Coro: Porter likely gone by Monday

[Goran Stoudemire]

Let's worry about who is the new coach. Jeff Van Gandy or Sanders? Or a cheap guy? ...

It's 100% Gentry. Dbdynasty was the first to break the fact that something was going down because he said Gentry met with Kerr on Thursday and things were tense around the office. The other mod over there also claimed that Porter was fired but they were talking about a buy out. This was before any news came out. Right after that Gambo and Ash started reporting something was going down.

 

[French Fries]

this is nuts. it doesn't make sense to replace a bad coach with the bad coach's assistant. unless what they want from gentry is to "uncoach" the team ala DA, this is ********...

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Gentry isnt Porter's assistant, he has been with the suns for a while. The players reportedly love him and he knows their capabilities and has absolutely no agenda other than being successful so he can get paid.

 

[lou_skywalker]

I believe Gentry is also the cheapest and most conventional option for the Suns who need to start winning NOW in order to make the postseason.

 

[az jam]

When you replace a coach in the middle of the season it makes most sense to promote an assistant to finish the season. You can make a permanent replacement after the season. Gentry will be a fine choice to fill the HC role.

 

[elindholm]

Remember that Gentry was an assistant to D'Antoni all those years, so if the Suns want to go back to the old system, he's the best one to implement it.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I think Gentry is the most logical choice for the Suns, they need to pretend like they care and give Suns fans back their "old system" as this management team knows they are losing fans by the thousands every second this bad imitation of the Spurs exists.

You might as well run because at least some fans will be fooled with nostalgia when the payroll really gets slashed.

 

[DeAnna]

I feel badly for Porter - he was set up to fail. From previous Coro reports, it all started in training camp where he was making the players run "childish" defensive drills that irked a lot of veterans.

Also it's hard to come in as a hard-nose defensive coach when the previous coach they had was a cake-walk and players loved him.

So they traded their 2 best defensive players who where complaining the most, as a show of support for Porter. Now, they fire Porter. So it was all for nuthin' because we're back to square 1 - except with a worse defensive roster.

Thank you SarvKerr.

 

[DeAnna]

Remember that Gentry was an assistant to D'Antoni all those years, so if the Suns want to go back to the old system, he's the best one to implement it.

They don't really have the personnel anymore for the "old" system anymore. Unless Amare wants to go back to playing the 5, which he said he never liked (even tho he had his greatest statistcal success there and was hailed by the media as redefining the position.)

By firing Porter, to me that means Amare will not be traded. Hmmm ... so all this trade talk might've been just a diversionary tactic from the real issue which was to fire Porter. Sneaky!

 

[lou_skywalker]

They don't really have the personnel anymore for the "old" system anymore. Unless Amare wants to go back to playing the 5, which he said he never liked (even tho he had his greatest statistcal success there and was hailed by the media as redefining the position.)

By firing Porter, to me that means Amare will not be traded. Hmmm ... so all this trade talk might've been just a diversionary tactic from the real issue which was to fire Porter. Sneaky!

I'm afraid that Kerr is stupid enough to do that. The luxury tax is really hurting Sarver and I think they end up firing Porter AND trade Amare which brings us nowhere.

 

[shazaam6]

If Gentry gets promoted to headcoach, shouldn't he get a raise in salary too?

 

[lou_skywalker]

If Gentry gets promoted to headcoach, shouldn't he get a raise in salary too?

I'm not sure about that, I think the salary still goes with his contract signed as assistant coach.
Remember he will be just an "interim coach" until someone new comes in.
It prb a scenario like Thunder's Scott Brooks.

 

[hafey]

The players never gave Porter a chance because he is the antithesis of MikeD. With the country club gone, the important players never bought it.

It is a lot easier to fire the coach than 10 players, so its probably the right move.

 

[Mainstreet]

It just makes sense for the Suns to make Gentry the interim coach and resume their former identity for the remainder of the season. It's not so much that the Suns want to do this long term but what system fits the players the Suns have now. IMO, it is too late in the season to develop a good defensive system with the current players.

However, what intrigues me the most is what happens with Shaq. If the Suns move him I can see Amare possibly staying, especially if there is not an outstanding deal on the table for him. Now if Shaq could be moved for a player like Josh Howard + filler maybe the Suns just gun their engines and go full speed ahead. However, if the Suns move Amare, it will be interesting to see how the Suns use Shaq.

Also maybe the Suns just change coaches and call it good with Gentry running the same team but with the focus on Amare and less on Shaq. The problem I see is that Amare may have already decided to move to another team when the opportunity presents itself. It seems Amare may be leaning this direction but his manager has apparently not been involved in trade talks.... this is contradictory.

 

[AnotherHOMER]

Later Porter...you just aren't a good coach buddy.

Great player.

****

 

[lou_skywalker]

It just makes sense for the Suns to make Gentry the interim coach and resume their former identity for the remainder of the season. It's not so much that the Suns want to do this long term but what system fits the players the Suns have now. IMO, it is too late in the season to develop a good defensive system with the current players.

However, what intrigues me the most is what happens with Shaq. If the Suns move him I can see Amare possibly staying, especially if there is not an outstanding deal on the table for him. Now if Shaq could be moved for a player like Josh Howard + filler maybe the Suns just just gun their engines and go full speed ahead. However, if the Suns move Amare, it will be interesting to see how Suns use Shaq.

Also maybe the Suns just change coaches and call it good with Gentry running the same team but with the focus on Amare and less on Shaq. The problem I see is that Amare may have already decided to move to another team when the opportunity presents itself. It seems Amare may be leaning this direction but his manager has apparently not been involved in trade talks.... this is contradictory.

exactly and so if Gentry becomes coach and Amare gets traded, we need young players like Thomas or Warrick to replace the energy and dominance that Amare is giving us right now. Shaq would also have to run a bit more if Gentry wants to play more run & gun otherwise nothing would improve.

