Brian Scalabrine is one of RADIO.COM’s NBA insiders and the host of our “Scal and Pals” podcast, but he’s also a beloved New Jersey Net of yesteryear, and “loves getting to be on the air” in New York.
He got that chance with Danielle McCartan on WFAN early Sunday morning, and the big topic at hand for his appearance on McCartan After Midnight was Kyrie Irving’s recent comments that the Brooklyn Nets ‘don’t just have one head coach’ but will instead be a collaborative effort.
Scal needed just one word to sum up his thoughts on that.
“I think it’s laughable, but I’m old school; I want my coach to tell me what he wants me to do,” Scalabrine said. “I get it, Kyrie is a basketball savant, or at least he thinks he is, but these coaches watch hours and hours of film to break down opponents. When I was coaching the Warriors, I’d watch 40-60 hours of film for one game; once players start doing that, then we can talk about a collaborative effort.”
Film aside, just having so many voices speaking up can cause chaos on the court, too.
“How are you going to figure out what to do when four guys have different ideas in the huddle? Maybe KD and Kyrie, who have won championships, think they can do a better job,” Scalabrine said.
And what about pre and postgame?
“No question, it’s tough to be a head coach with how much you have to talk,” Scal said. “If it’s a collaborative effort, I’d like to hear someone ask Kyrie these questions and have him say, ‘that’s on Steve.’”
Oh, yeah, and don’t forget inside the locker room, too.
“When you think about it –if Kyrie is making substitution patterns, or naming guys he wants on the floor or the team, that could create tension,” Scalabrine said. “Ultimately, it has to fall on Steve; if he doesn’t play a guy, he needs to be the one to explain it. Kyrie isn’t having that conversation.”
All of that said, it wasn’t just a ‘dump on Kyrie Irving’ session for Scalabrine, who acknowledged that Irving is a talented player – but maybe not as good as Kyrie thinks he is?
“When he has the ball in his hands, he’s one of the most masterful guards we’ve ever seen, but the NBA requires more than that; you have to empower people around you, understand the game defensively, and understand that not everyone wants to stand around and watch you play,” Scalabrine said. “I thought the Nets were better without Kyrie last year, actually.”
So what about this year, with Irving and Kevin Durant back?
“I don’t think their talent is good enough to win a championship,” Scalabrine said. “I know a lot of people are looking at the best version of KD before the Achilles injury, or Kyrie from years ago – if everyone was their best, maybe, but that’s not how basketball works. Kyrie, when he won his title, he played with LeBron James, who makes everyone around him better. KD is not LeBron; he’s a very different player, and isn’t someone who makes everyone around him better like that. I don’t think they’re tougher than a lot of teams, and I don’t see them being a top 10 defensive team.”
And part of that is roster construction, with or without Joe Harris (whom Scalabrine said he would be ‘all over’ re-signing).
“The Nets are going to be one of the most intriguing teams next year because of their talent, but also because they have two guys in Spence Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert who need the ball in their hands to be effective,” he said. “They’re not going to get it, so I wonder if Brooklyn will look to trade one or both of those guys for a better fit as a third wheel. If not, at least one of those guys is going to have to take on a different role.”
Scalabrine also discussed a lot of other Nets and basketball topics – including Mike D’Antoni’s hiring as an assistant, a potential NBA bubble, the Raptors’ possible move to Newark for the year, and more – that you can hear in his full interview below!
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