Silas is new coach

[ziggy]

Since Paul Silas seems to be the frontrunner, lets get your thoughts on what hiring him would mean to the Bobcats.

I honestly don't remember very much about his coaching prowess from the time when he was head coach of the Hornets ( once the Hornets left town, I erased that from my brain )

So, what is his offensive philosophy?
What is his defensive philosophy?
Would he be considered a players coach?

[ohara831]

Nice guy. But I want an interim coach like a want a case of the runs. I want a long term hire where he can take this season to assess what we have and know what we need. The rest of this season is a pure waste of time if Silas is only interim. And he is only interim. So if MJ is tanking on a HC decision, I say tank the entire year.

[WAM9]

I remember him being a tough, defensive minded guy who wants big men to act like big men. LB seemed to try to put his stamp on the roster at the PG spot. Silas seems to want to put his on at the PF / C spot.

I think this is great. We need more toughness and grit from our big guys. I really can't see how he and Boris are going to get along though. Boris will have to step his game up big time or risk being in the Silas dog house.

Offensively, I don't remember what his bread and butter sets were. I remember being a fan and liking him in general but not exactly what sets he ran.

[TheBeagle]

I remember liking him. Also, B Diddy's best year's were under Paul so that is always a plus with me. I think he'd be a fine transition coach finishing up this season 'til a long-term coach is named in the off-season.

[Weezy21]

Nice guy. But I want an interim coach like a want a case of the runs. I want a long term hire where he can take this season to assess what we have and know what we need. The rest of this season is a pure waste of time if Silas is only interim. And he is only interim. So if MJ is tanking on a HC decision, I say tank the entire year.

agreed! we need somebody for the long haul in order to be successful with the rebuild of our team...especially if we make any moves this year

[Chef]

agreed! we need somebody for the long haul in order to be successful with the rebuild of our team...especially if we make any moves this year

unless the goal is either of these two:
salvage the season go for the 7 seed (boo)
trade our entire roster or as much of it as we can by february for expirings, youngs and or picks and start over next season with a new coach (this would assume silas knows this going in)

[Plowright]

Paul Silas is the man
bobcats (http://twitter.com/#%21/bobcats) Charlotte Bobcats



We'll hear from @bobcats (http://twitter.com/bobcats) new interim head coach #PaulSilas (http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23PaulSilas) on Thursday at 1pm and have complete coverage

1 minute ago (http://twitter.com/#%21/bobcats/status/17722671152234497) Favorite (http://twitter.com/#) Retweet (http://twitter.com/#) Reply (http://twitter.com/#)

[bfer]

Just posted, Im sure more info to come.

http://blogs.charlotte.com/inside_the_nba/2010/12/and-now-silas-is-the-interim-coach.html

thoughts? i really dont want to tank this season, we still have a shot to turn this around.

[Absinthe]

I remember him being a tough, defensive minded guy who wants big men to act like big men. LB seemed to try to put his stamp on the roster at the PG spot. Silas seems to want to put his on at the PF / C spot.

I think this is great. We need more toughness and grit from our big guys. I really can't see how he and Boris are going to get along though. Boris will have to step his game up big time or risk being in the Silas dog house.

Offensively, I don't remember what his bread and butter sets were. I remember being a fan and liking him in general but not exactly what sets he ran.

If that's true, this team is fucked. Tyrus Thomas is not a banger and Diaw is one of the softest PFs in the league. Mohammed is old and wouldn't start on 90% of the teams in the NBA. The front court is laughable on this team.

[Plowright]

Charles Oakley is a "strong" possibilty to join a Paul Silas coaching staff in Charlotte, league source says.

[Proudiddy]

Charles Oakley is a "strong" possibilty to join a Paul Silas coaching staff in Charlotte, league source says.

more MJ chronies...

[ziggy]

Charles Oakley is a "strong" possibilty to join a Paul Silas coaching staff in Charlotte, league source says.

