Assessment of NBA coaches

Hence y i rate him C-/D+. Mchale was smart enough to realize he has a GOAT player on his team and to utilize it basically every single play to get dem wins. Difference between him to Gentry and the other scrubs, is that milk hair was able to scrape out wins with his star player.

 

Good coaching is hard to quantify, because everything a coach does can be ignored by players (I have season tickets about 6 rows behind the bench. This happens more than you'd think)

The only way imo to get a meaningful coaching stat would be to assign a sort of "coachability" rating to all players in the NBA, average their ratings on a per team basis, and then adjust whatever coaching metric you have based on it.

Any regression being run using only wins to judge coaching, is going to be inherently
flawed in a way that measuring on court production never is.

 

S: Pop, Carlisle
A: Bud, Stevens
B: Thibs, Stotts, SVG, Snyder, Kerr, MDA, Spoelstra
B- : Clifford , Joerger , Atkinson (small sample but likely to get promoted to an above category soon),
C+: (Replacement Level) : Casey, Doc, Malone, Brooks, Brown, Vogel , Donovan , Walton , Fitzdale , Lue
C: Watson , Hornacek , McMillan
D: Gentry
F: Kidd, Hoidberg.

The worst coaches in the league are obvious in my opinion. One has lost completely his lockeroom and is a horrible communicator to players, the other is almost useless and is relying on his assistants for most.
Walton, McMillan and Lue for me have a very small sample and due to their circumstances are hard to judge. On the other hand, Atkinson has a smaller sample size but so far regardless of his team record has shown enough abilities in having his players applying his AT sets and offence and some player development that I'm confident that he will soon receive more widespread recognition.

As for the importance of coaching...it's very apparent and crucial. You see a team with talent, but the coach i.e Kidd has horrible rotations that make no sense, and has no offensive sets and a flawed defence , and now imagine what it would be like if instead there was a capable coach like Bud instead who knows what he's doing and manages to squeeze potential out of players who have been written off like Hardaway Jr. It earns the team at least 10 wins in RS.

 

So this year Harden also goes super saiyan with more talents and it's D'Antoni's credit? You can't have it both ways.

 

This is a fallacy, coaches are really important and vital to a franchise success. The only reason people don't think coaches don't make a difference is because there are a lot of good coaches in the NBA, that's because coaches have way longer careers than players do (Adelman was still coaching at 65 years old) and since every year majority of HC improve due to experience and there are lots of assistant coaches aspiring to be head coaches the quality is so high when you swap one coach for another you hardly feel the effects (aka Morey's infamous coaches affect just ~5 games per season). But this is only true for B coaches and above and only if you aren't contending for a championship. For C coaches and below they can torpedo your team and if you are chasing a championship well your opponents have an A coach so if you don't have an A coach yourself you are already at a disadvantage before the game even begins.

Coaches do more than just manage minutes, they set up the game plan, they conduct training schedules and they get the team morale up. If your HC is trash, then his team will also be trash and so your team's training, game plan and strategies will also be trash. An incompetent head coach can sabotage their training which will result in players being confused about their roles and go into the season overweight and injury prone. Worse the coach can start to play favorites, that will destroy the team inside out as players start hating each other and causing a divide in the locker room and in some cases the coach causes the players to tune him out and they stop playing at a high level. Sure you have players like Lebron or CP3 who can pretty much coach the team themselves, but just playing the game is already a highly demanding task you sure you want to add additional burdens on your stars? Houston has been spoiled by a string of really good HCs in Rudy T, JVG and Adelman maybe that's why Morey underestimated coaching and took it for granted it's like when you go from a Lexus to Porsche to Maserati well you start thinking every car should run like a dream and there's very little difference between car performance. Well he hired Mchale and JB and suffice it to say I doubt you'll have him telling everybody coaching is overrated ever again.

 

Harden is performing like super saiyan, but the difference between D'Antoni and Mchale, is that Harden's teammates benefit/shows improvement under D'Antoni guidance while Mchale's players didn't. During Mchale era, i think our only rookie that stick/i remember was dmo, jones, and parsons. It took them forever to contribute.

 

I think Doc and McHale are two good examples of why the coach matters, but not as much as some people think. In the end it's players > enviroment > coach imo.

