Krause would love him. And Cartwright with his killer instinct and strategy would fit us better. I wish we could trade coaches. Or we should trade our studs and get some younger future superstars that will blossom after Kruger's contract expires.

And this is not about second guessing. Any coach can be second guessed.

[Diesel]

I can't help but agree.

Now that DJ is not playing. JT and Glover has arrived... The need for Lon's training is gone. We need a new coach with Championship experience.

Chuck Daily.

[Traceman]

I HOPE that Lon can make the adjustment from teacher to leader because he HAS been largely responsible for the development of our young guys. That being said, his questionable (I'm being kind) sub patterns have been constantly criticized on the board for as long as he's been here. Every time I think he's learned his lesson after he has coached a good game, he comes back with that BS we saw last night. I have been one of his biggest supporters (and I STILL like him) but I am done defending him. If I see one more horrible lineup like the one that started the 2nd quarter last night (in a situation where the game is in jeopardy), I'll be calling for his head too!

[jerrywest]

Where is the adjustment?

Watching the game between Houston and Dallas and see their coaches play it like a chess game made me wonder...

[Traceman]

concern. I am not convinced that Lon CAN'T learn to make better substitutions and adjustments and those are the two primary areas in which I think he needs to improve. That being said, I won't defend him when he clearly makes a blunder on his substitions or when he fails to make an obvious adjustment.

I still think Lon brings a lot of positives to the table although I think its clear that he is still adjusting from the college to the pro game. I am more than willing to give him a full season of healthy players before I call for him to be fired. I think he's still learning the pro game and eventually, I think he will be a solid NBA coach.