Why are so many sleeping on Drew?

[sillent]

Drew is actually a good coach who is only going to get better!! Some of you all forgot we just had a shortened season where real coaching wasn't able to be as big as a factor as it would during a normal season. Most of the teams that were successful last year were teams that had their main core and system in place. Clippers addition(s) and the Knicks being the main exceptions. I still believe Drew is capable of being one of the better coaches in the league and only had 1 1/2 seasons to prove so.We kept our core and added all vets to pick up Drew's/Hawk's system quickly. Drew, still being young to the head coaching game tried to over think it. He did a great job with Ivan Johnson and most of our core but he could of played a couple other players we had a bit more( atleast in the playoffs or 10 or so games before). Who knows maybe their were injuries known and unknown that caused him to hold them back but I still believe in using all your weapons (if needed) during the post games. Drew likes to keep secret weapons for the playoffs (kind of like what he did with Teague last year against the Bulls). I knew in the first round that Teague was going to be his secret weapon against Rose with Hinrich and Kirk's accident was coincidental. Drew wasn't going to use Tracy until the 3rd round this year against the Heat (although there was no guarantee that we'd get past the 76ers even if we won the Boston series).I don't think the regular season is too hard for Drew as long as he has players that buy into his system. He may need to think as the players should when the post season starts and realize sometimes you got to put it all on the line. All and all though he's had one full season which was a learning experience and another season where alot of things he wanted to do were hindered. There are not too many coaches out there that are currently better than Drew. Let's give him a real chance before asking for vet coaches that haven't quite won anything or newbies that are going to have to go through learning curves themselves. You got Tom,Popp,Scott(Up and coming), Doc, Spoeltra (see Scott). Phil (needs a superstar) and Sloan (never one a ring) are retired. I might have missed one but I don't think so and in my opinion every other coach is questionable.If we have a good to great year next year with our current roster we need to give Drew some credit!! They will definitely have to believe in Drew's system (coming from many different other systems) for it to work. Besides Smoove, Al ,Teague, Zaza and Ivan we have a completely new team. Chemistry takes time to build and is important in going far( take Miami and New York for ei...). Many teams look great on paper but you got teams like Chicago (take away Rose) that may look horrible but have good chemistry, coaching and team philosophy.If this team exceeds expectations of most, more than likely Drew should get some credit !!

[clicklandshopping]

I think Coach Drew has done a great job also and he needs some credit. A lot of times the media tell us who are great coaches and don't give much credit to others until they become coaches of greater market teams (Mike Woodson comes to mind in New York). The problem most people have with Drew is they expect him to succeed in the playoffs which is a fair request. This is a player driven league where coaching is important and you have to have both to get anywhere!

[Bawse]

Larry Drew is NOT a good coach. We've already seen multiple examples of him not being able to control his players on top of making 0 half time adjustments. There's a reason why he's the cheapest coach in basketball.

[AHF]

I don't think Drew is the worst coach in the league but any optimism is guarded because he has let Josh Smith run wild shooting shots that are terrible for our team in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and spacing. This is the #1 issue I would like to see our coaches tackle. When Drew came in, Josh had just finished his best season where he successfully reigned in the 3pt shots. Instead of continuing Josh's development by working to eliminate the terrible long 2's, Drew gave him carte blanche to go to town increasing his jump shooting. It makes me question whether he is the right guy for this team going forward since he has been partly or fully responsible for Josh's development for about the last 5 years.

[NJHAWK]

Ferry as we have seen with player movement should have an outsider non ASG view of Larry Drew this season. Im not saying what Ferry decides to do about the coaching for next season will be the right thing to do but at least it wont be the Gearon thing to do. I guess Gearon took a vaca to Mars because we havent heard one peep out of him. lmfao Maybe he is still mourning the Joe and Marv trades.

[EazyRoc]

My thing with Larry Drew is also Josh Smith's long 2s. The 3s aren't as big of a deal for me personally because he hit them at a decent percentage and they are worth 3 points, but those long 2s are just terrible shots. He hits them at a low percentage and they are only worth 2 points.

[yungsta]

He is not a terrible coach but we do need a new 1. We need a new voice in the locker room. We need a coach that players will respect and listen to also is WILLING to let him coach you. they're are few coaches in the league that do this and sadly LD isnt 1 of them. We need a coach that is willing to bench ANYONE who isnt buying into the system and is hurting the team. I remember watching a bulls vs heat game and derrick rose was playing like crap and was hurting their team badly and let the heat back into the game. Thibs benched him for the rest of the game. he only played 25 mins and they ended up winning the game.How many coaches in this league would bench the former MVP for the good of the team??? We need that kind of coach.

