10. Casey's contract is up
Nobody wants to pay someone to sit at home. With a team option after this season, both parties can part ways with little to no animosity. Relationships matter in the NBA.
9. Time to change perspective
Toronto has always been perceived and had a reputation as a 2nd class franchise in the NBA. Since Leiweke has come on board, a major focus has been changing that league wide perception and reputation. First Masai was brought in. Then Masai brought in Weltman (who was assistant GM in Milwaukee), then he brought in Bobby Webster (cap guru who worked for NBA league office and turned down numerous NBA franchise opportunities before accepting Masai's to come to Toronto) and Teresa Resch (another NBA league office poaching). As Masai continues to build a dream team both on and off the court, an elite coach working the sidelines seems like the next step (sorry Dwane, you're not elite). Toronto has been notorious for going cheap or inexperienced on NBA head coaches with one exception: Lenny Wilkens. Problem with Lenny was he was at the tail end of his career. Ollie is just 42 and looking to create a legacy not collect a pay cheque and ride off in to the sunset. His hiring will help bring instant credibility the Raptors have always seemed to be lacking - even over these last two 48, 49 win playoff bound seasons.
8. Money
MLSE has a lot of it. That is a good thing because you're going to need it. Ollie already is on a 5 year, $15M contract but with the recent hirings of Hoiberg and Donovan, 5 years and $25M seems to be a starting point for top college coaches making the leap to the pros. In the grand scheme of things, not much. I recommend 5 years and $30M to let him know you're serious.
7. Buyout
After this upcoming season, his buyout drops to a 'mere' $1M. Maybe making that contract offer of 5 years and $31M?
Apparently his $4-5M buyout was major obstacle and nonstarter for OKC.
6. Anti-Casey
Have you ever praised Dwane Casey for the following?
*this was taken/modified from here. They summarized this article: What makes Kevin Ollie a great coach.
5. NBA pedigree
13 seasons.
12 teams.
He knows the league and has experienced it from just about every imaginable angle.
He is widely regarded as an extremely intelligent player and coach. He runs many typical pro sets at the college level. He mainly plays man-to-man defense but has the ability to switch up zones when opportunities arise or circumstances dictate.
4. Still relatively young
Played until he was 37 years old. Just 42 years old now. Still able to relate to NBA players - this was apparently a reason behind the Raptors hiring of Jerry Stackhouse for upcoming season.
3. Durant
I'll let the man speak for himself:
You think Durant would want to play for Ollie as a coach? Ummmm. Yes?
2. leadership and culture
From John Calipari:
Raptors draft pick DeAndre Daniels:
Kevin Ollie:
1. Shares many of the same values as Ujiri
It was reported (Doug Smith, I think?) that Masai looked in to Tom Thibodeau when he was on the rocks with Chicago but did not like what he found. Fitting the culture and working well with the team (on and off the court) are important to Ujiri (my opinion surmised from reading years of interviews with him).
Lets play a game! Read each of the quotes and guess: Ujiri or Ollie?
*All quotes came from here: http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-...nse-story.html
Answers: All quotes are Ollie. But it is not hard to imagine those words coming from Ujiri.
Bonus reading: UConn profile of Ollie: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m...ie_710489.html
Nobody wants to pay someone to sit at home. With a team option after this season, both parties can part ways with little to no animosity. Relationships matter in the NBA.
9. Time to change perspective
Toronto has always been perceived and had a reputation as a 2nd class franchise in the NBA. Since Leiweke has come on board, a major focus has been changing that league wide perception and reputation. First Masai was brought in. Then Masai brought in Weltman (who was assistant GM in Milwaukee), then he brought in Bobby Webster (cap guru who worked for NBA league office and turned down numerous NBA franchise opportunities before accepting Masai's to come to Toronto) and Teresa Resch (another NBA league office poaching). As Masai continues to build a dream team both on and off the court, an elite coach working the sidelines seems like the next step (sorry Dwane, you're not elite). Toronto has been notorious for going cheap or inexperienced on NBA head coaches with one exception: Lenny Wilkens. Problem with Lenny was he was at the tail end of his career. Ollie is just 42 and looking to create a legacy not collect a pay cheque and ride off in to the sunset. His hiring will help bring instant credibility the Raptors have always seemed to be lacking - even over these last two 48, 49 win playoff bound seasons.
8. Money
MLSE has a lot of it. That is a good thing because you're going to need it. Ollie already is on a 5 year, $15M contract but with the recent hirings of Hoiberg and Donovan, 5 years and $25M seems to be a starting point for top college coaches making the leap to the pros. In the grand scheme of things, not much. I recommend 5 years and $30M to let him know you're serious.
7. Buyout
BUYOUT: If the Coach accepts a position as a Head Coach of men's basketball at an NCAA Division I institution, the following will be due to the University from the Coach: $5,000,000 in 2014-15; $4,000,000 in 2015-16; $3,000,000 in 2016-17; $2,000,000 in 2017-18 and 2018-19. If the Coach accepts a position as a Head Coach or Assistant Coach in the NBA, the following will be due to the University from the Coach: $5,000,000 in 2014-15; $4,000,000 in 2015-16; $1,000,000 in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m...052214aab.html
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m...052214aab.html
Apparently his $4-5M buyout was major obstacle and nonstarter for OKC.
6. Anti-Casey
Have you ever praised Dwane Casey for the following?
- fantastic substitution patterns?
- Excellent in game execution?
- Calling of timeouts at perfect times?
- An ability to dictate and expolit matchups?