C'mon Man, Don't play with my emotions like that. Oakley has been one of my favorite players since ... ever

[TheBeagle]

Paul Silas is the man
bobcats (http://twitter.com/#%21/bobcats) Charlotte Bobcats



We'll hear from @bobcats (http://twitter.com/bobcats) new interim head coach #PaulSilas (http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23PaulSilas) on Thursday at 1pm and have complete coverage

1 minute ago (http://twitter.com/#%21/bobcats/status/17722671152234497) Favorite (http://twitter.com/#) Retweet (http://twitter.com/#) Reply (http://twitter.com/#) Good find, plow! I'm cool with this news as a temporary stop-gap for the rest of the year as I'm assuming that's what this is. I can't imagine Paul wanting to coach past this year anyway. I think he's just doing MJ and Charlotte fans a favor. Plus, it's not like he's going to succeed anymore than Larry in the Ws and Ls department with this heartless, inept roster.

But, guess we'll find this out tomorrow at 1.

[Proudiddy]

I like Oakley too, but has he even been coaching? Last I saw him he was walking around with MJ on that streetbike racing piece on TNT getting clowned for wearing a very Village People-esque leather vest, lol...

[ammofan]

Silas+Oakley=Championship

[Proudiddy]

Didn't Silas make Elden Campbell look decent? LOL, still think that guy was sweeter than a lil debbie cake.

I love Paul, but I wish we could've went ahead and contacted Mark Jackson, or another younger guy that could come in and be the guy long-term, it's unfair to Paul, and it's unfair to those candidates, and the team, because most likely we're looking at another coaching change come this off-season.

[ziggy]

I bet Oakley can still kick the ass of anyone on the Bobcats roster in under 20 seconds.

[playoffs...PLAYOFFS?]

I think a playoff run at this point is wishful thinking.

The whole team is in disarray. I can't imagine anyone being excited to play for the team right not. Not that they were excited to begin with...

[TheBeagle]

C'mon Man, Don't play with my emotions like that. Oakley has been one of my favorite players since ... ever Yes! Oak Tree!!! LOL With Paul and Oak, we'll have the only team whose coaching staff is the better frontline than the one taking the court.

[Proudiddy]

I dont see any drop off in ability to throw bows, if needed.

[Proudiddy]

Yes! Oak Tree!!! LOL With Paul and Oak, we'll have the only team whose coaching staff is the better frontline than the one taking the court.lol
10char

[ohara831]

OK. This sits a little better with me if Oakley is on board. I always liked his style.

[Mustachio]

Love it. Thanks Larry.


Silas wants to be here, and thats enough for me. Larry wanted out.

If theres one thing this team could use a lot more of this year, its toughness... and who better to teach that than Oak!

[adam187]

Damn, get the whole Space Jam crew down in Charlotte, MJ!

New lineup:
PG - Mugsy
SG -Jordan
SF - Barkley
PF - Oakley
C - Ewing

Bill Murray and Wayne Knight coming off the bench.

[WhatAboutBob_cats]

Rumor is that Charles Oakley may be an assistant coach. I can't wait to see what they're going to do with our frontcourt.

[GoBobs]

I think this move was the right one. I really want a great offensive coach but right now we just need someone with a different communication style. The team was no longer hearing LB's message. If Silas doesn't click with the team we can get somebody else.

[BETCATS]

I AM A PROPHET! If you do recall I wrote a passage on the Bobcatsplanet wiki saying Silas would coach us as soon as LB was done.

What happened to the Bobcatsplanet wiki? I want my moment in the sun.

[ziggy]

I AM A PROPHET! If you do recall I wrote a passage on the Bobcatsplanet wiki saying Silas would coach us as soon as LB was done.

What happened to the Bobcatsplanet wiki? I want my moment in the sun.

Its still there, but kind of hidden. I'm hoping to switch it to some software that has better spam protection. That wiki was getting pounded daily by devious links.

[dav7z]

One thing for sure MJ is just to damn competive to continue letting his team get embarased. Bet you MJ will be running the next few practices. Makeing changes , seeing what moves will be best . MJ had to be very pissed to fire the whole damn staff in one day. I bet you the best players will get playing time now,
Congrats to Salis thanks MJ something had to be done.

[ziggy]

How do you guys see the Charles Oakley - Boris Diaw relationship working out?

I don't think that there are 2 more polar opposite power forwards in the history of basketball.

[Plowright]

opposits attract? Maybe they will have eating competitions. I think it would be good to have Oakley, i think the players can relate to him as he is younger and more of an NBA celebrity which would bring perhaps some more media attention which would please the players. But mainly my first point about relating to players.

[ohara831]

Oakley is on the coaching staff. Boris has no option but to listen or get his ass kicked and then benched. Seems pretty clear cut to me.

