What I would want in a GM

[KB21]

I want a GM that has a vision of putting a team on the basketball court that is totally committed to playing defense. Many of you want the flash and dash of an all out offensive team, but defense and rebounding is what wins championships in this league.

Ideally, I would want someone that comes from either the philosophy that the San Antonio Spurs employ or the philosophy that the Detroit Pistons employ. Those two franchises are the model franchise for the rest of the NBA, in particular the San Antonio Spurs. Their philosophies are proven, and that philosophy is starting to proliferate in the league. San Antonio's philosophy has extensions now in Cleveland with Danny Ferry as the GM, Seattle with Sam Presti as the GM, and in Phoenix with Steve Kerr as the GM (which is why D'Antoni is on the way out). With Detroit's philosophy, the first branch is happening this year with John Hammond in Milwaukee.

John Hammond would have been the guy I would have gone after, but he was hired two weeks ago in Milwaukee as their GM.

High on my list would be RC Buford and Dennis Lindsey of the Spurs, Scott Perry of the Pistons, and Chris Grant and Lance Blanks of the Cavaliers.

[TheDude]

i don't think many of us are going for some fancy shmancy offense...what we want on offense is just averageness. That's all I'm asking, in a halfcourt set, we look like we have played organized basketball before...that's all.

[DrReality]

Heard John Barry interviewed on the radio and he made the comment that the best owners in the league are never heard from. They let the people they've hired to run the franchise do their thing and leave them alone. Seems we're going in the opposite direction and the ASG get about as much press as the team. Sad, sad thing.

[KB21]

The ASG gets press because of the lawsuit that surrounds them and the fact that the local media goes after them. They don't get much press nationally outside of the lawsuit.

And Jon Barry is wrong in a sense. What has gotten press is the fact that the ownership didn't give Billy permission to fire Mike Woodson. Folks, that is not a sign that the ownership is a meddlesome ownership. This is far from Arthur Blank forcing the Falcons to draft Matt Ryan instead of Glenn Dorsey, who is the player their GM wanted. EVERY GM has to get permission to fire the head coach.

As I have said before, even Jerry West wasn't allowed to fire Mike Fratello in Memphis until December. He wanted to fire him before the season started, and Michael Heisley wouldn't let him. No GM in any league has the power to hire and fire head coaches without permission from ownership.

[frosgrim]

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This is far from Arthur Blank forcing the Falcons to draft Matt Ryan instead of Glenn Dorsey, who is the player their GM wanted. EVERY GM has to get permission to fire the head coach.

First off the Falcons' brain trust of TD, Coach Smith and Mike Mularky LOVE Matt Ryan. I have heard several interviews with these guys since the draft and there is no doubt in my mind that Ryan was THEIR choice. They completely gush over Ryan's mental and physical abilities. I actually have never heard the level of admiration I am hearing from a coaching staff as I am hearing from these guys about Ryan. You can't fake that level of desire to have a player on a team.

Second, you are coloring the situation with rose-colored glasses. Its not that a GM needs permission, its that the owners didn't listen. BK is a guy that expects things to go his way and if not then he's is pissed (see JJ trade, Sheldon pick, etc). Thus, BK probably decided to leave once he wasn't supported by GM Jr and the gang.