Is this the approach the Leafs should take with Keefe?
May 14, 2023
[Phoenix Sun Dismiss Head Coach Monty Williams](https://www.nba.com/news/phoenix-suns-dismiss-head-coach-monty-williams)
Well that didn’t take long.
You have big pieces. You had your chances. You could not get it done.
15 comments
I think a decision on Dubas needs to come first. If Shanahan isn’t keeping him (or if MLSE is getting rid of Shanahan and Dubas), then it will be up to the new GM.
Hopefully Dubas stays, but also if he does stay, it should come with the requirement to change the coach and make at least one big roster change.
The only series a Keefe coached team hasn’t outplayed their opponent is the single series we’ve won. He is an easy scapegoat, but he’s not the issue.
I heard friedman during the stars/kraken intermission last night that he personally would be shocked if they didn’t extend dubas. Not rumours just his belief. For me i’m worried that if Dubas comes back he runs it back. I don’t think he has the stomach to fire keefe and that’s what’s needed.
Literally the first thing I thought of when I saw the news the suns fired Williams was how the leaf’s should do exactly the same thing.
As is typical, MLSE will waffle on about the subject endlessly, and we’ll mosst likely have the exact same organization start the season again. I really hope i’m wrong though. They need to extend Dubas, and Dubas needs to step up and realize there’s a coaching issue here, imo. I guess we’ll see how it all plays out, nothing else to watch now, could always play the over-under on league influenced NHL games I suppose?
The only change that needs to happen is to fire Keefe, hire a coach with playoff success who isn’t going to coddle the players and some roster changes. Matthews, Marner, Tavares or Nylander. Someone’s gotta go. Nylander is the easiest to trade, but he actually played decently out of the 4 in the second round. First you need to interview everyone and ask them if they want to stay, then decide whether it makes sense to keep any of them. Matthews might not want to run it back. If he doesn’t, that creates a lot of open space to sign other guys.
You need to see also how Edmonton does in the post-season, if they win the cup — McDavid and Draistl aren’t moving. If they lose the 2nd round, I’d imagine we could possibly pull off a blockbuster trade.
You need to shop Matthews and Marner and see what you can get. Also, Tavares, ask him if he would be willing to be traded. Tavares is not elite anymore.
You can’t fire Dubas. He swung for the fences and went all in. He got what everyone said we needed and went out of his comfort zone. If he’s fired, it’ll be because of the decision to rely on the core 4 and pay them what he has.
You definitely fire Keefe. He’s not the answer in the locker room.
The team as currently built is not built to win in the playoffs as long as this bullshit tradition of ‘letting them play’ continues. It’s an excellent high skilled team that hits wall every time they get punched in the face, because the NHL calls the first 3, then is afraid to call more. You get to goon it up and serve a max 3 more pk than your opponent? May as well build some goons in.
And I find it hard to accept that Keefe ‘had the pieces’ when he had a rookie in net in R2 elimination play. Murray was great in Ottawa, they loved him, the only problem was he was hurt all the time. Sammy as well, played injured all the season. Keefe’s team outplayed FLA, it was a combination of superior goaltending and atrocious refereeing that did them in. Leafs need a healthy goalie.
If they bring Dubas back, and I think they should, it needs to be on the condition Keefe is gone. The guy has been outcoached at every step and never has the team ready to go for starts of games/periods. Obviously, that’s not 100% on the coach, but his lineups and juggling and strategies just clearly haven’t worked, and his over reliance on, frankly, not good enough players has been baffling.
Id even be alright with largely running back all the players if they make the change at coach. A tweak or two to the blue line and maybe a look for another left winger should probably happen, but otherwise, with the deadline addition guys it feels like a much more complete team that has skill and experience and even enough grit to push deeper, maybe they just need more time to come together.
Adding six guys at the deadline and then shuffling the fuck out of the lines until the end of the year maybe didn’t get the most out of the additions, and I wouldn’t mind seeing what a smarter and more challenging coach could do with a similar roster that had time together to really gel.
Keefe coached exactly how Dubas wanted. How can you bring in another coach? We want a coach that doesn’t listen to Dubas? It doesn’t make any sense. The love for Dubas doesn’t make any sense. Get rid of Dubas, let the next GM pick a coach.
There’s virtually no chance Keefe is coaching on opening day. Even if you think he’s a good coach, I don’t think has anything left to bring to this team.
I think Dubas stays, and the Leafs sign him to a big deal to keep him, accepting that he might only be around for another year or two and they’ll just have to eat the contract.
One possible reason for letting Dubas go would be if he doesn’t want to fire Keefe. Another would be if ownership decides they really need to play hardball with their player contracts this year and need someone new to do it.
does Monty Williams have one of the highest winning percentages in the history of the NBA?
Dubas I think deserves too stay he fought for his job and had the best trade deadline (I include the weeks leading up too it also ) in the league and imo keefe kept getting out coached all playoffs long! He should go
And this coach took full accountability for the teams failure. And still got axed. Keefe never once owns up to his eff ups, just tosses the “we didn’t get it done, we had an opportunity, etc.”
IMO yes, Keefe is done. When he first arrived I thought it was great a nice calming presence to settle the obvious nerves of our inexperienced core. However, as the years have rolled on it seems the pressure is just too much for him or something and he’s been out coached at key moments.
