Specifically, what does he have to do in order to be the Sixers’ head coach next season?
I’ve personally started thinking about this after they started winning a few games in a row and even more so this weekend. After having a conversation with Ed Stefanski, Tom Moore posed this question today on his blog:
What would DiLeo have to do to stay on for another season as coach? Must he win a playoff round? Would, say, a 35-24 record be enough? What do you think? – Tom Moore
Head over to Tom’s blog, and let him know what you think.
My Take
I really think Elton Brand getting hurt severely muddies the situation and Stefanski’s ability to really “evaluate everything.”
What can he really evaluate right now? Here are a few things that quickly enter my mind.
- How the players respond to Dileo as the head coach.
- How Dileo handles the players. Is or isn’t it effective?
- Are they playing the style Stefanski thinks is a winning formula?
- Are they winning games, period? More importantly, why are they winning? How much can be attributed to the coach vs. players?
Those are just a few, and I am sure you can come up with a bunch more. But there is one key point missing there…
How has Dileo integrated Stefanski’s 5-year, $80 investment Elton Brand with the rest of the talent on the roster? Has he proved he can do it? Has he proved he can win with Iguodala, Brand, Thaddeus, Dalembert and Miller on the floor at the same time for 25-30 minutes a night?
That can not be answered this season by anyone. I think it’s important though. Cheeks was able to get into the playoffs and push Detroit without Elton Brand but couldn’t make it work with him. If Dileo does the same thing (win without Brand), does that automatically mean he should be retained as head coach?
Further food for thought. Because of all the coaches being fired the market for a new head coach may not be better than this summer. So I ask…
- Do you pass on all the guys available (potentially Stefanski’s guy in Eddie Jordan if those rumors are accurate) and gamble on Dileo if he simply does what Cheeks did last season without Brand?
- If he gets through the 1st round and then we get blasted in the second do you just assume it will be better with Brand back?
- Are you willing to go through another “Elton Brand grace period” next season, this time with Dileo. Or does it make more sense to go through the interviewing process and solidify the head coach you want long-term? (at some point you gotta stick with a coach and change the players right?)
- How do you accurately forecast Tony Dileo’s coaching potential?
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I pesonally would rather just keep DiLeo if the best we can do is a guy like Eddie Jordan. Eddie Jordan’s reputation as a coach far outstripes anything he has accomplished on the court imo. Mo Cheeks got fired for the team playing under .500 ball and showing little progress not for getting beat by the Pistons in the play-offs last year. Anyway you slice it the team has played better under DiLeo then it did under Cheeks earlier in the year. An over .500 season, even if its just a few games, and a competitive first round play-off series would be enough for me to say bring DiLeo back unless a better guy then Eddie Jordan shows up on the market.
This is a tough nut to crack. I will do my best to limit the rambling and the offshoots in the discussion, but it will be difficult because we have several unresolved issues that muddy the waters and we can’t talk about DiLeo without talking about the team.
OK, the first thing is that this entire discussion presupposes that DiLeo actually wants to remain the head coach of this team. Do we know for a fact that he would be open to continuing on as the head coach if Stefanski made the offer? Is it possible that Stefanski already has someone in mind for the head coaching job, that he has already spoken to DiLeo about this, that there is an understanding in place where DiLeo knows he will only finish out this season and is charged with the responsibility of instituting some changes and getting this thing turned around and lined up for the “long-term” head coach who will step in this summer?
Assuming that DiLeo would like to remain the head coach beyond this season, what does he have to do the rest of the way to stay there?
First of all, regardless of the fact that we are committed to Brand for four more years, I don’t think that Brand should factor into the decision making process. I know this sounds ridiculous, but hear me out.
Brand is not part of this team now and I think it would be unfair to hold lingering questions over whether or not he will be able to successfully integrate Brand and make our team better against DiLeo. He can only coach who he’s got and he should be judged on that alone, IMO.
Logically, we assume that Brand will be back next year. Not only that, we assume that he will be at full strength and completely recovered from both the shoulder and the achilles. The thing is, we can’t assume that. There is no way to know how quickly and how well Brand will recover and if there will be any long term effects that will diminish him in any way.
