Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Lionel Hollins

Bucks Weekend: Bogut out 2-4 weeks; Redd to return "soon" ... Monday? No. ... Maybe Wednesday ...

J.D. Mo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:04:00 GMT

Bucks 95, Charlotte Bobcats 88 Bucks (7-3) @ Memphis Grizzlies (4-8), 7:00pm Sat., FSW The question going into this weekend wasn't "how" or "whether" Michael Redd would fit in once he came back from his latest dunking attempt injury...(read more)

Bucks Weekend: Hollins to coach Grizzlies... Atlanta Hawks make a point... Nude photos of Peter Vecsey

J.D. Mo — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:13:00 GMT

Bucks (21-24) @ Atlanta Hawks (25-16), 6:30pm Friday, FSN

Bucks vs. Sacramento Kings (10-33), 7:30pm Saturday @ Bradley Center

The Memphis Grizzlies, 11-30 and losers of 15 out of 17 games, fired coach Mark Iavaroni Thursday. As a result, the Bucks could well lose assistant Lionel Hollins, who sources say will take over for Memphis sometime this weekend.

Until last summer, Hollins had coached the Grizzlies in one capacity or another since the team's 1995-96 inaugural season under Bucks great Brian Winters. Hollins was Iavaroni's lead assistant, but left to join Scott Skiles' staff in Milwaukee as Grizzlies management was deciding whether or not Iavaroni would be back this year.

One might wonder why Memphis didn't just hire Hollins as head coach last spring instead of giving Iavaroni another chance; or whether giving Iavaroni another chance led to Hollins' departure. I did at the time, and thought it was a lucky break for Skiles and the Bucks that Hollins was ready to leave the Grizzlies after 13 years. In most any other offseason, Hollins wouldn't have been available.

Hollins has twice served as head coach of the Grizzlies, once as interim coach in 2000 and for four games in the 2004-05 season after Hubie Brown resigned.

Word of Hollins' hiring is being reported by Memphis Edge, the daily Commercial Appeal's website. For the past couple of weeks, the Edge has been trying to figure out why the Bucks aren't interested in trading Ramon Sessions and Joe Alexander to the Grizzlies for reserve point guard Mike Conley, the disappointing #4 pick in the 2007 draft. (Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out why so many Bucks fans assumed the Bucks were interested just because folks in Memphis thought it would be a great deal for the Grizzlies).

The Edge/Commercial Appeal wasn't so good at making trades, but Hollins returning to Memphis does make a lot of sense. According to the "team insider" cited by the Edge, Hollins "plans to bring with him as assistants former Philadelphia head coach Maurice Cheeks and former Los Angeles Clippers coach Barry Hecker." ... Griz assistant coach Johnny Davis will take over temporarily until Hollins can join the team next week.

Just hearing the names Hollins and Cheeks together again brings back painful memories of the classic seven-game East semifinals series between the Bucks-Sixers in 1981. And the six-game series in 1982. Cheeks and Hollins were the starting backcourt on those Philly teams. Having Iavaroni in this stroy invokes 1983 all over again and Fo-Fo-Fo Sixers, though Hollins wasn't on that Philly team the Bucks couldn't beat.

Will we be hearing soon that Chocalate Thunder (Darryl Dawkins) is getting a job in Memphis?

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No Bogut this weekend: There's nothing new on whether Andrew Bogut has recovered from his back problems, so the last report about him missing this entire weekend still stands. That's too bad because he dominated Al Horford and ex-Buck Zaza Pachulia last season in four games.

Bogut's 2007-08 vs. Hawks: 21.8 ppg on 61% shooting; 10 rpg - 4 offensive boards per; 3.8 blocks/g; 1.8 apg; 1.3 steals/g and 2.5 turnovers/g in 35.5 mins/g ...

That's a lot of damage. The Bucks and Hawks split those games. The Hawks slipped into the 8th playoff spot in the East with just 34 wins on the season.

This season, the Bucks lost in Atlanta without Bogut, who missed the game after mashing his knee taking a charge against Dwight Howard in Orlando. They were also without Redd but nearly pulled out a win, as Ramon Sessions led a late rally that had the Bucks within three in the final minutes. Sessions had 21 pts and 8 assists; Richard Jefferson 25 in 43 minutes, and Charlie Villanueva contributed 19. Joe Alexander had one of his better outings with 8 points. The Bucks lost 102-96.

