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Nets and Kenny Atkinson part ways

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by zeeshan2, Mar 7, 2020.

  1. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    Thought the exact same thing.
     
    Nook likes this.
  2. TilmanFinancialWindfall

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    Knicks got lucky not getting KD and Kyrie. Two injury prone coach Killa and locker room problem

    Teammates don't even like these two
     
  3. TilmanFinancialWindfall

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    Lol. This would be gold

    Give Lue or McHale or jb for Kyrie and KD
    They deserve the worst coach
     
    saleem likes this.
  4. TilmanFinancialWindfall

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    Kyrie and KD both start to act dumb, "who me?"
     
  5. J Sizzle

    J Sizzle Member

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    Would be an awesome hire for the Rockets. Dumb move by the Nets.
     
  6. Le$$

    Le$$ Member

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    If you brought this up in the garm you could get roasted. I personally would look into see what he brings, and get JvG into defensive coach job with him, This to me is a new route, and better system then MDA. Just saying. I wonder what system would happen with these 2 guys coming in. It be big time change, But you know this aint happen.
     
    J Sizzle likes this.
  7. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    https://theathletic.com/1662495/202...nto-the-nets-and-kenny-atkinson-parting-ways/

    Back in December, Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson shared some pretty prescient thoughts for a guy who had recently landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on his roster. “I know my time is ticking,” he said after becoming the longest-tenured major professional league coach in the New York metro area. “It puts me on edge. Tough business, tough town, expectations have been raised. So I know my time will eventually come. Just do the best I can until that happens.”

    That time came a lot sooner than many expected, with the Nets and Atkinson parting ways over the weekend. It came after a blowout win on Saturday and with 20 games left in Brooklyn’s season. It came with a repeat playoff appearance on the horizon, despite only 20 games from Irving before season-ending shoulder surgery and none from Durant. Jacque Vaughn was named the coach for the remainder of the season.

    “Kenny will be back coaching soon,” one source with knowledge of the situation said. “He works too hard. Works his ass off. He will probably take the time away and replay the scenarios and relationships that went wrong — and come back stronger for the job he wants.”

    The Athletic has learned what led to the departure of Atkinson, and that honest and frank discussions between Nets players and Atkinson intensified last week, which certainly played a part in it.

    At halftime of the Nets’ 129-120 overtime win in Boston on March 3, Atkinson lit into his players and challenged them, sources say. It stopped short of escalating into a long back and forth, but this much was evident: Atkinson was not backing down. He was not holding back. He later pulled every starter off the floor for the fourth quarter and let Caris LeVert and a group of reserves rally from a 21-point deficit. Then on Wednesday night, after a 39-point home loss to Memphis, no one held back.

    Atkinson walked into the postgame locker room, sat down in a chair and told his players and staff: It’s time to air out our grievances.

    The Nets held a spirited team meeting, according to sources, starting with several veterans expressing that they wanted to see Spencer Dinwiddie play like the player they know, and later with people in the room calling out Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan. Then perhaps the most critical thing of all happened: Sources say Durant chimed in, pointing out that the Nets must improve their habits and that they were not building the proper culture traits necessary for a title contender.

    A two-time world champion and two-time Finals MVP, Durant is expected to lead the Nets next season after having spent all of this one on the sideline while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. He and one-time world champion Irving lifted Brooklyn into super-team status last summer by choosing to join forces there, Irving as a free-agent and Durant through a sign-and trade from Golden State, which failed to get him to stay. Jordan was part of the Durant/Irving package deal, with the three agreeing via a FaceTime call around 4 a.m. on the opening day of free agency to take their services to Brooklyn.

    Durant and Irving never connected with Atkinson and there was a growing belief that they did not have interest in playing for him when this team is whole again next season, sources told The Athletic.

    It was not limited to just Durant and Irving, though. Several other players are also said to have begun disconnecting with Atkinson.

    To be clear, a directive from Irving or Durant was not given to fire Atkinson. Marks and his front office are leaders of the franchise. The proper research must be done, and gathering a pulse of the franchise is always ongoing. The belief had been that the stakeholders involved in the franchise would evaluate everything at season’s end. However, enough information had been gathered prior to that, and even Atkinson, sources said, started to understand he had lost his most critical players. As a result, the Nets’ front office had to take all of the information it had at its disposal to make a difficult decision.

    During Wednesday’s spirited postgame meeting, the players did not shy away from critiquing Atkinson, expressing to the coach that they wanted him to identify roles better, communicate the team’s hierarchy better, change what needs fixing and not settle for the status quo. It summed up the growing displeasure with Atkinson’s communication levels, as well.

    “It was a come-to-Jesus moment,” one source with knowledge of the meeting said. “It was an honest conversation where everyone tried to make things right.”

