From Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times:
The idea of hiring John Lucas had been percolating in Mike Dunleavy’s mind for quite a while, and finally it came time to put it out there.
“It was one of those ideas,” said Dunleavy, the Clippers’ general manager and coach. “Hey, unless I ask him, I won’t know.”
Dunleavy said Thursday morning that Lucas, a respected former NBA player and coach, was at the team’s offices in Playa Vista and would be joining the Clippers’ coaching staff.
Lucas has a long-standing relationship with Dunleavy, and many of the current Clippers have worked out with Lucas at his Houston base.
“We talk all the time and we’ve always stayed in touch,” Dunleavy said. “It was just one of those situations where I started thinking about guys who were available. Guys that were really good who have a lot of energy.
“So I called him. He said, ‘I wouldn’t do this for a lot of guys. Yeah, I will. For you, I’ll come.’ ”
Dunleavy said that the agreement would be for one year.
Lucas’ head coaching record in the NBA was 174-258 at stops in San Antonio, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
It’s impossible to overstate how great of an addition John Lucas is to the Clippers coaching staff. Lucas is highly respected among players and personnel alike, and has a reputation around the NBA as being one of the premier developers of talent and one of the best educators the league has.
If you’re looking for some proof to these statements, look no further than K.A.’s recent profile of Lucas and the work he is performing with the troubled Michael Beasley. The amount of patience, motivation, and support that are required to help a recovering addict is unbelievable, but Lucas has all the tools and has rightly devoted his life and talents to helping others. If there was ever a person overqualified for being an assistant basketball coach, Lucas is it.
Remember that teacher you had in high school that you really liked? Remember how bad it felt to miss a homework assignment, or do poorly on a test in that teacher’s class? You just hated to let that person down, and the feeling that struck you when you did made you never want to do it again. John Lucas is that teacher. Motivation isn’t always about fancy speeches or crazy tactics; sometimes it’s as easy as earning the respect of your players. It’s not unlikely to see athletes associated with John Lucas run through walls for him, simply because they respect him and don’t want to let him down.
The stories about Lucas and his great motivational skills are everywhere. Considering his work with T.J. Ford, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, and his own son, there are no shortage of believers in Lucas’ talents as a coach and trainer. Lucas has the pedigree of a fine basketball coach; the playing background (former #1 pick in 1976), the educational background (Masters in Education), the experience (432 games as a head coach), but most importantly, the mental makeup.
Doubters of Lucas will point to his poor head coaching track record, but those numbers deserve further inspection. In Lucas’ first two coaching seasons (one interim, one full time) he compiled an overall record of 94-49 with the David Robinson led Spurs in 93 and 94. The Spurs were a talented team, and Lucas did a fine job leading that talent in those two years. Due to an early playoff exit in 94, Lucas would be let go and move on to one of the worst teams in the NBA; the pre-Iverson Philadelphia 76ers. The love child of Red Auerbach and Vince Lombardi wouldn’t have led that collection of players to the playoffs, but still, Lucas was let go after two years. Lucas wouldn’t get another head coaching gig until he partnered up with the pre-Lebron era Cleveland Cavaliers in 2001, another terrible team devoid of any real talent. Again, there probably isn’t a coach out there who could lead those teams to anything but losing records. So while Lucas’ career record isn’t impressive, it would be foolish to label the man a poor coach because he had some bad stints with some truly terrible teams. A successful head coach record is hardly a requisite for being a successful assistant in the league anyway.
Anytime you can bring on a man who regularly trains some of the league’s top talent on to your coaching staff, it’s a no-brainer. Dunleavy is widely regarded as a good X’s and O’s guy, but isn’t much of a “players coach”. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the good cop – bad cop strategy, it’s still pretty easy to see that Lucas will relate with players better than a dual title, overworked Dunleavy could. For a young team, having an outlet other than the head coach is important, and no one understands the potential pitfalls the NBA life presents young men with better than Lucas. Even if Lucas brings nothing to the table from a basketball perspective (which obviously won’t be true), his role as a mentor, confidant, and counselor to the some of the younger and/or troubled Clippers is valuable. Adding Lucas to the staff, who already has relationships with some of the current Clippers roster and staff, is simply a steal.
