Byron has strengths in areas that Mike did not, but that's no reason to denigrate Mike who did a terrific job with the team in spite of a ridiculous amount of turnover in personnel. Mike's failure was that he couldn't work miracles and fill the roster holes he was given nor he could he do anything about critical players who failed to show up at critical times due to injury, emotional problems, or whatever.
And last year you might recall that Mike was using an extended rotation for a period, but backed away from it (cutting off Gibson and others) because he felt his main guys were struggling due to not getting enough minutes. I would have preferred to see Gibson used strategically, but coaches do have to make trade offs to keep everyone happy and productive AND build to where they want to get. For instance, was it really an option to yank Mo from the Boston series whenever Rondo was on the floor? Often there's often no good answer in situations like this, other than hoping your guys step-up. Remember Avery Johnson once decided his 67-win Dallas team needed to adjust to Golden State's small ball team, and all that bought him was a first round out as Dallas stopped playing to their own strengths.
And last year you might recall that Mike was using an extended rotation for a period, but backed away from it (cutting off Gibson and others) because he felt his main guys were struggling due to not getting enough minutes. I would have preferred to see Gibson used strategically, but coaches do have to make trade offs to keep everyone happy and productive AND build to where they want to get. For instance, was it really an option to yank Mo from the Boston series whenever Rondo was on the floor? Often there's often no good answer in situations like this, other than hoping your guys step-up. Remember Avery Johnson once decided his 67-win Dallas team needed to adjust to Golden State's small ball team, and all that bought him was a first round out as Dallas stopped playing to their own strengths.