Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Jim Boylan

Jim Boylan - In the spirit of Al McGuire

J.D. Mo — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:53:00 GMT

Find Bucks assistant coach Jim Boylan in that suave, Billy Dee Williams cool, disco days meets "The Great Gatsby" photo to the right and win the first ever Bob Boozer Jinx door prize. Hint: Boylan's the kid from Jersey City, New Jersey.

The photo, from the Marquette archives, via a Sports Illustrated 'Where are they now?' feature, is the official team photo of the 1977 NCAA champions. Boylan is farthest to the left, seated in the back of the '34 Packard, wearing the only all-grey tux. Left to right from Boylan: Bill Neary, Ulice Payne, Butch Lee, Jim Dudley, Gary Rosenberger (in the passenger's seat), Bernard Toone, Jerome Whitehead, Craig Butrym, Robert Byrd and Bo Ellis.

It seems odd, yet somehow fitting, that Boylan would take a seat furthest in the back -- he was nowhere near the back of the ride on the '77 Warriors. As the starting point guard, he was in the drivers' seat more often than not. But then, no player is behind the wheel of the Packard in the team photo, an important, and quite deliberate pose. Warriors coach Al McGuire was nothing if not a basketball artist; his motif was the essence of "team."

Or, as McGuire might have told the story of the photo shoot years later and probably did, the coach had reserved the drivers' seat for himself but left his tux at the drycleaners and had to bench himself for the photo shoot, the sort of thing that McGuire would do. There was something magical about Al McGuire when he told a story, spinning myth and street legend with wisecrack yarn and Manhattan snap.

Up until his death in 2001, when asked who, of all the players he coached, his favorite point guard was, McGuire would get serious and the answer was always the same: Jim Boylan. Sometimes he'd say Boylan was his favorite player, period. Boylan reminded Al of Al.

I came across a great story on the Chicago Bulls website about Jim Boylan and the Bulls after Boylan took over for Scott Skiles last December. What caught my eye was the following quote from Boylan:

“I told the guys that we shouldn’t concentrate so much on winning. Let’s concentrate on letting go of the things we can’t control and free ourselves to be the kind of players we know we are. Live in the moment.”

That quote from Boylan, Bucks fans, is the Al McGuire basketball philosophy to the letter. It was infused throughout the basketball world in the late 1970's and early 1980's when McGuire was on top of that world and players, especially those on Al's home turf in state, were told to just play "in the moment" and forget the scoreboard. The coaches would let you know when to look at the scoreboard and the clock. It was all very mystical and Zen, long before Phil Jackson won championships and wrote "Sacred Hoops." It was very McGuire.

Boylan, at age 52 -- after two college coaching jobs (Michigan State under Jud Heathcote and head coach at New Hampshire) and five jobs as an NBA assistant (including his first with Mike Fratello in Cleveland and two with Skiles, in Phoenix and Chicago) -- is still Al McGuire's point guard.

The Bucks job is Boylan's sixth assistant post in the NBA, reunited for a third run as Skiles' lead assistant. He joins Skiles' most impressive staff to date, with Lionel Hollins from the Memphis Grizzlies, a 20-year NBA assistant and Kelvin Sampson, one of the best college coaches in the game. Rounding out the staff are Kohler's own Joe Wolf, an up-and-climbing NBA coach-in-the-making from the CBA and the D-league; and Bill Peterson, the coach who developed Finley, Nowitzki and Nash in Dallas, and was responsible for Ramon Sessions development last season for the Bucks.

They've have all been "hired" for two weeks or more now (the Bob Boozer Jinx blogs about Skiles and his assistants are archived here.) This is a staff geared to develop its own stars, not to coach somebody else's 2nd or 3rd tier NBA "stars." Boylan's story with the Chicago Bulls offers even more insight. On a Skiles-Boylan team, the ball will move and the tempo will be up in transition. It's been described as an Eastern Conference version of the Phoenix Suns phenomena -- Eastern Conference because, on a Scott Skiles team, defense will be played.

