The Pros and Cons of Hiring Scott Brooks

Brooks has had success with OKC

but many have criticized his offensive plays

After firing Randy Wittman, the Washington Wizards gave out a 5 years $35 million to Scott Brooks, making him the highest paid head coach in the league, tied with Carlisle (among coaches who only get paid for being coaches).

Brooks did manage to get Oklahoma City to the Finals in 2012, which was one of the youngest teams to reach the finals.  However, the Thunder ended up losing to the Miami Heat in 5 games. The series could have gone either way given that OKC ended up losing three games by 6 points or less.  Many blame Brooks for playing Kendrick Perkins too much especially since he played 23.4 minutes per game in the Finals. Ultimately other factors may have come into play.  Harden not shooting well and turning the ball over at a high rate is a bigger reason than any coaching adjustment that Brooks could have made.  And after the Thunder lost point guard Eric Maynor for the season, the Thunder were at times forced to give an aging Derek Fisher crunch time minutes.

Brooks did manage to elevate the Oklahoma City defensively as they played with a lot of energy throughout his tenure.  Several young players developed fairly well under Scottie Brooks including  Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Reggie Jackson.  And Kevin Durant who is a free agent this offseason is a big fan of Scott Brooks  

Still, many have pointed the flaws of Brooks's style of coaching .  Critics point to the the Thunder's offense for relying too much on isolation play by all star play and as a result were not as efficient offensively as some other teams who had less talent.  Brooks' offense has been unimaginative or unable to curb players from taking bad shots. He also continued to give Kendrick Perkins consistent minutes even though he was viewed as one of the worst players in the NBA.   Ultimately, OKC felt their best chance or winning a title this season was moving on from Brooks and hiring Florida Coach and 2 time NCAA winner Billy Donovan.  

At best, the Wizards' hiring process was questionable.  Apparently, the Wizards did not interview any other candidates other than Brooks.  If the hire was only about getting Kevin Durant, the Wizards could have hired Brooks last season since he was available.  

Many will point out that the development of players is not the primary problem but rather the selection of players.  Sam Presti, the GM of the Oklohama City Thunder, has certianly selected more talented players than Ernie Grunfeld.   

That being said, the Wizards have a few guys who could play into their potential.  John Wall is an all star caliber player but has not improved that much statistically over the last few season.   Brooks could also get a better effort out of Wall on the defensive end.   Bradley Beal has failed to make the jump; some have blamed Randy Wittman while others point out that Beal is an injury prone player. While Otto Porter has improved significantly and played like a top 10 small forward in the 2nd half of the season, but still has a long way to go being considered among the elite at that position.  Rookie Kelly Oubre rarely saw minutes when the Wizards were at full strength and perhaps Brooks would be willing to give Oubre more of a chance to play in the Wizards rotation. 

Ultimately, this hire could work out for the Wizards but for now it w seems like an unimaginative hire similar to the one where Ernie Grunfeld hired Flip Saunders.  While Flip Saunders had a very high winning percentage with the Pistons, Saunders ultimately failed as a Wizards head coach because of the lack of talent on the roster.  If Brooks significantly increases the Wizards chances of getting Durant, then it could work out.  But as it stands now, the Thunder are one of the top teams in the league whereas the Wizards could not even make the playoffs.  If it is for basketball reasons, it is hard to see Durant leaving.  The Wizards better hope that Durant wants to be around in DC to watch the Washington Redskins.

Villanova vs North Carolina Preview

Villanova looks to win its first national championship since 1985

while North Carolina looks to win its 3rd title in 11 years

Tonight, the NCAA championship will be decided between North Carolina Tar Heels and the Villanova Wildcats.  Both teams spent portions of the season ranked number one.  North Carolina comes into the game as a favorite by by the public and many commentators. The Tar Heels come from perhaps the best conference; the ACC had 6 teams make it to the Sweet 16 and 2 teams makes it to the final 4.  Roy Williams looks to win his 3rd title at UNC and improve his 2-2 finals record.

Villanova remains a holdover from the Big East, who will try to be 6th team from the Big East to win a national title since 2003.  While Villanova has not won a national championship under Coach Jay Wright, they have come pretty close given that they have lost to 5 times teams that have ultimately gone on to win the National Championship since 2005.  (North Carolina twice, UConn, Kansas, Florida).  Still, the resolve of this Villanova team is rather strong as they have been able to advance farther than most experts had predicted.  

This will be the third time since 2005 that Villanova has faced UNC in the tournament.  While UNC knocked off fairly easily in 2009, the Wildcats suffered a defeat that many view at the hands of the officials in 2005.  

Villanova looks as if it has the resolve to finally get a national championship but it will be tough .  Brice Johnson and Marcus Page have proven to be more than capable and UNC on paper has more size, meaning they could dominate the boards.  Still, Villanova may have the advantage overall in terms of guard and perimeter play which has been the direction that basketball is going especially in the professional ranks with Golden State.  Villanova certainly has capable shooters including Ryan Arcidiacono, Kris Jenkins, Josh Hart, and Jalen Brunson.  Like North Carolina, Villanova has really good bench players including Phil Booth and Mikal Bridges.  Villanova will need a combination of high octane offense and great defense to win it.