# Sources: Suns to name Porter next head coach



## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Finally. 

link



> Multiple sources told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith that Terry Porter is the new coach of the Phoenix Suns.
> 
> Suns general manager Steve Kerr called Porter on Saturday morning to offer him the job, and Porter accepted.
> 
> ...


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

Interesting.....

Porter's not a bad pick, probably the best of the listed candidates.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

It's a good hire. He got the short end of the stick with the Bucks. They should have never gotten rid of him. 


It's gonna be nice to not have to deal with D'Antoni as the coach anymore. His influence is gone in the front office. Which means emphasis on the draft and actual defensive principles.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

It should be interesting to see what his first move will be in the roster.


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## WhoDaBest23 (Apr 16, 2003)

Definitely like this hire. It's going to be interesting to see a different voice on the sideline after seeing D'Antoni all these years. Anxious to see what Porter's going to bring to the table.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

So this is what they meant by defense? They get a guy who steered his team to being the 23rd and 28th best defensive teams in the league? Looks like they didn't want to wait to interview Thibodeau.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

IceMan23and3 said:


> So this is what they meant by defense? They get a guy who steered his team to being the 23rd and 28th best defensive teams in the league? Looks like they didn't want to wait to interview Thibodeau.


It was the Bucks. And Kerr wanted to get someone with head coaching experience apparently. Saunders would've been just like D'Antoni.

I'm tired of your Bipolar act. If/when the Suns do something you like or win games next season, you'll be back to your Suns homer mood.


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## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

It's official: http://www.nba.com/suns/news/porter_080607.html



> Today Suns General Manager and President of Basketball Operations Steve Kerr confirmed reports that Terry Porter will become Phoenix’s next head coach.


I agree that I think Porter's the best choice of the available candidates.


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## B_&_B (Feb 19, 2004)

GREAT NEWS! :biggrin: As a big Trail Blazer fan, I love seeing our boy T.P. being hired as the Suns head coach. Porter is a class act, I wish him nothing but the best... of course, only when he's not playing my Trail Blazers. :wink:

:cheers:


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## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

B_&_B said:


> I wish him nothing but the best... of course, only when he's not playing my Trail Blazers. :wink:


Don't worry. The Blazers are going to be awesome this year.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

Dissonance19 said:


> It was the Bucks. And Kerr wanted to get someone with head coaching experience apparently. Saunders would've been just like D'Antoni.
> 
> I'm tired of your Bipolar act. If/when the Suns do something you like or win games next season, you'll be back to your Suns homer mood.


How am I bipolar again? Other than having hope that the Shaq trade would work out and then realizing that it wouldn't like I had previously stated, how? The Suns didn't have an identity even before the Shaq trade. That's what worried me last year and what worries me this year. That and the Suns don't have any shooters. Hill, STAT, ONeal, and Diaw can't shoot 3s and Bell and Barbosa were shoddy at best last year. They're going to be a 50 win team next year and blown up by 2010. I don't care about Saunders or Silas. It just seems like they should have waited to interview Thibodeau. To say that his short stint as coach in Milwaukee is what separated him from the pack is stupid. I don't know what the Suns will look like next year but I don't like all this smoke that they're blowing. It's funny how now they're scrambling to draft players though, no?


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## Coatesvillain (Jul 17, 2002)

I'm a huge Terry Porter fan, and have been ever since he was a player. I just hope he puts together an experienced coaching staff to back him up as he's still relatively new as a coach (he's had what six or seven years total experience?).


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## JonMatrix (Apr 8, 2003)

Porter deserves more credit than what he got for Milwaukee. Right before he got there, they traded Glenn Robinson for a draft pick (TJ Ford), Ray Allen for Gary Payton/Desmond Mason (they immediately let Payton walk, making the trade look like an obvious salary dump), Sam Cassell to Minnesota for Joe Smith. That's 4 All Stars traded for a few draft picks, Desmond Mason, and Joe Smith. Plus his big men in that first year (the 41-41 playoff season) were Brian Skinner, Joe Smith, and Dan Gadzuric. His roster was a rookie PG (TJ Ford), an unknown but talented backup (at the time, Michael Redd),an underachiever (Tim Thomas, who was traded for another underachiever, Keith Van Horn), a solid defensive wing with little offense (Mason), scrub big men, and Damon Jones, leopard print blazer and all. Plus they made the playoffs that year with Ford missing the end of the season, leaving Damon Jones as the starting PG. That alone deserves consideration for future jobs. The next year he took the fall for the Bucks injuries so Sen. Kohl could hire his friend Terry Stotts. He should do well with the Suns.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

JonMatrix said:


