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May
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The Coaching Ranks Spin Out Of Control
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The Coaching ShuffleWow, this has been quite an off-season thus far, as far as coaching in the NBA. First off, 12 teams have fired coaches since the beginning of last season (Boston, Denver, Golden State, Milwaukee, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, Vancouver, Washington). Just think about that - that's 12 out of 29 teams in the league.
That means that Pat Riley has the most seniority with his team in the Atlantic Division - with a whole 2 years. And Jeff van Gundy is second with 1-1/2 years. Ouch.
And this doesn't count the fact that Detroit's Doug Collins may resign (reportedly fatigue), the LA Clipper's Bill Fitch may be fired (despite making the playoffs), Dallas' Jim Cleamons may get fired (despite having his problem children shipped away during the season), Chicago's Phil Jackson may leave the Bulls (because he's a coaching free agent), Seattle's George Karl may get fired if they lose to Houston (and he may, even if they don't), and Orlando's Richie Adubato won't lose the interim tag without also losing the coach tag.
I have no clue why the half-life of a coaching job has suddenly become so short, but the demands to succeed now (in most coaching situations) has a big influence. If a team is perceived to underachieve or not listen to the head boss, out the door you go.
The Money Ante
Boy, have salaries gotten out of hand. No, not just the players, but also the coaches. And I thought Bullets coach Bernie Bickerstaff was expensive, at $1.5M per year. But that's what it was going to take, because that was what he was making in his front office post with the Denver Nuggets. He wasn't going to take Jim Lynam money (I think around $600,000) to coach the Bullets.
But now, we get three blockbusters. Larry Brown gets $5M per year from the Sixers, only to be trumped by the Celtics and their $7M per year deal with Rick Pitino. At least these are proven coaches, with winning records wherever they have gone (college or professional).
But Larry Bird, without a whiff of coaching experience, pulls in $4.5M per year from the Indiana Pacers. At lease he was smart enough to get an option in the contract to allow him to move into a management position after 2 years if things don't work out. He was a heady player, but how will his interpersonal and teaching skills work with the players?
And I can only dream about what Phil Jackson would be able to get on the open market? Or how about Rudy Tomjanovich? Lenny Wilkens? Yes, even the threatened George Karl? They could also get some good deals if they were given the chance to shop around their services.
Betting On The Boss
And that's what you're doing with coaches nowadays. You have no clue how a team is going to react to a given coach. Sometimes, he seemingly fails from day 1 (look at Philadelphia with Johnny Davis), and it's not always his fault. But oftentimes, it's easier to fire a coach than trade a player, especially when the problem isn't just one player. (Of course, the Dallas Mavericks tried trading the problem children away, but still were just as bad without them.)
The coach has a lot of responsibilities, but does he deserve the blame if things go sour? Probably yes. He's responsible for highlighting keys to a game for his team. He's responsible for crafting offensive and defensive assignments and plays that take advantage of the opponent's weaknesses. He needs to control the flow of the game from the sideline, whether it's by calling offensive and defensive plays, or by calling for a timeout to stiffle an opponent's run. This is not playground basketball that these teams play.
Yes, players also must get themselves ready. The team leaders need to assert certain authority to ensure everyone is aware of their responsibilities. And in the end, they must execute on the court proficiently enough to win. But the coach and players must work together. And ultimately, the coach is the boss and ultimate decision maker, just like in the real world. So, when a coach gets fired, usually he's earned it. But until he's fired, a coach presumably has the backing of management when there are problems. (If I didn't as a coach, I'd be worried.)
I'll talk about the prospects for Bird and Pitino later, because I'm not sure they'll succeed right away. (And Larry Brown has a mess in Philadelphia that will take a while to sort out.) I have my reasons for believing it, and not just because I think the Bullets will improve more next season.
Folding Your Hand
More often than not, coaches are fired, they don't get up and leave the job. To be honest, it's usually pretty easy to see that a coach is sitting perilously close to the edge. Jim Lynam, from this season, was a perfect example. He had a healthy team, but close observers of the team knew that all was not well on the court. The cohesiveness of the team never materialized, and there was too much selfish play on the court that wasn't getting disciplined by the coach. The inmates, in some ways, seemed to be running the asylum.
To be honest, even if the Bullets hadn't been blown out by the Lakers and the Jazz, Lynam probably would have been fired over the All Star break. The team situation was out of control. Those blowouts just accelerated the firing.
Very typical handling in the NBA. Some firings, such as Coach Brian Hill of the Orlando Magic, were a bit of a shock, but that was also an internal coup engineered by team leader Penny Hardaway. Usually, if team chemistry is off, players are fighting or ignoring other players or coaches, or the team is dreadfully underperforming expectations, then expect a move to be made. Maybe not during the season, but at the end of the season.
But as this season showed, coaches aren't even safe during the season. Seven of the twelve firings came during the season. That's a lot, almost 25% of the positions were changed during a season. To me, that means something is really messed up.
Winning The Pot
What constitutes a successful coach? That's just so hard to say, and it varies from organization to organization, even from coach to coach. But two ingrediants are key: making optimal use of the your players and their strengths while masking their weakeness, and getting the players to play together in a relatively unselfish brand of basketball that will allow a team to win.
These characteristics don't guarantee an upper echelon team, but you'll be reasonably successful with that. To get even better takes seasoning of young players, who gain enough experience so that they don't fold mentally in tough game situations. A good coach can help here, but in the end it's still the players who must work together to get the win.
So, where does the Bullets' current coach, Bernie Bickerstaff, fall? I don't know. In his half-season here, he changed the team operation and chemistry enough to get them to the middle tier, where they belonged (talent-wise). He also got them to believe in his system and got them playing a less selfish brand of basketball. That's good. But can they step up to the next level? Despite everything I've said to date, that possibility may ultimately reside in the player's control. Go figure. *grin*
wtf 10 May 1997
