Should Nate be fired?

[macdaddy]

I just can't think of a coach sitting out there that i can say would definitely be better than Nate.  It's always a crap shoot with unproven guys.   

[AUhawksfan]

I say no, and to give him half of next year to see what he can do - like we did with Lloyd.  Either way I don't see him lasting though if we can get a decent replacement - that's the tough part for me.  Even with all his issues there isn't a guarantee we can find someone with the acumen to jump right in and coach this team successfully, though I would think there is a coach out there that would be licking their chops to be able to work with Trae.

This season was hard to watch compared to the year prior, but we also dealt with a lot of issues beyond our control.  He also was at the helm for our most successful postseason the year before and doesn't get enough credit for that IMO.  I feel like that alone should earn him at least the start of next year to see if he has learned any lessons from this season.  I don't think he will though unless we shake up our assistants and he becomes more willing to try some things earlier in the season.

[macdaddy]

33 minutes ago, AUhawksfan said:

I would think there is a coach out there that would be licking their chops to be able to work with Trae.

That was probably Nash.   The question is does Nash suck or the Nets just a nightmare?

 

[Spud2nique]

11 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

That was probably Nash.   The question is does Nash suck or the Nets just a nightmare?

 

Both! 

[AHF]

16 hours ago, DieHardHAWK said:

He looked clueless. Didn't use timeouts. Rarely challenged a play. Showed no emotion or life. Never stood up for his players against the refs. Doesn't play rookies. No adjustments. I mean, the man didn't want to be head coach in the first place.

Tough to say there isn't some truth in all of these.  As bad as this series was for Trae, it was every bit as bad for Nate and he didn't have a "Nate rules" scheme that was throwing him off.  Can't imagine what his rationale is for not challenging plays, not standing up for his players with the refs, etc. wholly apart from the questions about scheme, rotation, etc. on the court.

16 hours ago, JeffS17 said:

Only if someone better is available. I dont want to bring in another mid coach just to have change.

And yet I still think this is the right answer.  Having a turnstile of coaches is a recipe for disaster so I definitely don't want a Luke Walton or Steve Nash or some other unproven "cross your fingers and hope they are effective" hire.  

This is a tough question that doesn't have a tidy "yes"/"no" for me.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

That was probably Nash.   The question is does Nash suck or the Nets just a nightmare?

 

Funny thing is I thought Nash would be like a Kerr. I was afraid of the match with Brooklyn but no longer. 

[JeffS17]

6 hours ago, JeffS17 said:

I don't want to call for Nate's head and then end up with Doc Rivers

I can't with this guy lol... throwing his own players under the bus is a way of living for him.  I've never seen a coach so quick to make excuses and rationalizations for themselves.  He cares more about his image than he does winning games.  I'd rather have statue Nate with canned media answers than dumpster fire doc

[Nash]

4 hours ago, macdaddy said:

I just can't think of a coach sitting out there that i can say would definitely be better than Nate.  It's always a crap shoot with unproven guys.   

Frank Vogel 

[agentorange90]

I think the main point is how bad the defense was all year.  It's not completely Nate's fault but he has to be accountable.  Schlenk needs to have someone in mind and not fire Nate without having a good plan in place.  The other thing that concerns me is if Trae isn't making a play off his dribble(pick and roll, drive) our offense is abysmal.  If it's not Trae driving in the lane; it seems we are launching 3's.

[Watchman]

6 hours ago, macdaddy said:

I just can't think of a coach sitting out there that i can say would definitely be better than Nate.  It's always a crap shoot with unproven guys.   

Can't think of any who would be worse.

[JayBirdHawk]

Quote

The Hawks started 4-9, and what was bizarre was how they were playing. There was no identity. .... And Reddish, specifically, was a large reason the Hawks were so mediocre up until he was traded.

All of the analytics pointed to Reddish’s play actively hurting the Hawks, but he remained in the rotation. There was no mandate from the front office to play Reddish to increase his trade value. McMillan continued playing him, sources say, because he felt like if he didn’t, the team’s chemistry would’ve been negatively impacted. It was a bad read from McMillan. The Hawks were 15-19 when Reddish played this season and 28-20 without him.

That was just one of several mistakes McMillan made this season after taking over for the Hawks midway through last season. McMillan’s declaration in mid-March that Delon Wright was out of the rotation surprised sources. They pointed to how the Hawks were in need of better perimeter defenders and Wright was one of the few who were capable of consistently staying in front of guys, but McMillan instead opted for Williams, who wasn’t the spark plug he was last season.

...

Where McMillan falls short in many people’s eyes is his rigidity, particularly when it comes to experimenting even if the status quo isn’t working. Rookie Jalen Johnson only received 120 minutes this season, as McMillan was adamant about how the Hawks were out of the development stage. Johnson is certainly raw but teams — even good ones — figure out ways to find playing time for rookies. ...

As one source said after Game 5, “McMillan’s unimaginative, and when things aren’t going to plan, it’s hard to make an adjustment.”

https://theathletic.com/3274544/2022/04/27/atlanta-hawks-loss-trae-young/

 

[GameTime]

51 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

https://theathletic.com/3274544/2022/04/27/atlanta-hawks-loss-trae-young/

 

Quote

Rookie Jalen Johnson only received 120 minutes this season, as McMillan was adamant about how the Hawks were out of the development stage. Johnson is certainly raw but teams — even good ones — figure out ways to find playing time for rookies.