[TattoodCats4life]

I say let Silas coach, start interviewing for next season, and let us trade out as much as we can for picks and young talent, see if we can't pick up something good with our 5th-7th pick in the coming draft.

[x2pacalypse]

isn't oakley kind of a nutcase? sure that's good for a player but idk if that will equate to being a good coach...also i'm pretty sure i remember him having issues with gambling or something...paired with michael jordan we may end up losing the franchise to some gulag in siberia over a game of poker

[BETCATS]

Charles Oakley is exactly the type of mentor that could turn Tyrus Thomas into a once in a lifetime mentally insane superstar

[dnbman]

isn't oakley kind of a nutcase?

I'm imagining team meetings consisting of Silas explaining things while Oakley standing behind his shoulder looking angry, occasionally mouthing things to the players about how they better STFU and pay attention. Silas' player discipline plan will consist of waiving a finger and saying, "Oakley." A player will disappear for ten minutes, then return to the court, silent, eyes staring at the boards under his feet.

[BETCATS]

I'm imagining team meetings consisting of Silas explaining things while Oakley standing behind his shoulder looking angry, occasionally mouthing things to the players about how they better STFU and pay attention. Silas' player discipline plan will consist of waiving a finger and saying, "Oakley." A player will disappear for ten minutes, then return to the court, silent, eyes staring at the boards under his feet.
This made me lol in real life.
The funniest part is that is exactly what is going to happen.

[SWedd523]

Oakley is hopefully going to put Tyrus in the fucking weight room and have him ballin' outta control


I'M CWAZY MANNNN




p.s. LMAO dnb +1

[Jennings]

This made me lol in real life.
The funniest part is that is exactly what is going to happen.

LOL, I did the same thing. My wife turned to me and looked at me like..wtf??? I can see that happening. That would be just what Boris Meow needs.

[Ghost Kat]

isn't oakley kind of a nutcase?

understatement of the year

[BlockParty]

From www.bobcats.com (http://www.bobcats.com)



General Manager Rod Higgins Transcript on Coaching Change

December 22, 2010

It was another historic day for the Bobcats on December 22, 2010 as the organization announced that Larry Brown would be stepping down as head coach and be replaced by Interim Head Coach Paul Silas. Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins held a conference call to discuss the changes and the following is a transcript of that call:


Opening Statement from General Manager Rod Higgins
First of all I’d like to thank all of you for calling in. It’s a tough time but also it’s an opportunistic time for our players and our interim coach who is going to be Paul Silas. When we – (Bobcats Chairman) Michael (Jordan) and all of us - got on the same page and decided that we had to go in another direction, our mindset was that we wanted to try to salvage what we have left in this season. With that said we are highly optimistic that we can get back on track in terms of being a competitive basketball team. We try to think to be positive in the sense where if you look at the playoff race as it sits today, we’re only two and half games out of the last spot. So those are some of the mindsets that we have been trying to circle with. With Coach Brown – an outstanding coach, a Hall of Fame coach – we were very fortunate to have had the time we’ve had with Larry. And I will say, just speaking with my interactions and the ability to work with him, he’s a guy who you can definitely learn from and he has an awful lot to offer. So with that being said, you guys go ahead.

Michael (Jordan) said in the preseason that he wanted Larry to coach this team as long as Larry wanted to coach it. Can you address what changed since then that made today necessary?
Its one of those things where you look at where we are today in terms of our record and how we anticipated we would be playing. When Michael and Larry spoke, the agreement was the team could be in a better situation and be playing better basketball. The timing was everything with our schedule. Having a soft schedule right now – we’re going to be off until next Monday – allows us to make a transition with Paul (Silas) coming in, so we can go ahead and make some practices. I think that’s the mindset with the organization right now.

When did you contact Paul?
We had spoken to Paul this afternoon after Larry and Michael spoke and we had an opportunity to move this thing fairly quickly. Paul was on board with coming and trying work with our players, work with our staff and get his staff in terms or getting his assistants in place, which he has not done up to this point. Hopefully, in the next day or so he can solidify that. Once he speaks to you guys tomorrow, maybe he’ll have some news for you.
Is there a chance that we will hear from Michael?
I really do not anticipate our owner being available for comments. He is traveling right now.


