Thunder coach deserves job
Sam Presti needs to pull the trigger now; take the interim tag off Scott Brooks’ title.
The Thunder head coach deserves to have the job outright. No waiting to see how the rest of the year goes. No letting the season play out before giving Brooks the job for real and true.
After all, everyone knows that every NBA coach’s status is really day-to-day anyway. Any of them could be fired or quit or leave at any time.
So come on, Sam. You’re the Thunder GM. Make Brooks your coach.
Truth is, it might have been something the Thunder folks wanted to do more than a year ago. Back when the Thunder were still the Sonics and still playing in the Pacific Northwest, they needed a coach. Thing is, this was the same time that the franchise needed a GM. And, oh by the way, the team was also under the new ownership with the Clay Bennett-led crew.
So, you had a new owner looking for a new GM and a new coach.
Bennett and Co. tagged Presti as the GM, a somewhat daring move considering he was only 30 years old at the time. He came in with solid credentials, but still, giving over the keys to the franchise’s future to someone so young was bold and risky.
Maybe that’s why the team went the opposite direction with its coach. The franchise tagged P.J. Carlesimo, a grizzled coaching veteran.
Brooks, though, was in the mix. He was one of the candidates who got a serious look. Heck, he nearly got the job in Sacramento a few years earlier. But I’m sure somewhere along the way, someone with the franchise decided it was just too risky to have a first-time owner, general manager and coach all at the same time.
So, why not do now what the team just couldn’t pull the trigger on then?
Make Brooks the coach. Period.
Brooks, after all, has taken largely the same cast of characters who looked like an NBA jayvee team under Carlesimo and turned them into a solid bunch. The Thunder has won four of its last six games, a streak that would’ve seemed impossible only a month or so ago.
Brooks deserves the job, one that it’s looking more and more like he was qualified for when the franchise cared more about his experience than his ability.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Brooks has done a good job. Carlesimo though was burdened with to many pieces that just did not or would not work together. Presti has helped by unloading unneeded players and actually going out a getting the role players this team needs to actually compete. Was Carlesimo the right coach? NO!!! Did he have the players he needed for our team to be competitive? NO!!! Also remember Presti really hadn’t made any trades of note before they Fired Carlesimo. Give Brooks the chance he deserves, He obviously relates to his players and the Fans relate to Brooks!