Its official, with Sport 620 KTAR reporting confirmation directly from Kerr that Terry Porter will be the next Suns head coach.
The details are straight forward enough:
- 3 year, $7m deal w/ incentives and no option year
- Brother Dan and Phil Weber will leave to join Mike D in New York
- Alvin Gentry may or may not stay on with the Suns
Porter is a good choice for the Suns bringing a couple of solid years heading the Bucks and then his time on the bench in Detroit after that.
Detroit had its struggles in the post season but two things they did very well that Suns could need to learn from is defensive focus and bench development. I am sure Terry knows by now that he will be expected to bring both to this aging Suns team.
It will certainly not be a cake walk with two more years of the Rusty Diesel and Nash's achy breaky back (and shoulder).
But the biggest coaching challenge will be Amare. Getting the max out of this potential MVP is going to take more then a coach that can teach. With Amare, the key is between the ears - not between the lines.
The good thing is that Amare does want to improve and has demonstrated a tremendous work ethic his entire career. He's not a basket case like Sheed and could easily take another big step forward next year. I still think that Amare mentally got bogged down with D'Antoni and was put in a very difficult role trying to defend bigger, stronger centers for the past four years until Shaq arrived.
Amare is a beast but he doesn't have the lower body strength and ass size to battle down low w/ guys like Al Jeff or Timmy and he doesn't have the length of a KG or Gasol either. The best defensive comparison for Amare is Dirk and the Mavs never asked him to be the main man down low. Let's hope Porter will use Amare right on both ends of the floor - something D'Antoni never did.
With a full summer to focus on defending as a PF and a new coach that can hopefully make a connection with him, Amare should be as prepared for a great season as he's been in a long time. And that my friends is all that matters because the Suns only real shot at being a top tier team is if Amare can step up and lead the way.
For Porter to shine he's going to need Amare to light the way.
And by the way - Bulls fans must be hating life right now after Doug Collins backed out and Vinnie Del Negro is reportedly one of their finalists...yikes.