Maybe an overlooked as aspect in this signing is that Lucas is a new face on the Clippers staff. The mind of a basketball player, especially one who endured a season like 10 of the 14 Clippers players did last year, is complex. From a player perspective, it’s often easy to assume that the coaching staff doesn’t appreciate your talent, that you should play more or get X more amount of shots, and that the staff may simply not like you. A new coach on the staff offers players with this convoluted view a fresh start and a chance to get someone in their corner. Everyone learns and is reached in different ways, and it’s hard to say that the Clippers staff has anyone remotely similar to Lucas on it.
Many people close to the team speculated that Dunleavy lost control of the team and was largely tuned out by players last year. If that is indeed true, then maybe Lucas can help rein some of those players back in. Judging from Lucas’ prior life experiences and track record, that task should be nothing more than a walk in the park.
29 Responses
Love this hiring
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Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Great post, thanks DJ.
I hope Lucas can help the team perform better than it has in the last few years. Perhaps he should suit up and become the next Sam Cassell. Probably not.
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Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
this guy sounds like he can help alot. He’ll help Ricky Davis the addict, and he already coached him when he had the best season of his career. He’s also been a a #1 pick and can use that experience to help griffin. i also like the good cop bad cop reference with dunleavy.
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FIRE DUNLEAVY PLEASE!!! Reply:
September 18th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
My favorite reference was that “Dunleavy is an X’ and O’s coach.” Unless you are referring to his tic-tac-toe accumen, I see no strategy in his one dimensional game planning and refusal to adapt his “play calling” to fit his roster.
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Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Any chance this is a precursor to Dunleavy stepping down as HC? Probably not but a guy can hope right?
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Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
If you want to talk coaching records Mike Dunleavy holds one of the worst records in NBA history. He lost the players last year. Although he seems to have done a good job in the off-season as GM (some choices were so financially shrewd via NBA rules that it’s clear that he was not the instigator of those moves) his game management, particularly in the 4th quarter has been disastrous. Last season you could see the team break a time out huddle deflated, unenthused, beaten down. Ticket holders with seat near the Clipper bench report that Dunleavy screams, directs and calls the plays more then any NBA coach in memory. Over 500 plays in his active playbook. His signing of Baron Davis is a disaster so far, he should have known that he is not the correct coach for Baron’s game. But Dunleavy makes emotional GM choices like picking the then hot Baron, believing against all info that the team had that Elton Brand would not resign (he doesn’t like Dunleavy). It seems every body knew but ego’d out MDsr didn’t believe it. He flirted with Iverson this off season, his eyes are to big for his stomach, when everybody else knew that with Dunleavy’s current relationship with Clipper players the addition of AI could only lead to an explosion. Right now it looks like the biggest problem facing the re-modeled Clippers is Dunleavy and the serious question of whether over the years he’s lost any ability he might have had to coach in the NBA.
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sg Reply:
September 18th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Uh, so, what’d you think of the hire of John Lucas?
“Some choices were so financially shrewd via NBA rules that it’s clear that he was not the instigator of those moves”. You hate the guy, but you can’t deny how well he performed this offseason so you dish out crap. Makes the rest of your not unreasonable argument worthless.
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Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Oh yeah, a great post, D.J.
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Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Great job, DJF.
Really nice work. Is this your finest effort? A massive, understated topic, a fat pitch, and you hit it out of park. I’m a little jealous of your rising Clipperblog status–it’s one of the best sports websites ever, and you do it proud here.
You know how I like to comment over at Clipsnation, but you stepped up here and deserve the kudos. My one comment would be on your line–there are so many good ones, so many acute observations, all well worthy of KA’s high standard–that “it’s hard to say that the Clippers staff has anybody remotely similar to Lucas on it.” I’m fascinated at this moment by the symbiosis of Kim Hughes (extraordinary big man coach–Kaman’s mentor, confidante, and deep sea fishing cronie, and a gigantic twin to boot) and Lucas. They’re both unique, it seems, and yet perhaps intensely complementary. (That’s right KA, it has an e in it, the one about things that go good together, as opposed to “you have an awesome blog, dude”)–and perhaps they’re both prime candidates to replace CMDSr. But I like the idea of having a fantastic, elite-level assistant, and now I have to go click on your links. In my comment over at the Nation, before reading this, I mentioned KA’s excellent work on Lucas and Beazley, but I have a lot more to learn here, and the breakdown of Lucas’ head coaching career is extremely welcome.
