could our system be the real culprit?

[Wurider]

The hawks are not built for that slow down wear'em down approach. they are a run and gun team. maybe a change in the coaching philosophy would equal more wins or better effort. Stotts is pretty much doing the same thing Lon did. I am sorry but JT is the best player on the team by far. they sure as [censored] don't need to trade him. Dickau hasn't done nothing yet. I think that with Benjamin we may be able to turn the corner just a little bit. but stotts has to let the boys run and zone>

[Guest]

This team can only "sort of" run and gun/ fastbreak with Benjamin on the floor - the same was true with DJ last year - otherwise, JT is really the only one who can finish (besides perhaps Ira...and I'm sure Glover has it in him) - GRob/Reef/Theo/Nazr/Hendu...none of them can finish a fast break.

[chillzatl]

ONce again, anyone who blamed Lon Kruger for more than 50% of this teams failure is a nitwit. We have MANY flaws, coaching is only part of it.

Now don't get me wrong, coaching is STILL a problem. I had faith in Stotts but I see now that he, like Kruger before him, is only Half Capable. Again, don't get me wrong, he shouldn't be held fully accountable. But a large part of it is his fault. He hasn't set up plays to take advantage of his star players. That is his job, first and foremost. Create a system that takes advantage of your stars. He just hasn't done that.

BUt we have many holes. Too many one dimensional players. Too many players that don't play defense. Too many players without the guts to bring it EVERY NIGHT. We don't have to fix all the flaws though. Just addressing one or two should make us a playoff capable team.

[Diesel]

havent you learned ANYTHING from Rick Carlisle?

2 yrs ago he took a team who was the best rebounding team in the NBA with the best scorer in the nba the season previous but finished 32-50 and he made them 50 game winners.

How did he do it?

Motivation, Defense. He really didn't change anything personnell wise. He was able to get into the minds of the players and he built schemes that helped them....

Think Carlisle is some fluke case...

How bout Emuss...

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/sports/...ors/5005459.htm

In reply to:

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On the Warriors' improvement this season, with essentially the same roster. "When you look at the whole picture, there have been positive improvement by individuals. And you give your players credit for that. And then you give your coach (Eric Musselman) and his staff credit.

From Day 1, they've had a definitive game plan, a system to implement. And they're still working at it.

I would say we're as well-prepared as any team in the NBA. There's good communication, good teaching and that's going to continue to grow and get better. It's like building a house. We've got a few feet of concrete. Everybody has worked on a daily basis to get better every day."

---

One GM has said that the work going on in GS has been because of the Coach and he deserves all the credit. GS is in the same bus that we have been in... Supposedly a team that had Bad Chemistry and pieces that didn't fit. BUT.... for some reason, a good coach made those pieces fit?? Go figure Chillz.... Do you think this change in GS was less than 50% coaching? Remember, it's the exact same team. The same team with Jamison who is neither PF or SF. The same team with Arenas who was not a real PG. The same team with Dampiere who was a lazy C. The same team with Mills and Sura who were salary cap waste... The same team with Richardson who was not able to hit the ocean from the beach unless he was dunking the ball. Bad chemistry with no shooters are ball handlers... Sound familiar?? However, there's a method to Emuss' winning and it starts in having a plan that works for those players.

LON never had a plan. Didn't have anything close to a plan. Lon hoped that problems would work themselves out. And Lon jumped on whatever was working at that time with no thought of the consequences.

You say... The problems were not all coaching? EVERYTHING FALLS ON COACHING!!

[KB21]

One thing I want to evaluate about Terry Stotts for the rest of the season is if he will quit mixing and matching his starting line up, stating that the match ups are the reason.

Personaly, I think the starters for the rest of the season should be:

PG -- Jason Terry

SG -- Dion Glover

SF -- Glenn Robinson

PF -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim

C -- Theo Ratliff

I also think main guys off the bench should be PF Alan Henderson, C Nazr Mohammed, PG Mike Wilks, and SG Corey Benjamin. Go ahead and pick up Wilks and Benjamin for the rest of the season.

[Gray Mule]

I still believe that the best coaching idea if for each

part of the game to have it's own special coach. This

is, in my way of thinking, what assistant coaches are

hired to do.

This is what Larry Bird said that he did. He turned over the

different parts of the game to his assistant coaches, then

he simply put the pieces of the puzzle together, one coach

responsible for each piece of the puzzle.

Have the Hawks ever completed their coaching staff since

the firing of Lon? We need all the help that we can get

and this is the area to start.