Ex-Coach Luke Walton Discussion

Good or bad, Luke is not a Magic or Pelinka hire. That's not gonna change.

 

Let me ask you, how does... or better yet how has Magic said over and over again how he wants the team to play? Fast! Moving the ball up and down the court, not holdings it and getting player/body movement off ball.

Does Luke not fit that bill to what Magic and Rob wanted when they first started in terms of what Luke helped Steve and the Warriors accomplish up in golden state. What kind of culture does Luke want to create and from all accounts had done a great job with. A Players coach where the players can speak up and feel empowered that they have just as much control over what goes on as the coaches. Even though the coaches have the final say. Luke often says its best if the players can hold each other accountable instead of it always coming from the coaches. That way they feel empowered.

Rondo echoed this during the pre-season when asked how does his time with the Lakers and the coaches compare to other teams he's been on. He gave Luke and the Lakers mad props.

To conclude, for not being a Magic or Pelinka hire Luke sure does have the pulse & fingerprints of what Magic and Pelinka preached in what they wanted in a team and how their culture should be created when they started this job

 

If we get rid of Luke we would also be getting rid of Miles Simon who helped Kuz and Hart the last year or so improve greatly from how they looked in college and summer league. Are we getting rid of another assistant - Brian O'Keafe who was with Kevin Durant for 8 years who KD has said helped shape his game to what it is today. Are we going to let him go despite what he could do for Brandon Ingram.

Player development is crucial but I guess fans are fine with letting all those guys go as well.

 

Nor should you Luke. This wasn't an emergency meeting. Luke, Magic, Rob, Jeanie are always in constant communication. To your point @Real, looks like this was just blown out of proportion.

 

@Battle Tested20 I'm not disagreeing with you. I just think most presidents and GMs want their guy. We don't make the playoffs and Luke is gone (way early,I know). Again, I agree with what you said, but feel his days are numbered. Not in 10 or 20 games, but maybe 50/50 on next season.

 

Again, I haven't liked a lot of what I've seen from us defensively, and Luke certainly deserves a fair share of blame in the losses recently IMO. But I'm going to hold off on the serious critique until about 20 or so games in. I want to see what they do.

I like Walton, but I'm not attached to him either. Unless we really stink and miss the playoffs I think he gets to play this out this year. After that though is anyone's guess. I wouldn't be surprised to see him replaced if we don't achieve what Magic and Rob want us to. No one thinks we're going to win it all, but making the playoffs is a must this year. If we don't, then Luke should definitely be canned.

 

I agree that if we don't make the playoffs Luke whether its fair or not (I don't believe it would be fair) would lose his job.

To me, what is fair is giving Luke this year and the start of next year to figure this out and build continuity. That's two training camps and hopefully more talent coming next off-season. If next year we start out slow or things aren't clicking I think it would have been enough time to justify a change.

 

What has Steve Kerr done differently that he didn't learn from Phil, Pop, and his college coach Lute Olson with that Warriors team he has.

That's just a bad argument to make and not fair IMO.

 

And what do you think those things were that he did differently than Mark Jackson? For the record I'm not saying GSW should have kept Mark.

 

"Beats Me" What are you talking about then?

It's not about being fair. I would just want to see another training camp with our player development staff, another off-season with Brandon, Lonzo, and Kuz. Hopefully another max player and we're set.

There wouldn't be any more questions we'd have: Lebron + Another Year/Off-season of development for our young guys + Another Max Player + Another year of getting used to each other.

You're fine with losing all our player development coaches too I guess, right? Better question, how do you think they've done so far?

 

I don't think he's going to get that kind of leeway Battle Tested, but I get your point. They aren't going to be that patient given Lebron's timeline/time frame. Every season is vital and next one perhaps the most. Personally, I know I'm not convinced Luke is the coach to get them over. I was fine with him and our young kids as a developing coach, but the Lebron signing put him right on the hot seat to succeed and do it soon. I think that's fair and that's the gig.

 

What coach would you hire instead of Luke?

 

Next summer? I'm not sure who will be available.

 

His assistants are incompetent you say and yet they helped developer Lonzo - Summer League MVP, Hart - Summer League MVP, Kuz All Summer League Team, Svi All Summer League Team, Back to Back Summer League Finals, etc..

You can draft real well like we have but players still need to play well in a system and develop some of their weaknesses. Josh couldn't really shoot and his ball handling was sub par. Works with Miles all summer and shows improvement.

When Hart was starting, how many other teams in the Western conference have 3 second year players in their starting lineup in Kuz, Ball, and Hart playing major minutes.

 

Just in general, but that's kind of the point right? Who is out there? If there's no obvious replacement (or not-so-obvious) then why fire him now?