Older thread '20 NYK Off-season Thread

[Ty-Fife]

I woulda swore up and down that Becky woulda been the first assistant outta SA that we'd give a call to. Especially with her connection to the city.

 

[storyteller]

A few thoughts -
1. Add him to the list with Becky Hammon and Ime Udoka as Spurs connections that the Knicks are looking at. If there’s an organization to emulate, you could do a lot worse than the Spurs.

2. Will Hardy fits really well with the bio’s of the front office additions (more so than anyone else really). He’s a guy who got in at bottom and worked his way up the ladder through hard work and smarts. He’s seen multiple levels of management approaches and succeeded at each stage.

3. He only became an assistant coach recently and I think that limited experience hinders his chances and also makes me a bit nervous. It’s one thing being an assistant in San Antonio, head coach of the NYK is a different kind of pressure.

here’s a profile
Giving Will Hardy the proper congratulations he has earned

 

[Wargames]

A few thoughts -
1. Add him to the list with Becky Hammon and Ime Udoka as Spurs connections that the Knicks are looking at. If there’s an organization to emulate, you could do a lot worse than the Spurs.

2. Will Hardy fits really well with the bio’s of the front office additions (more so than anyone else really). He’s a guy who got in at bottom and worked his way up the ladder through hard work and smarts. He’s seen multiple levels of management approaches and succeeded at each stage.

3. He only became an assistant coach recently and I think that limited experience hinders his chances and also makes me a bit nervous. It’s one thing being an assistant in San Antonio, head coach of the NYK is a different kind of pressure.

here’s a profile
Giving Will Hardy the proper congratulations he has earned

I wish we could hire him as an assistant for the bench. HC would be a major jump for him. Still I appreciate the fact Leon is searching high and low

 

[storyteller]

I wish we could hire him as an assistant for the bench. HC would be a major jump for him. Still I appreciate the fact Leon is searching high and low

Yeah, that's exactly how I feel. I'd love to bring him into the organization off his reputation and Spurs experience but HC is a leap. I do wonder if Rose expanding the list to 10 deep is more a sign that he's creating deeper connections around the league and creating a footprint with promising up and comers for future value. The second batch of names is a collective that have more unknowns but all bring some serious promise behind the unknowns.

 

[storyteller]

Another cool story for a name the Knicks are supposed to bring in for a look. Some time with the Spurs in summer league, time with the Atkinson Nets and he turned a second division German league team into a consistent champion prior to going to the NBA.

Bulls' Fleming cut his coaching teeth in Germany

Excerpt:

“It was a really small town,” Fleming said of Quakenbrück. “It felt like coaching a high school team in some ways. I knew what I didn’t want to do as a coach. I had to figure out what I did want to do.”

With his team playing in the second division, he’d attend practices of teams playing in the first division. Fleming wanted to soak up as much information as he could because he quickly discovered he loved the job.

“I thought I could be a coach at a higher level than I could be a player at. I liked the competition of it,” he said. “One of the tough things about as your career is winding down is missing being part of a team. I love being in that atmosphere and being part of a group of guys who move forward and develop together.”

Fleming began developing a reputation as a strong communicator and teacher with offensive acumen. His success led to getting hired by Brose Bamberg, which he led to four German League championships and with whom he earned a Coach of the Year honor. He met his wife and started a family, embracing his adopted country.

In fact, Fleming turned down an offer to join the Nuggets’ staff in 2012. With his family content and his staff filled with not only coaches he respected but friends, the future seemed promising.

Until it wasn’t.

“We had won four championships in a row. And when we didn’t win it, we got canned,” Fleming said of the 2014 move. “There was an ownership change, and I knew something might happen.

Fleming spent one season with the Nuggets and also landed the German national team job. He coached Dirk Nowitzki at the 2015 European championships and Dennis Schroder and Chris Kaman at the 2017 European championships.

“I’m still very proud of it. I have the jersey hanging in my office here,” Fleming said. “I grew up basketball-wise in Germany. They gave me the chance to work. I knew the process and what the strengths of the country are. I had a pretty clear vision of what needed to happen.

“I’m still very connected to the program. It’s a tough experience to explain to somebody who hasn’t been a part of that. But it really is a family. People are there for completely different reasons than they might be in a professional setting, even though they’re professionals. It’s maybe my most fun experience I’ve had in basketball.”

“He’s very passionate. He’s very into details. I like that,” Satoransky said. “He has great patience. And I think it’s helpful that he was in Europe so he understands what he wants from me. He’s been helping me with my offense. He’s a good teacher. You could see that from his time in Brooklyn.”

Indeed, in 2016, Fleming joined Atkinson’s Nets staff to help teach a young team and build culture. Other than the promotion to lead assistant, it’s a big reason why the Bulls’ job opportunity resonated.

“One of the first things (executive vice president) John (Paxson) said to me was, ‘I believe in fundamental basketball.’ And that’s really what I believe in. We’re very aligned on that,” Fleming said. “Jim and I spent great time together on my initial visit. And the roster is one I believed in when I looked at video and did my research.”

Asked what his offensive philosophy is, Fleming offered a ready answer.

“I want the players to play confidently. I want them to play from a solid, fundamental foundation. I think it’s as easy as that,” he said. “Different teams need a little bit different things. But spacing fundamentals are simple.

“Whose habits are the best? Can you do it a second time, third time? Can you do it in the fourth quarter like you did in the first quarter? That’s the challenge. It’s less so about reinventing the wheel. It’s more about: Are their habits good enough to play with confidence?”

The Bulls are confident they’ve added a bright coach in Fleming.

 

[Wargames]

Another cool story for a name the Knicks are supposed to bring in for a look. Some time with the Spurs in summer league, time with the Atkinson Nets and he turned a second division German league team into a consistent champion prior to going to the NBA.

Bulls' Fleming cut his coaching teeth in Germany

Excerpt:

man I wish we could just hire these guys and create a HC brain trust

 

[Ironman]

man I wish we could just hire these guys and create a HC brain trust

I'm with this idea the most but I dont think the NBA is there yet

 

[Wargames]

Our new scout Kline interviewing Udoka

 

[Kitsch]

 

[Ty-Fife]

I'm really feeling how we keeping our options wide. This has got to be the most coaches we've been looking into to hire for the job in forever.

 

[storyteller]

On the one hand, I really like these new names and I'm excited at the prospect of one of them wow'ing our front office enough to become the guy...

On the other hand, this will make it a tougher pill to swallow if they settle on a retread. Maybe they bring one of these guys in for a key assistant role, it wouldn't be the worst compromise.

 

[Miles Davis]

On the one hand, I really like these new names and I'm excited at the prospect of one of them wow'ing our front office enough to become the guy...

On the other hand, this will make it a tougher pill to swallow if they settle on a retread. Maybe they bring one of these guys in for a key assistant role, it wouldn't be the worst compromise.

Forreal, if we end up with Tom after all these options that’d be about the most Knick shyt ever

 

[Kitsch]

Wouldn't surprise me if he eventually left.

 

[Peter Popoff]

Wouldn't surprise me if he eventually left.

No one wants to play for a racist city. That team about to look like the MAGAricks.

 

[Kitsch]