Monty Williams Future In New Orleans

[jonathanlambert33]

It is no secret that little has gone as planned this season for the new-look New Orleans Pelicans. Armed with the most offensive weapons since the Paul/West/Peja/Chandler days and positioned as one of the youngest rosters in the league, the plan was for this team to at least make a push for a playoff berth while growing together as a unit that may stick together for a while. Unfortunately, injuries to many key pieces have derailed that plan at least temporarily, as the Pelicans head for their third consecutive losing season. As the season progressed, the 2014 playoffs appeared like less and less of a realistic goal, and attention therefore began to turn towards how well the team is positioned to succeed as its franchise player, Anthony Davis, continues to climb towards superstar status. One of the most polarizing topics in this conversation has been the fate of the Pelicans’ head coach, Monty Williams.

Before proceeding, it must be noted that the purpose of this column is not to suggest that Monty Williams should be fired, nor that he should be extended. Both sides of the debate must be addressed, and then a decision must be made based on all available information. Depending on who you are or what you deem most important, that decision may very well differ. That being said, it is important to respect the positions of those who disagree as long as said position is based on either hard, cold facts or realistic assumptions based on historical data.

The Good

• Player development. In-game decisions aside, it would be hard to argue that Coach Williams and the rest of his coaching staff have done a poor job of developing players of varying talent levels throughout his tenure in New Orleans. There are various examples of guys who exemplify Monty’s ability to get the most out of his players, one of which is Jason Smith. He performed pretty much at replacement level during his first season in New Orleans (Monty’s first as the team’s head coach), posting a player efficiency rating of 10.8 and a true shooting percentage of 49% in over 14 minutes per game. In fact, in Smith’s first 3 NBA seasons, his PER remained between 10.5 and 11. After an offseason of work with Coach Williams, however, he improved his 2011-12 season PER to 16.6 (above the league average of 15) and his TS% to 53.7%. Other decent examples include Brian Roberts, Gustavo Ayon, Greivis Vasquez, Robin Lopez, and even Al-Farouq Aminu to an extent.Throughout his tenure in New Orleans, Monty Williams has turned afterthoughts into legitimate rotation players and rotation players into key roster pieces, enabling the team in certain situations to flip these improved players for even greater talent. The extent of the role Monty Williams played in some of those players’ growth is admittedly subject to interpretation, but there are more than enough data points to be comfortable in assuming that he has made a clear positive impact.

• Passion for and knowledge of the game. Many people (myself included) have questioned the rotations that Monty uses throughout games, as he often deployed groups of players who do not complement each other particularly well; in fact, I’ll do so in greater detail in the next section. However, there is value in remembering the simple fact that Coach Williams did not get to where he is today by sheer chance, and that there is a reason he is a head coach of a NBA team and we are on the outside looking in. Take this recent quote from Monty given in a Jimmy Smith article this week in regards to Tyreke Evans:

“Playing him at small forward, just watching the film, it’s always tough for him to guard bigger guys. And then if you don’t have Ryan spacing the floor even when he blows by that small forward the other power forward is sitting there waiting on him if you don’t have a guy who can stretch the floor.”

For more, check out Monty’s thoughts on how Anthony Davis will be best set up for offensive success, given in Zach Lowe’s fantastic column on Grantland:

“What hurts him now is that we just don’t have guys who can shoot. We have to add shooting. When we put more shooting around him, he is going to be unguardable.”

Monty understands the game of basketball, people. He knows that Tyreke Evans and Anthony Davis operate better with shooters on the court than lane cloggers who crowd the area near the rim. The question of why he has apparently chosen to ignore this knowledge relatively frequently this season is a fair one, but the question of whether or not he knows better is not. For all we know, Coach Williams is merely utilizing the team’s injury woes to evaluate other potential combinations for a look at what else may be able to work once the team is back at full strength next season.

• Respect from Anthony Davis. Obviously, a team’s franchise player’s opinions regarding the head coach should not be a big factor in that coach’s fate, but they also cannot be ignored. In a recent interview with ESPN.com’s Kevin Arnovitz, Davis was asked whose mind he likes to pick about basketball:
“My coach — Coach Monty [Williams]. He knows so much. Coach [Gregg Popovich] was his mentor and did a lot for him. He’s the best coach ever. I definitely pick [Willams’] brain about a lot of things. He provides me with great feedback, and I want to be better. I want to be an elite player someday.”
Simply put, Anthony Davis is a huge Monty Williams fan. Given the incredible performance and development that we have seen from AD thus far, who are we to criticize? The relationship between Monty’s coaching and Anthony Davis’ development is one that has been overlooked by many, but doing so may be a big mistake.

http://www.bourbonstreetshots.com/2014/04/07/monty-williams-future-in-new-orleans/

 

[bosoxlover12]

I hope he gets canned; there are so many better coaches than him

 

[jonathanlambert33]

My dream scenario would probably be Monty gets canned and we bring over Fred Hoiberg.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

bump

 

[Pugz]

this team really needs a better coach. if youre looking for a coach come summer ill be pissed though. we need the best guy we can get, and the pels would be a much better team to go to.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I wouldn't even say there's a 5% chance they fire Monty this offseason. He'll be back, but the team will have to get off to a good start or I could see his seat starting to get a little hot.