# Gentry is out; Lindsey Hunter named interim coach



## Maravilla

Posting this from my phone. Confirmed by Gambo and othee leaguewide sources on twitter.

I am not mad. Now there is no pressure to win games now. Get all of the young guys some burn, make some moves to the roster... Besides, I like gentry, but he was never the coach to bring us back.


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## l0st1

*Re: Gentry is out*

Yup I hope this throws MORE turmoil into the situation. This season needs to be a cluster f*** and keep the losing coming. This draft class isn't great but that doesn't mean I don't want the best pick possible since we aren't making the playoffs we need to focus on next season.

Sucks Gentry got the blame, he wasn't perfect but this season was not his fault. The front office set up a failure.


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## Maravilla

*Re: Gentry is out*

Hey as long as we keep losing I am happy. Plus, we are pretty much guaranteed to have a muvh better pick with the lakers pick at this point. I assumed that would basically be a 2nd round pick... As of right now it will be closer to the early 20s at worst. Thinking 18-24 range, which is bonus to me.


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## Dissonance

*Re: Gentry is out; Lindsay Hunter name interim coach*

Well, it took us a ridiculous while but


*Suns name Lindsey Hunter interim coach*




> PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have turned to a man with 17 years of experience as an NBA player, but none as a coach, to take over the flagging team that hasn't been this bad halfway through a season in a quarter century.
> 
> Lindsey Hunter, the team's player development director, was picked as its interim coach Sunday, two days after the Suns and Alvin Gentry parted ways in what the organization said was a mutual agreement.
> 
> Hunter got the nod over more experienced options -- assistant coaches Elston Turner, Dan Majerle and Igor Kokoskov.
> 
> "I think the simple answer is that the organization needed a jolt," general manager Lance Blanks said. "We needed something that would shock the system of us, the players, and risk trumps safety in this business. We felt this was the right person to take the risk on."
> 
> Hunter, 40, is the coach for the remaining 41 games of the season.
> 
> After that, Blanks said, "we'll open things back up and at that time select the best candidate, which may or may not be Lindsey."
> 
> "But he believes he can get us to the end of the season and do the things that we need done as an organization and most importantly for these guys on the floor," Blanks added.
> 
> Hunter joined the Suns in the scouting department last year and this season took over the team's new player development department.


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## Maravilla

hmm. Interesting. Coro tweeted that players were pushing for Majerle. Maybe he takes over after the season? Honestly, I dont think any of this matters until we get a real GM and some better executives. Sarver needs to clean them out as well.


FWIW though, Gentry sang praises about Sarver after the split. Says he believes he wants to do whatever he can to win. Maybe that is true, maybe it isnt... but he needs people in the front office to evaluate players and make the basketball decisions. Babby was a terrible hire (still think it was some shady dickens since he was Hedo's agent back in the day) and just isn't to be taken seriously. The stretch when Sarver was making basketball decisions for a time also set us back plenty as well.


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## Laker Freak

It always makes me feel old when a guy I used to watch as a player becomes a head coach.


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## Maravilla

Gambo is calling this out as BS. Hunter is Lance Blanks' buddy. 0 coaching experience. Wants to know how Elston Turner with 14 years exp and Majerle 5 years exp get passed up for him. Called the whole thing a sham.

Shady Dickens is whats up.


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## Dissonance

Wow, this org is becoming even more of a mess.

Waiting 3-4 days before hiring a coach, getting mocked by the media for it. 

Majerle walking out for not being hired.

O'Neal and Blanks having a loud, expletive-laced confrontation. All or most of the players are angry about Dan not getting hired or Gentry getting fired. 



Sarver's turned this team into a joke. He should've kept Kerr in 2010. Clearly, he didn't like what Sarver had to say going forward, the offer and could've been persuaded to stay. But, nope. He wanted yes men.


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## l0st1

Really all the players wanted Dan to be the coach? Guess that's not that surprising given Thunder Dan's likability.


This team is crumbling and even though it sucks I hope it does nothing but drop us in the standings. Come on worst season in Suns history


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## Maravilla

The thing that is weird to me is that Gentry was dropping so much praise about Sarver in both of his interviews this week on the radio that I heard. The odd part to me is that he ONLY mentioned Sarver. It makes me think that Blanks and Babby are the ones who are really ****ing things around.

That said, I really dislike all 3 of those guys, but Sarver isn't leaving anytime soon.. I just hope that he clears Babby and Blanks out. Hunter as well. Gentry had a very telling 'no comment' about Hunter being forced on him this season.

Telling you... Can't wait till the Sonics are back in Seattle.


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## l0st1

Hhmm,, not surprising Hunter was forced in. Curious who it was by. Babby and Blanks don't really seem to know what they are doing( I know shocking) and it's very telling that all the players disagreed with not only firing gentry but the promotion of Hunter over Majerle(first choice) and Turner(second choice). Then Majerle walks out, Turner has basically quit, and JO is probably gone due to him telling it like it is.

