Andy Katz @ESPNAndyKatz 2m2 minutes ago
FWIW: Sources: ADs at UConn/UF no indication/or sign Ollie or Donovan leaving for OKC. But until OKC makes hire, they are top candidates.
Andy Katz @ESPNAndyKatz 59s59 seconds ago
Ollie and/or Donovan aren't going to leave current job unless they are 100 percent comfortable with management. Presti makes it possible.
Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA 44s44 seconds ago
Here's thing with Donovan and Ollie: If OKC talks to one of the coaches first, expect the other to pull out of consideration -- and fast.
Adam Zagoria @AdamZagoria 21s21 seconds agoCroton-on-Hudson, NY
Source: Kevin Ollie is 'only listening to OKC and any coach would.'
Agreed. Orlando should go get him right fucking now.Cellar-Door said:He does certain things well, he's just not a good in-game coach.
He develops young players very well though, one of the teams that was tanking should consider him.
Donovan has made it known he now wants an NBA job and has to be the #1 target. This makes too much sense not to happen.Rudy Pemberton said:Well, he's already paired up with a pretty great star. I don't know where they turn; they need to win big next year or they may lose KD. A college coach with a potentially long learning curve doesn't seem ideal, although Ollie has history there and is probably an attempt to keep KD long term. Who is the best NBA coach not currently coaching?
(Someone like a Jeff Van Gundy would be an interesting fit.)
Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein 3m3 minutes ago
UConn's Kevin Ollie has removed himself from consideration for the OKC head coaching position, sources told @CBSSports. Story coming.
I dont know if thibs is player friendly enough for a team trying to convince durant and westbrook to stayCellar-Door said:The Thunder should wait.
Thibs is probably out in CHI no matter what, and he's a terrific coach, much much better than Ollie or Donovan.
Which is sad to me.ElUno20 said:I dont know if thibs is player friendly enough for a team trying to convince durant and westbrook to stay
Cellar-Door said:He does certain things well, he's just not a good in-game coach.
He develops young players very well though, one of the teams that was tanking should consider him.
Nick Kaufman said:I thought the major problem with Brooks was that he didn't take as much advantage of his personnel in offense as much as he should have, defense has been fine.
Nick Kaufman said:I thought the major problem with Brooks was that he didn't take as much advantage of his personnel in offense as much as he should have, defense has been fine.
AMS25 said:Nah, once Ibaka went down, the Thunder defense was awful. OKC was reduced to trying to outscore the other team, which sort-of worked when Kanter was healthy. Once his health started to break down, the offense suffered and became heavily reliant on the mercurial Dion Waiters as a second scoring option to Westbrook. (To be fair, Dion had a few good games in there.)
There are members of the Miami Heat who will whisper to you, in honest moments, that they literally could not believe their good luck that Scott Brooks just kept rolling out Kendrick Perkins during the 2012 Finals. When they realized the Thunder would not change — that Perkins would start in big lineups that couldn’t scamper with Miami’s small-ball groups — the Heat knew they had a ring in the bag.
It’s tempting to suggest that the Thunder should have fired Brooks then, instead of signing him to an extension a few weeks after that series ended. He just didn’t appear to have the in-the-moment strategic vision that becomes more important in the playoffs. Coaches reserve sneak attacks for specific opponents, pick on weak spots until they gush blood, and go to more creative lengths to hide the deficiencies on their own rosters. Being two minutes late finding the right countermove can cost you a game, a series, a championship. The margin for error is that small, and Brooks seemed not to have the goods.
The Thunder offense that season was powerful but predictable. It wasn’t a system that flowed, a shape-changing organism in which the players were free to improvise reads. It was a rigid set of plays — a pin-down for Kevin Durant, then a Russell Westbrook–Serge Ibaka pick-and-roll, and then a Durant-Westbrook two-man action. Any thinking team could see what was coming, craft the best possible response, and execute it until the Thunder retreated into another set piece.