Can you recap how this decision came to be and how it happened in such a quick time span?
The meeting between Michael and Larry happened earlier this afternoon. Michael and Larry had met a couple weeks ago about how to improve the team and get back to playing better basketball. Once that meeting took place, they came to the agreement that it’s going to be time to part ways. After Michael informed his staff that he and Larry had made this agreement, we got on the fast track and contacted Paul Silas. After a back and forth, Paul was in agreement that he would come and take this opportunity.

Is this viewed as a permanent replacement rather than an interim role?
No, it’s going to be an interim situation for Paul. The one thing about Paul is that we were very fortunate that Paul lives in the charlotte area and being a guy that is very involved in our community, we were fortunate to be able to do something in that amount of time with a guy of Paul’s caliber. He’s been a head coach, been an interim coach, in terms of being an interim coach he was very successful in his short time.

What is your timetable for hiring a permanent coach?
I don’t think there’s a timetable right now. I think you have to go through the season and we’ll make a determination at that that point.
Why interim for Paul?
It’s a situation that both sides are okay with. It allows us an opportunity to see how Paul does and see how he gets our team to a certain level. Paul has been out of it for a while. It’s a situation on both sides where we can evaluate each other, so to speak. He’s going to have a lot of input on our personnel and what his thoughts are on how to improve this basketball team.


Do you put potential roster moves on the back burner with this coaching move? It seems like this is a team that is playing like it expects something to happen.
We’re always monitoring how to improve our basketball team and that hasn’t stopped. When you make a change with a coach and hear what their input is and what their suggestions are going to be – Paul’s going to be different. We’re going to listen to what he has to say. But my phone is going to continue to ring and I’m going to continue to make calls on our roster. We owe it to our community and our fan base to try to improve. Part of the reason for this transaction is that we haven’t given up on the season and we’re trying to get back into the hunt. Trades, you’re always looking at trades… we still have a couple of months to evaluate our team.

For all the frustrating losses that marked the beginning of the season one thing that didn’t seem to be in question was the heart of the team. Over the last couple of weeks with Boston and the other big losses it seems to be a personality on the court that we haven’t seen before. What’s your take on that?
I think it’s a collective problem that we all have – upper management, the coaching staff and players with their teammates. You can’t point a finger at one aspect when in all actuality, it’s a collective problem that we all have. Players and coaches obviously have to get on the same page in terms of what we’re trying to do. Losing three of our last four games by 30 points or more, that’s a bad sign for us in the short term. Our goals now are to remain competitive and to continue to try to improve our roster.
Will any of the current assistant coaches remain for the rest of the season or will Paul be bringing in his own staff to complete the year?
Paul will address the staff tomorrow. Paul will take the team through practice tomorrow then he will have an availability session with the media and he will let you know what his staff will involve.


Do you think there’s any coach that can win with the collection of players you have and if so why?
Yes, you have to believe that you can get your team playing to a different level than we’ve been playing. We still have an all -star caliber player in Gerald Wallace. We have a lot of the core players that we had last year. You talk about what we didn’t have from last year to this year in terms of personnel. You have to think that you can get this thing back on track with our team. Could I be naive? Maybe. But I firmly believe that this team has an opportunity to get back on track. I’ll go back to the positive thinking of being two and a half games out of the playoffs. That’s kind of the way were planning this thing, to get back in the hunt. Only time will tell, we’ll see.

Is if fair to say that the team relative to its collective talent has underachieved?
In the press release that Michael and Larry put out together they came to the agreement that were not playing up to our expectations. That’s one thing that they talked about and they agreed upon. We’re trying to get to the position where we can feel good about the way we’re playing.

How much did Larry’s recent postgame comments to the media and about this team factor in to the decision and what have you heard from the players?
I have not spoken to any of our players yet. As a head coach, people can be empathetic in what they have to deal with. Sometimes you make comments in the heat of the battle. You make comments that you feel pretty strong about. That’s what coaches do. There are different tactics of motivation for any coach. And I’m sure some of it was frustration and some of it was trying to get our guys fired up and trying to motivate them any way you can.

