A few thoughts on Vinny. Yes, he is a terrible strategist, motivator and leader and I'm glad he's gone. However, for a rookie coach dealing with a young team (and injuries), he managed to get the most out of the talent on the team:
- Rose: ROY and all-star, quickly developing into one of the best PG's in the NBA.
- Noah: From marginal starter to bona fide top 10 center. He's matured the most under Vinny's loose coaching style and emerged as the team leader and heart of the organization.
- Taj Gibson: I can't see any other coach getting more out of him than we got this season.
- Gorden: See the corpse of Ben Gordon on Detroit for comparison.
In all, you can't say his tenure was a failure - two playoff appearances and he built the foundation of a solid contender for 2011. Coaching style varies widely (he's the polar opposite of Skiles) and sometimes it's just a matter of how the players respond, not so much the game plan. He was the perfect "training wheels" coach to develop the young guys and now it's time to find a more experienced guy to take us to the next level. I think Vinny should be appreciative of the opportunity (to coach a top NBA franchise with absolutely zero coaching experience) and likely earned an opportunity to coach somewhere else.
Top replacement candidates include Doug Collins and Avery Johnson but I bet we'll wait until the FA class settles before choosing one (what if LBJ wants to pick his own coach?).
-KEG
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