As one source said after Game 5, “McMillan’s unimaginative, and when things aren’t going to plan, it’s hard to make an adjustment.”

I will say these critiques have followed Nate throughout his long tenured NBA coaching career. Don't expect him to change.

[Q45T]

43 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

https://theathletic.com/3274544/2022/04/27/atlanta-hawks-loss-trae-young/

 

After deliberating I’m kinda willing to give him another shot but that article is pretty damning. What makes it worse is that a lot of the things mentioned in the article were obvious to anyone watching us play. I don’t have any coaching experience whatsoever and I could see some of these issues plain as day… how can someone which over two decades of coaching experience not recognize them? 

Lastly some of that stuff about Nate was brought up by Pacers fans on Reddit when we gave El Pee the boot.

[RandomFan]

9 hours ago, Watchman said:

Can't think of any who would be worse.

[Diesel]

It's a hard question to ask after such a disappointing season.   However, look at what Nate's team accomplished:

Best Offense. 

• Most efficient Offense
• Less turnover prone offense
• 9th in a strong east
• Won 2 games to make it into the playoffs. 
• Won 1 playoff game against the top seed while being terribly undermanned. 

Some of our "Narratives" about Nate are not totally true.  I see that somebody has a crusade about Nate because he didn't play JJ and Coop enough.   As Hawks fans we tend to believe that simply because we draft somebody, that they must be great.   JJ may be very good but JJ and Coop were sick when everybody else was sick.  We had 10 players with the COVID (at the same time) and there are some posters who keep asking the dumb question well why did we play Brown and Stephenson???  And we played them and didn't play JJ and Coop.     And with JJ he had other injuries and on 2 occassions asked to be sent back down to the G-League.   But all of that is Nate not playing young players.   As far Coop, he may not ever play as a Hawk. 

We want to fire Nate because of rotations, challenges, and players playing time.    With the results that we're getting, would any of those things have led to more wins?  Better team play?  At some point, you have to let a coach run his vision and not micromanage them.   So I was originally up for firing him.. but after I've come down from disappointment, I will agree that he has to have a fair chance to run his vision.   The team is still listening. 

 

If he were fired... there is a short list:

• D'Antoni
• Mike Brown
• Alvin Gentry
• Juwaun Howard
• Sam Cassell
• Terry Stotts
• Fizdale 
• Phil Handy
• Steve Clifford
• Frank Vogel

In that order.. Well, maybe Gentry before Brown.  I have Frank Vogel that low because he has to get over what just happened to him.   It's going to be hard to make Howard leave UM.   

[kg01]

Nate ain't goin' nowhere.  Ya'll gotta get over it.

[terrell]

On 4/26/2022 at 10:32 PM, TRW said:

No, Nate shouldn't be fired. This is the first time I've seen him get totally outcoached. It was depressing too watch and I'm glad Miami finished us. We literally had no answers. It felt like we had no will to counter punch. What happened to crisp ball movement and attacking the paint aggressively to draw fouls. JSMH

He also got swept by Spoelstra while he was HC in Indy..... You would think this series was his first time coaching against him.. smh

[Diesel]

46 minutes ago, terrell said:

He also got swept by Spoelstra while he was HC in Indy..... You would think this series was his first time coaching against him.. smh

Each series is different. 

He was fired after that series... but check this:

"

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called McMillan's firing "ridiculous" on Wednesday.

"It seems totally ridiculous. It seems like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. Just two weeks ago at the beginning of our series you're giving him an extension, but really it's just a media fake extension to appease whatever they felt like they needed to appease. And then after this series to make that quick of an emotional decision is really disappointing," he said.

Injuries have played a key role in the team's failures. The Pacers played last season without two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo, who suffered a knee injury, and without All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis against the Heat because of a foot injury."

 

[JeffS17]

2 hours ago, Diesel said:

If he were fired... there is a short list:

• D'Antoni
• Mike Brown
• Alvin Gentry
• Juwaun Howard
• Sam Cassell
• Terry Stotts
• Fizdale 
• Phil Handy
• Steve Clifford
• Frank Vogel

In that order.. Well, maybe Gentry before Brown.  I have Frank Vogel that low because he has to get over what just happened to him.   It's going to be hard to make Howard leave UM.   

If we can Nate, I'd want an assistant from somewhere that has learned from a good coach, like the Celtics got Udoka, or someone with that type of background.  A hungry first-time head coach that has been an assistant for a successful program for a while.

2 hours ago, Diesel said:

However, look at what Nate's team accomplished:

Best Offense. 

• Most efficient Offense
• Less turnover prone offense
• 9th in a strong east
• Won 2 games to make it into the playoffs. 
• Won 1 playoff game against the top seed while being terribly undermanned. 

I've accepted we'll likely have to live with Nate another year, but this list of accomplishments is better credited to Trae Young than Nate.  

[terrell]

23 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Each series is different. 

He was fired after that series... but check this:

"

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called McMillan's firing "ridiculous" on Wednesday.

"It seems totally ridiculous. It seems like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. Just two weeks ago at the beginning of our series you're giving him an extension, but really it's just a media fake extension to appease whatever they felt like they needed to appease. And then after this series to make that quick of an emotional decision is really disappointing," he said.

Injuries have played a key role in the team's failures. The Pacers played last season without two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo, who suffered a knee injury, and without All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis against the Heat because of a foot injury."

 

Popovich thought the LP firing was ridiculous... Coaches always take up for each other..