In Bogut's absence, Al Horford went off for 21 points on 9-12 shooting.

Horford is questionable to play Friday with a bone bruise in his right knee. Also, Marvin Williams, the Hawks starting small forward (and #2 pick behind Bogut in the 2005 draft) suffered a concussion earlier this week, may sit out. The Hawks beat the Bulls in Chicago Wednesday 105-102 without either player.

This should be interesting. The Hawks got out to an 8-0 start but then lost PF Josh Smith for 12 games, and one of those was the Bucks game. They were struggling without Smith's defense and inside scoring, and had lost 5 straight before beating the Bucks. Also, the Bucks perimeter defense was a lot better than it is now that Redd is back and Charlie Bell limited due to injuries. Point guard Mike Bibby and All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson had subpar shooting nights the first meeting - I wouldn't expect a repeat performance tonight from the Hawks guards.

The Hawks are 19-10 with Smith and very tough at home. They are 6-6 without Smith. And the Bucks? After scorching the nets versus Dallas, who's to say which Bucks team will show up. Scott Skiles would do well to remember how well Sessions played against Bibby back in November. It might make the difference, just as it did against Dallas.

Pissing off Bucks fans everywhere: It's Peter Vecsey of the New York Post in a column today, featuring rising NBA center Andrew Bynum (wrong AB, Peter) and suggesting that the Bucks with Michael Redd are a team entrenched with vultures circling above looking for an easy trade. Appreciate the sentiment, Pete, but I don't think making fun of John Hammond and your "deep dish" inside source is really all that helpful. Make yourself youseful, will ya, and go outside and look for the Cash Cab or something.

For an inside view of the Bucks bunkered down, entrenched mentality, check out this weekend's Gery Woelfel column. It was kinda funny until the Atlanta debacle, which wasn't funny at all.

"We didn't show up -- in any facet of the game," Skiles said after the 117-87 loss. That's troubling. The Bucks simply could not defend and had nothing going offensively outside of Charlie Villanueva, who had 27 points.

One conclusion that can be drawn here is that the Bucks could well be a more competitive team with Charlie Bell and Ramon Sessions splitting minutes that are now going to Michael Redd. I'm going to qualify that by saying this may not be true every night, every game, depending on the opponent. But against the Atlanta Hawks, what the Bucks bring as a starting guard tandem -- Luke Ridnour and Michael Redd -- is not good enough. They don't play enough defense to have an effect on Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson, a likely All-Star this season, and they don't produce enough offense most nights to make up for. The Bucks were better off playing Bell and Sessions in the first meeting.

Bell didn't show up in Atlanta either but he was excused, staying in Milwaukee with Bogut to get more treatment on his bum ankle. Bell and Bogut will also miss tonight's game against the Kings.

The Atlanta debacle should tell John Hammond that his team's chances of making the playoffs aren't necessarily improved by keeping Redd. Trading him by the Feb. 19 deadline is not the white flag (that's the entrenched mentality Vecsey was referring to) that some in the Bucks organization believe it would be -- If Charlie can get healthy enough to go 30 minutes or more per game.

With the up and down Bucks, conclusions have been difficult to come by, but this one's going to stick. Bookend the Hawks game with the Pistons game at home after X-mas (the game Skiles benched the starters) and I see a 7-9 team that doesn't play Scott Skiles basketball and will not be able to pay a 15-man roster under the luxury tax next season unless some serious cap space is cleared.

Bucks vs. Kings tonight: Tip-off's in a couple of hours, and this game is now a must-win for the 21-25 Bucks against a Western Conference doormat, as is Monday's game at the BC against the T-Wolves. A win won't make up for the pathetic showing in Atlanta or save this Bucks weekend, especially if it's a repeat of the game in Sacramento last weekend. In that game, the Redd-ites got into a shootout with the lowly Kings and nearly blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead. Let's see if the Scott Skiles Bucks show up tonight instead.

Bogut to return Monday? It looks Bogut may be ready to suit up Monday, but don't expect him in the starting lineup. It's acknowledged now that the Bucks brought their center back too fast last time by taking him on a Minneapolis-Washington D.C. road trip and giving him 30+ minutes right away.

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.