The Return of Byron Scott

and very nice to see more positives than negatives. I used to be harder on him as well mainly pointing to lack of player developement. However, was it really all his fault? JR. Smith continues to be a headache ending up in at least one doghouse per year. Wright continued to be horrid after Scott’s departure and frankly just don’t see any future for this kid. Bass looks fine now, but seems it took years of molding where he still leaves SVG scratching his head with his idiotic mistakes.

Like the line about what if Tyson Chandler didn’t have to go through his injuries. One bad toe has caused us to crash and almost burn but seems the team and CP3 have been reborn in an entirely fantastic new era.

Terrific all the way around. You really do a great job emphasizing the importance of Scott on David West. That’s one of the things. Part of developing talent is to trust your players. It seemed, to me at least, that he was willing to develop players and give them room to grow when were less than good (West and Paul) but then when the team showed signs of life, he decided to dedicate all of his time to veterans. It’s almost as if he didn’t want to take a chance. I think that’s why he’s great for Cleveland right now. When he’s not dealing with expectations, he can do an absolutely terrific job. When he’s given the “win now” ultimatum, he doesn’t do the things necessary to get contributions from the younger talents. Regardless of what anybody tells me, I still think Scott is responsible for Julian Wright’s regressions from his rookie season. The addition of James Posey didn’t help either, but you can’t keep yanking a player in and out of a rotation and expect them to contribute everytime they step on the court. It’s just impossible to do.

As I said in the other thread, Scott took a few parting shots towards the Hornets last season but he hardly talks about them anymore. I didn’t like his comments about the Chris Paul trade scenario that emerged this summer and I felt his opinion would have been better served keeping it to himself (but it seemed to me that he wanted to rile up the nest, no pun intended).

All in all, I really loved Scott when he was here. I really did. I was even upset when he got fired initially although I saw that it had to happen. And like you said, Rohan, that 2009 team was completely different with a healthy Tyson Chandler in the lineup. Their decline was hastened by the injury to Chandler. If not for that, Scott’s probably still here.

But I’d give Scott a really nice ovation if I could be at the game tonight. REGARDLESS of people’s opinions personally, he oversaw a huge rebuilding program and was with the team through the Oklahoma City years and was the coach during that awesome 2008 season. If for no other reason than just to be appreciative, he deserves a really good reception tonight.

First of all. I want to know wtf is trolling?

I wish this game was on TV. damn you CST and your high school sports coverage! shakes fist

He gets all due credit for helping salvage the team inasmuch as a coach could at that time (really though, it was the star power of CP3 + the electric crowds of OKC that generated the most buzz for our Bees during the NOK season), and he had one extremely good year beyond all expectations under Scott, but afterwards, he proceeded to eke the team into the playoffs only to get lit like a napalm holiday tree by the Nuggets. Meanwhile, while the Thornton-ites are occasionally voicing dismay at the decision by Monty Williams to displace MT with Willie (superior in my opinion, but I won’t go into it for the sake of this post) Green, Byron Scott played head games & was as obstinate a coach as there was in the NBA.

As mentioned in the article (while I respectfully disagree with the level of honor accredited by Rohan to Scott, it’s a solid piece), & without being redundant, Scott imploded Julian Wright’s development and kicked playoff teams’ 6th men such as JR Smith & Bass to the curb as if they were Michael Olowokandi-useless. What I mean to do is break Scott’s ego as a coach down one level further: Does anyone remember these things from Scott’s final tenure?

1) Giving Darren Collison under 3 minutes of PT while giving Bobby Brown a terminally unending 6th-man role?
2) Doing the same with Thornton, & flooring Devin Brown (see above Bobby Brown routine)
3) Keeping Hilton Armstrong on the floor instead of either intelligently shifting strategy & going small or using marginally better Sean Marks?

Scott to me, seemed like one of the most narcissistic coaches in the NBA, & I feel it reflected in the way that he railroaded player development, mismanaged backup personnel, and to our (or at least my) painful chagrin refused to re-evaluate his X’s & O’s.

When I was at the Blazers game, the guy next to me commented to me that he couldn’t complain about Thornton’s benching for defense because that reasoning at least seemed articulable compared to Byron Scott’s head games that did nothing but consolidate his ego as the boss and generate bad results out on the floor as a result. This guy made a good observation that while Cleveland’s currently buoying, and probably lucking, safely through these first 10 games with a dead .500 record, that it won’t last primarily because of Scott. He staked his claim (and I have to say I’m compelled) that all you have to look at is how his head-games are cropping up there just as they did here, as he’s already alienated & benched a perennial All-Star (albeit for bad teams — like Cleveland) in pining Antawn Jamison and giving more PT to JJ Hickson, Varejao, and now Joey Graham. I mean it’s persuasive, just now news has broken that Scott’s upset with Hickson’s lack of rebounding recently, so he’s naming Joey Graham starter for the time being – Joey Graham! Bobby Brown/Devin Brown/Hilton Armstrong 2.0.

I don’t mean to be acerbic, only to make a point that Byron Scott was a lucky coach that treated us very well one year, but sans luck his habits are self-destructive & sow the seeds of his team’s losses, rather than lack of ability or effort by his players. This is all to say, I’m so glad to have Monty Williams. No matter what happens this season, or how much I agree/disagree with Monty Williams, I believe that whether we’re winning or losing, the decisions will be objectively reasonable and arguable, rather than senseless and frustrating, which sure makes winning a lot more fun and losing a lot less frustrating. Sorry for the book. Go Monty!