Shams: Spurs Hiring Mavs Assistant Coach Sean Sweeney as New Associate Head Coach

[BatManu20]

Mitch already on the hot seat tbh. Great hire though. This guy has interviewed for multiple NBA HC positions already. Will be a good addition to the sidelines tbh.

1936889916509594053

[Ice009]

I was just reading about him earlier today wondering if the Spurs are still trying to get him. What an awesome surprise he got hired. I'm actually kind of excited now with the coaching staff.

Wow. Didn't even read the tweet before posting. Associate head coach. Congrats.

[LeBowen]

Good stuff.
Can't really remember who was really high on him, but there were a lot of posts.
Hopefully someone can provide a more detailed insight on this guy.

[RC_Drunkford]

Huge W. That's the dude who developed Giannis

[scott]

Nice

[BatManu20]

1936890824354369894

[Spurs Brazil]

Brown gone?

Noyes was on the bench after Pop stroke. Maybe he’ll be back behind the bench and Williamson will replace him on the bench.

[spursistan]

Fantastic hire. Been reading some great reviews articles about this guy especially his development work with Giannis.

Spurs suddenly have a great, young, forward-thinking coaching staff. Good to see..

[BatManu20]

Mavs fans on Twitter not happy at all about this. I'll take that as a dub. Nice work PATFO. :tu

[Ice009]

Teams are really not worried about dropping stuff before game 7 of the finals ;). I wonder what kind of anxiety OKC and Indiana would have going into that game. Like someone mentioned, the Houston trade has to weigh on OKC's mind and put pressure on them to win as it may not be as easy as they were thinking to get back there.

Does that mean the Mavs might not want to trade with the Spurs now that we poached one of their best coaches?

[LeBowen]

Smart decision by him.
Either Spurs do well and he gets offers to be the head coach somewhere else or Mitch fails and he's the first in line to replace him.

Hopefully he can fix the defense.


Teams are really not worried about dropping stuff before game 7 of the finals ;). I wonder what kind of anxiety OKC and Indiana would have going into that game. Like someone mentioned, the Houston trade has to weigh on OKC's mind and put pressure on them to win as it may not be as easy as they were thinking to get back there.

I doubt Thunder/Pacers players and coaches are scrolling twitter on G7 gameday.

[TD 21]

I realize it's an elevated role, but after years of being poached, it's still weird to see a coveted name come here.

Can't wait for him to receive the majority of the credit for their improvement next season, notably from his mouthpiece/ass kisser MacMahon.

[RC_Drunkford]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/


“Sweeney?!” Antetokounmpo exclaimed with his trademark smile. “I love that dude. My relationship with Sweeney, it’s more than basketball. He’s one of my best friends.” (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/) (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)
(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)
(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)“The killer mentality — he definitely helped me with that,” Antetokounmpo said. “It definitely comes from me and my family and the way I grew up, but having Coach Sweeney for those years, he really helped me as a player and as a person off the court. (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)“Some of the elite players in this league — Blake Griffin, (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)Andre Drummond (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/nba/player/andre-drummond-EMAr6CqGO9tooNht/) — all those guys have a relationship with Sweeney, right? So, they need to make sure Sweeney knows what he’s talking about. And that’s the one thing (that initially connected us): I always felt like he knew what he was talking about. He is a fan of the game so much.” (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)

(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)

(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)
(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)“Immediately, you notice that he’s just a basketball guy, through and through,” Griffin told The Athletic. “But what I think he does really, really well is he teaches the game. In our film breakdowns, he does as good, or better, than any coach I’ve ever had, as far as progressing through a film clip, asking guys questions, and making sure guys are engaged and involved throughout the whole film sessions. Also, he does a really good job of setting a game plan and having grounded principles.”


Antetokounmpo, Griffin and Drummond all pointed to Sweeney’s communication skills as the reason he’s so revered. He’s not afraid to tell you what you need to hear, as opposed to what you want to hear. That couldn’t have been more evident than last season, when he and Antetokounmpo got into a public “hold me back” moment after Sweeney was clearly displeased with something the face of the franchise did, or didn’t do, on the floor. The two were separated by players and coaches. The next day, though, Antetokounmpo referred to Sweeney as one of his “brothers” and said that those types of spats are the norm when you have such a close-knit relationship with someone.