Did you think that perhaps Larry had gone too far? Was there any chance it was poisoning the atmosphere around the team?
I like to think that in the comments Larry always made, he had a message to it. He would always preach to his players that it’s not about the tone of the message; it’s about the message. He might be screaming that you have to get back on defense. It’s an emotional game and it’s highly competitive, so right now it’s hard to read into the message when it was given by the coach.
Did you feel like this was best the time to make the change?
Yes, having that soft spot in the schedule enabled us to. Not that this was planned, it just happened to happen the way it did. The schedule allows us to get a new coach in, get some practices in and let the new coach implement some of his philosophies. It just kind of worked out that way.

[BlockParty]

continued from last thread (too many characters)




A week or two ago, Larry volunteered that he thought the players weren’t listening to him. That seemed unprecedented with Larry working here. Do you think that was accurate? Were the players starting to tune him out? I wondered if that was a factor in this decision.
There was never a time that the players came to me directly and complained about coach Brown. I think our guys realize they have to come out and do their job. Although you can say that they haven’t been doing their job well in the last couple of weeks. Ownership wants us to collectively get back on the same page with our players and this change with our coaching staff. We’re going to meet with those guys in the morning and try to let them know some of our philosophies and what we envision our team going forward because we do have some issues that we have to address.

Do you think the players weren’t listening to Larry?
I don’t think that at all. Knowing Larry’s personality, it’s hard to not listen to Larry.

Did Larry speak with Michael face-to-face?
He spoke to Michael face to face. This is the second time they have met in a couple of weeks. They had an opportunity to talk things through. After Michael met with Larry, it’s one of those things that they came to an agreement with. We’re trying to now go forward with our season and with our team.
Having covered both, I would have a hard time thinking of two coaches who are more different in terms of personality, approach and rhythm. They strike me as very different people. I wondered if the contrast was at all a factor in Paul being the person to replace Larry?
I don’t know if it’s that. I think one thing that they are a lot alike in is that old-school mentality where they are going to challenge their players, they’re steadfast in their beliefs in how their going to get their jobs done. Every coach is going to be different than the next coach. I would imagine that Paul is going to do some things different than Larry. I think they are both grounded in what they believe in. You would call them old-school coaches, where the players are definitely not going to be confused about what they want.

[Reezy]

How do you guys see the Charles Oakley - Boris Diaw relationship working out?

I don't think that there are 2 more polar opposite power forwards in the history of basketball.

pairing charles oakley and boris diaw together would be like telling mr. T and wayne brady to go hold hands. I hope to god this coaching make over works out because if anything, this team needs a breath of fresh air.

hopefully also a devin harris breath of fresh air.

first post!

[teej]

My take: http://bobcatsplanet.com/wp/thanks-larry-but-pauls-the-right-man-for-the-job

I know it's long, but maybe because it's 2 AM I think it's a decent assessment.

[ziggy]

pairing charles oakley and boris diaw together would be like telling mr. T and wayne brady to go hold hands.

first post!

I think the Oakley (Chris) / Diaw (Butchie) coaching sessions will probably look a little like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arw4_-IMRLM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arw4_-IMRLM)

[Chef]

I think the Oakley (Chris) / Diaw (Butchie) coaching sessions will probably look a little like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arw4_-IMRLM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arw4_-IMRLM)

that you tube title is so wrong. the greatest scene is the balcony scene between stringer and avon towards the end of season 3. if you want an omar themed scene the one in season three between him and bunk when bunk is tells him he went to the same high school as him after seeing the little kids playing cops and robbers and all the kids wanting to be omar (ironically the little kid that ends up killing him is pretending to be him).

[Katmandu]

I like Silas. He actually made J.R. Reid look good. Our front court will improve.
But isn't he also the guy who started David Wesley over Barron Davis? Davis didn't start until his second year and even then only after Wesley was injured during training camp.

[spectre]

I remember liking Silas back in the day, so for an interim coach this isn't a bad move. Too bad we couldn't find someone worth taking on long term, but this isn't the worst option.

Talk about a 180 tho; we went from a strict disciplinarian to a "player's coach" who's not much into Xs & Os. I have to say over the years I've become more a fan of execution, and esp. on defense...so I don't know how much I'm going to like the new game plan.

After what we've witnessed so far this year tho I'm not sure I'll be able to tell the difference. No doubt the guys who hated LB will be happier.,,there's always that I guess. Maybe we'll even compete in a few games. That'd be nice.

[jdub28]

I saw on NBA TV and ESPN that the Bobcats don't want to commit to a long-term head coach until after the labor agreement situation is settled. How does the union affect coaches?