    During the blowout loss to Memphis, Jordan had verbally expressed his frustrations to Atkinson and the coaching staff about the team’s rotation, encapsulating the season-long tension that evolved from the head coach bringing Jordan off the bench, sources said. Jordan is said to have believed he would be the full-time starting center after he, Durant and Irving joined the team. When Atkinson made Jarrett Allen the starting center this season, it changed the dynamics. On Sunday, in the team’s first game after Atkinson’s departure, Jordan returned to the starting lineup in place of Allen.

    Jordan has said throughout the season that it’s been an adjustment for him to come off of the bench, but has tried to make the best of it. Allen has said all the right things and said he’s enjoyed learning from him and wouldn’t want Jordan benched in his favor if it affected the team’s success. After splitting minutes throughout the season, Jordan overtook Allen in February in terms of minutes played by a handful.

    In the fourth quarter of close games, it had been Jordan getting the lion’s share of minutes, which showed Atkinson’s trust in Jordan over Allen. Atkinson said around the All-Star break that he was still getting to know his newer players, including Jordan. When Jordan was asked about his relationship with Atkinson after a loss in Washington on Feb. 26, the usually personable Jordan didn’t have much to say.

    “I mean Kenny’s played against me for years,” he said. “He knows me as a player.”

    This aftermath of Wednesday’s meeting was going to go one of two ways. Either Atkinson would return to the team setting more motivated to fix the issues the players had — or Atkinson would lose confidence in himself as the head coach and lose grip of the team. Sources described Atkinson as dejected, and in the two days that follow he is said to have talked to people about not allowing anyone to dictate his job, about going out on his own terms if necessary, with two years guaranteed left on his contract.

    This is the NBA and this is business. So when Marks sent a message to his entire roster on Saturday morning about the firing of Atkinson, there was surprise among the team. The eventual parting had been deemed inevitable in recent days, but to do so one month before the postseason?

    Something had to have happened.

    From the onset of Nets training camp, the concerns over the offensive structure and other strategies implemented by Atkinson were not addressed. Atkinson was defiant and strong-willed: He would handle the team his way. He maintained his offensive and defensive philosophies. However, his “equal opportunity” offense did not mesh with the team’s most critical players, according to sources, and there ultimately was not enough productive communication among him, Durant and Irving and a vast amount of players.

    The integration of Durant and Irving would be complex. This was Irving’s team in 2019-20, with Durant joining his co-star next season once he had fully recovered from a torn Achilles tendon. It was expected to be a gap year for these Nets, one with purpose and hopes and an understanding of the grand scheme awaiting in the summer of 2020.

    Atkinson talked often during the season about a lineup with Irving, LeVert and Dinwiddie on the floor together at the same time. Atkinson’s reasoning was that, at its best, the lineup would feature three players who wouldn’t be deferring to one another when playing together. Dinwiddie, meanwhile, said publicly that for it to work they would need to establish a pecking order among the scorers, with Irving taking the lead. But the Nets never really got an extended look at that lineup due to Irving and LeVert each missing extended time due to injuries.

    The straw that broke the camel’s back came Friday at the practice facility, when GM Sean Marks and Atkinson discussed his waning voice with the team. One source said the final decision to part ways was not made until late Friday night and into Saturday.

    Even in his final days as head coach, Atkinson told people that if he were going to be fired, he was going to depart on his terms. An offseason dismissal was almost inevitable, and so Atkinson made it known: If you’re going to fire me, just let me out now.

    In many ways, the Nets got ahead of what was already probably coming.

    Brooklyn is committed to Vaughn and seeing this current staff through. There’s a reason Atkinson is regarded as one of the best developmental coaches in the league; one who will assuredly receive opportunities again this summer. But the Nets have been high on the entire staff and its preparation, work ethic and concepts. The Nets have full confidence and support in the current coaching staff, sources said. Surely, external candidates will begin to emerge as the next few weeks go on.

    These Nets still have two of the sport’s top players, a creative front office intact and championship-contending aspirations going into next season, but a part of their fabric left on Saturday.

    “I would’ve loved to have Kenny here long-term,” Marks said during a news conference on Saturday. “It was time for another voice in that locker room.”

    A new culture will emerge in Brooklyn. It will just no longer be Atkinson’s.
     
    foh likes this.
  8. JayGoogle

    JayGoogle Member

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    No one.

    Absolutely no one.

    Stephen A: Gregg Popovich could be an option for the Nets.
     
  9. TimDuncanDonaut

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    Atkinsons part ways, some how this man emerges as interim coach, despite already coaching the Cavs.

    [​IMG]
     
    BigShasta likes this.
  10. TilmanFinancialWindfall

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    damn...this dude just keep getting J.O.B for some reason. JB for DA J.O.B.

