Quote:
Originally Posted by Underdog
Not sure why people keep giving Lionel Hollins a job... I mean, what did the Nets expect?
|
I think you have the premise backward. Why would Lionel Hollins take the Nets job? Easy answer: Paycheck.
Hollins is a decent coach, probably not elite, but he's certainly not working with elite players in the Nets situation. Hollins did a solid job with Memphis a couple of years ago, and had them playing at a reasonably high level in 2012 and 2013. They lost that 7-game series to a Clippers team that had superior talent, and then got caught up in the Spurs meat grinder the next year. His non-renewal with the Grizzlies seemed kind of unfair at the time, just as his firing from the Nets does today. The Nets are Billy King's mess, and ultimately Prokhorov's.
Hollins has solid credentials and NBA pedigree. He's paid his dues. His strength and his weakness is that he is an old school, defensive-oriented, tough love kind of coach. He seems like he gets cross-ways interpersonally with both players and management, and he's old enough that he's unlikely to change. But I don't think the Nets situation is a fair barometer of his, or probably anybody's coaching ability. They have been a revolving door for decent NBA coaching talent for the last 5-6 years. Avery Johnson, P.J.Carlessimo, Jason Kidd. I actually have a little bit more regard for Kidd's decision to parachute out of Brooklyn after a year. Clearly he saw under Prokhorov's skirts, and immediately fled toward greener pastures in Milwaukee
The real question is why anyone keeps giving Billy King a job.
And the other real question is who is going to pay Calipari $120MM to coach in the NBA, given his demonstrated record of failure and dishonesty.