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Will Wes Put The Ladder On The Correct Wall?

It's Official

Well, it was bound to come. I was all ready to write a column for this All Star break calling for the Bullets to fire Lynam. I had started writing it, before the blowouts, and whammo, I get Wes beating me to the punch? What gives?

Well, at least I don't demand to be consulted on hirings and firings. I deal with it. I roll with the punches. So, I'll still tell you why Lynam had to go, and who the Bullets should be looking at to make this team go vrooomm, right into the playoffs.

NOTE: Everything in here was written on 2/7, with the exception of the section below on the reasons for Lynam to go.

Why Did Lynam Have To Go?

A lot of the reasons that Lynam had to go I already documented in my Frustration rant. They were all less-than-positive indicators of the health of the team. There were problems that can be blamed on the players, and there are problems that can be blamed on the coach. In the end, it seemed like the coach had lost some control of the team.

Lynam showed no inclination to rein in underachievers, either. If someone didn't repeatedly hustle down the court while complaining a no-call, resulting in points for the opposition, he didn't get sat down. If someone didn't show up for practice on the road, they still started the game. Slumping players still remained in the starting rotation. The first half rotation of players rarely changed, unless someone was grossly underperforming.

In short, Lynam seemed to be very inflexible in managing his team from the bench. He never showed me a firm grasp of bench management and Xs and Os. In general, the players liked playing for him, but Lynam often seemed unwilling to take the hard road and hurt a player's feelings (e.g., taking starting assignments away, not make a regular substitution because a player currently on the court is hot).

The other problem, and the one that seemed to break Lynam's back when being observed by management, is how the team seemed to stop hustling for Lynam. The fire wasn't there on the court. In the final 12 games before Lynam's firing, the Bullets' opponents averaged shooting over 50%. That's a return to the old-style matador defense, especially eggregious in this current era of bad shooting and strong defense.

Can a team suffer through its recent bad spell? It could have. But my frustrations come from more than just the recent bad spell. I just don't think Lynam was getting it done on game days. And with the way the team continually struggled in the first halves of games this season, I have been wondering just what is Lynam doing to get his team ready for a game? Halftime adjustments are not the way to win games.

I haven't done justice to why I think Lynam deserved to go. He wasn't a horrible coach; his teams did perform for him from time-to-time. But the inconsistency in some matters and rigidness in some gameday routines just drove me batty. It's like he got the roles backwards - his inconsistent matters should've been more consistent, and the gameday matters should have been more seat-of-the-pants style.

As the saying goes: you can be climbing the ladder of success and everything may seem to move forward, but if the ladder is on the wrong wall you still will never succeed. Anyway I broke it down, it was time for Lynam to move on. I wish him the best with whatever endeavors he takes on; he should continue to get modest to good success in the right situations.

What's Next For The Coaching Slot?

At least Wes has said that he will not become head coach, even on an interim basis. When I was going to call for Lynam's head, I was going to suggest that Unseld resist the temptation to return to the bench and instead name Bob Staak the interim head coach. On second thought, maybe Unseld has been consulting with me on these moves?

No, I know he hasn't. No need to indulge my ego in that fantasy. However, this Bullets position could be the fantasy job for the right coach. As Dennis Johnson said about the opportunity, "That's not a job that many of us inside or outside of coaching would pass up."

Personally, I don't like having Bernie Bickerstaff at the top of the list. However, this fits in well with owner Abe Pollin's continuing decision to run the team like a mom-and-pop shop. But Bickerstaff, despite one season of playoff success, couldn't hold the ship of egos together in Denver. I've got some serious reservations about him as a head coach. He just seemed to burn out too easily.

However, he's in a shaky position as general manager with the Denver franchise. Rumors have it the team may be sold, which would put his job in jeopardy. And that ignores the sorry state of the team at the moment, which could also put his job in jeopardy. An interesting case, nonetheless.

Other names to discuss:

• Chuck Daly. One of the deans of coaching, he's said before he's getting a little too old and seems content in his broadcasting career.
• Phil Jackson/Larry Brown. Both are proven winners, but both are currently coaching teams and under contract. Not likely now, but in the off-season?
• Don Nelson. This suggestion is almost always a joke (he and CWebb probably wouldn't work together), plus Nelson is close to becoming the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks.
• Paul Westphal/Bob Hill. Both were fired when their teams went south. If they had healthy, young talent, could they duplicate their previous success?
• Dennis Johnson. The latest rising star in the assistant ranks, it's unclear if he'd leave the Boston franchise with that position potentially opening up this off-season.
• Gar Heard. A rising star, but a bit of an unknown outside of the coaching circles.
• Bill Blair. Had an aborted stint as the coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but was a promising star prior to that situation.
• Lionel Hollins. Another unknown, he didn't even consider himself to be on the Bullets' short list until asked by a reporter.
• Brendan Malone. Did well with the expansion Toronto Raptors last season, but clashed with the GM Isaiah Thomas.
• Bob Staak. He's the interim coach, and there's nothing to say he won't stay in that role.

One of the problems with hiring an untested asssitant coach is that you don't know exactly how a situation will turn out. Heck, even a previously successful head coach can find problems. Of this group, I'd say that Daly, Jackson, and Brown are virtual locks to be successful in the future, excepting that Daly is getting older and has little professed interest to return to coaching, and Jackson and Brown are currently under contract elsewhere.

Who Should Be The Next Coach?

That's a tough one. Everyone is going to have their opinion, and I've got my own. In the end, though, owner Abe Pollin, president Susan O'Malley, and Unseld will make the final call. Possibly as early as this weekend.

Personally, I would put Dennis Johnson at the top of the list. Yeah, he could hold on to be the head coach of the Celtics when Larry Bird takes over this off-season, but can he wait? And the talent here in DC is much better than in Boston.

I'd also seriously consider both Paul Westphal and Bob Hill. Both of them got the short end of the stick when they were run out of their respective coaching positions in the past couple seasons. Until their struggles, they were running successful teams with quality players, and performing with varying degrees of success in the playoffs. Either coach would be a good fit.

From there on, it's much more on hearsay. I won't venture much farther, because I don't think Unseld will have to go too far down his list to find a coach for the team. And then, we'll see whether the problem really was the coach, the players, or a combination thereof? (I'm still leaning toward the latter.)

Please, Wes, let's make sure the ladder is on the correct wall.

wtf 10 February 1997

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