When Skiles left Chicago in Boylan's hands, Boylan sped up the tempo even more, and the Bulls talented point guard, Kirk Hinrich shot less. Sometimes he didn't shoot at all, as though he were channeling Boylan style of point guard play. The Bulls stat hounds ignored the scoreboard and the shooting stats, and instead tracked ball movement and pace like it was religion.

Looking ahead to next season, don't expect overpaid shooting guards to freeze the Bucks offense by palming the ball, holding it with the dribble, then lowering a shoulder into the teeth of the defense with no passing mindset. Sloughing off in transition won't be a good idea, either.

Monday, I'll have a take on Bill Peterson and his development work, and I'm projecting a suprising revelation in the mix. For now, check out some more Jim Boylan in-action photos from J.E. Skeets yahoo blog "Ball Don't Lie." It's true -- Boylan does kind of look like the evil president from "24."

The catcher's crouch:

The "I just might kill Hinrich during this timeout I'm about to call" pose:

One final coaching note: Former Bucks coach Terry Porter (2003-05) is back on what New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey calls the NBA "coaching carousel." The buzz in Phoenix says he's the leading candidate to fill the job Mike D'Antoni vacated last week. Porter, an asssistant with Detroit the past two years, is believed to be the first candidate Suns GM Steve Kerr interviewed for the job, Charles Gardner reported yesterday at JSOnline. Vecsey saw opportunity coming for Porter a month ago in his column, and I swiped Vecsey's crystal ball for a day or two in an early BBJ post.

Bucks fans may never know why then-Bucks GM Slickless Larry Harris rescinded the vote of confidence he gave Porter at the end of the Bucks injury-riddled 2004-05 season. When Bucks owner Herb Kohl fired Harris in March, he told us the firing of Porter was "Larry's decision" -- but then Herb had been labelled a meddler by ESPN's Marc Stein and was on the defensive about that "growing reputation" and perception.

In any case, Porter got a bum shake from an impatient GM who didn't have a plan for building the Bucks. Porter deserved another year, if for no other reason than it is bad policy to treat a hometown hero with such little respect when being a hometown hero is part of the reason Porter got the job in the first place.

Terry's been coaching in Detroit the last couple of years -- under Flip Sanders, one of the coaches Harris supposedly fired Porter to bring to Milwaukee (I've come to doubt that's the real reason Porter was fired) -- which says something about how well-regarded Porter is in NBA coaching circles. Suns GM Kerr is looking to bring a defensive edge to the Suns, and who better than the top assistant in Detroit? Phoenix, with Nash and Stoudamire and Shaq, looks like a good opportunity. It's about time Porter got a second chance to head a team.

Skiles's Bucks staff set - Hollins a coaching coups

J.D. Mo — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:58:00 GMT

With the good fortune he's had in putting together an impressive staff of assistants, Scott Skiles may want to head to the casino. Better yet, Skiles should head for New Jersey May 20 to represent the Bucks in the NBA draft lottery.

Not only did Skiles hire all four of his top choices in less than two weeks, he was lucky that two of them -- Kelvin Sampson and Memphis assistant Lionel Hollins - were available at all. (Consider this one likely reason Skiles has moved so quickly to hire them.)

Tom Enlund yesterday confirmed that, no, Skiles' assistant search hadn't hit any snags, reporting at JSOnline that Jim Boylan, Sampson, Hollins and Joe Wolf are hired. The Bucks are waiting only for the signatures on the contracts. Add to those four Bill Peterson, guru to Ramon Sessions, retained from Larry Krystkowiak's crew, and the Bucks have their new coaching staff.

Boylan was Skiles right hand man in Chicago and took over when Skiles was let go last December. Boylan was canned by the Bulls when the season ended (Bulls GM John Paxson wants a marquee coaching name); it was no surprise that he followed Skiles to Milwaukee.

