Can you think of games where a coach won the game for the team?

[westkoast]

Just a random, bored-sitting-in-traffic thought from yesterday.  Can you think of games, like in the playoffs for example, where a coach did just as much to win the basketball game as his players did?    Whether it was adjustments on the offensive or defensive end or just putting in the right player at the right time.

[WayOutWest]

The obvious answer is Bill Russel on the last title of that Celtic dynasty.  You cannot dispute this one.

Don Nelson last year.  He is the master of "junk" coaching plans.

Phil Jackson for the Bulls and Lakers.  These teams could not have done it without him.

[jn]

I'm sure there are a lot more if we really stop and think about it.  For instance, remember the first Lakers/Wolves playoff series?  Flip stole a game in LA by slapping on a full court press.  Jackson adjusted of course and the Lakers won the series 4-2 but it would probably have been a sweep without Flip's monkeywrenching.

[Lurker]

I think the entire 2005 finals between Pop and Larry Brown should be required viewing for anyone in the coaching field.  There were more adjustments in that series than I think a lot of coaches make in an entire season.

Then there is always game winning shots after timeouts...how much credit should the coach get?  The players still are the ones who have to produce but it the coaches who are playing chess at that time trying to call the right set either offensively or defensively.

[westkoast]

Then there is always game winning shots after timeouts...how much credit should the coach get?  The players still are the ones who have to produce but it the coaches who are playing chess at that time trying to call the right set either offensively or defensively.

A lot of small things get overlooked that a coach might do in the course of a game or series that they don't quite get credit for.

One adjustment that comes to mind is the adjustment made by Phil Jackson a few seasons back in the playoffs when Payton was getting murdered by the Spurs.   I forget the exact adjusment made but I remember the Lakers going from looking to getting eliminated to moving on to the next round.

[JoMal]

How about coaches that singlehandedly blew games for their own team, such as Avery Johnson last year against the Warriors.

[Reality]

How about coaches that singlehandedly blew games for their own team, such as Avery Johnson last year against the Warriors.

Lets keep it positive here.

[JoMal]

How about coaches that singlehandedly blew games for their own team, such as Avery Johnson last year against the Warriors.

Lets keep it positive here.

Let's not. Seeing a good coach make the right decisions to NOT blow a game is straightforward. But pinpointing when a coach turned the tide AGAINST his own team, now THAT is fun!

[Laker Fan]

Pat Riley against Avery Johnson 2 years ago is both an example of a coach taking less talent and beating more talent (Riley) and a coach taking a talented team and BLOWING the best season in team history (Johnson)

2 birds with one stone for ya JoMal, although your reference to last year against Golden State was a another good example of a coach blowing it.

[JoMal]

Pat Riley against Avery Johnson 2 years ago is both an example of a coach taking less talent and beating more talent (Riley) and a coach taking a talented team and BLOWING the best season in team history (Johnson)

2 birds with one stone for ya JoMal, although your reference to last year against Golden State was a another good of a coach blowing it.

The other type of coaching mistake I really hate is the misuse of personnel once the playoffs start. This is where Rick Adelman loses me completely. He uses a rather tight eight man rotation during the year, getting twenty plus minutes for all of them, then in the playoffs, he just seems to play his starters to death. He has lost numerous games in the playoffs simply because the other team was fresher in the fourth quarter, most notably in the last series he coached in Sacramento against the Timberwolves.

[WayOutWest]

The other type of coaching mistake I really hate is the misuse of personnel once the playoffs start. This is where Rick Adelman loses me completely. He uses a rather tight eight man rotation during the year, getting twenty plus minutes for all of them, then in the playoffs, he just seems to play his starters to death. He has lost numerous games in the playoffs simply because the other team was fresher in the fourth quarter, most notably in the last series he coached in Sacramento against the Timberwolves.

That is the Riley school of coaching.  He tightens his playoff rotation to 7 or 8, he says that those guys are professionals and playing big minutes is what is expected of them to win.

[Laker Fan]

I think Riley's substitutions, particularly his countermoves to Johnson in the Finals, playinfg Shaq very situationally, and as you stated JoMal about Adelman, not playing his starters to death, although Zo', Payton, and Wade DID play some heavy minutes, really were the difference, Dallas had waaaay more talent, but Johnson was flat-out out-coached. Pat expect his players to leave it all on the floor every night, and they did that in the playoffs

[westkoast]

Another one was the adjustment Phil Jackson made in the Suns series two years ago where he pretty much grinded the offense to a halt on purpose to slow down the game and force the Suns into a half court game that they lost 2 games in a row. 

[Reality]

Then there is always game winning shots after timeouts...how much credit should the coach get?  The players still are the ones who have to produce but it the coaches who are playing chess at that time trying to call the right set either offensively or defensively.

A lot of small things get overlooked that a coach might do in the course of a game or series that they don't quite get credit for.

One adjustment that comes to mind is the adjustment made by Phil Jackson a few seasons back in the playoffs when Payton was getting murdered by the Spurs.   I forget the exact adjusment made but I remember the Lakers going from looking to getting eliminated to moving on to the next round.

Payton felt he could pick n roll the Spurs while Phil had them married to the triangle in Gms 1 and 2.
Phil showed flexibility, pick n roll worked and Payton became a factor.   
Another angle to this series was Spurs midrange jumpshooting.  They were clanking.  Phil revealed afterwords that the Lakers were going to stop the treys and guard the paint but were conceding midrange jumpers.  Almost all the Spurs clanked away and Poppy made no adjustment. Myself i would have liked to have seen Pop order the Spurs to take it to the rack come what may.

[Skandery]

I think the entire 2005 finals between Pop and Larry Brown should be required viewing for anyone in the coaching field.

Here, here . . .


. . . and I got another one.  1996 Western Conference Finals.  Jerry Sloan's Jazz and George Karl's Sonics.  That was an amazingly coached series on both sides.