The Players speak...

[Skandery]

Sports Illustrated poll of NBAers has Raptors coach listed league's worst
 
Canadian Press
March 8, 2006

NEW YORK (CP) - The Raptors' Sam Mitchell has been voted worst coach in the NBA in a poll of 248 NBA players by Sports Illustrated.

The vote was close, however. Mitchell drew 15 per cent of votes in the worst coach category, followed by Atlanta's Mike Woodson (13.3 per cent), Houston's Jeff Van Gundy (10.8 per cent) and Golden State's Mike Montgomery (8.3 per cent).

San Antonio's Gregg Popovich drew most votes for best coach with 31.9 per cent. He was followed by the Lakers' Phil Jackson (17.6 per cent), New York's Larry Brown (17.2 per cent) and Detroit's Flip Saunders (7.6 per cent).
 
Brown was also sixth on the worst list at 5.8 per cent.

Popovich drew 53.8 per cent of best coach votes from players 35 and older.

Players were not allowed to vote for their own coach. The poll is contained in the issue of the magazine that hit newstands Wednesday.
 
 

[Lurker]

I always knew Pop was a better coach than the Zen master....






















what do rings prove any how.  

[westkoast]

I always knew Pop was a better coach than the Zen master....






















what do rings prove any how.

Well that is like saying what does current team record have to do with anything!

Pop's team is still the top team in the league....Phil, ya LOL you catch my drift

[JoMal]

Amazing how talented a coach becomes once he has talented players on his team.

...or how he loses his intelligence once he only has mostly mediocre players.

Brown is a good example. Last year, he would have been at the very top of the best coach list. Now.....

And I disagree with Woodson of Atlanta being that bad of a coach. He isn't. Give him something to work with and he will produce a winner.

[Guest_Randy]

I think you have to look beyond talent to discern coaching ability.  Pop would rate VERY high on my ratings of defensive coaches -- he has been one of the best in the league (I don't believe, however, that he is a better defensive coach than PJ and Brown though but he is as good).

However, offensively is where Pop fails.  I will give Pop props for allowing Tony more room in the offense to penetrate but Pop has shown his lacking in coaching on the offensive side of the floor.  This is an area where PJ is better than Pop -- Brown edges him in this area as well.

I would give props to Carlisle -- brilliant coach, IMO.  Saunders also deserves consideration here as well.  Adelmann is a VERY good offensive coach -- but he hasn't shown me that he can coach offense at all.

Anyone here believe that PJ, Brown, Carlisle couldn't do as well as Pop given the Spurs roster?  

[Reality]

Adelmann is a VERY good offensive coach -- but he hasn't shown me that he can coach offense at all.
 

Another one for the archives. :up:    

[westkoast]

I am going to disagree that Phil Jackson is a better defensive coach than Greg Popavich.  Larry Brown, IMO, is the better of the three and obviously he is the one who taught Pop how to coach on the defensive end.

If you give all those coaches the Spurs now, yes they will do just fine.  The thing is that as soon as Pop gets new talent he gets them to play good team defense almost right away.  I highly highly doubt that Manu and Tony both came from overseas playing the kind of team defense they do right now.  That is just not a strength of Euro basketball players and certainly defense is not something euro coaches excel at either.

Can you guys even name a poor defensive basketball team under Pop?  He's had quite a few players come in and out of SA yet they always play great team defense.

[JoMal]

Adelmann is a VERY good offensive coach -- but he hasn't shown me that he can coach offense at all.
 

Another one for the archives. :up:  

Have to agree there. Leaving a comment like that hanging in the air begs scrutiny.

Adelman actually is a superior communicator. He rarely has issues with his players and when he does, the person who is a problem is usually stupid to begin with. (such as O.P.) Once the new guy actually understands what Rick is trying to get them to do offensively and the light bulb goes off in their heads, they really like what they get to do in SacTown.

But he does not teach defense, rather he relies on having a guy on the court who shows the others how it should be done, like Doug Christie did and now Ron Artest is doing.

[Guest_Randy]

Adelmann is a VERY good offensive coach -- but he hasn't shown me that he can coach offense at all.

Sorry, the last offense should have been defense.  JoMal basically said the same thing -- problem with typing while I'm talking with someone.

I am going to disagree that Phil Jackson is a better defensive coach than Greg Popavich.

Pop would rate VERY high on my ratings of defensive coaches -- he has been one of the best in the league (I don't believe, however, that he is a better defensive coach than PJ and Brown though but he is as good).

koast, you are disagreeing with a statement I never made -- I stated that PJ was as good a defensive coach as Pop is but that PJ is a better offensive coach than Pop.