“He’s not afraid to say what he has to say,” Drummond said. “Usually, when he says something, it’s to help you out. He’s a very vocal guy when it comes to the defensive side of the floor, and he’s just a really great guy to be around.” (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/) (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)
(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)
(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)

(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)
(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)“He worked as hard as I worked,” Antetokounmpo said. “Just seeing a coach do that, it’s easy to trust in him, communicate with him. It’s easy to listen to him. All of these top guys — Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond — are some of the top players in the world. So if a coach comes in, they have to know what they’re talking about (around these guys).”

“He’s a smart guy, real smart guy,” Drummond said. “He knows the game well, especially defensive schemes. He knows how to get the best out of all of his guys.” (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)
(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/696929/2018/12/07/how-the-assistant-coach-who-helped-turn-the-greek-freak-into-a-killer-is-impressing-blake-griffin-and-andre-drummond/)

[Truckules]

From what I've read, he's more of a defensive-minded coach which should be a nice counterpart to Mitch's more offensive-minded sensibilities. Seems like a really good hire to me.

[BatManu20]

Coaches both sides of the ball, but Sweeney is apparently a Defensive maestro. Really improved the Mavs on that end over the past few years according to their fans. Good stuff.

[Ditty]

Hopefully Sydney Sweeney is a big fan!

Nice hire! MJ building a great staff! I wonder if he kicked Brett Brown to the curb with Sweeney, Williamson and Neilsen.

[BatManu20]

So glad we got a young, coveted, up-and-coming Coach to be Mitch's right-hand man instead of an old retread like Brown or Bud. This is the way tbh.

[Mr. Body]

Wow, we've become the Klutch team.

[spursistan]

I realize it's an elevated role, but after years of being poached, it's still weird to see a coveted name come here.

Can't wait for him to receive the majority of the credit for their improvement next season, notably from his mouthpiece/ass kisser MacMahon.
It's the Wemby effect, TD. Everyone is hopping on this gravy train: massive visibility with potential Spurs team success = springboard to future Head Coaching opportunities.

[scottspurs]

Spurs hired two of the hottest defensive assistants in the NBA with Big Nasty Corliss Williamson and now Sean Sweeney. Massive W! Mitch showed he is very capable of coaching offense and now he surrounds himself with some good defensive coordinators.

[SpursFan86]

Wasn’t super familiar with Sweeney but seems to be a really nice pickup for us based on what I’m seeing, so…great! Glad to have him, and I agree with the sentiments of being happy we’re trending younger rather than older with the recent coaching hires.

[spursistan]

Coaches both sides of the ball, but Sweeney is apparently a Defensive maestro. Really improved the Mavs on that end over the past few years according to their fans. Good stuff.
He basically made the choice as to who would be his next protege: Wemby over Flagg. Interesting.

[Truckules]

He basically made the choice as to who would be his next protege: Wemby over Flagg. Interesting.

He probably planned on coaching Luka after J Kidd gets fired but LOL Mavs :rollin

[baseline bum]

Nice work getting a top assistant :tu

[Mugen]

Nice tbh. Wonder if it means Brett is gone for sure.

[scott]

It's the Wemby effect, TD. Everyone is hopping on this gravy train: massive visibility with potential Spurs team success = springboard to future Head Coaching opportunities.

Could also be the Luka effect at play here. Sweeney just saw his team dump a Top 5 player under dubious justification. Someone in Sweeney's position is going to take inventory of those kinds of moves and make judgements on the team's leadership. He may not have agreed with that decision and it could have played a significant role in choosing to go to a team that is more loyal to its players and staff, and is on the rise.

[LeBowen]

Could also be the Luka effect at play here. Sweeney just saw his team dump a Top 5 player under dubious justification. Someone in Sweeney's position is going to take inventory of those kinds of moves and make judgements on the team's leadership. He may not have agreed with that decision and it could have played a significant role in choosing to go to a team that is more loyal to its players and staff, and is on the rise.