 

[Griffin]

However, what intrigues me the most is what happens with Shaq. If the Suns move him I can see Amare possibly staying, especially if there is not an outstanding deal on the table for him. Now if Shaq could be moved for a player like Josh Howard + filler maybe the Suns just just gun their engines and go full speed ahead. However, if the Suns move Amare, it will be interesting to see how Suns use Shaq.

After the adjustment period following the Shaq trade, we went 15-5 to finish the regular season last year with Shaq in the lineup and Amare having best offensive numbers of his career. So it is possible to play well with both of them. The two main reasons we were winning games then is that our turnovers were down to 14.5 over that stretch (after initially being at 16.5 in the first nine games of Shaq era) and we were out-rebounding just about everyone. Shaq, even though he is scoring more, is actually rebounding less this season (10.6 last season to 8.9 this season, despite playing more minutes).

 

[lou_skywalker]

After the adjustment period following the Shaq trade, we went 15-5 to finish the regular season last year with Shaq in the lineup and Amare having best offensive numbers of his career. So it is possible to play well with both of them. The two main reasons we were winning games then is that our turnovers were down to 14.5 over that stretch (after initially being at 16.5 in the first nine games of Shaq era) and we were out-rebounding just about everyone. Shaq, even though he is scoring more, is actually rebounding less this season (10.6 last season to 8.9 this season, despite playing more minutes).

Well that highlight the solution even more: FIRE PORTER

 

[Chaplin]

Shaq has said he'll play any style. This may be his real first chance to prove it.

 

[Mainstreet]

After the adjustment period following the Shaq trade, we went 15-5 to finish the regular season last year with Shaq in the lineup and Amare having best offensive numbers of his career. So it is possible to play well with both of them. The two main reasons we were winning games then is that our turnovers were down to 14.5 over that stretch (after initially being at 16.5 in the first nine games of Shaq era) and we were out-rebounding just about everyone. Shaq, even though he is scoring more, is actually rebounding less this season (10.6 last season to 8.9 this season, despite playing more minutes).

Rebounding and TOs seem to be a persistent problem with the Suns. Also the Suns are not even giving token defensive effort for the most part. It's really hard put a finger where the primary problem lies with the Suns since the team quit on Porter. However, the Suns should have at least been nearly as good as in previous seasons. Actually I like their current personnel better than last season. The thing that sticks out to me (though I like Shaq's effort) is the inconsistency of the other players playing with Shaq. The Suns current coaching seems to have the players confused by playing two different styles... running all the time versus feed the ball to Shaq.

 

[devilalum]

Shaq has said he'll play any style. This may be his real first chance to prove it.

At the end of last season when the Suns had some success SHaq was rebounding, trying to hustle and not talking about his "touches" and Amare was scoring lots of points.

Why did SHaq become the focal point of the offense?

 

[Mainstreet]

At the end of last season when the Suns had some success SHaq was rebounding, trying to hustle and not talking about his "touches" and Amare was scoring lots of points.

Why did SHaq become the focal point of the offense?

This is a very pertinent point and maybe a big part of the Suns problems.

 

[Skkorpion]

Remember that Gentry was an assistant to D'Antoni all those years, so if the Suns want to go back to the old system, he's the best one to implement it.

How do you go back to the old system when critical parts have been traded away.

This is insane. Alvin Gentry? Why not? He still won't be able to get Nash or Stoudemire to play defense nor make the playoffs with this team.

 

[shazaam6]

My thoughts if Porter is fired:

Porter is getting a bad deal. You can't judge him by his record if the player leaders of the team never bought into his changes. They sabbotaged the change from the beginning.
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NASH "the wanderer" you suck at DEFENSE. STOCKTON played adequate defense for a small point SO CAN YOU IF YOU STAY WITH YOUR MAN AND FIGHT THROUGH SCREENS. INSTEAD, ANY SIMPLE PICK AND YOU HAVE BEEN SEPARATED FROM YOUR MAN, EVERY DAMN TIME.

AMARE copy someone who plays great position defense. Do what he does. Don't just try to out quick or out jump them especially on rebounds. They are moving to get better position when the ball is in the air, you are watching. Have the mindset that all rebounds are yours and you'll get there. And you don't have to be voted captain to be a team leader. It's not bad to not be captain. Your time will come soon enough.


But, If you don't put out 100% committed effort then the results are **** and you can't judge Porter on those results alone.
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Porter starting them with defensive slide drills was CORRECT. Start at the beginning and as they show they can move their damn feet laterally, they would have moved on. But the "veterans" fought against such a "back to the basic approach", and instead of saying 'maybe we need to improve our defensive skills individually which would make the whole team improve', they thought they were above high school and college drills.

YOU'RE NOT


Just because you are getting Porter fired doesn't mean that he failed. You failed. He knows it but will get blamed. Stop being such babies and man up and play responsible defense.

The offense may be another story. You should have kept D'antoni's offense and added some Shaq post plays for end of tight games and playoffs, when having a physical presence down low becomes an important option to have. And you should have used it enough during the season so the players have it polished and ready when you need it. Same with some bench players-ready when needed- because they played during the year with the starters and not just bench clearing blowouts.

Good luck Terry Porter, thanks for trying to help them get there.

 

[Skkorpion]

exactly and so if Gentry becomes coach and Amare gets traded, we need young players like Thomas or Warrick to replace the energy and dominance that Amare is giving us right now. Shaq would also have to run a bit more if Gentry wants to play more run & gun otherwise nothing would improve.

Yes, I'm with you on the strategy. But Amare dominance? What dominance? Not this year.