« Silas, managing the schedule | Main | No Deron Williams tonight »
January 30, 2011
Will Silas stay beyond this season?
Here’s what I think first when someone asks me whether Paul Silas will be Charlotte Bobcats coach beyond this season:
Paul really wants this job, but Paul doesn’t need this job.
He saved his money from when he coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, so he’s set up for life at 68. I think he means it when he said this is the only job he would have taken, because he didn’t want to be uprooted from his home on Lake Norman.
Silas is having fun coaching this team, and his level of engagement is beyond what he expected. Paul is a different guy from when he took over for Dave Cowens with the Hornets all those years ago, and that’s for the better.
When Cowens quit (in that mercurial way Cowens has lived his life), Silas was desperate to prove he could be a head coach again. He took over the Clippers straight from being a player. By his own description, he wasn’t ready for that job, and it colored teams’ perception of him for years.
The pressure entailed in proving himself hurt Paul back then. After making a fortune with the Hornets and Cavs, he’s no longer that guy. He has faith in his own judgment and understands his gift is his people skills.
I think he should be here beyond this season because the players believe in him, want to win for him, and that matters.
However, I can’t blame owner Michael Jordan for taking a wait-and-see approach. There are three months left in the season and a lockout could (worst-case scenario) wipe out next season.
Silas said he’s fine with that, which says a lot about how comfortable he is in his own skin.
SOME STRAY THOUGHTS: Some of you emailed to ask why Eduardo Najera didn’t play against the Clippers, when they obviously needed help guarding Blake Griffin. Watching Griffin live for the first time, the thing I noticed most was he's frighteningly fast for a power forward and a fine dribbler. So it makes sense you’d tried to counter that with Dominic McGuire’s feet, rather than Najera’s bulk….
I wonder if the Pacers would turn to Larry Brown, after firing Jim O’Brien Sunday. Brown desperately wants to coach again and the Pacers have enough talent to get to the post-season. Wouldn’t it be intriguing if Brown was coaching the Pacers, in a duel with the Bobcats for one of the last two playoff spots.
Posted by Observer Sports on January 30, 2011 at 07:19 PM | Permalink
Comments
I wouldn't mind Silas coaching for a couple more years and then turning the reigns over to his son.
Posted by: Bro. D. | Jan 30, 2011 8:03:24 PM
agree with everything. best article ever in that regard (which i'm sure is how you rate your personal performance.)
Posted by: charlottean | Jan 30, 2011 8:07:43 PM
I agree, Brother Dave. His son looks like a fine coach as well.
Posted by: captaincrunk | Jan 30, 2011 8:15:51 PM
I love how Silas has handled the team. They are playing hard and lose.
Not sure why ANYONE would want to hire LB at this point, the Bobcats turnaround since he left should be reason enough to stay away.
Posted by: Dave T | Jan 30, 2011 8:40:56 PM
RE: Dave T - LB's talents are immeasurable, given that his "intervention" helps to put player's heads into actually playing basketball effectively. If the players only had "good for you", then nothing would result.
Posted by: whollar | Jan 30, 2011 9:10:24 PM
Why would anybody hire LB now? He almost completely destroyed the cats by trading DJ for an aging pg. He is a has been. He cant stand it right now because he convinced a lot of people that these players are worthless and needed to be traded away only to see someone else coaching them to a winning record. Imagine how good this team would have been if silas were the coach from the get go.
Posted by: crymeariver | Jan 30, 2011 11:41:14 PM
Crymeariver:
You seem really angry, which is what sports have become. Enjoy how well it's gone under Silas. It's fun and I hope they keep Paul beyond the current season. But Larry set the ground work for so much of what is working now. They're dramatically better than they were when he took over for Sam Vincent. Maybe the Larry effect is shorter than it once was, but it's still real.
Posted by: Rick Bonnell | Jan 31, 2011 12:53:25 AM
Agreed Rick,
Larry was "done" this season but stayed and the team responded to his attitude, but he spent 2 years laying out good (oldschool) plays, and teaching defense. If Paul came in here after Sam we'd be a 110+ ppg team, but the other team would be scoring 110+ against us too. We're in a good place because Larry gave us defense skills and now Silas has opened the floodgate on offense, while reinforcing the defense.
Posted by: tattoo | Jan 31, 2011 4:12:50 AM
Rick and Whomever else,
So LB instilled in Henderson what he is doing by not playing him? Please! These guys are playing with heart something that Larry Brown took away and that is the difference. I watched he Bobcats come out agianst the Bulls with a legitimate game plan on defense trapping Rose something I never saw under LB and they won. They have also adjusted to other teams in differnet ways. How in the h3ll is Lb responsible for things like Kwame Brown getting double doubles now? DJ breaking out now? The way he helped was hitting the road.