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Posted on September 18th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I think Lucas is a pretty smart guy and he picked a pretty good opportunity here. Both EJ and Griffin are known as hard workers and good citizens. If they fail to become stars, people will blame the players themselves. If they do become big time stars, a lot of credit whether deserved or not, will be given to their “mentor.”
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Posted on September 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Why praise the Dunce for having a good off season. He’s the reason it’s always the off season. The greatist head coach/GM in NBA history…I think not…
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Posted on September 19th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Clipped12 said in another post, Maybe Dunleavy is trying to make a pitch for Lebron with this hiring. That’s the only worth while thing I can see out of this. Not that Lebron is going to the Clippers.
And about the record. I would think that a great coach could get more than 18 wins with any NBA team.
I really could care less who Dunleavy hires though. He’s a control freak, it’s not gonna make much of a difference.
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bongstradamus Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 12:40 pm
This hiring was a good addition. If last season taught anything, Dunleavy realizes he doesnt have the hearts of these players. Lucas is the kind of guy players go out and play their guts out for. Its a good balance to Dunleavy’s fetish for contracts, X’s and O’s. It puts a human face on the coaching staff, Lucas is a guy who nurtures players confronting adversity to greatness.
Maybe it even signals Dunleavys reluctance, but willingness, to let someone else coach the team should he just become GM full time. Lucas is the kind of guy that can take over if there’s any kind of change in staff during the regular season without disturbing the entire apple cart.
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Posted on September 20th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Sofo update: Won the bronze medal, and played 32 minutes, scoring 23pts of the 57 Greece had.
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Posted on September 21st, 2009 at 10:03 am
I am at work and they have a nice customer lounge/waiting room. I past by and guess whats on? The Whoopi golberg show or could have also been the view. The guest? Lebron James!
He talked about being regarded as one of, if not the best player ever. He was like ” im no where near as great as MJ” . I walked away after that.
Has any one noticed that if the Grizzlies come together this season , they might challenge the Clippers for 8th-10th in the West. I am not on their nuts but looking at the roster, Lots of talent there.
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bongstradamus Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Dunleavys had talent before. It’s how you use the talent that really matters. Hes lost with the Magic led Showtime Lakers and with a Portland Blazers team that had 12 of 14 players as all-stars/hall of famers.
The Cavs shouldnt have had the third best record in the league last year based off their talent.
Yes, we have talent and a great young core. Now Dun has to get them to jive together on the court.
A job, frankly, I dont think he can do as a coach. Even experienced players on the cusp of a championship tuned him out.
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John Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I don’t see any reason the Grizz will be good. Quite a collection of talent–Iverson, Gay, Mayo and Randolph–but I don’t think that talent will mesh and play well at all.
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bongstradamus Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Yea i see a nightmare in memphis too. The best thing they had going last year was that the players were young and passing and trusting each other. That Gay, Gasol, Mayo, Conley team on the floor was exciting to watch like that.
While Iverson is great for tickets and attendance, he and Z-Bo demand the ball far too much and it makes me think that everything Memphis had going for them last season is going to change. Instead of movement and passing, the youngsters will be standing around the court waiting for passes that are never going to come and watching Iverson and Z-Bo taking on double teams by themselves.
Theyll probably have more fans in the stands, but those two personalities dont enhance the chemistry the team had last year, and to further the analogy, pretty much makes the cocktail chaotic and unstable.
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SamMays Reply:
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:54 am
Lot’s of talent, but they’ll be this year’s Clippers. They have the wrong talent. Iverson and Zach on the same team? Two huge black holes who don’t play any defense. I thought only Isiah would be dumb enough to pair those two. Add young players Mayo and Gay, who also don’t defense and both need their shots and you have a team of gunners. They’ll be stealing the ball from each other to get up shots… Thabeet better be the best defensive player of all time, because he’ll be the only one play defense on that whole team. The rest will be in the passing lanes, gambling for steals and getting beaten for layups.
Hollins is going to get them in line? They have the talent to win 50 games and the attitudes to win 19.
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Posted on September 21st, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I over played that one. The thinking was more along the lines of being able to score. Randolph 20/10 , Iverson atleast 15 ? , Mayo 17ish , Gay 17 ish. Enough about that though.
Some random thoughts. Expectations on Griffin’s impact/performance/future , will he demand a max deal some day?