Also, for good or bad, this team’s identity has been forged, and it has been forged without Brand. As a matter of fact, this team’s identity has now been cemented specifically because of Brand’s absence. When Brand was out, a lot was made about the style the Sixers need to play to be successful, also the fact that Brand would have to be the one to fit into this style. Well, I don’t see anything changing on this front. The Sixers are going to be who they are and Brand, if and when he does come back, will need to fit into what they do. We are still assuming that he will be able to but this may not be the case at all.
“solidify the head coach you want long-term? (at some point you gotta stick with a coach and change the players right?)”….. This is definitely my feeling at this point. I am not willing to go through another grace period with Brand, regardless of who the head coach is. I think that Brand’s future status with this club is much more dependent on Brand himself than it is on who our head coach will be. We need to be more concerned with having the right head coach in place than we do about how well he will integrate a guy who will be back at some unknown future time, in some unknown condition, and who may or may not be the right fit for this team anyway.
All of that to get to this. Assuming that DiLeo wants to continue coaching and Stefanski is not really targeting anyone specific, I think that if we continue improving and he gets us to the second round, DiLeo will have earned the right to remain the head coach and see how much more he can do with this team.
Dannie, I agree that the Brand situation is the big unknown. Suppose DiLeo and the Sixers go 35-24 to finish with 44 wins and get the fifth seed in the playoffs. It demonstrates he can win with essentially the same group that Cheeks guided to a 22-12 end to the 2007-08 season. Yet it still doesn’t show how DiLeo will do once he has to incorporate Brand into the mix — and there’s no way to know the answer until December.
I feel if E.S. has a person in mind it doesn!t matter what Deleo does, short of a trip to the finals because when Elton comes back next year everything sort of starts from scratch. I am not a big Jordan fan, Avery would be my first choice, but I!ll leave that up to E.S. .
Give DiLeo credit in using Dalembert properly. Perhaps he is the only one who could really understand the mysterious mind of Samuel Dalembert.
Should we assume DiLeo even wants to continue coaching? This is a no win league. What is accomplished is never enough in professional sports. Personally, Di Leo has survived 19 years in the organization because he hasn’t been the head coach. If he’s smart he’ll head back upstairs and let the Eddie Jordan’s of the world deal with game day headaches. Tony was probably making 6 figures evaluating talent. And… to be honest he’s done a good job. So if I were to speak to Tony about his future employment opportunities I’d have to ask him how much longer he inbtends to be with the Sixers before exploring his next opportunity. If it’s short-term and his passion for life is coaching then that’s his answer.
As far as what it would take for Ed to keep him there, Ed has to evaluate whether or not what Tony does upstairs is more valueable or not than his coaching and ability to build, mold, and shape this team to be a consistent winner.
weren’t there rumors at the time that mo got canned that stefanski was looking at getting mark jackson out of the booth and into coaching?
i’d rather have someone totally new than the retreads that have been mentioned on this page (jordan, avery johnson, etc)
BSKI – I agree with this statement:
For Dileo to even be considered for the job next season that aspect must be top notch. Otherwise this conversation is moot.
But I gotta disagree regarding the Elton Brand point. If I am the GM and I don’t acknowledge and factor Brand into the decision for the coaching situation going forward it would be taking a short sighted view of the team and I think that could harmful down the line.
If he believes Dileo is the guy then so beit but it must be because he performed well this season with what he’s got and because Dileo has presented a well thought out plan for next season. In essence I don’t think he should be just handed the job regardless of results (excluding extreme of winning two playoff rounds) I think IF he wants it he should have to interview for it among other candidates. If he comes out on top, fine.
Integrating Brand in a winning system that accounts for all players on the roster must be a point of emphasis in this decision.
I can go on more about why I think it’s important to lock in a coach for the benefit of continuity and development within a familar system because of the young players we assume will be the core of this team for a while (Thad, Speights, Iguodala, Lou (only because they seem to love him)) but I am off to the game.
Pete should have a game post up in a bit. Talk to you guys aftewards.
Ken, good point. Also, an opportunity similar to Ed’s may come along for Tony if he goes back to his previous role.