I think the seed of the doubt was planted when Mavs hired Vogel, who's also defensive minded.
Why would he stick around if franchise hires someone to do the job he's doing instead of promoting him to a lead assistant?

[spursistan]

I think the seed of the doubt was planted when Mavs hired Vogel, who's also defensive minded.
Why would he stick around if franchise hires someone to do the job he's doing instead of promoting him to a lead assistant?
Good point..Seems like he thinks Vogel is the one waiting on the wings should Mavs move on from Kidd who just flirted with the Knicks job. Even after getting Flagg, Spurs project to be a better, higher ceiling team for the foreseeable future.

[ace3g]

In regards to Brett Brown

https://x.com/DonHarris4/status/1936899300182708687

[Seventyniner]

Could also be the Luka effect at play here. Sweeney just saw his team dump a Top 5 player under dubious justification. Someone in Sweeney's position is going to take inventory of those kinds of moves and make judgements on the team's leadership. He may not have agreed with that decision and it could have played a significant role in choosing to go to a team that is more loyal to its players and staff, and is on the rise.

That would explain why Sweeney left Dallas but not why he chose San Antonio.

[Ice009]

Yeah, it might not be a matter of choosing Victor over Cooper, but more of him not liking what happened with the Luka trade. Probably doesn't want to be in Dallas after that. He might have been disgusted hearing about it after the fact.

Also, another reason could be with the Spurs, he gets more exposure to move up (if that is what he wants), and also, maybe he might really want to work with Victor and the young core the Spurs will have.

Whatever the reason he chose to come to the Spurs. Awesome hire. Can help in so many ways.

I also wonder if Giannis sees this hire and if it might put the Spurs at the top of his list should he ask to get traded.

Question: Does the head coach get to choose his assistants, or does the team have to signoff on it first? Can he hire anyone he wants, and who decides how much they get paid?

[tim_duncan_fan]

What's an "associate" head coach, and what does that mean for Mitch?

[Ice009]

What's an "associate" head coach, and what does that mean for Mitch?

It seems he would be the lead assistant and also takes over as head coach if Mitch isn't there. I think he's also in charge of the other assistant coaches. Basically, he's close to the head coach, just one step under.

[Ariel]

I realize it's an elevated role, but after years of being poached, it's still weird to see a coveted name come here.

Can't wait for him to receive the majority of the credit for their improvement next season, notably from his mouthpiece/ass kisser MacMahon.
Spurs are turning the corner, they've become a desirable destination again.

[scott]

In regards to Brett Brown

https://x.com/DonHarris4/status/1936899300182708687

A great sign when the Spurs beat writers need to ask other reporters for news about the team they cover :lol

[scott]

https://i.imgur.com/XgsTHHO.png

Commanding sideline presence, tbh

[KobesAchilles]

Is this the domino that leads us to Giannis?

[spursistan]

https://x.com/Coaching_U/status/1936416621993623901

[scott]

1936905274197205229

[TD 21]

It's the Wemby effect, TD. Everyone is hopping on this gravy train: massive visibility with potential Spurs team success = springboard to future Head Coaching opportunities.

I know, it's just weird to see the Spurs as a destination franchise.

[Bruno]

Good news is that Spurs aren't cheap and are ready to spend quite a lot of money on their coaching staff. Sweeney and Williamson aren't cheap options for sure.
With Sweeney, Williamson, Moyes and Nielsen, Mitch has a high quality staff to help him.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

A great sign when the Spurs beat writers need to ask other reporters for news about the team they cover :lol

God forbid someone not know everything like ST posters do

[objective]

Finally some good news.

Mitch needed help, and he got it. Now time to get Wemby help.

[Spurs Brazil]

https://x.com/Dav1dChabot/status/1932508028642656432

[vy65]

1936905274197205229

What's crazy is you'd expect coaches/staff to be falling over backwards to stay with an organization that just landed Flagg. Tells you something about the mavs.

