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Analyzing Alvin Gentry’s Departure

By Greg Chin

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One of the biggest reasons for former head coach Mark Jackson’s departure from the Golden State Warriors was his rift with the front office. Reportedly, Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob wanted Jackson to hire more experienced assistant coaches with the belief that it would help Jackson. Instead, Jackson saw it as a sign of distrust and further alienated himself from the front office.

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Last season, when Steve Kerr signed on to be the Warriors’ new head coach, he immediately set about signing two of the league’s most experienced assistant coaches – Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams. It was a move that made sense since Kerr was a rookie head coach, and with the help of his assistant coaches (who had a combined 81 years of coaching experienced), his transition would be smoother.

For Alvin Gentry, it was always a matter of time before another team would snatch him up for an open head coaching position. Gentry had four other head coaching gigs before, and led the Phoenix Suns to the 2010 Western Conference Finals.

Gentry’s role on the Warriors was to lead the team’s offense. He had done a stellar job with the Los Angeles Clippers, and his teams’ offenses were always in the upper echelon of the NBA. In Phoenix, he modified the “Seven Seconds or Less” style of offense and slowed it down, reducing the recklessness the Suns played with under Mike D’Antoni. He continued to do so with the Warriors last season, encouraging them to push the pace at every opportunity, but also created a half-court offense that utilised lots of screening and off-the-ball movement.

The Warriors will now have to find a suitable replacement for Gentry, as he prepares to take over the New Orleans Pelicans as head coach. There haven’t been any lead candidates quite yet, but former Denver Nuggets’ head coach Brian Shaw was linked with returning to the coaching scene with the Warriors. However, there is a lot of doubt that Shaw would be the perfect fit, as Shaw’s teams have preferred to play a slowed-down style of offense (see the Indiana Pacers when he was an assistant coach). As a defensive coach, Shaw would be perfect, but the Warriors need an offensive minded assistant coach.

Personally, the dream hire would be Mike D’Antoni. Many will shudder at the mere thought of D’Antoni coaching, but the man is an offensive genius. When the Warriors were still searching for Jackson’s replacement, I supported the idea of D’Antoni taking over. Sure, the Warriors would be poor defensively, but a D’Antoni-led Splash Brothers offense would set the league on fire.

It is unlikely that D’Antoni would take up an assistant head coaching job, considering his last few stints were as head coach. However, pairing one of the league’s best offensive coaches in D’Antoni alongside one of the league’s best defensive coaches in Ron Adams would have other front offices salivating in envy.

After the Warriors won the title, Gentry jokingly said in the celebration that he and Pelicans’ star Anthony Davis would be celebrating next season. It was reported that Gentry believed the Pelicans were underutilising Davis in their offense, and that he would be able to unlock his full potential. Honestly, a spread-offense with Davis as the focal point sounds incredibly dangerous, and there is little doubt that Gentry will significant improve the ninth-ranked Pelicans’ offense.

However, the Pelicans will still need help on the defensive end, where they were 24th in the league last season. Even if Gentry does continue his trend of creating offensive juggernauts wherever he coaches, the Warriors will still have the upper hand on defense.

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