Posted by: Cat_Dog | Jan 31, 2011 7:43:31 AM
Nobody should defend LB for what he's done here. The main tanked thisseason so he could get fired, he could've easilly quit and let someone who wanted to coach be here and we'd be much better than we are at this point, instead LB thought about himself and how it would look for his future potential coaching jobs and he decided quitting would look bad on the resume so he tried to get fired. I have no respect for that man.
Posted by: Clyde | Jan 31, 2011 7:53:12 AM
Cat_Dog
Yes Larry Brown was and is a great teacher of the game and yes Henderson learned under Larry Brown as did DJ. The difference is that LB did not have the patience with players when they constantly failed to execute especially the younger ones. Silas is more patient with the players. The jury is till out whether he is the teacher that LB is. If you attended Bobcats games on a regular basis you would have seen how many of his ex-players made there way over to LB to talk with him at length. It's like that teacher or professor you hated in school but somewhere down the line you realized how much you learned from them.
Posted by: Bob | Jan 31, 2011 9:53:13 AM
I wanted LB fired last year. That being said I don't think that you can honestly deny his part in any Bobcat future success. He laid a solid defensive and offensive foundation on which this team can build. Just because someone's time has past doesn't mean it does us any good to deny their sacrifices.
Posted by: moboythunder | Jan 31, 2011 10:13:47 AM
It was obvious that LB didn't want to come back this season. He accomplished what he set out to do and to go further he needed a serious upgrade of players in the off-season. That's just the way Larry is. If the roster isn't to his liking he becomes counter productive. The fact that we didn't make any major improvements and lost our starting center and point guard was something that he probably perceived as a slap in the face. It was a toxic relationship from the start.
The fact that Paul Silas has been able to take a less talented team, and one that had zero morale, and be successful is remarkable. I always liked him when he coached the Hornets and I really like him now. It's a long shot to make the playoffs, especially with the injuries to Diop and Tyrus but if anyone can do it Silas can.
MJ has made some good moves along with the bad. Hiring Larry Brown was a great move at the time and firing him when it became necessary was the kind of difficult yet prudent action you want from an owner. Plus Kwame Brown 2.0 is turning into the best bargain in the NBA.
Posted by: apauldds | Jan 31, 2011 10:23:19 AM
I think this "since coaching change" analysis has lived its life. Its boring to read the same thing... LB sucked and Silas rocks, that's it. Lets move on and try to acquire/ deal someone.
Posted by: byteAbit | Jan 31, 2011 11:25:58 AM
Does anyone doubt that Felton is having an All-Star year in part because of Brown's coaching? Or that Tyrus Thomas is playing with more verve than he ever has because of that?
Brown wore out his welcome -- there's no doubt about that. But he was good for the franchise, and it's helped Silas be the good cop and get results.
Posted by: BullCityDog | Jan 31, 2011 11:27:21 AM
Silas staying is a foregone conclusion.
Posted by: HAve2650 | Jan 31, 2011 1:40:09 PM
Silas should stay. Brown was good for the franchise. This team has the talent level to be a playoff team this season. Trades need to be made at the end of the season (Jackson). All facts.
Posted by: Panthersand Bobcats | Jan 31, 2011 6:55:14 PM
COACHING IS GOOD BUT THE ROSTER COULD USE SOME UPGRADES AND A 23MILLION CAP SPACE WOULD'NT HURT EITHER HERES MY SUGGESTION
TRADE
DENVER
BORIS DIAW
MATT CARROLL
STEPHEN JACKSON
FOR
CHARLOTTE
JR SMITH
K MARTIN
R.BALKMAN
ON PAPER THIS IS A CRAZY TRADE BUT THIS IS A CAP SPACE MOVE AND WILL BENEFIT US GREATLY DOWN THE ROAD. AND DENVER IS READY TO MAKE A CHAMPIONSHIP PUSH AND I FEEL DIAW AND JACKSON CAN HELP MELO GET A RING AND MAYBE CONVINCE HIM TO STAY IN CHARLOTTE
AND K-MART AND J SMITH WILL BE GOOD ADDITIONS AND BLAKEMAN A GOOD FUTURE PIECE; THE KEY IS CLEARING UP CAP AND HITTING FREE AGENCY AND MONEY TO SPEND
Posted by: RAHSHON GAMBLE | Jan 31, 2011 6:56:16 PM
rashon you should go away. your "trades" are ridiculous. you want to gut the lineup in the middle of the success they're seeing? not to mention denver is in rebuild mode. they aren't taking (nor is anybody) taking bad contracts. if anybody was going to take jackson's contract it was dallas when caron butler went down and they opted for peja instead.
use some sort of logic in your thoughts please.
Posted by: charlottean | Feb 1, 2011 1:01:46 PM
No. rick, "larry set the ground work", what a joke you are
Posted by: Jellybean | Feb 1, 2011 3:20:38 PM
and rashon please go away your cap locks and trades are hideous.
Posted by: Jellybean | Feb 1, 2011 3:22:36 PM
Post a comment
Advertisements