They had the talent to put up explosive regular-season numbers within that rote non-system — they always did — but postseason defenses in 2013 and 2014 ground it down. Those defenses were more prepared to pounce on the Thunder’s pet sets. They took an extra step or five away from Perkins and Thabo Sefolosha, to the point that the Thunder’s starting lineup became borderline unplayable. Predictability can win in February, but not in June — not in a smarter NBA more attuned to spacing and shooting on both sides of the ball. The Thunder under Brooks were doomed, and they should have known it after those 2012 Finals.
And even so, this is a fair decision. Brooks evolved after those 2012 Finals, but he was never a coach who could tilt the odds in Oklahoma City’s favor during a playoff series. The same issues always cropped up: He overplayed Perkins, underplayed lineups featuring Durant at power forward, favored aging veterans who couldn’t play anymore, failed to stagger the minutes of his stars, bizarrely had his big men hedge out 35 feet from the basket on nonthreatening pick-and-rolls, and waited a game or a quarter too long to yank lineups that just weren’t working. Brooks’s hook was faster in 2014 than it had been in 2012, but it wasn’t fast enough.
The difference in quality among teams at the highest level is minuscule. Everyone is really freaking good. When you reach that point, the smallest decisions take on a greater importance, and you never got the feeling Brooks could nail enough of them — that he could compete with Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Rick Carlisle.
Blacken said:Thibodeau alienates players, runs them into the ground...
CaptainLaddie said:I feel like the perfect coach for OKC is probably the one on the sideline in Boston.
moly99 said:
I think people need to remember their financial situation compared to other contending teams. Most contending teams are willing to spend into the luxury tax to put role players around their stars. The Thunder aren't willing to do that. So when Durant, Westbrook or Ibaka go down Brooks doesn't have a bunch of quality bench guys to turn to.
Sure, but the only reason you replace a proven vet with a rookie who has a ceiling of at best what the vet is now, when you are a championship contender is that you want to save a few million.AMS25 said:
The Thunder were trying to draft and develop role players. For example, OKC let Thabo Sefalosha (defensive specialist) go to the Hawks because Andre Roberson was supposed to be the "new" Thabo. Roberson is good on the defensive end, but he was also injured this year, on and off. (Near the end of the season, for instance, he was out for about two weeks with a sprained ankle.) So, yes the Thunder are cheap, but it's not like they don't think about acquiring role players.
Presti knew Harden wasn't here for long and same with Sefalosha.....he wasnt necessarily looking to develop role players as much as he was looking to replace certain skill sets in the rotation with Kevin Martin for Harden, Adams for Perkins, etc. That's what he supposed to do.AMS25 said:
The Thunder were trying to draft and develop role players. For example, OKC let Thabo Sefalosha (defensive specialist) go to the Hawks because Andre Roberson was supposed to be the "new" Thabo. Roberson is good on the defensive end, but he was also injured this year, on and off. (Near the end of the season, for instance, he was out for about two weeks with a sprained ankle.) So, yes the Thunder are cheap, but it's not like they don't think about acquiring role players.
Return of the Dewey said:Donovan's job to lose according to Marc Stein.
Its not as much of a layup as you think. Durant is a FA next year and the team's recent track record suggests that they aren't inclined to pay up to field a contender. Westbrook is great but the Thunder stand to lose him in 2017 and I bet he is gone for sure if KD leaves. Plus their current bench is weak.jsinger121 said:
It would be tough to turn this job down especially with Durant and Westbrook on the roster. He won't get a better NBA situation to get into.
DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:Its not as much of a layup as you think. Durant is a FA next year and the team's recent track record suggests that they aren't inclined to pay up to field a contender. Westbrook is great but the Thunder stand to lose him in 2017 and I bet he is gone for sure if KD leaves. Plus their current bench is weak.
If I am a high profile coach I am getting some assurances or at least a short contract for large dollars to step in there.