Wolf has been earning attention as a winning coach in the NBA Development League with the Colorado 14ers (what's a 14er?) and Skiles simply hired Wolf before someone else did. For what it's worth, Wolf comes highly recommended by Denver's George Karl.

Kelvin Sampson, I wrote about last week on the BBJ. Were it not for Sampson's heavily scrutinized ... err, what should his time at Indiana be labelled? Situation, bad career move? -- he wouldn't be in the market for a job, much less a jump to the pros. Stroke of luck #1 for Skiles, who was quick to offer Sampson a job, which Sampson accepted before the end of Skiles' first week. Sampson's been one of the best coaches in the college ranks for about 15 years, and has experience with pro players coaching under George Karl in the 2002 World Championships. After he lost the Indiana job, Sampson joined George Popovich's Spurs bench in San Antonio as a consultant, which sheds some light on how highly regarded Sampson is in coaching circles. A great hire by Skiles.

As lucky as Skiles was that Sampson was in the market, he was even luckier that Lionel Hollins, a 20-year NBA coaching veteran, was ready for a change. Through the 2007-08 season, Hollins had been a Grizzlies coach for every game of the franchise's history, dating back to 1995 when the Grizz were in Vancouver and Bucks great Brian Winters was the team's inaugural head coach. More than any other figure but the mascot, Hollins is Mr. Grizzlie, twice filling in as head coach as other coaches came and went, always retaining his job -- I wonder why Marc Iavaroni and not Hollins is now the head coach in Memphis now?

Prior to going to work for Winters and the Grizz, Hollins was an assistant in Phoenix for seven years (think KJ and Sir Charles), and coached at Arizona State, his alma mater, when his playing days ended in 1985. As a player, Hollins was the point guard on the Bill Walton 1977championship Trailblazers, before moving on to Dr. J's Sixer teams, where he played shooting guard to Mo Cheeks' point.

Into the recesses of time ... Yes, Hollins was on those Philly teams that broke Bucks fans' hearts in the 1981 and 1982 playoffs. Hollins and Winters guarded each other in those playoff matchups, which makes then-Grizzlie GM Stu Jackson and head coach Winters' hiring of Hollins to help coach the expansion Grizzlies interesting, oddly appropriate, even poetic. Da#!! those guys were good, and they could shoot. Those were the last 60-win Bucks teams, but they couldn't beat Philly in the playoffs ...

Back to the present: In most any other offseason, like so many before, Hollins would not be looking to change jobs. Stroke of luck #2 for Skiles, who again acted quickly in offering Hollins a position. Perfect timing.

Why was this year different? For a good chunk of the Grizzlies season, Marc Iavaroni (another guy on those Sixers team the Bucks couldn't beat in the early 1980's), the coach/GM in Memphis was on the hot seat. First, Iavaroni stepped down from his GM duties, and rumors were flying that the team owner was dancing with Larry Brown, and that Brown was interested in becoming the new coach/GM. Look what's happened in the last three weeks:

Week #1 - Larry Krystkowiak is fired in Milwaukee, Skiles is hired to replace him four days later, and is somehow aware that Hollins might be available. Skiles immediately offers Hollins a job.

Week #2 - Larry Brown is hired by Michael Jordan to coach the Charlotte Hornets, removing him from the Grizz's picture (Memphis owner Michael Heisley denies Brown was ever in the picture, but I wouldn't believe him). By week's end, Iavaroni had kept his job as Grizzlies coach after a tense meeting with Heisley. With Skiles' job offer to Hollins pending, there's still no word on whether Hollins has accepted (Boylan and Sampson were already on board).

Week #3 - Still no word on Hollins (or Wolf) until Enlund's story yesterday, leading to speculation (on my part at least) that maybe Hollins had decided to stay in Memphis. Lucky for the Bucks, Skiles and Bucks fans, this was not the case. I'm speculating that if Skiles had wasted any time in offering Hollins a job, Hollins would still be an assistant in Memphis, working with Iavaroni to rebuild after the Pau Gasol trade.

