Ryan's Nope

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

The Curious Case of...

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

I think he got that job because of his Dad's relationship with the Wolves.  It was a sentimental hire.

[kg01]

So I have two big issues on this situation (a) the firing and (b) the hiring, which are somewhat unrelated.  Let me explain.

(a) So clearly the guy deserved to be fired, he was clearly in over his head from the very beginning.  Everyone saw that.  As burd said, if his last name was McDougal instead of 'Saunders' his resume only qualified him to work in the mailroom (barely).  It was a terrible, sentimental hire that expectedly came back to bite them.

The problem is they hired a guy the same night .... on what's expected to be a multi-year deal ... from a whole other team!

That's disrespectful as heyul to the coaching profession because it meant they've likely been in talks with the guy for at least a few weeks behind their coach's back.

Sure, Rosas and Finch have a longterm relationship so it's no secret why he was the quick choice.  But that still means they had to request permission from TOR to negotiate with him.

Even if they had done that literally last night (unlikely), to have come to terms so quickly indicated (not just implies) prior contact which is an actual no-no even if just for the sake of optics.

Now on the hiring ...

So I was on the road today so I caught a discussion on this with Howard Beck on NBARadio.  He ran down the Twolves' history on coaching hires as related to minority hiring.

Per him, in their 32 years of existence, they've hired 2 black HC's.  I don't count Sam Mitchell in that because Flip Saunders had to literally die for Sam to get the gig and they couldn't fire him fast enough.  Similarly, Dwayne Casey was fired in his second year with a 20-20 record.  Is that an actual chance?

Fast-forward to now and we have a hire with no actual search, which locks all candidates out of the opportunity.  Who's to say another guy (of whatever race, for that matter), given an opportunity, wouldn't knock management's socks off in the interview process?  By force-hiring Finch, they have no idea if they hired the right guy for the job.  They could've done themselves a disservice.

And, on top of that, have put themselves in a position of having to answer the questions about (lack of) minority hiring.

[macdaddy]

I'm sure it's happened before but i can't think of another mid season change where you bring in an outsider from another team's staff.   That's super weird.  Not sure why Toronto went along with it. 

[kg01]

10 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I'm sure it's happened before but i can't think of another mid season change where you bring in an outsider from another team's staff.   That's super weird.  Not sure why Toronto went along with it. 

2009, iirc, was the last time. 

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2021/02/22/chris-finch-raptors-to-timberwolves-rare-coach-to-switch-teams-during-season/

Quote

Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies from Milwaukee Bucks in 2008-09) Bernie Bickerstaff (Washington Bullets from Denver Nuggets in 1996-97) d*ck Versace (Indiana Pacers from Detroit Pistons in 1988-89)

It's very rare.

TOR went along with it because, if they'd fought it, there would've been backlash about them "holding a guy's career back" or w/e.

Similar to when colleges refuse to let a guy transfer.

[macdaddy]

5 hours ago, kg01 said:

TOR went along with it because, if they'd fought it, there would've been backlash about them "holding a guy's career back" or w/e.

If I remember correctly we did this very thing, in the offseason, with assistants.  Refused to let them interview because they were under contract.  I think it was Bud's staff but could have actually been before that.  Might have been LD's assistants or something.   Anyone remember?

[JayBirdHawk]

4 hours ago, macdaddy said:

If I remember correctly we did this very thing, in the offseason, with assistants.  Refused to let them interview because they were under contract.  I think it was Bud's staff but could have actually been before that.  Might have been LD's assistants or something.   Anyone remember?

I think it was during the playoffs.

[Spud2nique]

On 2/22/2021 at 1:37 PM, kg01 said:

a) So clearly the guy deserved to be fired, he was clearly in over his head from the very beginning. 

and Lloyd wasn’t? Seems agenda based here.

[kg01]

3 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

and Lloyd wasn’t? Seems agenda based here.

For better or worse, Pierce was a HC prospect.  Saunders never was.  Well, not unless you only count the Minnesota vote.

[Spud2nique]

9 hours ago, kg01 said:

Pierce was a HC prospect. 

Then somebody should be fired for even regarding Pierce as head coach material. They were absolutely wrong. Assistant at best.

[kg01]

6 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

Then somebody should be fired for even regarding Pierce as head coach material. They were absolutely wrong. Assistant at best.

Breaking news, spud wants Schlenk fired.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

Breaking news, spud wants Schlenk fired.

Nope. Not what I said. But you’d be a good media person.

[kg01]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Nope. Not what I said. But you’d be a good media person.

You callin' me a BSPN-er?  Ohhhhhhh, them's fightin' words.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

You callin' me a BSPN-er?  Ohhhhhhh, them's fightin' words.

[Spud2nique]

4 hours ago, kg01 said:

You callin' me a BSPN-er?

Sadly worse... ur a BR type guy outsiders hear Lloyd is a good person but prolly never saw one Hawks game.

 

Peep this in the new rankings we are 22nd.. but the last sentence is just idiotic.

 

Last Week's Rankings: 23rd

Last week started with the firing of Lloyd Pierce, and Nate McMillan was named the interim head coach. 

One big problem this season has been closing as the Hawks have routinely blown fourth-quarter leads. Atlanta is 3-10 in games with a three-point differential with three minutes left, though last week's win over the Magic was an exception. It has the league's second-worst net rating (minus-28.9) in those situations. 

Staying in the playoff race will depend more on the health of players like Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter and Kris Dunn than the coaching change.

[kg01]

3 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

Sadly worse... ur a BR type guy outsiders hear Lloyd is a good person but prolly never saw one Hawks game.

 

Peep this in the new rankings we are 22nd.. but the last sentence is just idiotic.

 

Last Week's Rankings: 23rd

Last week started with the firing of Lloyd Pierce, and Nate McMillan was named the interim head coach. 

One big problem this season has been closing as the Hawks have routinely blown fourth-quarter leads. Atlanta is 3-10 in games with a three-point differential with three minutes left, though last week's win over the Magic was an exception. It has the league's second-worst net rating (minus-28.9) in those situations. 

Staying in the playoff race will depend more on the health of players like Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter and Kris Dunn than the coaching change.

Last sentence is spot on, brolio. 

[Spud2nique]

26 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Last sentence is spot on, brolio. 

Riiiight. Well, if you and miss Cleo  wanna believe that go right ahead mon! Bit Lloyd be a goner!  Lordmercy! Right near the beeeeeech.