Coaching questions will abound; oh, and some fashion, too

Came as little surprise that Gregg Popovich out in San Antonio was named NBA coach of the year yesterday, he did a masterful job massaging an old roster that needed rest and was hit by some injuries and coaxed it to the best record in the league.

Sure, there were a few other worthy candidates – Frank Vogel, Tom Thibodeau, Doc Rivers, George Karl come quickly to mind – but no one can really dispute the selection of Pop, who’s now a two-time winner.

But what about the other end? We could be in for a shocking summer of coaching moves and new hires and it’s going to be truly interesting to see who winds up where.

It’s entirely possible that almost a quarter of the league will have new coaches when the 2012-13 season gets under way next year and that’s a huge turnover that we seldom see.

I don’t for a second think Stan Van Gundy will be back in Orlando (no way he goes through another year of the Dwight Howard Circus) and we’ve already got Charlotte looking for someone new.

I imagine Washington will be looking for someone new, I would presume a new GM in Portland (if they ever get around to actually hiring one) would want his own guy in there and I have no clue what Glen might do in New York; Mike Woodson’s done a good job but ownership may clamour for a bigger name.

There are questions about Vinny Del Negro with the Clips and I don’t know if Scott Skiles gets to go back to Milwaukee and that coaching carousel could spin incredibly.

So what are the good jobs among those that could come open?

Yikes, that’s hard to figure out, isn’t it?

None of those teams is blessed with a lot of talent, a couple (Orlando and New York) come with baggage away from court that might make them undesirable.

The best, and it’s not even a certainty that it’ll come open, is the Clipper gig. Good young talent coming off a pretty good season and maybe only a piece or two away from being very good.

But you also have Donald Sterling to deal with and that can be a dicey proposition; there is no suggestion that owner won’t screw things up somehow.

Now, there are only 30 jobs like this in the entire world so someone’s going to want them. Someone is going to work for whatever wages they can get. Someone is going to think they can find the magic elixir to deal with off-court issues. Someone is going to have enough self-confidence to say, “screw it, I can do this job even if it looks impossible.”

Not sure who those guys are though. Outside of Van Gundy and perhaps Woodson this doesn’t look like of group of possibly departing coaches who’ll get right on the treadmill and find another gig right away.

And you have no idea how thankful I am that a coaching search isn’t something I have to worry about this summer.

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Fashion time.

And who does fashion better than us, right?

What’s the story on the new Argo uniforms that were apparently unveiled last night at some ritzy buntoss downtown?

Me? I like the change because it seems subtle, very subtle, so subtle that I can hardly tell the difference.

And that’s good, right?

There is something to be said for tradition and while the Argos may be a terrible downturn in the public eye at the moment, there is truly a rich tradition and to go away from it wouldn’t have made any sense.

That’s said, if they had incorporated the old scull with the dozens of oars and used “Pull Together” as the slogan, that would have been very cool.

Anyway, this is shaping up to be something of a big summer for the Double Blue and I hope they find some way to become more relevant. Guess that only comes with wins and some measure of excitement rather than new jerseys but a new look can’t hurt.

I know they must be on the right track at least a little bit because there was talk around here about buying Grey Cup tickets as soon as they went on sale so that was a bit of unexpected and rather welcome attention to a franchise that needs it.

Now, a bit more fashion, and I’m a tad late to the dance on this one.

But, tell me, is there anything more boring than what the Brooklyn Nets went with?

Super Son’s aghast, I just heard, about the boring ‘B’ in black and white with no real colour to the whole thing.

Sure, it’s understated and monochromatic might be the way to go in some circles but that new Nets thing is just boring.

And they so should have had some kind of trolley car in there, even if they didn’t go with Dodgers.

Okay, away from fashion for now.

Pardon the digression.

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I’m going to say this: If Vinny Del Negro got anywhere near a coach of the year vote (and he did) and Dwane didn’t, it’s ridiculous. Now, you know I didn’t have Dwane on my ballot (it was Pop, Vogel, Thibodeau) but if you’re going throw away third place ballots on Vinny, throw ‘em away on Case. Unless, of course, you didn’t see him coach.

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There are very, very, very few moments of true drama in baseball; as we know it’s a game played at a certain pace and those “Bang! Pow! Wow!” moments come few and far between.

A key at-bat can provide some drama, sure; and every now then there’s a specific pitch we might remember.

But nothing in the game approximates a walk-off homer, does it?

And when that homer is struck by one of the more emotional and vocal and excitable guys to come down the pike in a while, that’s not too bad.

Told you Hobbs had some sense of the moment in him.

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Hey, let’s start the mail, shall we.

There’s a very good chance we’ll start going to one weekend mailbag (do you care which day?) so I can get a bit of a break on either Saturday or Sunday morning but that means we need to start a bit earlier than usual.

Have at it, my good Irregulars.

 

 

Comments

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

"(do you care which day?)"

How about you pull a "Stoudemire," and make the choice based on what YOU want? I think the Irregulars will be more than fine with that.

[Camy Wang]

What about the Bobcats?

Blogger's note: Miss this sentence, I guess:
"I don’t for a second think Stan Van Gundy will be back in Orlando (no way he goes through another year of the Dwight Howard Circus) and we’ve already got Charlotte looking for someone new."

[joeu]

The Brooklyn logo manages to be retro without being iconic. Missed it by that much.