Beyond the overall experience that Hollins' four decades in the NBA brings, the important thing about Hollins for the Bucks is the type of player he coached with the Grizzlies. Because the Grizz are a young franchise, much of Hollins work has been with lottery-drafted young players. The Grizzlies coaches have never had an established, veteran star, working instead to compete by developing and establishing their own: Sharif Abdur-Rahim, Gasol, Mike Miller, and now Rudy Gay. Hollins also helped develop Mike Bibby into a quality, playoffs point guard, before the Grizz shipped him to Sacremento for Jason Williams in 2001 (a point guard swap that never made any sense to me, and didn't really improve either team all that much).

Here's that Grizzlies basketball-reference.com link again. Memphis was a 50-win team not so long ago.

Considering where the Bucks find themselves -- with a rookie point guard and young talent like Yi, Bogut and, yes, Charlie Villanueva too, and looking to commit the team focus toward developing these players -- How is Lionel Hollins not the perfect assistant coach for the Bucks? Of the five assistants, Hollins is Skiles' coups de grace.

What I haven't been able to figure out is what Skiles' connection to Hollins is? They haven't worked together before (Hollins preceded Skiles in Phoenix in the 1990's). Does there have to be a connection? I would think so, considering that Hollins is leaving a franchise where he worked for 13 years.

Does anybody have the goods on Skiles-Hollins? The comment part of this blog does, in fact, work.

Skiles' assistant hires point to Bucks rebuilding

J.D. Mo — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:10:00 GMT

One of the many big criticisms of the Bucks has been that the organization couldn't decide whether to rebuild or try to win now, so they tried to do both. The results were mediocre, leading to poor, finally colliding this season with terrible -- and Michael Redd's delusion that he is Kobe, Charlie Villanueva's insistence that he is a star, and Mo Williams' attitude that, because he can routinely get himself better shots than the two aforementioned dummies, he might as well shoot it. Fighting through all of this was the development of Andrew Bogut, Yi Jianlian and, once the season was over, Ramon Sessions.

Thankfully, those days appear to be over in Milwaukee. GM John Hammond has hired a coach, Scott Skiles, who proved he can win with young players in Chicago. Now the coach is hiring his staff. Thus far, it is a group wired to develop its own NBA stars, not coach somebody else's.

Nothing's official yet, but as of this week, Jim Boylan and Kelvin Sampson are on board as Skiles' assistants. Skiles announced last week that Bill Peterson, Larry Krystkowiak's player development coach who worked extensively with rookie Ramon Sessions, will stay on.

No word yet on Skiles other top choices for assistants, Memphis assistant Lionel Hollins and Kohler's own Joe Wolf, NBA D-League coach and a Buck for a season in the 1990's. Skiles said his staff would be the typical three assistants on the bench with a development coach behind them.

With Peterson in the development job, it could mean that either Wolf or Hollins is out of the picture, or both. In the last few days, the situation in Memphis changed and Hollins still has his job, now that head coach Marc Iavaroni has kept his. (Memphis had been in the Larry Brown sweepstakes, and when Brown went to the Charlotte Bobcats, the rebuilding Grizz settled on Iavaroni.)

Skiles also said that he expected to have his coaches hired by this week, so the new staff could be finalized any day now.

What do Skiles top choices say about the direction the team is heading? The bent is clearly toward development of younger players (Peterson, Sampson and Wolf) and extreme dedication to ball movement and smart guard play (Skiles, Hollins and Boylan played the point; ball movement was religion for Skiles' Baby Bulls). It's about time.

Jim Boylan, who took over from Skiles in Chicago this season and was let go two weeks ago, is simply the obvious choice to be Skiles' lead assistant in Milwaukee. Boylan was Skiles' lead in Chicago and on Skiles' staff in Phoenix, and as a bonus for Marquette alums and 40-plus fans, Boylan was Al McGuire's starting point guard on the 1977 NCAA championship team -- and he's still Al's point guard, teaching players to "live in the moment." The Zen approach should go over well with Yi, whose personal coach, Jarinn Akana, was not retained by Skiles.