Rob, I agree. His motivation of Sammy has been a wonderful thing.
Dannie….After reading your comment, I went back and re-read mine. I didn’t realize that I was that dismissive of Brand. I usually go back and double check my long posts before I submit them, but I was interrupted several times during the course of typing that one up and I didn’t go over it.
What I meant to say is this: “regardless of the fact that we are committed to Brand for four more years, I don’t think that Brand should be a major factor in the decision making process.” I lost that key distinction somewhere along the way. Of course Brand needs to be factored in. I just think he should be lower down on the list. I’ll stand by the rest of what I said as an explanation for why Brand should not be a key in the decision making process.
Tony DiLeo should not be the head coach of the Sixers after this season. Unless he manages to shock the NBA world and get this team to the Eastern Conference Finals, or NBA finals (both of which ain’t happening), he should be what he is tagged as right now: the interim coach.
I’ve posted before that my greatest fear would be for DiLeo to find success coaching these guys and get them 5-6 games over .500 to end the year. Why? Because I feel that interim coaches, when they come in with actual talent and a few pieces, can have a honeymoon period that can last the whole year. Our team is in an incredibly odd situation in that the player we signed to change our culture and dynamic is now out for the year, essentially pushing us back to last year’s Sixers lineup plus Speights, Ivey and Ratliff (I’m not counting Marshall and Rush since they dont play).
Personally I felt that if Mo was retained, he too would have righted the ship somewhat, and gotten us back to the .500 team we had last year that was hard working, pushed the ball, and played gritty defense. I believe the NBA season has a pendulum, and that no matter who was at the helm, it would go back up on the upswing. Thus, IMO, DiLeo is riding the pendulum of a team that would have improved regardless when Brand went down and Mo was fired.
Now this is no knock on Tony; he has coaching experience, seems like a heady guy, and clearly had had enough of Mo’s, shall we call it B.S. He’s doing the best he can to try to get us back to playing defense, spacing the floor, and moving the ball. This has led to some nice wins, and guttier play from A-Miller, Iguodala, and of late Dalembert. He should be especially commended for taking a hard line stance with Dalembert, and winning, finally causing D-Bere to shut up and play like he’s capable of.
I also believe Tony has a good basketball mind, and like how he analyzes the game from hearing his interviews post games, and in between games. He seems honest and realistic with what we can expect from this squad, and understands long term goals and patience with players. He also has done a better job solidifying roles on the team, and there seems to be a bit high level of expectation and accountability on everyone. And that’s great.
But do we really want to gamble on a HALF season interim coach with no previous NBA head coaching experience, that is riding a wave of of optimism because Mo had sunk the team’s play to such a low level? I say: no. We need to bring in someone with NBA experience that has PROVEN what he can do with a full team of healthy stars, and had some success.
For me, it comes down to this:
Eddie Jordan: Greatest strength…offensive system and philosophy of getting the ball moving…more cutting, screening, ball sharing, and less on on one ball hogging plays. This would really cater to our teams athleticism, as we DESPERATELY need a jumpstart for moving without the ball, what I have always thought is our biggest weakness. Eddie would really give us the offensive kick in the ass we need. Biggest weakness: innefective defensive coaching, inability to pay true attention to how much defense should be worked on; lack of getting a team to buy into a toughness mentality of basketball.
Avery Johnson: Greatest strengths…1. Setting high expectations 2. Setting accountability and a zero tolerance policy for anything less then hard work and executing well. 3. Understands defense and how to get teams to play TEAM defense, regardless of their perceived individual ability. 4. Great at X&O’s, gets guys in spots and positions where they can best score. Biggest weakness: not enough freedom and improvisation on offense; relies too much on jumpshooting; overcoaching PG’s with too many set plays.
Avery would be my pick, simply because I think he has a better ability to set a real tone and change the culture. I think we need that more than anything. We are all people and capable of changing…I think Avery has evaluated his own performance and with all his critics and time off, probably understands he needs to loosen his grip on the reigns a bit. Obviously his jumpshooting tactics will NOT work for our team…but Avery is a Popovich disciple and seems well suited to change the dynamic up for whatever a team needs. He also BRILLIANTLY got Dallas, a horrendous defensive team, to play mediocre and sometimes even “pretty good” defense, no small feat. Since our team has pretty good individual defenders, he’d do a great job here.