Personally, I believe Brown is the best defensive coach in the league -- Brown edges PJ in defense and PJ edges Brown offensively.  

This conversation would break down much better if we distinguished offense, defense and overall coaching.  And while NBA players can give great perspectives on coaches -- they would tend to rate a Nate McMillan low (he makes them work too hard, rides them a bit too much, etc.) even though he is a better than average coach -- he just fails in the area of personally relating to his players!

[Guest_spursfan101]

A great GM is what truly makes a coach successful.  

[Reality]

A great GM is what truly makes a coach successful.

helps or hurts tons.
Also owner.

[westkoast]

Adelmann is a VERY good offensive coach -- but he hasn't shown me that he can coach offense at all.

Sorry, the last offense should have been defense.  JoMal basically said the same thing -- problem with typing while I'm talking with someone.

I am going to disagree that Phil Jackson is a better defensive coach than Greg Popavich.

Pop would rate VERY high on my ratings of defensive coaches -- he has been one of the best in the league (I don't believe, however, that he is a better defensive coach than PJ and Brown though but he is as good).

koast, you are disagreeing with a statement I never made -- I stated that PJ was as good a defensive coach as Pop is but that PJ is a better offensive coach than Pop.

Personally, I believe Brown is the best defensive coach in the league -- Brown edges PJ in defense and PJ edges Brown offensively.  

This conversation would break down much better if we distinguished offense, defense and overall coaching.  And while NBA players can give great perspectives on coaches -- they would tend to rate a Nate McMillan low (he makes them work too hard, rides them a bit too much, etc.) even though he is a better than average coach -- he just fails in the area of personally relating to his players!

Okay...I still disagree that Phil Jackson is as good of a defensive coach as Greg Popavich.

[Guest_Randy]

Really?  You think that Pop could make a better defensive team out of the current Lakers squad?  I certainly don't!

[westkoast]

Really?  You think that Pop could make a better defensive team out of the current Lakers squad?  I certainly don't!

This Laker team isn't a good defensive team....they were a good defensive team in the month of December and part of January but have taken 2 steps back since then IMO.  Part of the blame, whether warranted or not, has to fall on Phil Jackson's shoulders (and before the non-Laker fans try to twist that quote around, I think he has done a good job this year just not getting through some of their thick skulls on that end of the floor)

Do I think Pop could improve the Lakers defense? Honestly, yes I do.  Like I said he seems to get his players on the same defensive page very quickly and has never had a team that played less than great defense.  The Lakers were a good defensive squad when they were winning championships but were not the best in the league 2 of those years.  I believe SA had the better defense during the 3rd championship....so its more than just personel.

Phil Jackson has yet to get it through the guard's heads that one of them is suppose to stay back to cover quick outlet passes when they are on offense.

[JoMal]

Really?  You think that Pop could make a better defensive team out of the current Lakers squad?  I certainly don't!

This Laker team isn't a good defensive team....they were a good defensive team in the month of December and part of January but have taken 2 steps back since then IMO.  Part of the blame, whether warranted or not, has to fall on Phil Jackson's shoulders (and before the non-Laker fans try to twist that quote around, I think he has done a good job this year just not getting through some of their thick skulls on that end of the floor)

Do I think Pop could improve the Lakers defense? Honestly, yes I do.  Like I said he seems to get his players on the same defensive page very quickly and has never had a team that played less than great defense.  The Lakers were a good defensive squad when they were winning championships but were not the best in the league 2 of those years.  I believe SA had the better defense during the 3rd championship....so its more than just personel.

Phil Jackson has yet to get it through the guard's heads that one of them is suppose to stay back to cover quick outlet passes when they are on offense.

The coach can preach defense all he wants to your apathetic squad, but to really get them to buy into it, you need a guy on the team who inherently understands the concept in the scheme of the NBA arena.

While offense can be practiced and executed by rote, there just are too many subtleties to the actual gametime defensive experience that can't be understood watching film or being told how to properly move your feet and anticipate passing lanes in practice.

If you are lucky enough to have a Bowen, a Christie, a Kirilenko, or an Artest already on your team, your other guys will pick up the defense that much quicker. If you don't, the coach is preaching to the wall.

Therefore, one of the strengths of a good coach is to realyze your team needs that defensive stopper to make your defense work. That makes a Jerry Sloan an excellent defensive coach, but a mediocre offensive one. Defensive-minded coaches will tend to seek out defensive players first and hope they can also play some offense.