    This is one lucky dude, almost as lucky as Justin Verlander and his hot wife
     
    BigShasta and TimDuncanDonaut like this.
  11. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    Nets Expected To Use Young Talent To Acquire Third Star

    The Brooklyn Nets are expected to continue to reshape their roster around Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

    "I believe they have telegraphed they intend to use some of their young talent to acquire a third star along with Kyrie and Durant," said Brian Windhorst. "Now, we can get enter a healthy debate here about whether Caris LeVert is that third star and they make the decision that he is. But my feel reading the tea leaves, paying attention to what Sean Marks has said and also being aware of some conversations they had at the trade deadline, which was sticking the toe in the water on some things, I think they're going to swing for the fences whenever the season comes. They're going to have to potentially hire a coach that is going to help them do that."

    The Nets' two biggest trade chips are believed to be LeVert and Jarrett Allen, though Spencer Dinwiddie could be another player they can trade to acquire a third star. Dinwiddie has been a solid backup for Irving, who has also filled in due to injuries.

    Bradley Beal and Jrue Holiday are two players mentioned by Windhorst as possible targets as they're a pair of players who could become available on the trade market.

    Nets Expected To Pursue 'Blue Chip Coach'

    The Brooklyn Nets fired Kenny Atkinson in early March, elevating Jacque Vaughn to interim head coach. There is an expectation that the Nets will hire a head coach with a proven track record as that's the preference of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

    "One of the things that has been expressed sort of the grapevine, that's the way I'm going to say it to protect myself from the aggregators, is that Durant and Irving would like a blue chip coach," said Brian Windhorst on his podcast. "I don't know what this says about the way they thought about Atkinson, but they want a big name coach."

    Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy, Stan Van Gundy and Mark Jackson are some of the available head coaches who would fit that description.

    Tom Thibodeau Likely To Be Candidate For Knicks, Nets

    Tom Thibodeau is expected to be a candidate for both the head coaching vacancies of the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.

    "Thibodeau, I believe, is going to be a candidate for the Knicks' job as well," said Brian Windhorst on his podcast. "He has long been represented by CAA, who Leon Rose ran the CAA basketball division. Wes Wesley, one of his first clients was Tom Thibodeau.

    Thibodeau was fired by the Minnesota Timberwolves during the middle of the 18-19 season.

    "He's got a really good working relationship with Leon Rose and Wes Wesley. I know Wes hasn't been named anything official with the Knicks, but trust me, he will be involved. That connection will matter."
     
  12. ElPigto

    ElPigto Member
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    Tom Thibodeau?? Lol. Good luck Nets. It's amazing that Tom's old school mentality is still an attraction to teams.
     
  13. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    Irving and kd are already injury prone.
     
    Fantasma Negro and ElPigto like this.
  14. saleem

    saleem Contributing Member

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    Perhaps, he will be better for Houston.
     
  15. saleem

    saleem Contributing Member

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    :D
     
  16. saleem

    saleem Contributing Member

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    Morey is a statistician. He needs to do his job, and stop poking his nose into coaching. Tilman's not bright enough to hire a guy like Kenny.
     
  17. dc rock

    dc rock Contributing Member

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    [​IMG]
     
    TimDuncanDonaut likes this.
  18. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    malakas likes this.
  19. malakas

    malakas Member

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    I thought that Kyrie had problems with Lue back in Cleveland?:rolleyes:
    By this list of coaches it is obvious who makes the decisions in this franchise now, and it's not their GM.
    Maybe he will also resign.
     
  20. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    Speculation Increasing Within NBA That Kevin Durant Supports Mark Jackson For Nets' Job

    The Brooklyn Nets are giving serious consideration to keeping Jacque Vaughn as head coach, but there has been an increase in speculation that Mark Jackson will be a strong candidate for the job with potential support from Kevin Durant.

    "There's been no discussion, very little discussion about the Nets' coach," said Brian Windhorst on his podcast. "And I'm going to be very interested, Jackie, who gets that job. But some interesting things... If you're paying close attention to social media. Rich Kleiman, who is Kevin Durant's business partner and very influential, has been Tweeting about Mark Jackson recently.

    "He hasn't Tweeted, 'I want Mark Jackson to coach the Nets', but there was a story in the New York Post just this last week where it was posited about Mark Jackson or Jason Kidd, who obviously was with the Nets before and left after one year.

    "You know, (Kleiman) pretty much said he liked the idea. It is known that Mark Jackson and Kevin Durant have a good relationship. Those Tweets and the Jackson/Nets possible connection with Durant have not gone unnoticed in the NBA. There are people who are speaking about Mark Jackson as a candidate there.

    "Sean Marks recently gave an interview, I believe it was a radio interview, where he just admitted that Kyrie and Kevin Durant are getting a say in the coaching decision. As they probably got a say in Kenny Atkinson's firing."

    The Nets also signed Michael Beasley as a replacement player, possibly due to his ties to Durant, which is yet another signing of his influence over the franchise. Kleiman publicly applauded the signing of Beasley on Twitter.

    "I mean if Durant is really running this team, if Durant and Kyrie are running this team, I can see Mark Jackson getting hired into that job," said Windhorst.
     

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