> Porter deserves more credit than what he got for Milwaukee. Right before he got there, they traded Glenn Robinson for a draft pick (TJ Ford), Ray Allen for Gary Payton/Desmond Mason (they immediately let Payton walk, making the trade look like an obvious salary dump), Sam Cassell to Minnesota for Joe Smith. That's 4 All Stars traded for a few draft picks, Desmond Mason, and Joe Smith. Plus his big men in that first year (the 41-41 playoff season) were Brian Skinner, Joe Smith, and Dan Gadzuric. His roster was a rookie PG (TJ Ford), an unknown but talented backup (at the time, Michael Redd),an underachiever (Tim Thomas, who was traded for another underachiever, Keith Van Horn), a solid defensive wing with little offense (Mason), scrub big men, and Damon Jones, leopard print blazer and all. Plus they made the playoffs that year with Ford missing the end of the season, leaving Damon Jones as the starting PG. That alone deserves consideration for future jobs. The next year he took the fall for the Bucks injuries so Sen. Kohl could hire his friend Terry Stotts. He should do well with the Suns.


ok based on this statement, I will agree that he can coach.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Anyone interested, Suns will be introducing him at a press conference at 2 EST. You can see it at Suns.com.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Layout of what was said....

He and Kerr talked about wanting to play an up-tempo style, but find a balance that includes D. Porter said he wants more of a controlled shot selection. Which probably means, there will be no more running down the court and taking a jump shot, missing and wasting a possession. Pick your spots. 

Porter said team defense is most important. Not individual. They need to rotate and also make defensive adjustments. They will practice it, implement schemes/sets. He will be hands on. He's going to be studying film in the next few days. 

He feels playing the bench is important so that the starters don't get run down by the end of the season. Same with the young guys so they develop. He cited what they did in Detroit this past season. 


Kerr talked about them being on the same page with everything. I can see he wants it to totally different from his relationship with Mike. They'll both assemble a staff and Kerr will NOT force anyone on it. All collaborative.

Porter talked about changes to the roster (FA or 2, and draft picks). I heard somewhere Kerr talked about keeping "core." I assume that's just Nash/Amare. Shaq's unmovable so he doesn't count. I think they'd move Barbosa/Diaw if the right offer came along. Just my opinion. 




Kerr on a radio show, I got this from another site. I'm typing it in my own words though.

Players wanted change. Talked about balance again and how instead of averaging 110, it can be 105 and better D. They just want to win.

On Amare; Said it wasn't just Amare that needs to be reached. Nash wants to be reached, he wants to be held accountable and told him this. 

Silas is in the mix as an assistant (guess, it's not the lock that I thought). Again all collaborative

Everything else was touched on at the press conference. 



I saved this for last.. I heard this myself.

On Gambo and Ash, Gambo said they will go with this group this yr, and he expects it to be blown up next yr. Said if they're .500 or hovering around it, they'll blow it up midseason.


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## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

IceMan23and3 said:


> ok based on this statement, I will agree that he can coach.


Here's another good write-up:
http://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_06090803.aspx

I agree with everything. Now I'm excited about next season.


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

I'm excited, sounds like the first step in the right direction.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

I just hope we come out this next season and have an identity. That's what drove me nuts this past season, we were winning games on talent but the games didn't look fluid on offense and the defense was pretty bad (most notably until Shaq arrived was that no one had their arms up in the air after a shot to get the rebound).

I hope that this isn't Scott Skiles II (he is a bad coach, I don't care what anyone says) and a great coach in the making like Byron Scott. I just worry that he'll be more of a guards coach like D'Antoni. This is where we need Silas. We need a big man coach.

But yes, I am hopeful for this year. As long as we draft a quality wing I think we'll be okay. Also, Barbosa needs some control and Bell needs to find his shot.


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## MeirToTheWise (Nov 9, 2005)

Hmm... Good stuff... I just wonder if he'll be able to handle Shaq's ego and actually get in Amare's face when he has defensive lapses. Naturally, I'm just not sold on him until I see a few games next year.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

MeirToTheWise said:


> Hmm... Good stuff... I just wonder if he'll be able to handle Shaq's ego and actually get in Amare's face when he has defensive lapses. Naturally, I'm just not sold on him until I see a few games next year.


That's for a big man coach. I think that may be one of the major problems with the previous coaching staff. No big man to coach the big men.


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## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

IceMan23and3 said:


> That's for a big man coach. I think that may be one of the major problems with the previous coaching staff. No big man to coach the big men.


Hopefully, Shaq will partially fill that role and give some guidance to Amare.


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## Sunsfan81 (Apr 17, 2006)

I'm not thrilled about this. I would have preferred Thibodeau. Of course he won't admit it, but it seems to me that Kerr chose Porter mainly because they're good friends.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Yeah, they're good friends, but I HIGHLY doubt he'd hire him mainly for that. Just doesn't make sense. They both have the same philosophy in terms of what they want to do. He also wanted someone with head coaching experience.


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