I think coaching is overrated. Look at Spoelstra right now. Miami Heat look like a disaster.Then you look at Kerr who's leading the best team in the league with zero coaching experience (on the other hand, you look at D Fisher who was considered one of the "smartest" players in the league.) Then you look at Doc Rivers (coached the worst team in the league with a top 2-3 player in his prime, got fired. Then won COY for leading Boston to a title on a stacked team. And now he looks clueless). And I can go on.
Whatever. The Heat were played out after last season. They lost their zip sometime in January and never got it back. The chemistry was cooked. It was the Miami Cavaliers for ~ the last 30 games of the season and playoffs. You should know that as much as anyone here. Add in losing LeBron and I said before the season they would finish lower seed in the East. The Heat disaster this year isn't that surprising if you remove emotions from expectations. I never thought Spoelstra was a great coach but he had a roster good enough for him to win with. Now with Wade playing out the string and Bosh collecting money, yawn. Kerr isn't the sole reason the Warriors have been great. Said this before and will repeat it again: Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams are the strongest pair of assistant coaches I can remember. Adams is the best defensive coach (head or assistant) in the NBA. Kerr is a very good leader and has allowed those two guys to share their expertise. One of things that got Mark Jackson fired was his refusal to hire top notch assistant coaches (out of insecurity). You can't succeed without talent but coaching is very important. If the Cavaliers had a good coach for LeBron's first run in Cleveland, I bet they would have won 2 championships. Mike Brown was so flawed it wasn't funny. It was painful. His legacy lives on with Coach Bonehead in OKC. Wasted years for both franchises.
t_mac1, let me also add if you don't believe Budenholzer deserves a huge amount of credit for what the Hawks are doing, this discussion is a hopeless waste of time.
Coaching is important, just like chemistry, and having adequate talent. I never said it wasn't important; I just said it's overrated b/c people think a coaching is the most important aspect for a team's success. It's not. Player talent is. Buldenhozer deserves a lot of credit for the Hawks' success, but I think the players deserve more credit. It's a players' league. I give the Warriors' growth as a team more to the development of Klay and Draymond. I say the reason the Clips are stagnating is b/c Griffin isn't taking the step after he took the step he took last year (he regressed this year). The Cavs are good now not b/c of Blatt, but b/c Lebron feels like playing now. And the Heat won those rings not b/c of Spo (who's worse than your bonehead in OKC by the way), but they won in spite of him. Is Thibs suddenly a bad coach now b/c the Bulls are underachieving? Or is it b/c Rose isn't the same player he was? Like I said, I can go on and on.
This is good discussion. I don't remember anyone (much less "people") saying coaching is the most import aspect for a team's success. You sure that is not a straw man? We all know it's a player's league. You can always argue players deserve "more credit" than the coach, but you'd be hard pressed to argue another coach would have them 42-9 (which is the real point). I don't hate Mark Jackson like many here, but the guy was not a good coach. Their flow and diversity on offense is so much better than last year it isn't funny. Their D (supposedly where Jackson spent most of time "preaching") has also gone to another level. If he were still the coach, they would not be the dominant team they are now. Of course, Klay and Draymond are better too. Agree with you on the Clippers. The dominant stretch Griffin had late last season looks like a fluke instead of him taking a permanent step to the next level. You've lost your mind if you believe Spo is worse than Bonehead. I just don't know what to say. I remember reading one of OKC's main bloggers commenting on the 1st Heat/Spurs Finals matchup. He was envious of watching the levers being pulled by both coaches and he wished Bonehead had exercised more sophistication to his lineup choices and playcalls on offense the prior Finals. Spo isn't great, but he coached circles around Bonehead in 2012. Thibs' issues in Chicago could be a matter of wearing out his welcome. There is definitely a problem. It might be time for him to move on. Clearly Rose not being who he was is a big drag.
Another thing to consider if you believe coaching is "overrated": Why have the Kings gone in the toilet since Brendan Malone was replaced by Ty Corbin?