This team is a disaster and hopefully it translates to losses on the court and change this summer


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## Dissonance

*Elston Turner, Phoenix Suns agree to part ways*

More Suns coaching mess.


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## BAMJ6

Here's my take on the chain of events in Suns land from a fan of 20 seasons.

If we're to break it down on "pure basketball decisions" Alvin Gentry had to go. He ran his course and changes had to be made. Having NBA League Pass, I did not watch a Suns game since November. I am a fan of Lindsey Hunter have been for a long time, and is the first NBA player that played in this decade to become head coach.

The PR part of this is where they really ****ed up. A consistent staple of Robert Sarver that I don't have to go into big detail. Suns fans already know the PR mistakes. In his interview he said that was the GM Blanks biggest weakness. You're wrong, that's YOU'RE biggest weakness. Sarver better hope Lindsey Hunter can get things done, because more losing will make him look worse and a fanbase that already hates you will want you to sell the team, and once neutral fans like myself have started to despise you.


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## Hyperion

*Re: Gentry is out*



chilltown said:


> Hey as long as we keep losing I am happy. Plus, we are pretty much guaranteed to have a muvh better pick with the lakers pick at this point. I assumed that would basically be a 2nd round pick... As of right now it will be closer to the early 20s at worst. Thinking 18-24 range, which is bonus to me.


It's a lotto pick or a 30th.


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## Hyperion

BAMJ6 said:


> Here's my take on the chain of events in Suns land from a fan of 20 seasons.
> 
> If we're to break it down on "pure basketball decisions" Alvin Gentry had to go. He ran his course and changes had to be made. Having NBA League Pass, I did not watch a Suns game since November. I am a fan of Lindsey Hunter have been for a long time, and is the first NBA player that played in this decade to become head coach.
> 
> The PR part of this is where they really ****ed up. A consistent staple of Robert Sarver that I don't have to go into big detail. Suns fans already know the PR mistakes. In his interview he said that was the GM Blanks biggest weakness. You're wrong, that's YOU'RE biggest weakness. Sarver better hope Lindsey Hunter can get things done, because more losing will make him look worse and a fanbase that already hates you will want you to sell the team, and once neutral fans like myself have started to despise you.


He didn't have to go. The Suns stink and they brought in a bunch of loser players that poisoned the locker room and couldn't play offense or defense at this level. This who mess pretty much eliminates anything leftover resembling this Suns team except for Al McCoy and the Gorilla. It's pretty pathetic all around.


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## BAMJ6

Hyperion said:


> He didn't have to go. The Suns stink and they brought in a bunch of loser players that poisoned the locker room and couldn't play offense or defense at this level. This who mess pretty much eliminates anything leftover resembling this Suns team except for Al McCoy and the Gorilla. It's pretty pathetic all around.


Alvin did have to go. I thought he had to go going back to last season. That was another PR screw up by Sarver, especially with getting rid of Nash and Hill. It was best to start fresh with the whole staff even though I like Dan and Turner. The only good that came out of when they did this was Lindsey Hunter who I really like. I don't think they would've taken a big name coach if they did it in the offseason.


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## Maravilla

*Re: Gentry is out*



Hyperion said:


> It's a lotto pick or a 30th.


What is the protection on it? I dont know it.


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## Hyperion

*Re: Gentry is out*



chilltown said:


> What is the protection on it? I dont know it.


It's ours if they don't make the playoffs but if they do make the playoffs, Cleveland will have the right to swap Miami's for LA's for whichever is higher and we get whatever is left from that. So we get their lotto pick as of right now.


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## Hyperion

BAMJ6 said:


> Alvin did have to go. I thought he had to go going back to last season. That was another PR screw up by Sarver, especially with getting rid of Nash and Hill. It was best to start fresh with the whole staff even though I like Dan and Turner. The only good that came out of when they did this was Lindsey Hunter who I really like. I don't think they would've taken a big name coach if they did it in the offseason.


They should have gone with Majerle. He's a fan favorite and also knows the team. The fact that wasn't even considered to be a coach speaks volumes of the direction of this franchise. I'm almost at peace that I'm moving because I can barely stand to watch this team. It's taking on the persona of the owner, a giant douche.


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## BAMJ6

Hyperion said:


> They should have gone with Majerle. He's a fan favorite and also knows the team. The fact that wasn't even considered to be a coach speaks volumes of the direction of this franchise. I'm almost at peace that I'm moving because I can barely stand to watch this team. It's taking on the persona of the owner, a giant douche.