[vy65]

Good news is that Spurs aren't cheap and are ready to spend quite a lot of money on their coaching staff. Sweeney and Williamson aren't cheap options for sure.
With Sweeney, Williamson, Moyes and Nielsen, Mitch has a high quality staff to help him.

Chip England says hi.

[kxs783kms]

Welcome to San Antonio Giannis.

[Seventyniner]

Nice article. My big takeaways from it: Mitch might hand over control of the defense to Sweeny like Kidd did, Sweeney could help turn Wemby from perennial MVP candidate into challenging for GOAT status, Sweeney's defensive schemes use a lot of switchable 6'5 to 6'9 guys which should comprise most of the Spurs rotation outside of Wemby and Fox. I also don't know how long the Spurs will be able to keep him as associate coach before he gets a head coaching offer too good to pass up.

[picnroll]

Chip England says hi.

Doesn’t seem like Chips doing an awesome job with the Thunders’ shooting.

[SpursFan86]

Reading all of these glowing reviews, it makes me wonder why we didn’t hire Sweeney as HC and have Mitch be the associated HC tbh. Seems very likely Sweeney is gone in a year or 2 (leaving for HC job) if things work out here.

Spurs must be super high on Mitch I guess.

[Mr. Body]

Nice article. My big takeaways from it: Mitch might hand over control of the defense to Sweeny like Kidd did, Sweeney could help turn Wemby from perennial MVP candidate into challenging for GOAT status, Sweeney's defensive schemes use a lot of switchable 6'5 to 6'9 guys which should comprise most of the Spurs rotation outside of Wemby and Fox. I also don't know how long the Spurs will be able to keep him as associate coach before he gets a head coaching offer too good to pass up.

Sweeney and Williamson are both known to be defensive specialists.

[exstatic]

Chip England says hi.

Very well might NOT have been about money, but about unwillingness to go through the tank.

[Mr. Body]

Very well might NOT have been about money, but about unwillingness to go through the tank.

100%

[poopbox]

Smart decision by him.
Either Spurs do well and he gets offers to be the head coach somewhere else or Mitch fails and he's the first in line to replace him.

Hopefully he can fix the defense.

Don't think the Spurs are going to be in a hurry to replace Mitch. Kidd probably get's fired before Mitch does at this point.

I doubt Thunder/Pacers players and coaches are scrolling twitter on G7 gameday.

[tbdog]

Spurs top 10 defense next season?

[timtonymanu]

I’m hyped about this, tbh. Coaching personnel change was much needed.

[scott]

Spurs top 10 defense next season?

If he can get Vassell playing defense and we get hom to be an off the ball shooter, it would be pretty game changing for us. Like having Nesmith on our roster this whole time.

[tonight...you]

Chip England says hi.
Did he say hi back to you?

[SpursBills]

Great news - hopefully he can get guys to stop helping in the paint and willfully leaving 3 point shooters wide open on the perimeter. I'm not sure if that was a purposeful scheme issue or whether spurs players are just that consistently stupid - maybe this season will answer that question.

[scott]

Great news - hopefully he can get guys to stop helping in the paint and willfully leaving 3 point shooters wide open on the perimeter. I'm not sure if that was a purposeful scheme issue or whether spurs players are just that consistently stupid - maybe this season will answer that question.

I'm actually slightly more bullish on Devin based on these recent hires. Maybe it's the Acceptance Stage (Devin will be here) combined with the Bargaining Stage (Devin can become something!) of grieving.

[Mr. Body]

Why do you guys obsess over Devin Vassell so much.

[Jordan Jackson]

If he can get Vassell playing defense and we get hom to be an off the ball shooter, it would be pretty game changing for us. Like having Nesmith on our roster this whole time.

I heard Don Harris calling Vassell a selfish ball hog on a podcast. It was pretty rough and it sounded like the sentiment was coming from the front office.

Vassell is on the hottest of seats. I’ll be shocked if he is still around by the next trade deadline.

Anyway. Good hire. Young guy with fresh eyes on this train wreck roster. Wonder how long it takes before Sweeney chokes Keldon Johnson out at half court for continually blowing defensive assignments.

Fun season ahead.

