For a team like the Nets, there isn't much difference. They need a seasoned coach with a strong personality who can impose his will and system on their stitched-together roster. Someone like Doc Rivers. They have a couple of years, max, to make a Finals run and can't afford any on-the-job training. I don't think a first-time head coach of any background is the best choice for them.
I mean at least the Nets have a lot of cap flexibility to help upgrade the roster to help J Kidd out, right?
Big difference with Kidd is that Mark Jackson sat with JVG for years while at ESPN, so he got to pick JVG's brain and gain knowledge by dissecting the game. I believe Doc Rivers never had coaching experience like Jackson and he gained a lot by calling games from TNT. In Kidd's case, similar to Drexler except Kidd is coaching NBA right after he retired. Drexler went to UH after his career was over. I don't know how Kidd is going to do, but I know for sure it is still a player's league. If a player speaks up, coach gone.
I really don't think these guys learn anything calling games with former coaches. There is so much more to being a coach than in-game insight. The end of Jackson's career was almost like an internship under JVG. I imagine that's when he learned a lot. Guys like Cassell and Shaw did similar internships.
Playmakers like Kidd call the shots, direct teammates on the floor anyway. They're pseudo coaches during their careers.
Took Kidd 9 days from retiring to become a coach. He switched teams, retired and became a coach...all before Derrick Rose came back.
Kidd did work his way up - he spent something like 15-20 years working under the head coach, and now he's been promoted to that position. That's exactly how it happens in most jobs out there. There's no reason "assistant coach" is a necessary middle step - it's not like they got him off the street.
I could be wrong because I have never been an NBA player. But I believe being a player is very different from being an assistant coach. You are saying that just because someone has been a student his whole life, he has enough experience for being a teacher because he has watched teachers teach for years.
And being a head coach is very different from being an assistant coach. Nobody has the experience of the job they are seeking until they've held it. They certainly could, if they have the right skill set, knowledge, temperment, etc. I'd certainly rather have a teacher who's been a student than one that hadn't been in that position before. And I certainly wouldn't eliminate them from being hired as a teacher just because they hadn't been one before.
Bottom line is that you know that none of the retread coaches out there are homeruns. If they were, they wouldn't have been fired in the first place. So you can either get someone who you know is good but probably not great, or you can take a chance on someone who could be great (whether an assistant or someone else). Whoever you pick in that latter category, you're taking a chance because they've never been in that position before. Hotshot asst coaches fail all the time - the job just isn't the same as a head coaching role.
Time as an assistant coach is better preparation for being a head coach than playing. But like you say, regardless of background, some guys just aren't cut out for the top position. Because Kidd has no experience as a coach in any capacity, Nets are definitely taking a big chance here. I look forward to the on-the-job-training.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Coach Kidd's first huddle. <a href="http://t.co/dcV4EU21yp">pic.twitter.com/dcV4EU21yp</a></p>— Billy King (@bkdefend) <a href="https://twitter.com/bkdefend/statuses/352427056316952576">July 3, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The Nets are playing Hack-a-Drummond in summer league. Sports writers groaning on press row.</p>— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) <a href="https://twitter.com/andy_vasquez/statuses/354020363014897664">July 7, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>So, Jason Kidd got a technical foul. In a summer league game. His response to the ref: "Are you serious?"</p>— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) <a href="https://twitter.com/andy_vasquez/statuses/354021064189288450">July 7, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hack-A-Drummond and a got a tech. Someone tell Coach Kidd the W's in Summer League don't count for his record haha
I'm curious as to whether old time vets like KG and the Truth will give Kidd the respect that players should give a head coach since they might still view him as a peer vs their coach. I'm sure at first they'll be listen, but it's when things turn ugly (losing streaks, being subbed out, etc) that people show their true characters.