Eric Gordon.. will he demand anything close to a max deal?
Is it after 6 yrs that a player can take on a max deal?
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Posted on September 21st, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Since D’levy really wanted to share the bench with Lucas, then maybe they can blend their talents and the coach will lose some of his control freak mentality. They could be a really good team which bodes well for the Clipps as a team. I don’t care what the naysayers say I’m excited about the season!!!!!!!
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Posted on September 21st, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I was just thinking about how the Heat improved this past season. Going from 15 wins to 43., A 28 game improvement. Given they are out east, this may not matter though.
Lets see what may have hepled their cause? Dwayne wade came back , They added Beasley and not too sure about when spoulstra came in. I see this change being possible for the Clippers.
I also remember the Nuggets sucking hard the year prior to Carmelo Anthony’s arrival.
They too improved , winning 26 more games and eventually became a lock for the playoffs every year after.
Thoughts?
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bongstradamus Reply:
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Adding Lucas was a critical step to bringing in new blood to the organization, hes someone with an obviously unique way of dealing with and motivating players than we’ve had before. Thats a great step to take with a young core. It begs the next logical question though: when does Dunleavy pull a Riley and head upstairs to “focus on the business stuff”?
I want to see Ricky Davis bought out or traded at some point before the season. I know he can play, but as far as building an image is concerned…he needs to go. In the same vein that Z-Bo was banished from the Blazers. We want good minds around these kids to nurture them and set an example. And we want good PR too, so people buy tickets, DTS makes money and we feel better about signing Joe Johnson to a 16m a year deal next year.
Which leads us to our third point. Assuming God has blessed this franchise and Blake Griffin plays like Elton Brand on an 8-ball with a steroid chaser, we will need to offer some real money to some real talent next season that fits in with the long term goal. We missed out on doing that so far this offseason with Sessions, and we should consider even this very minute offering contracts on David Lee or Nate Robinson or Raymond Felton. We have great cash flow, some exceptions to use, contracts begging for a buyout, and we could rob NY of talent they will need to attract LeBron or Bosh or Wade when those players will most likely receive max extensions from their respective teams. At the very least, we challenge them to threaten their financial flexibility next season in order to remain viable this season and retain their players. I say screw it, use the exceptions to rattle some cages and offer some deals. If anything, we get valuable young assets that could either mesh or be traded for the peices we need. NY has advertised that they are being cheap. Charlotte cant agree on an extension with Raymond. We arent gonna get LeBron next year, so why are we standing around adding Brian Skinner when 3 of the most promising young players in the league can be had for great values, with teams unwilling to risk adding cap? DTS should know this is a buyers market if you have cash. We should be spending to acquire young peices now and trade into cap on our older assets moving into next years FA market.
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Posted on September 22nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Kareem Rush is coming to camp to try and make the team.
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Posted on September 23rd, 2009 at 10:26 am
Bongstradamus, when you set yourself in position to have a chance at maybe the best player in the NBA in LeBron, you do it. Even if you don’t think he’ll come, you still need to be in position to make an offer. Even if it’s less than a .00001 chance. I said in another post that the Lucas hiring could be a pitch to LeBron because I’ve read somewhere that Lucas and LeBron have a great relationship. Dunleavy has to have put this on his mind before hiring Lucas. Now I’m not saying that we’re getting LeBron, I’m just saying that when you have a chance to add the best player in the NBA (my opinion), you have to go all out. If he doesn’t come, fine. Then move on and find somebody else. The moves that Dunleavy have made this off-season has told me that he has eyes set for the summer of 2010.
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Posted on September 23rd, 2009 at 11:06 am
So Stephen Jax wants out of GS. What’s the appetite for him coming to Clip-town for Thornton? (I haven’t worked the numbers, but assuming they work out…) Pairing Jax w/ BD together again a winning formula?
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bongstradamus Reply:
September 27th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Nope, the numbers dont work. Jax is in the 9m range and Al is in the 2.7m range. We’d have to add a lot more in contracts to even get close.
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Posted on September 25th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
This is clearly the beginning of Dunleavy transferring totally in to the GM job. Next season he passes the torch to Lucas and the Clippers sign LeBron.
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Posted on September 28th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
What a Great mix !
DJ News
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Posted on November 29th, 2009 at 10:33 am
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