[frosgrim]

I agree with the posters who have commented that Drew allowed/encouraged Smith to take himself out of his strengths. This is critical fault of Drew's.I really don't see anything in past performances that suggest Drew is anything more than an average NBA coach. He can get guys to pay the offense at times, and at times, he comes up with good ideas. But in the whole, there is nothing that that says innovation, thinking ahead of the curve, or motivational.Bottom-line: Drew needs to show that he can 1) get Smith to play to his strengths, 2) coach the team to wins over above .500 teams, 3) avoid all those in-season and playoff blowouts

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Record vs over .500 teams the past 2 years in 2010 - 12

1) Chicago: 49 - 25 ( .662 )

2) San Antonio: 57 - 30 ( .655 )

3) Oklahoma City: 51 - 34 ( .600 )

4) LA Lakers: 50 - 34 ( .595 )

5) Miami: 46 - 34 ( .575 )

6) Boston: 43 - 35 ( .551 )

7) Dallas: 47 - 41 ( .547 )

8) Denver: 42 - 41 ( .506 )

9) Memphis: 43 - 43 ( .500 )

Atlanta: 42 - 43 ( .494 ) . . Woody's final 2 years ( 2008 - 10 )

10) New York: 32 - 44 ( .421 )

11) LA Clippers: 36 - 50 ( .419 )

12) Orlando: 32 - 46 ( .410 )

13) Portland: 33 - 53 ( .384 )

14) Houston: 32 - 54 ( .381 )

15) Atlanta: 28 - 47 ( .373 ) . . Drew's first 2 years ( 2010 - 12 )

16) Utah: 33 - 54 ( .371 )

17) Philadelphia: 28 - 48 ( .368 )

18) Phoenix: 29 - 51 ( .362 )

19) Indiana: 28 - 51 ( .354 )

20) Golden St: 28 - 62 ( .311 )

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I don't think Drew is the worst coach in the league but any optimism is guarded because he has let Josh Smith run wild shooting shots that are terrible for our team in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and spacing. This is the #1 issue I would like to see our coaches tackle. When Drew came in, Josh had just finished his best season where he successfully reigned in the 3pt shots. Instead of continuing Josh's development by working to eliminate the terrible long 2's, Drew gave him carte blanche to go to town increasing his jump shooting. It makes me question whether he is the right guy for this team going forward since he has been partly or fully responsible for Josh's development for about the last 5 years.

Josh Smith jumpshooting from 16+ feet

2010: 233 shots . . only 7 of those shots were 3 pointers

2011: 460 shots . . 154 of those shots were 3 pointers

2012: 499 shots . . 109 of those shots were 3 pointers

That's 959 shots of 16+ feet during the regular season with Drew as the coach.

[Jbrinson]

Do you really think Drew planned on Jeff playing great in the playoffs? He didn't play him all year but you think he put his faith in Teague as a secret weapon. It was just a stroke of luck for Kirk to get hurt and Teague played great. LD doesn't know how to play a team. Maybe if he had gave Jordan Crawford playing time then wouldn't have traded him, 3 other guys, and a 1st round pick for sorry Kirk. LD can not control his player. Last year Joe or Josh could do anything they wanted. He never took Josh or Joe out for stupid shots or even yelled at them about. If we won't stars on this team then we will need a better coach than drew.

[yungsta]

oh yeah to add on to my post it I also would like a coach who try to lobby refs for calls and get a technical now and then for complaining to the refs or standing up for the team. Believe it or not this does have a big effect on the officiatingI see coaches like doc rivers and thibs do this ALL THE TIME and you rarely see them sit down.

[benhillboy]

All valid points, but personally, I try to refrain from judging coaches so much. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that determine their success or failure. They're just as good as the assistants around them also. I cant front like I'm Professor Jack Ramsay or Hubie and diagram every set and how each player should react to it, and whose fault it was when the player fails. Drew's overall record and the team's defensive ranking last season with considersble time missed due to injury is good enough for him to coach comfortably with total security and backing from Ferry this season. I like the guy besides not being more stern with Josh.

I need some help with this editing, Dol. (Done)

Edited July 23, 2012 by AHF

[Nicholasp27]

My thing with Larry Drew is also Josh Smith's long 2s. The 3s aren't as big of a deal for me personally because he hit them at a decent percentage and they are worth 3 points, but those long 2s are just terrible shots. He hits them at a low percentage and they are only worth 2 points.

He shot .257 from 3 last year (taking 2/game) and that is decent?!?!? Why do people accept such horrible shooting without calling for him to stop it? He is a career .278 3pt shooter Horrible

[NineOhTheRino]

LD lost me in the Celtics series. He completely blew it when he did not tell Al to miss that second free throw. And the fact that he tried to bs us by saying, "we wanted to take our chances on defense" only increased my skepticism.LD has brainwashed this fanbase into believing he's a good coach. You have been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok! Not me. I saw his, "I'm a good coach because I'm better than Woody", trick from a mile away.

Edited July 23, 2012 by NineOhTheRino

[ATLSmith]

He seems to have a good mind for basketball and I like his system way better than Woodies. The only think that i don't like about LD is that he doesn't come across as a leader; someone who can get the players fired up, someone who can get them to listen. This makes it all the more difficult to get the players to believe in his system.

[EazyRoc]

He shot .257 from 3 last year (taking 2/game) and that is decent?!?!? Why do people accept such horrible shooting without calling for him to stop it? He is a career .278 3pt shooter Horrible

I was actually thinking of last year when he shot 33%.