We at least agree that Sarver is a douche. But I will trust that the Hunter hire is the right basketball move. I can tolerate Sarver if Hunter can win. He could go 2-0 by the end of the night


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## BAMJ6

And now he is 2-0


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## Maravilla

The Suns are terrible at working with protected picks in trades...


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## l0st1

Dissonance said:


> *Elston Turner, Phoenix Suns agree to part ways*
> 
> More Suns coaching mess.





> “I owed the players a chance to help them get better and I’m sure they’d welcome the most qualified coach,” Turner said. “I felt an obligation to the paying customer to give them the best product possible. And I love the damn game.”


Damn Turner didn't hold back in the Interview none of the BS coaches spew after they leave. He was honest. I like it.


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## l0st1

Hyperion said:


> It's ours if they don't make the playoffs but if they do make the playoffs, Cleveland will have the right to swap Miami's for LA's for whichever is higher and we get whatever is left from that. So we get their lotto pick as of right now.


How did Cleveland get a hold of the right to swap with Laker's pick? I can't remember the trade. But it's definitely not a good day when we finally have the Lakers sucking and we own their pick only to realize they have to completely miss the playoffs which despite current standings is a long shot.



Hyperion said:


> They should have gone with Majerle. He's a fan favorite and also knows the team. The fact that wasn't even considered to be a coach speaks volumes of the direction of this franchise. I'm almost at peace that I'm moving because I can barely stand to watch this team. It's taking on the persona of the owner, a giant douche.


Agreed. I don't mind the Hunter signing by itself but I don't like the front office passing over Majerle who has seniority, knowledge of the franchise and players, and was a fan and PLAYER favorite. Also I really like Turner. He seemed like a good guy and a good coach I would of been ok with him as Interim Coach and Majerle as Lead Assistant. 

It really seems like the front office makes decisions on a whim with really no longterm vision in mind.


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## Maravilla

Much like the Hawks jumped up from the 4th lottery spot the year after the JJ trade to get into their top 3 protected range, I will just assume that the Lakers will win the 8th seed by 1 game this year on the last day of the season.


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## l0st1

Which draft class was that again? -_-


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## Hyperion

chilltown said:


> Much like the Hawks jumped up from the 4th lottery spot the year after the JJ trade to get into their top 3 protected range, I will just assume that the Lakers will win the 8th seed by 1 game this year on the last day of the season.





l0st1 said:


> How did Cleveland get a hold of the right to swap with Laker's pick? I can't remember the trade. But it's definitely not a good day when we finally have the Lakers sucking and we own their pick only to realize they have to completely miss the playoffs which despite current standings is a long shot.
> 
> 
> 
> Agreed. I don't mind the Hunter signing by itself but I don't like the front office passing over Majerle who has seniority, knowledge of the franchise and players, and was a fan and PLAYER favorite. Also I really like Turner. He seemed like a good guy and a good coach I would of been ok with him as Interim Coach and Majerle as Lead Assistant.
> 
> It really seems like the front office makes decisions on a whim with really no longterm vision in mind.


The team is in the basement. You have an experienced coach whom the players like. Why change it? If the team were expected to be great and it was this terrible and all of the players were performing terribly, then I would be on board with getting a new coach. This move just seems impetuous and/or foolish.

Cleveland gets Miami's pick for Lebron and Miami has LA's pick for Shaq (i think).


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## Dissonance

> Cavs have the right to swap first rounders with Lakers (their own, the Heats and the Kings). If Lakers 2013 first rounder is in lottery, pick is extinguished. (LeBron James trade 07-09-10)





> Phoenix receives the Lakers' 2013 first-round pick (least favorable of picks sent to them for theirs from Cleveland) (Steve Nash trade 07-11-12)



http://www.nbadraft.net/nba_draft_trades/2013


Their mock has us 11th with LAL pick and getting it.


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## l0st1

11th would be sick!

I agree in the sense that it's pointless to change coaches if it won't change the outcome(and it better not change the outcome this season!) but I can understand the thinking if the interim title is going to be lifted and made a permanent HC. Allows him to learn on the job during a lost season.


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## Dissonance




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## Hyperion

Dissonance said:


>


Phoenix fans revolt


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## Maravilla

Damn! Sarver got knocked the **** out! Although, cmon, Babby is a clown too.


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## l0st1

Jesus, Sarver got hit right in the mouth. I will never disagree with the hatred Sarver has gotten but it hasn't been him a lone. He has had a lot of true idiots helping him screw up along the way. It hasn't taken long for a very VERY respected franchise to be destroyed and hated because of one man. Incredibly sad.


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## l0st1

Good to see the Suns finding ways to ruin this season every way possible, Winners of 3 in a row? Seriously? Had we lost like we should of we'd be in line for 3rd spot pre-lotto, instead we are 7th.


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## Hyperion

It's not like there are any franchise changers in this draft.


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