Doc was a winner when he had a solid enviroment around him making the right decisions and when he had solid players like Garnett, Allen...with the Clippers he's without both things and he seems just like another decent coach like other 15 guys around the league.

McHale had a terrific season with us two years ago because Harden was playing out of his mind (also on defense) and the team somehow had perfect chemistry on the court, last season chemistry was gone and the coach/es was/were useless.

 

Mchale sat harden during the most crucial stretch of the rockets playoff run. How many coaches would have the balls to do that?

 

Mchale took leap of faith in that magically comeback, but that one move doesnt mean he was a good coach. There is a reason why no one is offering him a job.

 

We're ranking every front office in the NBA, and -- surprise, surprise -- the San Antonio Spurs, who will be making their 20th straight playoff appearance, are No. 1.

We asked our ESPN Forecast panel to rate every team's owner, basketball decision-maker(s) and coach from 0 to 10, and we then asked the panel to tell us how important each role is.

In particular, we asked the voters to rate each team's front-office management on its guidance and leadership in terms of how it affects overall on-court success, both in the short and long term. From there, we calculated the ratings to determine the NBA's best and worst front offices.

OVERALL

Spoiler

1. San Antonio Spurs 9.62
2. Golden State Warriors 8.97
3. Boston Celtics 8.56
4. Houston Rockets 8.23
5. Miami Heat 7.93
6. Cleveland Cavaliers 7.57
7. Dallas Mavericks 7.45
8. Toronto Raptors 7.33
9. Utah Jazz 7.27
10. Oklahoma City Thunder 6.50
11. Portland Trail Blazers 6.31
12. Washington Wizards 6.23
13. Memphis Grizzlies 6.14
14. Atlanta Hawks 6.10
15. Milwaukee Bucks 6.05
16. Denver Nuggets 5.78
17. LA Clippers 5.631
18. Minnesota Timberwolves 5.627
19. Indiana Pacers 5.53
20. Detroit Pistons 5.51
21. Charlotte Hornets 5.36
22. Philadelphia 76ers 5.00
23. Los Angeles Lakers 4.29
24. Brooklyn Nets 3.97
25. New Orleans Pelicans 3.96
26. Phoenix Suns 3.92
27. Orlando Magic 3.90
28. Chicago Bulls 3.71
29. Sacramento Kings 2.69
30. New York Knicks 2.20

COACHES

Spoiler

1. San Antonio Spurs - Gregg Popovich - Score: 9.73 (out of 10)
2. Golden State Warriors - Steve Kerr - Score: 8.76
3. Boston Celtics - Brad Stevens - Score: 8.58
4. Miami Heat - Erik Spoelstra - Score: 8.33
5. Dallas Mavericks - Rick Carlisle - Score: 8.31
6. Houston Rockets - Mike D'Antoni - Score: 7.96
7. Utah Jazz - Quin Snyder - Score: 7.16
8. Toronto Raptors - Dwane Casey - Score: 7.11
9. Washington Wizards - Scott Brooks - Score: 7.04
10. Cleveland Cavaliers - Tyronn Lue - Score: 7.02
11. Atlanta Hawks - Mike Budenholzer - Score: 6.84
12. Memphis Grizzlies - David Fizdale - Score: 6.36
13. Minn. Timberwolves - Tom Thibodeau - Score: 6.33
T-14. OKC Thunder - Billy Donovan - Score: 6.31
T-14. Port. Trail Blazers - Terry Stotts - Score: 6.31
T-14. Denver Nuggets - Michael Malone - Score: 6.31
17. Charlotte Hornets - Steve Clifford - Score: 6.20
18. Detroit Pistons - Stan Van Gundy - Score: 6.18
19. LA Clippers - Doc Rivers - Score: 6.07
20. Milwaukee Bucks - Jason Kidd - Score: 5.69
21. Philadelphia 76ers - Brett Brown - Score: 5.67
22. Los Angeles Lakers - Luke Walton - Score: 5.40
23. Sacramento Kings - David Joerger - Score: 5.29
24. Orlando Magic - Frank Vogel - Score: 5.20
25. Brooklyn Nets - Kenny Atkinson - Score: 4.82
26. Indiana Pacers - Nate McMillan - Score: 4.71
27. Phoenix Suns - Earl Watson - Score: 4.16
28. New Orleans Pelicans - Alvin Gentry - Score: 4.11
29. New York Knicks - Jeff Hornacek - Score: 3.82
30. Chicago Bulls - Fred Hoiberg - Score: 3.49

Thursday: General Managers
Friday: Owners

 

Their list is so wrong. Just because some teams are doing well and other don't doesn't mean everything in terms of coaching. You are telling me Scott Brooks is all of a sudden top 10 after being on the **** list just a year ago? I thought Donovan was a genius? Stotts same thing, now middle-of-the-pack? Joerger and Vogel from heavily coveted to bottom 10? How about Kidd who is doing a great job with the Bucks?

