Is Scott Brooks the right man to lead OKC to a Championship?

[Top Gun]

There's no doubting he's done a solid job and has had to deal with injuries to star players at bad times. But is he the right man to take this group of players to the Championship?

[Eric Cartman]

[navy]

Yes and no. The Thunder were a top 5 defense with neither Durant or Westbrook playing.
The Thunder are not changing changing coaches, Westbrook and Durant just need to play better if they want to win.

[Batzman]

solid job?


It took him how long to finally bench Perkins?

[Taller than CP3]

Scott Brooks should go back to coaching high school girls basketball.

[K Xerxes]

There's no doubting he's done a solid job

What? He's the worst coach in the league. Perhaps debatable with McHale. No redeeming features to his coaching style.

A glorified cheerleader dressed in a suit.

[Westbrook0]

Coming from a hardcore, studious Thunder fan who has essentially watched every game since the team moved to OKC...

There is a decent coach down inside Scott Brooks somewhere. It simply never shows itself when Russ or KD are playing.

If you watched every game of the Thunder's 3-12 start this year like I did, you would see that, inexplicably, the Thunder were running an offense. They had motion, passing, and a plan. Their defense was top-notch as well. It's as if Brooks realized that without KD and Russ, he really needed to do something. I commend Brooks for his coaching effort during that 3-12 stretch.

However, when Russ and/or KD are playing, all semblance of a quality coach completely disappears. He stands there and does nothing while KD and Russ run everything. I'll never understand what he says when he calls a timeout before a last-second play. It's always just KD or Russ taking their guy one-on-one. What is he drawing up??

[T_L_P]

Yes and no. The Thunder were a top 5 defense with neither Durant or Westbrook playing.
The Thunder are not changing changing coaches, Westbrook and Durant just need to play better if they want to win.

This. Not to sound like a LeBron stan, but there are really no excuses.

They have two of the five best players in the world. Their role players are mostly solid. They just need to raise their games in the Playoffs, and start playing good defense (in the Playoffs). Every year they don't win is a huge blip, just like it was for both Shaq and Kobe in 03 and 04 (and in 03 their role players were a lot worse than OKC's).

[fpliii]

Scott Brooks is bitchmade. Awful rotations and offensive sets.

I do think he deserves some credit for OKC's defense though. They overachieve on that end pretty consistently each season.

[russwest0]

Yes and no. The Thunder were a top 5 defense with neither Durant or Westbrook playing.
The Thunder are not changing changing coaches, Westbrook and Durant just need to play better if they want to win.

They are a top 5 defense because everyone they draft has elite height, length, and athleticism for their position, and in many cases were elite defenders in college.

Roberson and Westbrook were both DPOY's in their college conferences, Adams is a solid defender for his age, Ibaka is a DPOY candidate every year, and Durant is a great defender who keeps getting better each year.

All Brooks does as a coach is basically say "go play." Pretty much everything he does aside from that actively makes the team worse.

[PsychoBe]

This. Not to sound like a LeBron stan, but there are really no excuses.

They have two of the five best players in the world. Their role players are mostly solid. They just need to raise their games in the Playoffs, and start playing good defense (in the Playoffs). Every year they don't win is a huge blip, just like it was for both Shaq and Kobe in 03 and 04 (and in 03 their role players were a lot worse than OKC's).

they had injuries the last two post seasons

[russwest0]

This. Not to sound like a LeBron stan, but there are really no excuses.

They have two of the five best players in the world. Their role players are mostly solid. They just need to raise their games in the Playoffs, and start playing good defense (in the Playoffs). Every year they don't win is a huge blip, just like it was for both Shaq and Kobe in 03 and 04 (and in 03 their role players were a lot worse than OKC's).

They would have won in 2013 without the Westbrook injury.

2014 was inexcusable and mainly a loss due to horrid coaching. OKC's management really dropped the ball by not firing Brooks last offseason. That alone might be the decision that has Durant on his way out in two offseasons.

[SOD 21]

Some coaches are ideal for young players by building a family type environment, helping to build up young players, and can help transform teams from bad to elite. It made sense to keep things simple when their core group of players were 21 and 22 years old and it was better off to let their talent rule the day.

But there are some coaches that are simply unable to hold her superstars accountable and replacement as necessary. Scott Brooks looks hesitant to hold his superstars accountable and his main plan is so just simply let them ad-lib and be great, which works great in the regular season and against vastly inferior opponents.

I don't see Scott Brooks as able to lead this team to championship. But the players love him and this leaves the front office for Oklahoma City in quite a quandary.

[sammichoffate]

He's like Doc Rivers. He can manage team personalities, but can't do good rotations or X's and O's for shit. A poster already said that the current roster has very good defenders, so I can't really give him credit for that when there's no offense. OKC won't win the title this year barring god-like play from WB and KD in the playoffs if they make it.

[Done_And_Done]

Coming from a hardcore, studious Thunder fan who has essentially watched every game since the team moved to OKC...

There is a decent coach down inside Scott Brooks somewhere. It simply never shows itself when Russ or KD are playing.

If you watched every game of the Thunder's 3-12 start this year like I did, you would see that, inexplicably, the Thunder were running an offense. They had motion, passing, and a plan. Their defense was top-notch as well. It's as if Brooks realized that without KD and Russ, he really needed to do something. I commend Brooks for his coaching effort during that 3-12 stretch.

However, when Russ and/or KD are playing, all semblance of a quality coach completely disappears. He stands there and does nothing while KD and Russ run everything. I'll never understand what he says when he calls a timeout before a last-second play. It's always just KD or Russ taking their guy one-on-one. What is he drawing up??

Do you believe that his stars do as they please (shoot at will, excessive iso ball) because of his flawed coaching strategies or do they just tune him out because they can?

I guess the cause and effect all boil down to slack coaching anyway. I totally agree with you on this btw...