Keep Stotts

[skyhawk]

Terry Stotts has proven over the last month that he's a good coach. Even though the guys are playing for contracts, I don't think this an aberration. The players listen to him and he's molded an exciting team from a group of castoffs.

I never bought into the GM/Coach role for Doc Rivers and now I'm not even sure he can do a better coaching job than Stotts.

I for one hope he stays....

[Plainview1981]

In some ways I think Reef's boring personality drained

this franchise. The team was losing before he came here,

But after he came here the team play passionless most

games. The team played with more passion when JT/LO

where running the show and it is back to that now. I

have only watched a handful of Hawk games since the

mid season Dallas game. But things feel different in

a way since Reef was traded.

[OGRat]

I don't know about Terry Stotts.

On the one hand, the team has played better during the latter portion of the season. But how much of that is due to coaching. Maybe his players have stepped it up due to pending FA'cy and negotiations.

On the other hand, the team did not play well during the whole course of the year. How much of that was coaching. I would argue that he had better players (and some of the same players that are now flourishing), but could not get the talent to work together.

I read a post earlier that Terry Stotts has done well recently with a team that fits his style of play, but I would suggest that the coach we want is a coach who could coach several different styles to fit the players he actually has on his team. Even is FA'cy produced a team that could run and gun, what happens when a key cog gets hurt?

Don't get me wrong. I do not want to bash Stotts. I think he has done alright, but I would prefer a coach with more experience. Stotts is not guaranteed to have a team that fits his style, and I am not confident in his ability to adapt. I believe that, in many cases, this year has presented Stotts with situations he could not handle. He tried things- some worked and some did not. I liked that he learned from his mistakes, but is this what a young team like the Hawks need?

OG

[KB21]

I don't buy the idea that this team is playing well because they have guys who are playing for contracts next year. IMO, if that were the case, then we'd have 4 or 5 individuals on the floor that try to pump up their own numbers while forgetting about the team oriented philosophy.

That's not the case. The guys they have on the floor play extremely well together. They are unselfish and have gotten to the point where they are getting more assists than turnovers on a nightly basis.

You ask for a coach that can change his style based on the players he has. Well, there aren't many of those coaches in the NBA. Most good coaches may make some tweaks, but they don't change their overall philosophy. IMO, it is up to the scouting department to get the types of players that fit the coach's style. You have coaches that are grounded into playing the half court oriented game where they pound the ball inside then out. You have coaches that are grounded in the pick and roll style of offense in the half court set. You have coaches like Phil Jackson who is grounded in the triangle offense.

If you want to see what type of team the Hawks are starting to look like and what type of team Terry Stotts (and Billy Knight for that matter) wants this Hawks team to look like, go look at the Seattle Supersonics teams from around 1992-1996 when George Karl was the coach. That was a team that offensively, they played very unselfish, were perimeter oriented in the half court set, and could get out and run the floor like thoroughbreds. Defensively, they were a trapping oriented team that really got after it. This is the aspect of that team the Hawks lack at this point.