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In this post I am going to be discussing my thoughts about the upcoming season regarding Jim O’Brien and what I have seen so far at the games I have attended.
Also I am going to use this time to try and express why I am going to give him one more chance and hope that this can be a springboard for everyone to take a step back from the edge and take a breath.
Obviously Jim O’Brien is a polarizing coach, that pretty much can not be disputed by either side of the issue. Some just absolutely hate him and no matter what he say’s or does that is pretty much not going to change. Now we have the phenomenon of a couple of poster who actually like his style no not the pseudo fans of BillS & Uncle Buck who really neither of them like him but can’t stand the hyperbole that gets thrown out after losses to explain why people don’t like him but I mean real honest fans of Jim O’Brien’s.
I’m not going to lie nor am I going to try and be a hypocrite, I am not a fan. In fact if you’ve read my odd thoughts from the end of last season, seen any of my cartoons from last year or even my Hitler parody you know that I have not been a big fan of his so I’m not going to pretend like I am now.
Let’s start with this statement.
The combination of Jim O’Brien & Troy Murphy was more than I could bare. To me they brought out the worst in each other and the combination of the two was an abomination before the basketball Gods.
However thanks to what one day may be known as the best trade in franchise history not only did Larry Bird get us the point guard that we so desperately needed he also took away the one player the Jim would allow to not play hard defense because his offensive talents were what Jim desired more than anything at the time.
However knowing all of the bad things I’ve said in the past and knowing that it is very hard for a zebra to change its stripes I will forward the following observation.
I have seen a totally different offense so far in the pre-season with a dedication to actually getting the ball inside. Now by getting the ball inside I am not just talking about Roy Hibbert in the post, I mean I’ve seen several plays that were designed to get Danny looks right at the rim and several driving attempts by all of our point guards that cause defenders to collapse thus opening up outside shots. This is in contrast to seasons past where we tended to try to hit from the outside to open up the interior.
I have seen two big players on the floor for the majority of the time and only once that I can think of that he had either Danny or Posey (pick your choice as to which one) in there being the 4 for an extended time frame.
Since Murphy has been gone he has not punished Josh for not hitting shots and has rewarded him with extended play due to his ability to defend and rebound.
The defense has improved as I think we are harder to score on right now than what we were & again I give the credit to Jim for actually having the faith to stay with the bigger lineup and resisting his natural urge to go small. Both Hansbrough & McRoberts are better defenders than Troy was and neither of them gets pushed around.
Jim already has a defined role for our first round draft choice and not just any role either as he is now the 6th or 7th man coming off of the bench and has shown a willingness to stay with him for extended minutes and late in games.
In other words what I am saying is that so far in the pre-season he has been coaching in a manner to which I don’t find odd or alien. Don’t get me wrong we still don’t have enough discipline on offense and our shot selection is to free flowing and yes I still worry that I will see long extended minutes by Jeff Foster & James Posey but so far so good. Jim has said it and so far anyway he has backed it up.
So I would like to take the time to ask my fellow O’Brien skeptics to take a breath and not blow a gasket after every loss at the beginning of the season. As long as Jim sticks with the plan to play bigger and develop the younger players and we lose because we are not good enough talent wise I don’t think any of us will have much to say.
However the caveat to that is this, as long as he sticks with the plan. If by game 5 I can’t tell if Mike Dunleavy or James Posey is the power forward while Jeff Foster mans the middle for extended minutes then all bets are off.
In the meantime I offer détente over the Jim O’Brien war.
Also I am going to use this time to try and express why I am going to give him one more chance and hope that this can be a springboard for everyone to take a step back from the edge and take a breath.
Obviously Jim O’Brien is a polarizing coach, that pretty much can not be disputed by either side of the issue. Some just absolutely hate him and no matter what he say’s or does that is pretty much not going to change. Now we have the phenomenon of a couple of poster who actually like his style no not the pseudo fans of BillS & Uncle Buck who really neither of them like him but can’t stand the hyperbole that gets thrown out after losses to explain why people don’t like him but I mean real honest fans of Jim O’Brien’s.
I’m not going to lie nor am I going to try and be a hypocrite, I am not a fan. In fact if you’ve read my odd thoughts from the end of last season, seen any of my cartoons from last year or even my Hitler parody you know that I have not been a big fan of his so I’m not going to pretend like I am now.
Let’s start with this statement.
The combination of Jim O’Brien & Troy Murphy was more than I could bare. To me they brought out the worst in each other and the combination of the two was an abomination before the basketball Gods.
However thanks to what one day may be known as the best trade in franchise history not only did Larry Bird get us the point guard that we so desperately needed he also took away the one player the Jim would allow to not play hard defense because his offensive talents were what Jim desired more than anything at the time.
However knowing all of the bad things I’ve said in the past and knowing that it is very hard for a zebra to change its stripes I will forward the following observation.
I have seen a totally different offense so far in the pre-season with a dedication to actually getting the ball inside. Now by getting the ball inside I am not just talking about Roy Hibbert in the post, I mean I’ve seen several plays that were designed to get Danny looks right at the rim and several driving attempts by all of our point guards that cause defenders to collapse thus opening up outside shots. This is in contrast to seasons past where we tended to try to hit from the outside to open up the interior.
I have seen two big players on the floor for the majority of the time and only once that I can think of that he had either Danny or Posey (pick your choice as to which one) in there being the 4 for an extended time frame.
Since Murphy has been gone he has not punished Josh for not hitting shots and has rewarded him with extended play due to his ability to defend and rebound.
The defense has improved as I think we are harder to score on right now than what we were & again I give the credit to Jim for actually having the faith to stay with the bigger lineup and resisting his natural urge to go small. Both Hansbrough & McRoberts are better defenders than Troy was and neither of them gets pushed around.
Jim already has a defined role for our first round draft choice and not just any role either as he is now the 6th or 7th man coming off of the bench and has shown a willingness to stay with him for extended minutes and late in games.
In other words what I am saying is that so far in the pre-season he has been coaching in a manner to which I don’t find odd or alien. Don’t get me wrong we still don’t have enough discipline on offense and our shot selection is to free flowing and yes I still worry that I will see long extended minutes by Jeff Foster & James Posey but so far so good. Jim has said it and so far anyway he has backed it up.
So I would like to take the time to ask my fellow O’Brien skeptics to take a breath and not blow a gasket after every loss at the beginning of the season. As long as Jim sticks with the plan to play bigger and develop the younger players and we lose because we are not good enough talent wise I don’t think any of us will have much to say.
However the caveat to that is this, as long as he sticks with the plan. If by game 5 I can’t tell if Mike Dunleavy or James Posey is the power forward while Jeff Foster mans the middle for extended minutes then all bets are off.
In the meantime I offer détente over the Jim O’Brien war.
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