 

GENERAL MANAGERS

Spoiler

1. San Antonio Spurs - President: Gregg Popovich/GM: R.C. Buford - 9.65
2. Golden State Warriors - GM: Bob Myers - 9.17
3. Boston Celtics - President: Danny Ainge - 8.54
4. Houston Rockets - GM: Daryl Morey - 8.52
5. Cleveland Cavaliers - GM: David Griffin - 8.07
6. Toronto Raptors - President: Masai Ujiri/GM: Jeff Weltman - 7.85
7. Miami Heat - President: Pat Riley/GM: Andy Elisburg - 7.57
8. Utah Jazz - GM: Dennis Lindsey - 7.30
9. Oklahoma City Thunder - GM: Sam Presti - 7.15
10. Dallas Mavericks - GM: Donnie Nelson - 6.43
11. Milwaukee Bucks - GM: John Hammond - 6.15
12. Memphis Grizzlies - GM: Chris Wallace/VP: John Hollinger - 6.11
13. Portland Trail Blazers - President: Neil Olshey - 5.96
14. Washington Wizards - President: Ernie Grunfeld - 5.93
15. Atlanta Hawks - President: Mike Budenholzer/GM: Wes Wilcox - 5.83
16. Denver Nuggets - GM: Tim Connelly - 5.80
17. Indiana Pacers - President: Larry Bird/GM: Kevin Pritchard - 5.63
18. Minnesota Timberwolves - President: Tom Thibodeau/GM: Scott Layden - 5.63
19. Detroit Pistons - President: Stan Van Gundy/GM: Jeff Bower - 5.04
20. Charlotte Hornets - GM: Rich Cho - 5.00
21. Philadelphia 76ers - President: Bryan Colangelo - 4.67
22. LA Clippers - President: Doc Rivers - 4.50
23. Brooklyn Nets - GM: Sean Marks - 4.33
24. New Orleans Pelicans - GM: Dell Demps - 4.04
25. Phoenix Suns - GM: Ryan McDonough - 4.00
26. Los Angeles Lakers - President: Magic Johnson/GM: Rob Pelinka - 3.85
27. Chicago Bulls - VP: John Paxson/GM: Gar Forman - 3.09
28. Orlando Magic - GM: Rob Hennigan - 2.87
29. New York Knicks - President: Phil Jackson/GM: Steve Mills - 1.96
30. Sacramento Kings - VP: Vlade Divac - 1.50

 

This and circumstance.

There are some coaches that are perfect under a certain set of circumstances.

For example Doc Rivers. He is a good people person and handles personalities well. He was a very good fit for those veteran Celtics teams (McHale would have been too) but he is not as good a coach on a talented team that lacks strong locker room leadership. At this point he is actually a bad fit for the Clippers.

On the other hand, D'Antoni would have not been a good fit for the old Celtics teams. He would want them to run and would not have allowed someone one like Garnett to dictate the style of play or attitude of the team. He however would have been excellent for the Clippers and likely would have them in the WCF this season.

 

Spoelstra was close to crashing and burning his first year with LeBron. He was young and inexperienced and the veterans were leery of him. Luckily he had Pat Riley who was able to help maintain order.

Spoelstra is one of the hardest working and smartest coaches in the NBA. He is extremely well prepared and has a strong understanding of the technology available and how it helps him coach. He gets respect from his players because they know that he will be better prepared and will put his team in a position to win.

Scotty Brooks is a nice person, he works hard and players respect his loyalty. However strategically and from a preparation stand point he isn't very good.

 

NBA coaches are an interesting lot.

There are several broad types of coaches.

There are coaches that natural leaders and are able to adeptly keep their teams and coaches on the same page.