Bill Peterson was the player development coach in Dallas (1998-2000), the early years of Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Steve Nash. That worked out well, to say the least. Last season, Peterson won rave reviews from Krystkowiak and was credited with the late season splash Ramon Sessions made at the point. Skiles' decision to retain Peterson is great news for Sessions, whom the Bucks have some high hopes for (more on that in a separate post). Retaining Peterson should be taken as a sign that not only will Sessions will be a Buck next season, he is, right now, the starting point guard. Sorry Mo, you've lost the job.

With all that has been said and written about what happened at Kelvin Sampson's previous job, Sampson has been one of the best coaches in the college game for more than a decade. In the 2008 NBA draft, Sampson's shooting guard, Eric Gordon, is slated as a top 10 draft pick - on many boards the player the Bucks would take with the 7th pick if that holds; Sampson's big forward DJ White, is projected going early in the second round. Both players jumped into the draft after Sampson lost his job, something of a players' endorsement. There's no question Sampson brings to the Bucks coaching skills geared toward young, developing players. And Sampson's not the only college coach Skiles was interested in hiring - ESPN reported that Skiles was also looking at New Mexico assistant Craig Neal.

The book on Joe Wolf, head coach and GM of the NBA D-League Colorado 14ers the last two years, is that he is set to get a shot as an assistant in the NBA soon, whether in Milwaukee or elsewhere. Wolf's been winning in the D-League, and his 14ers are led by one of the D-League's best players, Elton Brown. But winning isn't the only thing in the D-League, where the "D" in development is capitalized. By all accounts, Wolf's doing a great job, and one former player, Nuggets guard Von Wafer, raves that Wolf saved his career. Wolf as a coach has been flying under George Karl's wing, and would probably do well to get broader experience. Any way one looks at Wolf, his appearance as one of Skiles' top candidates is a nod to player development.

Lionel Hollins is Mr. Grizzlie. He's been coaching on the Memphis bench since the franchise began in Vancouver (with Bucks great Brian Winters as its first head coach), and twice held the head coaching reins for the Griz. Prior to the Grizzlies, Hollins was an assistant in Phoenix for seven years, including the Suns' Kevin Johnson and Charles Barkley years. Hiring a coach with the experience of Hollins would have been a great coups for Skiles, but probably depended on whether or not Iavaroni and the Memphis staff would be retained.

With every player on the Bucks roster with the exception of Bogut and Yi on the trading block, the coaching selections do offer some insight into how the Bucks are likely looking at their team.

The Peterson hire means the world for Sessions; it's also no good for Mo Williams or Michael Redd (who quit down the stretch). Because Peterson was only in his first year under Krystkowiak, he's not wed to players like Mo, Simmons or Redd.
Sampson's hiring is about as pro youth as Skiles could get. Sampson does have experience dealing with NBA stars, as a coach under George Karl in the 2002 World Championships, but it's not his skill set. The Bucks have a good draft pick this year, along with a developing Yi (who could benefit from NCAA coaching-style), Sessions and Bogut. Expect the Bucks to get younger to take advantage of Sampson's presence.
No assistant choice of Skiles shouts - "This is good for Michael Redd; this coach will understand where Redd is coming from." That coach is just not there, unless it can be found in Boylan's ability to communicate with players as Skiles' right hand man. The focus of the team is shifting overtly toward developing players, not catering to second/third tier "stars." If a decent deal for Redd comes along this summer, especially if there are young players or draft picks involved, expect GM Hammond to jump at it.
Expect the Bucks to get younger, rather than look for veteran help or stars in trades. Again, as a group, Skiles' coaching choices are wired to develop their own stars rather than coach somebody else's. Next year will likely be a year for development and improvement, not a year to push for the playoffs.
This has become a long post; time to wrap it up.