[scott]

I heard Don Harris calling Vassell a selfish ball hog on a podcast. It was pretty rough and it sounded like the sentiment was coming from the front office.

Vassell is on the hottest of seats. I’ll be shocked if he is still around by the next trade deadline.

Anyway. Good hire. Young guy with fresh eyes on this train wreck roster. Wonder how long it takes before Sweeney chokes Keldon Johnson out at half court for continually blowing defensive assignments.

Fun season ahead.

:lol

Interesting comments from Harris... I haven't lived in SA in quite awhile now, but my impression of him was that he always towed the company line. Devin would truly be a game changer for us though if he turned into the 3-and-D guy he was drafted as. He definitely showed some nice team defense/impact defensive playmaking after the Fox trade last year. Hope it was a sign of things to come... would love to see this Sweeney character turn us into a swarming, event creating defense.

[Mr. Body]

How is Vassell a ball hog? He's not a very good player, but that just sounds like a typical braindead SpursTalk take. Vassell takes the shots he's supposed to.

[Robz4000]

Hopefully the next hire is a legit shooting coach imo.

[Maddog]

Good news is that Spurs aren't cheap and are ready to spend quite a lot of money on their coaching staff. Sweeney and Williamson aren't cheap options for sure.
With Sweeney, Williamson, Moyes and Nielsen, Mitch has a high quality staff to help him.

Good point.
Also think it says something about Mitch- that he he's looking at and getting these types of assistants.

[CorrectCrusader]

This is a great signing.

[CorrectCrusader]

Why do you guys obsess over Devin Vassell so much.

Big contract
Potential to be great

instead he plays like a kobme chucker
and plays no defense

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Hopefully this means we won't concentrate our defense on defending the lane while every opponent is trying to get open looks from three.

[KobesAchilles]

It’s a great hire. I’m very glad to see this happen. And I hope we grab a couple more developmental coaches from some other organizations. I feel like if Mitch is going to work he is going to have to be surrounded by excellence on his staff. I do wonder though is Mitch going to install our offense or are we going to get a guy for that? Bc Noah LaRoche is still available right?

[LeBowen]

I do wonder though is Mitch going to install our offense or are we going to get a guy for that?

Our ORTG in March and April would've been good for 6th in the league, Mitch obviously knows how to make a good offense.
The question is if he'll be allowed to do whatever he wants if we're talking roles, because to me it seemed obvious that he would've reduced the roles of some players this season if Pop's shadow wasn't looming over him.
Another question is if he'll have the authority to tell players to get over themselves when he needs to.
Luckily Wemby seems to be the closes thing to Tim and he'll lead by example.

[KobesAchilles]

Our ORTG in March and April would've been good for 6th in the league, Mitch obviously knows how to make a good offense.
The question is if he'll be allowed to do whatever he wants if we're talking roles, because to me it seemed obvious that he would've reduced the roles of some players this season if Pop's shadow wasn't looming over him.
Another question is if he'll have the authority to tell players to get over themselves when he needs to.
Luckily Wemby seems to be the closes thing to Tim and he'll lead by example.
Pop said publicly that he was going to support Mitch 100% from his office. So that has to be a good sign. The real question (like you said) I suppose is who is in charge of the Spurs? Is it the GM, the consultants in Pop and RC, or is it the coach? Obviously they will all be working together, but there needs to be one clear cut decision maker in the building. I hope it is Mitch. And that if he reduces the minutes of players (like KJ and Vassell) that he won’t feel management getting on him to play them more bc of their contracts.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Brutal to say but I'm less worried about Pop looming over things after seeing him at Mitch's press conference. He barely knew where he was. He's not going to be going deep on strategy with Mitch.

With Harper, Fox, Castle, and Wemby they'd be fools not to run back a version of the beautiful game.

But they need to strengthen the coaching bench on defense (done, with this hire) and shooting (TBD).

[ginobilized]

Such excellent news! The Spurs listened to us and have added modern basketball thinkers and youth to last year's strange coaching staff.

I have a feeling that Mitch will be good at synthesizing and coordinating the various coaching roles into a winning formula.
The Sweeney hire really makes me wonder about the 14th pick and if they have a specific player in mind there that will be Sweeney's next project. Maluach seems like the obvious choice as the new Lively.