I also hear on The Fan radio station in Raleigh that Jordan was taking a long hard look at Ewing.

[CatNation]

anyone wanna hit up the gamethread chat for the Silas press conference? maybe help out those of us with no access to NBATV and crummy internet like me :biggrin:

[Mustachio]

Its official Ziggy!

Charles Oakley is a part of Silas's staff. from Woj on twitter : @WojYahooNBA (http://twitter.com/#%21/WojYahooNBA)


Charles Oakley has officially joined Paul Silas' coaching staff with the Bobcats, league sources tell Y! Sports.


The rest of the Bobcats staff will include Stephen Silas, who leaves Golden State, and Ralph Lewis, sources say.

And damnit that this didnt happen


Charles Oakley had been telling league friends that PJ Brown and Muggsy Bogues were joining staff too, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

[ammofan]

Its official Ziggy!

Charles Oakley is a part of Silas's staff. from Woj on twitter : @WojYahooNBA (http://twitter.com/#%21/WojYahooNBA)





And damnit that this didnt happen

I wish Muggsy and PJ were coaching! That wold be sooooo sick!

[Felton for Prez]

Based on all the bobcat twitter's we not only changed coaching demeanors we changed coaching philosophy. Run run run. 14 sec shot clock.

I'll believe when I see it. At least it could be fun. If it's true, I really don't want to get rid of crash.

[ziggy]

I am already impressed by Oak's instructional techniques.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0f1EsUVCIU

[Absinthe]

What's this I'm hearing about Tyrone Corbin being the permanent replacement coach?

[jdub28]

New ESPN article on Paul Silas (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5951811)

Looks like he wants to run as much and as fast as possible. They've been practicing with a 14 second shot clock. I hope we go with a DJ/Jack/Crash/Diaw/TT lineup.

[Dcarnys]

New ESPN article on Paul Silas (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5951811)

Looks like he wants to run as much and as fast as possible. They've been practicing with a 14 second shot clock. I hope we go with a DJ/Jack/Crash/Diaw/TT lineup.

Im really liking the sound of that.

[CatNation]

Oakley is gonna break Doris.

[ebrown]

so who wins in a fight between Oakley and Jackson?

[Absinthe]

Playing Tyrus at the center position can work. It absolutely can. The biggest problem with this team is a total lack of outside shooting. Do you know who else practiced with a 14 second shot clock? Mike D'antoni. The only difference is that almost every player on the Suns (and a lot of players on the Knicks) can shoot. It's like I've said before, the biggest problem is that Jack and Crash are too similar. I think one of them has to go and they have to replaced with an actual shooter.

[SWedd523]

Oakley would destroy anybody on the roster.


I really want to see what they can do with Boris and TT. I think Oakley can get Diaw to trim down and TT to bulk up and get them to play like grown ass men. Diaw has been the best Bobcat this year, and if he goes back to his athletic days then I think he can step it up even more.

[Absinthe]

Diaw has never been athletic. He's always gotten by on his versatility. Even when he played for Phoenix he was slightly out of shape and never played above the rim.

[SWedd523]

Wrong. Diaw used to be athletic in his early days. Before he came over to the US, he was actually an exciting dunker

[ammofan]

Wrong. Diaw used to be athletic in his early days. Before he came over to the US, he was actually an exciting dunker

He found McDonalds......

[Absinthe]

Wrong. Diaw used to be athletic in his early days. Before he came over to the US, he was actually an exciting dunker

Maybe when he played for the Hawks. But with Phoenix? Absolutely not. He was a three point shooter and a jump shot gut there. Marion and Amare were always the athletic guys on that team.

[SWedd523]

Maybe when he played for the Hawks. But with Phoenix? Absolutely not. He was a three point shooter and a jump shot gut there. Marion and Amare were always the athletic guys on that team.

So because he's not athletic NOW that means he never was right? Infallible logic if I've ever seen it.

[Ghost Kat]

Awesome throwback interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-_-QA_VzU4&feature=player_embedded

[BlockParty]

Stephen Silas: Lead Assistant Coach

I found this article in a San Francisco paper talking about the impact of losing Stephen to the Bobcats. A couple of interesting points in red below:

He seemed to be the mentor at GS for Curry and Ellis
He is going to be the lead assistant for the Cats
His salary is guaranteed this year AND next (odd when the head coach is interim) Maybe Stephen is pegged to be the next HC?
Probably not surprising that Steph showed interest in playing in Charlotte (if only jokingly saying it, he would be a huge draw).