[Nick M]

Re: Del Negro coach of the year vote.
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Does the NBA read or listen to some of the media they give their ballots to? I mean, one read of your blog or a game story shows you are unbiased, on the other hand, you have a game cast by Tommy Heinsohn. I don't know if Tommy has a ballot but you would think that the NBA would want to steer clear of these types.
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The Del Negro vote reminds me of Chuck voting for Bargnani as rookie of the year, although not quite as egregious. Now I liked Chuck, but one listen to his game casts and you could have told that he was a bit of a homer and probably not the best person to give a ballot to.

[Eric-in-NS]

The Nets logo. An attempt to incorporate the look, style, feel -- and font -- of the Brooklyn Dodgers? Or was that so obvious I didn't have to ask?

[David in Oakville]

I like the Brooklyn Nets all Black and White logo. I think it is perfect for Gotham. I look at it and think, "we are all business baby so you better be prepared!".

And, as any painter will tell you, mix all colours together and you get black and as any physicist will tell you, white light represents all colours in the spectrum. So my dear Doug, you are incorrect when you say there is no colour there, in fact, there is an abundance of colour there.

Pretty sure it was a "silent", black & white movie that won Oscar this year as well.

Now what about D-Will's absence from the announcement?

Watching the Celtics last night I was impressed by their performance but I was wondering what KG is really like in person. Is he a humble down to earth kind of guy or is he the chest thumping cartoon character he seems to play on the court?

[Lorie]

Morning Doug,
The NYT had a nicely-worded piece - written by Howard Beck - about the announcement of the Brooklyn team's new logo and keeping the name "Nets": "...Yet the franchise inspires some romanticism as a former member of the old A.B.A., with longstanding ties to the region and phonic ties to two other New York teams, the Jets and the Mets." So, it may be about rhyming and a certain lyricism, and with Jay-Z as part owner, this now makes some sense. Fodder for new material for him. And that's cool. But that logo? A big "B" for Brooklyn? Well, the article goes on to quote Bruce C. Ratner, the former majority owner and the arena's developer. "Brooklyn is universal...there's a gum named after it in Italy." So I googled this gum and it has a great logo! A truly iconic one. On each package is a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge, which would've been waaay cooler as a logo for the Brooklyn-based basketball team. And maybe Paolo can let us know if that gum's any good, cause apparently it's only sold in Italy. My, my...that Brooklyn Gum would be available in, you know, Brooklyn? Well, as they say - fugetaboutit! Cheers! Go TOD! And Go Hobbs!!!

[TLI]

Nets logo?
Looks like they found it with magnet holding it up on somebody's fridge.
Good luck to the team, wearing jerseys that say "Nah, we're so good, we don't even have to try."

[sam]

@ David in Oakville, Me thinks KG is the latter - The chest thumping cartoon character. Who else would barge into Union/league negotiating sessions and purely on the reputation of his name offer his 2 cents.
Coach of the year is so subjective - One could argue that the lack of talent and injuries that Casey dealt with this past season would be enough to garner some recognition - Then again Coach Popovich is an icon and being named coach of the year is a well deserved honour.

[jon]

Re: Argos. Well, they do have 'All for one.' as their slogan. Which even better, IMO.

[Mr. Cook]

I don't think it matters what the new Brooklyn logo looks like--Jay Z will wear the t-shirts and hats and they will sell a bazillion of them as a result. I guarantee you it will be one of the top 6 merchandise teams next year. T'is the way of the world, the way of 'cool.'

[kent]

Nets gears will fly off the rack for the next couple of years. Jay-z and his friends will wear them in his rap videos and that's all the marketing it will ever need.

[LeeZ]

I'm with David in Oakville: I really like the new logo. Not crazy about the fact they kept the Nets name, but really like the design. Très cool. As for my cousin Vinnie, has there EVER been a coach who received less respect than him? Maybe deservedly, maybe underservedly, unless you're in the huddle with him or at least a daily observor of the franchise, it's almost impossible to say. But in his short time as head coach in the league, he has guided his teams to solid results, sometimes even overachieving. And yet...very little love (to say the least). Too lazy to look this up, but I believe he played on those NC State teams under Volvano (talk about ANOTHER) coach who many derided as overrated. Vinnie never was possessed with an abundance of talent or athleticism (Bird minus the, well, you know, talent), but he always got the job done. Was never pretty, but he got it done. Kinda like now?

[George]

The new Nets logo has Jay-Z written all over it. It has a clean and classic feel to it. And as long as Jay-Z shows up wearing that logo it is going to look cool.

[Tj]

Hey Doug. I just read One of the comments about how mixing all colors together gives you black therefore all the colours are in the nets logo.
I have to correct the lad. Black is the absence of light, and any visual arts major knows that white and black are not colours, hey are tones.
Sorry for the digression

[joeu]

What I recall, from grade three I think it was, is that mixing all colours together makes a "muddy" brown. Like the mud in a cow pasture.

[Rob.V]

Nets logo: I suppose understated is more fashionable, and you can always add a bridge to an alternate jersey (cha ching!) however my only concern (and wish) with that team is that they continue along the path of being really, really crappy... for years to come. lol!
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Dude, what do the inner circles have to say about VDN as a coach. Everywhere we read we consistently hear that he's:
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A) not the right guy
B) on the way out if the the Clippers don't make the CF etc..
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But what is it exaclty? For most of us not privy to this information we are left scratching our heads as to why this guy is on the hotseat.
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Is he not a great communicator, players dont repsect him?
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Seems to me as though he's done a pretty good job with the talent he's had in his last 2 coaching positions.

Blogger's note: No offensive creativity, questionable play-calling late in close games; ever-changing rotations. It's the commonly held opinion among people in the game whose opinions I respect