Once again, SpursTalk spoke and the NBA listened.

[Ice009]

Would Sean be starting right away? Are the Spurs likely to have him there for the draft giving input?

[Ocotillo]

I am going to go ahead and be greedy because I am a spoiled Spurs fan. Now go out and get Forcier and the staff is good to go. I am happy for Brown to be bowing out, I think he got a bad rap because of being part of the process in Philly and having to be a tank commander. Forcier's forte is development and with Sweeney on board, this young team is in need of those sort of coaches. Finally, some say we will lose Sweeney in a year or two to become a head coach, that is something you deal with when it happens and maybe Williamson becomes the next associate HC.

[RC_Drunkford]

1936959170911121858


Pop said publicly that he was going to support Mitch 100% from his office. So that has to be a good sign. The real question (like you said) I suppose is who is in charge of the Spurs? Is it the GM, the consultants in Pop and RC, or is it the coach? Obviously they will all be working together, but there needs to be one clear cut decision maker in the building. I hope it is Mitch. And that if he reduces the minutes of players (like KJ and Vassell) that he won’t feel management getting on him to play them more bc of their contracts.

I assume that's another reason why they picked Mitch. He and Brian won't clash and go through all of the options together. If they had signed Mike Malone he might've started another beef with the GM like he did in Denver.

[Mr. Body]

Big contract
Potential to be great

instead he plays like a kobme chucker
and plays no defense

But... who cares. Other than the contract, which is a bit too long, it's going to go down in relative terms. Like, him and Keldon aren't the core anymore. You can stop bitching and complaining all the time about them. Give it up.

[LeBowen]

^
You posted just one tweet from that guy.

Won't embed multiple tweets, so here are the quotes:


Another Mavs source insists the franchise did in fact try to keep him, but my other source was adamant, as well.




In the end, I’m told, Sweeney viewed the Spurs job as taking on more responsibility, another step to becoming a head coach. Jason Kidd is an established coach with a Finals and 2 conference finals. In that sense, though he loves Dallas, Sweeney had a glass ceiling. It’s more about that than the associate head coach title.




In recent days the Knicks inquired about Sweeney. He’s definitely on track to becoming a head coach, has interviewed for multiple jobs. If the Spurs are successful, I don’t think he’ll be there long.





I don’t think anyone should assume Frank Vogel will step into Sweeney’s role. Vogel is still getting paid by Phoenix. There’s not much motivation for him to stop being a consultant and enter the full-time grind of an assistant.



Sons somehow keep taking Ls. :lol

[SpursBig3s]

why do you obsess over defending him so much

[SpursBig3s]

But... who cares. Other than the contract, which is a bit too long, it's going to go down in relative terms. Like, him and Keldon aren't the core anymore. You can stop bitching and complaining all the time about them. Give it up.


why do you obsess over defending Vassell (and Sochan) so much? you get defensive about them all the time.

there are legitimate concerns with each of them, but apparently you refuse to acknowledge them and freak out whenever they are discussed.

it's a Spurs message board, were gonna talk about guys on the team we feel need to show more improvement.

[Mr. Body]

why do you obsess over defending Vassell (and Sochan) so much? you get defensive about them all the time.

Who's defending them? We're not even talking about Sochan, lol.

[Ice009]

1936959170911121858



I assume that's another reason why they picked Mitch. He and Brian won't clash and go through all of the options together. If they had signed Mike Malone he might've started another beef with the GM like he did in Denver.

Darn, I wonder what Sean was looking for from the Mavericks. Was he just a regular assistant coach there? Looks like Dallas have fumbled yet again. This time one of their best and brightest coaches. I hope Sean is happy to be with the Spurs now.

Edit : Just read the stuff LeBowen posted. Sounds like Sweeny might not be with the Spurs long which would suck. Should have maybe looked at hiring him as the HC instead. I hope he stays for at least a few years as I think he's going to be really, really great for the team reaching another level. I hope to see the return of true Spurs defense and start locking teams down. I'm defense first, so I'd love to see that approach.