When you step back and look at how this team is playing, you must conclude that DiLeo is doing a very good job. I don’t see enough people giving him credit for that. Granted I am not local and thus cannot see every game but from what I read in the recaps and derive from the stats, he is using the available players in the most effective manner. If I’m wrong, please site specific examples.
The reality is that Brand is probably not right for this team, and I only say ‘probably’ because he didn’t have that much of a chance. But the fact is this is a young, high energy team – something that Brand does not fit into. Just because we are only one year into a 5 yr contract doesn’t mean it’s not possible to admit your mistake early and move on. I think Ed deserves to give that serious consideration, rather than trying to cram a square peg into a round hole.
Dave T.….Nicely stated as usual. Have you given much thought to DiLeo possibly being uniquely qualified to get the most out of our players since he knows them so well from the role he played in assembling this team?
There is one thing I neglected to mention earlier that tempers my optimism regarding DiLeo remaining our coach. That is, I think that DiLeo might be up to the job, but I don’t believe that we have the necessary assistants around him to make it really work. If we had bona fide, top notch assistants at DiLeo’s side that could implement successful defensive and/or offensive systems, I would feel a whole lot better about him going forward. I don’t see him kicking Lynam and the rest to the curb if he remains the head coach and that could be problematic.
That being the case, we may have no choice but to bring in another coach who will then bring in his own assistants in order to assemble the coaching staff necessary to take us where we want to go.
DaveT – Are you aware of DiLeo’s history? Good coaches are successful at every level. He has a proven track record in Europe, where greater emphasis is put on playing as a team. In any event, I think you are improperly discounting his legitimacy simply because he is the interim coach. I can think of plenty of non-interim coaches that have failed in Philly. Why not give this interim coach a try?
well its hard to tell how much of the recent success is just Mo being gone, the Sixers getting their skulls screwed on tight or DiLeo’s coaching!
Tormented in Beantown: I’m very aware of DiLeo’s coaching background…and in fact, my personal philosophy about basketball caters much more to the European style than what goes on in the NBA, with the exception of a few coaches. I love how European coaches teach the game, and I personally feel that many Americans, at the NBA, college and high school level, would do well to take a damn lot of notes from them. So I’m not discounting your point at all, and in fact very much agree with that aspect of it.
So to answer your question: We just committed 80 million dollars to a player. We are young or have players entering their prime that are good athletes. We do not have a bonafide alpha dog on offense. Therefore, we need someone where we KNOW what we are getting, with NBA experience that is proven.
I keep hearing statements like “why not give Dileo a shot, he might do good!” I don’t want a wishy washy “maybe” like that, and think we should set our standards higher. Eddie Jordan has seven years of head coaching experience, and was a huge cog for the NJ Nets offense, quite possibly two of the least talented teams to ever make the finals. Granted much of that was Kidd, but EJ and Scott developed a system to fit Kidd’s strengths and the players they had. And we all saw what Avery did with the Mavs after Don Nelson’s manic and insane method of coaching improved them, but never got them over the hump.
As far as I’m concerned, this whole season is one giant wash and experiment. I think ANY coach we put in there after Mo was fired would have gotten this team to a .500 record. I think MO would have gotten the team back to a .500 record, even though I’ve hated him since day one. So while I like what I see so far from DiLeo, I’m not sold because he hasn’t blown me away. He’s not a proven commodity at the NBA level…which matters (how many amazing coaches from the college ranks have been utter bombs in the NBA?), and he has nothing to lose because nothing is expected of him and he has all the freedom in the world to tinker, especially now that Brand is out.
I’m sure Stefanski’s orders were: “Make sure Thad and Speights get playing time, get Iguodala’s head out of his ass, get the floor spacing not looking like kindergarten pick up games, and get them trying on defense and playing harder.” Mission accomplished, and an admirable job. Now, let’s go hire an actual proven NBA coach that knows how to mix Brand into this athletic run n’ gun team.