Keep Dubas, keep the core 4 – Holl, ZAR and Murray are gone and maybe even Kerfoot as unfortunate as that is. Just my prediction anyway.
15 comments
I think a decision on Dubas needs to come first. If Shanahan isn’t keeping him (or if MLSE is getting rid of Shanahan and Dubas), then it will be up to the new GM.
Hopefully Dubas stays, but also if he does stay, it should come with the requirement to change the coach and make at least one big roster change.
The only series a Keefe coached team hasn’t outplayed their opponent is the single series we’ve won. He is an easy scapegoat, but he’s not the issue.
I heard friedman during the stars/kraken intermission last night that he personally would be shocked if they didn’t extend dubas. Not rumours just his belief. For me i’m worried that if Dubas comes back he runs it back. I don’t think he has the stomach to fire keefe and that’s what’s needed.
Literally the first thing I thought of when I saw the news the suns fired Williams was how the leaf’s should do exactly the same thing.
As is typical, MLSE will waffle on about the subject endlessly, and we’ll mosst likely have the exact same organization start the season again. I really hope i’m wrong though. They need to extend Dubas, and Dubas needs to step up and realize there’s a coaching issue here, imo. I guess we’ll see how it all plays out, nothing else to watch now, could always play the over-under on league influenced NHL games I suppose?
The only change that needs to happen is to fire Keefe, hire a coach with playoff success who isn’t going to coddle the players and some roster changes. Matthews, Marner, Tavares or Nylander. Someone’s gotta go. Nylander is the easiest to trade, but he actually played decently out of the 4 in the second round. First you need to interview everyone and ask them if they want to stay, then decide whether it makes sense to keep any of them. Matthews might not want to run it back. If he doesn’t, that creates a lot of open space to sign other guys.
You need to see also how Edmonton does in the post-season, if they win the cup — McDavid and Draistl aren’t moving. If they lose the 2nd round, I’d imagine we could possibly pull off a blockbuster trade.
You need to shop Matthews and Marner and see what you can get. Also, Tavares, ask him if he would be willing to be traded. Tavares is not elite anymore.
You can’t fire Dubas. He swung for the fences and went all in. He got what everyone said we needed and went out of his comfort zone. If he’s fired, it’ll be because of the decision to rely on the core 4 and pay them what he has.
You definitely fire Keefe. He’s not the answer in the locker room.
The team as currently built is not built to win in the playoffs as long as this bullshit tradition of ‘letting them play’ continues. It’s an excellent high skilled team that hits wall every time they get punched in the face, because the NHL calls the first 3, then is afraid to call more. You get to goon it up and serve a max 3 more pk than your opponent? May as well build some goons in.
And I find it hard to accept that Keefe ‘had the pieces’ when he had a rookie in net in R2 elimination play. Murray was great in Ottawa, they loved him, the only problem was he was hurt all the time. Sammy as well, played injured all the season. Keefe’s team outplayed FLA, it was a combination of superior goaltending and atrocious refereeing that did them in. Leafs need a healthy goalie.
If they bring Dubas back, and I think they should, it needs to be on the condition Keefe is gone. The guy has been outcoached at every step and never has the team ready to go for starts of games/periods. Obviously, that’s not 100% on the coach, but his lineups and juggling and strategies just clearly haven’t worked, and his over reliance on, frankly, not good enough players has been baffling.
Id even be alright with largely running back all the players if they make the change at coach. A tweak or two to the blue line and maybe a look for another left winger should probably happen, but otherwise, with the deadline addition guys it feels like a much more complete team that has skill and experience and even enough grit to push deeper, maybe they just need more time to come together.
Adding six guys at the deadline and then shuffling the fuck out of the lines until the end of the year maybe didn’t get the most out of the additions, and I wouldn’t mind seeing what a smarter and more challenging coach could do with a similar roster that had time together to really gel.
Keefe coached exactly how Dubas wanted. How can you bring in another coach? We want a coach that doesn’t listen to Dubas? It doesn’t make any sense. The love for Dubas doesn’t make any sense. Get rid of Dubas, let the next GM pick a coach.
There’s virtually no chance Keefe is coaching on opening day. Even if you think he’s a good coach, I don’t think has anything left to bring to this team.
I think Dubas stays, and the Leafs sign him to a big deal to keep him, accepting that he might only be around for another year or two and they’ll just have to eat the contract.
One possible reason for letting Dubas go would be if he doesn’t want to fire Keefe. Another would be if ownership decides they really need to play hardball with their player contracts this year and need someone new to do it.
does Monty Williams have one of the highest winning percentages in the history of the NBA?
Dubas I think deserves too stay he fought for his job and had the best trade deadline (I include the weeks leading up too it also ) in the league and imo keefe kept getting out coached all playoffs long! He should go
And this coach took full accountability for the teams failure. And still got axed. Keefe never once owns up to his eff ups, just tosses the “we didn’t get it done, we had an opportunity, etc.”
IMO yes, Keefe is done. When he first arrived I thought it was great a nice calming presence to settle the obvious nerves of our inexperienced core. However, as the years have rolled on it seems the pressure is just too much for him or something and he’s been out coached at key moments.
Keep Dubas, keep the core 4 – Holl, ZAR and Murray are gone and maybe even Kerfoot as unfortunate as that is. Just my prediction anyway.