- Being able to predict what happens next?
*this was taken/modified from here. They summarized this article: What makes Kevin Ollie a great coach.
5. NBA pedigree
13 seasons.
12 teams.
He knows the league and has experienced it from just about every imaginable angle.
He is widely regarded as an extremely intelligent player and coach. He runs many typical pro sets at the college level. He mainly plays man-to-man defense but has the ability to switch up zones when opportunities arise or circumstances dictate.
4. Still relatively young
Played until he was 37 years old. Just 42 years old now. Still able to relate to NBA players - this was apparently a reason behind the Raptors hiring of Jerry Stackhouse for upcoming season.
3. Durant
I'll let the man speak for himself:
According to Durant, if it wasn’t for a former Sixer, the Thunder might not be in the position they’re in.
“Kevin Ollie, he was a game-changer for us,” Durant told ESPN’s Bill Simmons on the B.S. Report during All-Star weekend. Ollie only spent 25 games with the Thunder (after a short run some years earlier with the Sonics), playing a total of 263 minutes and scoring 44 points. Whatever it was, Ollie made an impression on Durant and the rest of the team. “He changed the whole culture, I think. He might not say it, but I think he changed the whole culture in Oklahoma City.”
Simmons asked Durant within the context of veteran leadership, and what point guard Derek Fisher has added to the Thunder.
The Thunder were 23-59 in the season prior to Ollie’s arrival, then jumped to 50-32 the following season, the team’s second in Oklahoma City after moving from Seattle.
“[Ollie’s] mindset, his professionalism, every single day. And we all watched that, we all wanted to be like that, and it rubbed off on Russell [Westbrook], myself, Jeff Green, James Harden. And you know, everybody that comes through now, there’s a standard you’ve got to live up to as a Thunder player. And that started with Kevin Ollie.”
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...-winning-ways/
“Kevin Ollie, he was a game-changer for us,” Durant told ESPN’s Bill Simmons on the B.S. Report during All-Star weekend. Ollie only spent 25 games with the Thunder (after a short run some years earlier with the Sonics), playing a total of 263 minutes and scoring 44 points. Whatever it was, Ollie made an impression on Durant and the rest of the team. “He changed the whole culture, I think. He might not say it, but I think he changed the whole culture in Oklahoma City.”
Simmons asked Durant within the context of veteran leadership, and what point guard Derek Fisher has added to the Thunder.
The Thunder were 23-59 in the season prior to Ollie’s arrival, then jumped to 50-32 the following season, the team’s second in Oklahoma City after moving from Seattle.
“[Ollie’s] mindset, his professionalism, every single day. And we all watched that, we all wanted to be like that, and it rubbed off on Russell [Westbrook], myself, Jeff Green, James Harden. And you know, everybody that comes through now, there’s a standard you’ve got to live up to as a Thunder player. And that started with Kevin Ollie.”
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...-winning-ways/
2. leadership and culture
From John Calipari:
"You know what he was doing while he was playing?" Kentucky coach John Calipari asked Sunday. "He was coaching. That's how he played. He was an unbelievable student of the game."
http://collegebasketball.ap.org/arti...s-it-all-uconn
http://collegebasketball.ap.org/arti...s-it-all-uconn
Daniels said Ollie is "like one of us. He's like one of our teammates. He's always joking around and playing around with us every day in practice, and I mean he just cares for everybody in this locker room and loves each and every one, and everybody loves him on this team. It's just amazing to have him as a coach. He's just phenomenal."
http://collegebasketball.ap.org/arti...s-it-all-uconn
http://collegebasketball.ap.org/arti...s-it-all-uconn
"As I embark on this journey, I want to say we're going to take the stairs and not the escalator," Ollie said on Sept. 13 at Gampel Pavilion. "The escalator's for cowards. We're going to take the stairs. It's going to be … one … step … at a time and we're going to get there."
http://stholeary.blogspot.ca/2013/11...love-with.html
http://stholeary.blogspot.ca/2013/11...love-with.html
1. Shares many of the same values as Ujiri
It was reported (Doug Smith, I think?) that Masai looked in to Tom Thibodeau when he was on the rocks with Chicago but did not like what he found. Fitting the culture and working well with the team (on and off the court) are important to Ujiri (my opinion surmised from reading years of interviews with him).
Lets play a game! Read each of the quotes and guess: Ujiri or Ollie?
They’re playing aggressive - they don’t have a choice in the matter. They have to play one way. What we want them to do is contest on defense and punch on offense. “
“We’re going to have good chemistry. That’s what we work on first and foremost. Have good chemistry and everything falls into place behind that. Build them from the neck up and then we’ll take care of the neck down.
First we’ve got to build mental toughness. They’ve got to have mental toughness, because that’s what it takes to become a champion. We want to win championships every day. Everyone wants to think about the end goal,. But I want to win championships every day and if we can do that, we’ll be where we need to be at the end of the season.
I have an obsession with improving and hopefully they have the same obsession.
Our motto is ‘Prepare hard and play hard.’
.....being tough, being prepared, being able to make adjustments. Building team that has a lot of chemistry. My job is to love the team, their job is to love each other, if they can do that, be able to challenge each other and not take it personal because it’s for the good of the team, then we’ll have a good team, we have enough talent in there. But it takes more than talent; it takes a lot of character.”
*All quotes came from here: http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-...nse-story.html
Answers: All quotes are Ollie. But it is not hard to imagine those words coming from Ujiri.
Bonus reading: UConn profile of Ollie: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m...ie_710489.html
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