clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NBA Coaches on the Hot Seat?

Phil is back!!! Rookie of the Year watch, Coaches on the Hot Seat, the Timberwolves AAU Culture and much more

NBA: Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

We have two NBA weeks in the books and I’m excited about this NBA season. So much has happened since my last posting; I would love to write a wrap up for you but there’s too much happening now!! Here’s what I have for you this week.

Best Games to Watch

Monday: Toronto vs Milwaukee: One of those new things is Kawhi Leonard is now a Raptor. Dwane Chaney won the Coach of the Year Award and still got fired. The Bucks still have Giannis but they also have a new coach named Mike Budenholzer. Should be fun.

Tuesday: Portland vs Houston: James Harden is out and if the playoffs began today so would the 1-4 Rockets.

Wednesday: New Orleans vs Golden State: The Pelicans are averaging a whopping 128.3 points per game. The Warriors are still the Warriors. Should be fun.

Thursday: Milwaukee vs Boston: The Greek Freak vs the best coach in the history of the NBA? How can we miss out on the chance to watch the best coach to never win an NBA Championship get beat in his own barn by the Greek Freak?

Friday: Oklahoma City vs Washington: Two of the NBA’s greatest underachievers battling it out on a Friday night in our nation’s capital? And the common denominator is Scott Brooks? How can we miss that?

Saturday: Utah vs Denver: I would rather watch these two teams than just about anyone. Plus a great break from NCAA College Football.

Sunday: Toronto vs the Lakers: Toronto couldn’t beat LeBron James when he was a Cavalier and they probably won’t beat the Lakers either. It should be fun to watch Kawhi and LeBron go at it. Or maybe a fist fight between Kyle Lowry and Rajon Rondo?

The AAU Culture of the Minnesota Timberwolves

In case you missed it, Minnesota Timberwolves All Star Jimmy Butler demanded to be traded. Karl Anthony Towns claims he and Jimmy can’t “co-exist”. Rumor has it Butler hooked up with Towns’ girlfriend.

The reality? The Timberwolves don’t go anywhere without Butler. A fact that Butler shared with his teammates during a recent preseason practice. Towns has to know this and I’m sure Andrew Wiggins also knows this.

Now it’s been reported by “Woj” of all people that Houston offered Minnesota four first round picks for Butler. Wow!!!

Here’s what I would do if I were Minnesota;

I would trade Wiggins and Towns as soon as humanly possible. Watching multi-millionaire Towns sulk on the court has me laughing hysterically every single time I see that immature guy play. Watching multi-millionaire Wiggins sulk because a better basketball player came to town to do what he can’t do (win) has almost the same effect as watching Towns. Minnesota fans deserve far better than those two one dimensional prima donnas.

After I rid myself of the AAU prima donnas, I re-sign Butler and build my team around him. Not with the likes of Derrick Rose and Luol Deng but with players who understand there’s more to basketball than just scoring points. Maybe sign Klay Thompson? Thad Young? Tobias Harris? Marc Gasol? Anyone but Wiggins and Towns and their immature AAU mentality.

You missed me didn’t you?

Coaches on the Hot Seat

I know it’s only a couple of weeks into the season, but there are a few NBA Head Coaches who could be gone by Christmas.

Tyronn Lue: The Cavaliers are off to a shaky start and that’s understandable. They did lose the best player in the game not named Karl Anthony Towns lol. In order to keep your job you either win or have some dirt on the ownership. The Cavs aren’t doing the former and it’s doubtful Cavs owner Dan Gilbert gives a shit about dirt so Lue may wind up taking a hit.

Billy Donovan: I’m amazed he’s been able to keep his job for as long as he has. The Thunder are currently winless and if this keeps up Donovan has to be gone. Unless of course he really does have some dirt on Clay Bennett ( oh, the places I could go with this). Luckily for Donovan he has Russell Westbrook and his outstanding leadership and high basketball IQ otherwise he’d already be gone.

