Quality Coaching

For as many teams as there are in the NBA, there is a separate and distinct head coach. Each one of these coaches does something different for his team, and has different skills and strategies that they bring to the table. But my question is: What makes a highly successful coach? As a GM, you will need to hire a coach and coaching staff that fits your players and the goals of your franchise. If you hire a complete bungler, then everyone is going to know it. Do you bank on past reputation, or do you hire new blood? Discipline, or pace of play? Player relations, or media savvy? Let us look at a few qualities of successful head coaches.

1. Past Success

This may seem like a no brainer, but in the NBA, a lot of the coaches who are available every offseason have coached in professional basketball, or at least college basketball, before. So it makes sense to look at the successes that the candidates have had in their past jobs. Of course, past success can be a pitfall, especially when recruiting coaches from the college ranks to coach in the NBA. In six seasons with the Knicks and Celtics, Rick Pitino managed to garner a record of 192-220, a less than stellar record. You all may have heard of Rick Pitino before, as he has won 589 games, while losing only 214 times. (Record as of Feb 1, 2011)

Something that is not talked about enough is the talent that a head coach gets to start out his tenure. I think Rick Carlisle is an excellent example of this point (I love a good Rick. No better way to get out of bed in the morning that to talk about a Rick) Carlisle is in his 9^th season as an NBA head coach, and he has averaged 48 wins per year in his previous 8 seasons with the Pistons, Pacers, and Mavs. Now, Rick Carlisle is an excellent head coach. He is smart, he plays to his strengths, and he seems to get the most out of the players that he has. BUT, I think he has benefitted tremendously from the rosters that he has inherited. He has the Detroit Pistons as they were rounding into championship form, he coached the Pacers when they were at the peak of their powers in 2003-2006, and he now holds the tiller of a Mavericks team that won 50 games a year even before he got there. So, past success can absolutely depend on more than just coaching ability.

2. Discipline

I think having strong discipline and running a tight ship are things better served for a young team, so you must be careful if you have this kind of coach. One team in the NBA this year that has a strong willed and controlling coach is the New Jersey Nets. Now, this may be a poor example because the Nets are so bad, but that is not Avery Johnson’s fault. He is a nit-picker, and a screamer. He controls his teams and keeps them going in the direction that he thinks is best. For the Nets, a young team who does not have an enormous amount of talent, they need a controlled system because they lack elite playmakers. However, there are pitfalls to a disciplinarian coach as well. Players may start to tune them out if they are losing too much, or if the coach is in town for too long (Avery Johnson with the Mavericks)

3. Master Manipulator

I think we all know who I am going to talk about right now…the Zen-orino, the Zen-kabob, the Zen master himself, Phil Jackson. Phil, a former NBA player himself, has developed player motivation into an art form. In contrast to a disciplinarian, a Master Manipulator is best used on a veteran team that already knows how to play, they just sometimes need to be inspired to give the effort necessary to win. The current Lakers and Phil Jackson could not illustrate this point better. As of February 1^st, the Lakers are.500 against teams with a winning record this season. They look soft on defense, and they lollygag their way through games. Phil Jackson is the remedy for what ails them. He always finds a way to poke, prod, or jab players back into playing hard and playing to win. He has done it numerous times with Kobe, motivated Pau Gasol into being a beast once in a while, and even took the job of turning Ron Artest into a human being (although some things are impossible, even for the master). If anyone can convince the Lakers that they need to play hard, and play as a team, it is Phil Jackson, The Master Manipulator.

4. Strategist

Let’s look to the other best team in the West, the San Antonio Spurs, to find a coach who has the X’s and O’s down to a science. Greg Popovich knows what is important in life, the playoffs. He also knows how to get his offense to run like a smoothly oiled machine. Unlike the Lakers, the Spurs know that they need to bring it for the important games, and half of the unimportant games, and they do so. But effort without direction is pointless. Greg Popovich is a master at giving effort a place to put itself. His offense this season is scoring, his defense is defending, and all of his players understand their place within both pieces. He is a genius, and he needs to grow his beard back!

Like all of my articles, I am sure that I left a few things out that make a good coach, like not being a jerk to your players, or having a voice that commands attention. Another good quality is not being Stan Van Gundy, so that people won’t make fun of your turtlenecks…but that is good for the NBA. Thanks for reading.