Quite possible about the reason for choosing Mitch over someone like Mike Malone. Mike Malone was by far my top choice, but then when I started reading all that stuff going on behind the scenes with the shooting coach and him thinking he was a spy for Calvin Booth, I wasn't on board with it anymore.
I really wanted Mike Malone before that. Hopefully it wasn't made up to badmouth him because that skewed my perception of him.

[RC_Drunkford]

^
You posted just one tweet from that guy.

Won't embed multiple tweets, so here are the quotes:









Sons somehow keep taking Ls. :lol


So Mitch hired his replacement? I don't mind that at all.

[Mr. Body]

Darn, I wonder what Sean was looking for from the Mavericks. Was he just a regular assistant coach there? Looks like Dallas have fumbled yet again. This time one of their best and brightest coaches. I hope Sean is happy to be with the Spurs now.

Quite possible about the reason for choosing Mitch over someone like Mike Malone. Mike Malone was by far my top choice, but then when I started reading all that stuff going on behind the scenes with the shooting coach and him thinking he was a spy for Calvin Booth, I wasn't on board with it anymore.
I really wanted Mike Malone before that. Hopefully it wasn't made up to badmouth him because that skewed my perception of him.

The Adelsons seem like "assistant coaches? why do you fucking need assistant coaches? we pay enough for the head coach" sort of people.

[SpursBills]

1936959170911121858



I assume that's another reason why they picked Mitch. He and Brian won't clash and go through all of the options together. If they had signed Mike Malone he might've started another beef with the GM like he did in Denver.

I think the main reason that they want Mitch is that they’re trying to reproduce a guy with Popovich’s people skills. SA seems to value longevity and if you take a 30k foot view of pop and what he’s known for above other coaches is his interpersonal relationships with his players. I don’t think they care as much about having a brilliant tactician or anything, in fact I never had the impression that pop was ever an exceptional in game X’s and O’s guy. With Mitch going above and beyond for dejounte Murray early in his career, they’re probably prioritizing a guy who seems to genuinely care about his players first, and who has a good basketball mind second. In their eyes, I bet that they feel they can live with rookie mistakes early in Mitch’s career as long as he can build a strong foundation where his players trust him.

[Ocotillo]

In recent days the Knicks inquired about Sweeney. He’s definitely on track to becoming a head coach, has interviewed for multiple jobs. If the Spurs are successful, I don’t think he’ll be there long.

Uh, the Knicks contacted pretty much the whole league at one point.

[T Park]

A great sign when the Spurs beat writers need to ask other reporters for news about the team they cover :lol

Petrini isn’t a beat writer

[exstatic]

Such excellent news! The Spurs listened to us and have added modern basketball thinkers and youth to last year's strange coaching staff.

I have a feeling that Mitch will be good at synthesizing and coordinating the various coaching roles into a winning formula.
The Sweeney hire really makes me wonder about the 14th pick and if they have a specific player in mind there that will be Sweeney's next project. Maluach seems like the obvious choice as the new Lively.

Once again, SpursTalk spoke and the NBA listened.

Uh, no. We can’t even get the attention of our overlords, the Ellis’s.

[Leetonidas]

The Spurs should improve immensely next season just by way of their shitty defensive philosophy (hopefully) changing. The constant leaving a man wide open at the three point line to help Victor double in the paint shit needs to stop. Sweeney and Big Nasty should work wonders for this team

[The Truth #6]

How is Vassell a ball hog? He's not a very good player, but that just sounds like a typical braindead SpursTalk take. Vassell takes the shots he's supposed to.

He dribbles a lot without going anywhere then shoots a contested jumper. How have you not noticed this...for the last two years?!

[Mr. Body]

He dribbles a lot without going anywhere then shoots a contested jumper. How have you not noticed this...for the last two years?!

Those are the shots he's supposed to take.

Just stop. You guys, seriously. This isn't 'kobme ballhog' stuff. It's stupid and pointless. He's literally taking the shots he's supposed to be taking.