Scott Brooks: Washington hasn’t achieved much during the Brooks era. The Wizards are 169-93 during the regular season and 19-9 in the playoffs. Some would argue having John Wall and Bradley Beal should be enough to get the job done. Maybe they are correct. Adding Dwight Howard to the mix is only going to make Brooks’ job that much more difficult.

Tom Thibodeau: He’s really made a mess of things in Minnesota. Bringing in Jimmy Butler was a smart move but it didn’t sit well with the AAU mentality of Towns and Wiggins. Bringing in Rose and Deng might have been comforting to him but it won’t win playoff games. If he does get the axe he will probably be the happiest man on earth to be away from the Prima Donna culture the Timberwolves have turned into.

Fred Hoiberg: The injury to Kris Dunn probably saved the Mayor from getting impeached. Or recalled or whatever happens when the mayor gets the axe. All things considered Hoiberg hasn’t done a bad job in Chicago. He’s had his own drama to deal with during his Bulls tenure and I would bet he wouldn’t be all that upset if he were sacked. This way he could return to the NCAA where he will have the hammer and go back to being the excellent coach he was before returning to the NBA.

Rondo, Paul and the Spit that was…..or wasn’t?

In case you missed it, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul got into a little mess.

Paul claims Rondo spit on him. Ever tried spitting through a mouthpiece? If you haven’t you should try it. It isn’t as easy as you would think.

Rondo should be given a medal for popping Chris Paul. Instead he received a three game suspension.

Loved watching Lonzo Ball jog into the scrum to defend his teammates. The Lakers should trade him to the Timberwolves for Butler and let him play alongside gooey in the middle Towns and Wiggins.

LeBron James was criticized for grabbing Chris Paul instead of one of his teammates. That’s actually what he is supposed to do. You never grab your teammate because if you do he could get sucker punched. That’s street fighting 101 kids.

Brandon Ingram got four games because he isn’t Rondo or Paul. Okay, he did instigate the entire matter and he did hit a couple of players when they weren’t looking. Even Ingram was relieved it wasn’t more…….Okay…….four games was about right.

NBA Rookie of the Year?

Depending on who you ask, there are some exciting rookies getting things done. Let’s look at a few of the front runners.

Trae Young: His groupies think he’s the next best thing to sliced bread. Maybe he is. If teams defense him the way the Cavaliers did last Sunday he’s a shoe in for the award.

Luka Doncic: He’s not athletic and he didn’t play against young black dudes. At least that’s what we heard. Well, he’s playing against them now and dominated Young last week in their loss to Atlanta. He even has a higher three point percentage then the chucker from Oklahoma.

Deandre Ayton: This kid is something special. He fights on both ends of the floor. It’s too bad he has to play for Phoenix. He had a strong game against the Grizzlies Saturday night and more of this and the award might be his.

Marvin Bagley III: Watching the Kings is an exercise in patience but watching Bagley do his thing might be worth the frustration not to mention the lost hours of sleep. What he did against Denver was fascinating and demonstrated his high ceiling potential.

Collin Sexton: While seemingly everyone were losing their collective minds over Young, Sexton has quietly gone about his business. Can’t wait to see what happens when he actually gets minutes.

Best Coach in the NBA is………?

According to the anonymous NBA GM poll, Brad Stevens is the best head coach in the NBA. Seriously. He’s done a great job in Boston, but what has his team won? He can’t beat LeBron and it will be interesting to see how the Celtics fare in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season. My top five coaches that I have the COURAGE to name are….

1). Gregg Popovich: He should have been Coach of the Year last season because making the playoffs without Kawhi Leonard was herculean.

2). Rick Carlisle: Seriously the best in game coach in the NBA.

3). Eric Spoelstra: The guy quietly goes about his business and his teams win.

4). Mike D’Antoni: The guy is an offensive genius and it’s too bad Paul got hurt otherwise they win the NBA Championship last season.

5). Brad Stevens: Solid player coach who is probably the best coach during a timeout.

Enjoy the NBA this week!!!