I like Alvin Gentry. He's a great coach on a winning team. But when it comes to a team that needs motivation, he's shown he doesn't have the chutzpah to really tell his players off. Every time we "listen in" on a bench meeting, he sounds like a sad disappointed father telling his son "Well, you shouldn't eat candy okay? Oh you're going to eat the candy? Well, I suppose that's okay too. But I'm just going to tell you, that candy is no good for you." I don't think that'd light a fire in anyone to play hard. There might be an argument that the team simply isn't talented. Yes, we're a terrible team talent-wise. We have players in roles they never should be put in. Frye is a starter when he's obviously a bench player. Dudley is a starter when he's obviously a sixth man. Brown is a basketball player when he obviously should be selling hot dogs. It's a big shitstorm. But that doesn't excuse Gentry from not being able to get the best out of his players. It doesn't just apply to this season either. Looking at last season, the two players that we "lost" in FA this previous offseason are Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus. Now they're with the Mavericks and Celtics, respectively. Looking at Carter's stats, it doesn't indicate he's doing any better than when he played for the Suns. But you can't overlook the fact that he looks to be playing better when you watch the Mavs play. Yes, he's no longer the "#1 go-to" option but I'm pretty sure we all knew he wasn't that option the moment he started playing last season. So the question is, why in the world would Gentry continue to force him into a role he doesn't belong in? It's great that he believes in his players, but putting them in a position to fail is not a great way to get the best out of your players. Pietrus, on the other hand, was obviously disgruntled with the Suns. With the Celtics, he's getting more minutes with fewer points but a better defined role. Shooting a better percentage overall and from 3 as well. When we watched Pietrus last season, it looked like he was lost on offense, throwing the ball up at every opportunity. But with the Celtics, his role seems to be defined better.

So why couldn't we get that out of our players? It may be the players. That we don't have the veterans. Wait, we have Hill and Nash. That can't be it. Maybe we don't have the star power. Yea that makes sense, but the Celtics are aging and really their best player is Rondo. It's up to the coaches to get the players to play right and play smart and it always seems like Gentry can't do that. The one successful season in 09-10 was more about the players than Gentry.

It's time to get some turnover. We know Nash can run the system on his own so Gentry isn't really needed. So why is he still around?

tldr: Gentry doesn't put players in a position to succeed.