The second main type of coach is the innovative coach that has a very high understanding of what is happening on the floor and is able to make quick adjustments.

There are very few coaches that excel at both.

Hall of Famers
Gregg Popovich - At worst he is one of the 5 best basketball coaches to ever live, and other than Red Auerbach he is probably the overall best coach in NBA history. He is exceptional at managing personalities and motivating his players. Unlike most other great coaches, he is able to motivate and develop players through positive reinforcement and teaching. He is the best ever and doing this. He remains liked by virtually every player that has played for him and he never needs to have drama. From a strategic stand point he is one of the best ever. He has been underrated for his contributions to modern NBA offenses and rotations. He relies upon basic defensive principles but he has exceptional execution.

Possible Hall of Famers
Rick Carlisle - If there is a coach that understands basketball better than Popovich, it is Rick Carlisle. He is the best coach in the NBA when it comes to spacing on the floor offensively. He is exceptional at spreading the floor and having productive movement on the floor. He is a large architect of the modern NBA offense. Defensively, he expects/demands effort and makes able switches. His weakness is that he is an absolute hell brand hard ass. He will fight a player if he has to. He has no problem with conflict and he is not at all flexible. He rules with an iron fist. Typically players respect him, but unlike Popovich, he isn't able to get some players to buy into his system.

Mike D'Antoni - The single most important influence in the NBA when it comes to the modern NBA offense. His plays and philosophy has been emulated by virtually all other coaches in the NBA. Despite having developed and employed the system 15 years ago, he is still the brightest and most creative offensive coach in the NBA. His weakness is he is not a natural leader. He at times has shown a lack of leadership when his teams struggle and he hasn't been able to stand up to star players that do not buy into his system. He also has been susceptible to being over confidence in certain situations and it rubs off on his team.

Tom Thibodeau - The best defensive coach in the NBA and also the most influential defensive innovator in 50 years. He is responsible for modern NBA defenses. He has the reputation as being a salt of the earth coach, but don't be fooled. He is the brightest defensive coach in the league and has shown capable of shutting down elite teams offensively. He is also an underrated offensive coach, he was able to develop an offense that ran through Noah that got the Bulls as far as they possibly could. His weakness is that he wears on players and his employers. He is inflexible and is aware that he knows the game as well as he does.

Steve Kerr - He is a tough one to evaluate. He has won in GS, but he took over a team on the cusp on greatness. He runs the offense that was made by D'Antoni and executed by Alvin Gentry. However, he has made some savvy adjustments like he did against the Cavs two years ago. He clearly is bright and capable. He was poor as GM of the Suns and he has a very strong organization in place. I wonder where the Warriors would be had Alvin Gentry taken over.

Very Good
Brad Stevens - So far, so good. He is very well liked by his players and is considered one of the brightest minds in the NBA. He isn't afraid to think outside the box and finds a way to put his players in the best spot to thrive. He has all the tangibles and intangibles to be elite. Let's see how he handles the playoffs and adversity.

Erik Spoelstra - Hard working, very bright and maximizes the technology available. His personality is fine, and at this point is typically respected.


......................

Last
Fred Hoiberg - Not an NBA head coach. It is evident that he really doesn't want to be an NBA head coach either.
Jason Kidd - Lazy, lacks structure and seems disinterested. Too bad, he actually has an aptitude for NBA systems.

 

Check out what Spo has done with the Heat, massive turn around. He's got them locked in and playing good team ball. He's a good coach, I agree, though, most coaches could have won in the Lebron era, but seeing what he's done this year has proven his worth imo.

 

@Nook That was a phenomenal writeup! Enjoyed reading it. thanks.

 

Don’t forget that Brooks had Westbrook and Durant and Ibaka when he was at OKC. There is a big talent drop off from Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka to Westbrook/George/Melo.

Donovan also is dealing with veterans set in their ways.

I think Donovan’s defensive schemes are very good. His offensive schemes are mediocre but good luck getting Westbrook/Anthony/George to buy into any real system.

It is a star, or to be more exact, superstar driven league and unless you get them early or have a special open minded one; they do what they want.

Even James Harden, who has bought into D’Antoni’s system and done what coach has asked him stays in the games AFTER D’Antoni would want him to; because he is a superstar and smart coaches pick their battles.