Thoughts?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/23/SPAB1GVBO5.DTL






(12-23) 21:53 PST -- Warriors coach Keith Smart may have said it most accurately when he described Stephen Silas as irreplaceable.

Silas on Wednesday left his post as the Warriors' second assistant coach to join the staff of his father, Paul, who was named interim coach in Charlotte. The move leaves Smart without his closest confidant in the organization and the Warriors' dynamic guard tandem without its mentor.

"I'm going to miss him a lot, man," point guard Stephen Curry said. "That was my go-to assistant for watching film, studying my game and continuing to learn. I always went to him for advice. Personally, he's my guy."

Silas got an offer - maybe a mandate - from his father early Wednesday, and the son couldn't turn down the opportunity to work with family, bump his role to top assistant and get a financial guarantee for the 2011-12 season. Silas' contract with the Warriors was to expire this summer.

His time with the Warriors had more impact than just his infectious smile and his title as second assistant, behind Jerry Sichting. This was Silas' fifth season with the Warriors, and he is credited with Monta Ellis' maturation as a player and leader and Curry's adjustment to playing point guard.

"He's like a brother to me, and he's very, very important to a lot of guys around here," Smart said. "We'll miss the man, the person who he is and his caring heart, but he also brought a lot of expertise to game preparation. We're going to miss everything about him."

Smart said he has at least a couple of guys in mind to fill the position. It's also possible that the Warriors will promote from within, moving Calbert Cheaney up a seat and making shooting coach Mark Price a full-time assistant.
Curry's father, Dell, played 16 seasons in the NBA (http://topics.sfgate.com/topics/National_Basketball_Association) and is working in Charlotte as a TV commentator for the Bobcats.
"I'm kind of jealous" of Silas, Curry said before issuing a joking trade demand. "I'm going to try to get my ticket for tonight, so I can be on the same flight."

[teej]

I've always liked Stephen. Dude has an Ivy League degree (Brown U) in both sociology and management. He's going to be his dad on steroids as far as player management. I don't know his X's and O's since he probably didn't get them from dad and never played in the league, but if you paired him with an X's and O's asst. coach he'd be terrific. Think Doc Rivers with Thibodeau and now Frank. I had Stephen on my list back last year (Dec. 09) when we were talking about who we wanted to replace LB. And hey, if we get Steph or Monta, it's fine by me.

[ND22]

This is probably wishful thinking but if the stars aligned and Silas turns this around promoting his son to HC after he steps down could be a good move. That's strong praise he's getting from the Warriors.

[BlockParty]

I agree it is very positive feedback from NBA peers that aren't in MJ's circle@of influence. Since Stephen has been at GS for 5 years, hopefully some media member will do some research and ask about their past relantionship

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[teej]

Diaw has never been athletic. He's always gotten by on his versatility. Even when he played for Phoenix he was slightly out of shape and never played above the rim.

Dude won the dunk contest in his league in France before coming over, he's just gotten lazy. He dunked a few games ago, and I about fell out of my seat.

[Ghost Kat]

Dude won the dunk contest in his league in France

Doesn't say much about the people in France does it

[Pepperz]

Doesn't say much about the people in France does it

You must not have heard of Kadour Ziani. A 5 11 Frenchmen with a 60 inch vert.

[ziggy]

You must not have heard of Kadour Ziani. A 5 11 Frenchmen with a 60 inch vert.

Rumor has it that he is some sort of human/kangaroo hybrid.

[Scottley Crue]

I bring this to you not for the news, as we knew who the assistants were going to be, but rather because of the jacket Oakley is wearing in this picture. I will not speak for it as it speaks for itself.

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/101226_assistants_release.html

[teej]

Ralph Lewis could eat Stephen Silas...

[Fred Williamson]

Rumor has it that he is some sort of human/kangaroo hybrid.


this guy is also pretty good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55oJUbXE1Z8

[Ghost Kat]

This is the most impressive thing I've seen Guy Dupuy do. Dunks are awesome but kicking the rim?...Thats unhuman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIhmac4x95Y