[cd98]

I think Vassell is going to have a better year next season. I think he works on his game a lot and he couldn't do that last offseason. But I think this will be a good year for both him and Sochan.

[Seventyniner]

He dribbles a lot without going anywhere then shoots a contested jumper. How have you not noticed this...for the last two years?!

The hope is that Vassell will be off-ball from now on since a lot of his minutes will come with two of Fox/Castle/Harper on the floor. I don't mind him attacking closeouts, he shoots a high percentage at the rim though only rarely gets there. Dribbling into contested jumpers is infuriating and has got to go. 86.1% of his threes were assisted last season and I want that number going up, not down.

[Chomag]

I'll be happy if he turns out what PJ was for Pop.

[T Park]

I'll be happy if he turns out what PJ was for Pop.

People way way way overrate PJ’s influence on those teams

[Raven]

Fantastic hire. Been reading some great reviews articles about this guy especially his development work with Giannis.

Spurs suddenly have a great, young, forward-thinking coaching staff. Good to see..

mitch isn't that in any shape or form

[ace3g]

https://x.com/JeffGSpursZone/status/1937931145527583046

[benefactor]

This is exactly what I was hoping the case was. Mitch and Sweeney will basically be coaching this team together. Best case scenario is they work together to create the kind of culture this team needs to be successful. Worst case scenario is Mitch shows he's not good enough to be the guy and they elevate Sweeney to head coach.

[Maddog]

https://x.com/JeffGSpursZone/status/1937931145527583046

I think he may also realize that Dallas may become or is a dumpster fire....

[cutewizard]

Gentlemen, our beloved Spurs have addressed our needs

Coaching staff
Offense/ballhandling with Dylan Harper
3 and D with Carter Bryant

Good days huh?!

Next, bigs
an additional shooter

[cutewizard]

https://youtu.be/Rp7BZJnGotg?si=8809Oy2F1IxknBF0

[cutewizard]

https://youtu.be/3wvW1bwxcAc?si=yvBvN8bLX4QHZ2hN

[cutewizard]

https://youtu.be/XEVhowSGwzg?si=BtFuGp2NMJ2sOYbs

[ginobilized]

Sweeney is a huge addition and I was dumbfounded by the staff we had last season. This bodes well for getting a more modern and competitive team established.

Sweeney will also have the inside scoop on PJ Washington and Gafford being useful additions or not. The coaches will be very influential in Monday's FA. I'd think that they will have created a template for the team and the pieces that we need. Similarly, Corliss Williamson may have a useful inside track on NAW and Naz Reid.

[Ice009]

Sweeney is a huge addition and I was dumbfounded by the staff we had last season. This bodes well for getting a more modern and competitive team established.

Sweeney will also have the inside scoop on PJ Washington and Gafford being useful additions or not. The coaches will be very influential in Monday's FA. I'd think that they will have created a template for the team and the pieces that we need. Similarly, Corliss Williamson may have a useful inside track on NAW and Naz Reid.

Great thoughts as those guys would know better than anyone if those players are worth going after. Would be Williamson and Sweeny already be in SA working with the team you think (I am hoping they are) as they could be vital to this free agent process.
I also hope if Mitch wants someone like Brook Lopez that Sean and Corliss speak up if they don't think he'd fit their defensive philosophy or be able to play in their systems.

[ace3g]

https://x.com/KlutchSports/status/1938660852879491247

[ace3g]

https://x.com/Coaching_U/status/1942973293717307813

[poopbox]

https://x.com/KlutchSports/status/1938660852879491247

Another Klutch guy?

Just change the name to San Antonio Klutch at this point

[mystargtr34]

Lebron is basically part owner of the Spurs at this point

[poopbox]

Lebron is basically part owner of the Spurs at this point

Great, we need somebody who demands high level basketball and winning running the ship. Aint like anybody in the front office cares about those things. I wish Lebron would just buy the team outright tbh

[rankingtear]

Great, we need somebody who demands high level basketball and winning running the ship. Aint like anybody in the front office cares about those things. I wish Lebron would just buy the team outright tbh

LeBum would give Broonie a lifetime contract and starting PG on the team tbh.