In seeing the firing of Avery Johnson from the Brooklyn Derons(Nets) today, I can't help but think this to be a mistake. I believe this to have happened because the Nets are currently 14-14 which is considered a huge disappointment given the ludicrous expectations this team had coming into the season. I predicted this team to make the playoffs but I've never expected them to be a top 4 seed as so many people did. I believed they would get in and be a 7th or 8th seed and would be handled pretty easily by Miami or whomever winds up with the 2 seed in the East. Quite frankly, if the Nets were in the Western Conference, they wouldn't sniff the playoffs this year but with the East being rather mundane at best and dreadful at worst, save for Miami, a .500 record pretty much guarantees a team a spot in the playoffs which is pretty much where I see the Nets. I see them winning 45-48 games maximum and 37-40 games minimum with 41-44 being the most likely win total.
Avery is a decent coach in my estimation. He's not a great coach, but he's a pretty decent one. This is the impetus for my ranking today. I've tried to decide who I thought were great coaches, good coaches, average coaches, below average coaches and coaches that would be better off finding a new line of work. So here are my rankings for all 30 Association teams. For the record, Avery Johnson will be included since as of this writing, a replacement hasn't been named.
GREAT Coaches:
There are only 4 can I really think of at this moment and they are head and shoulders above the rest in my opinion. These are the guys that I feel can win regularly, can take good talent and make them great and can take mediocre talents and make them actually look better than they really are. The truly great coaches in this league are in order:
Gregg Popovich - San Antonio Spurs
Tom Thibodeau - Chicago Bulls
Scott Brooks - Oklahoma City Thunder
Doc Rivers - Boston Celtics
GOOD Coaches:
There are quite a few coaches that I consider to be good coaches. These are guys that may not quite be able to take a mediocre talent and make him good, but they're coaches who can take an average team and overachieve with them on a consistent basis. These are also coaches than can take a really good team and can be that final piece of the puzzle towards building a championship contender. They are as follows in no particular order this time:
Doug Collins - Philadelphia 76ers
Frank Vogel - Indiana Pacers
Lionel Hollins - Memphis Grizzlies
George Karl - Denver Nuggets
Mike Woodson - New York Knicks
Rick Adelman- Minnesota Timberwolves
AVERAGE Coaches:
This group is the largest category of current NBA coaches. They are the coaches that I think can consistently be the 4th-6th seeds in their respective conferences. They can put up a .500 or even a winning season pretty consistently but the teams they coach will likely never be considered legitimate championship contenders for one reason or another. The caveat here is that if given a really good team, these coaches are capable of getting a team deep into the playoffs but there have to be a lot of pieces falling correctly into place for this to happen. They are in no particular order:
Larry Drew - Atlanta Hawks
Erik Spoelstra - Miami Heat*
Scott Skiles - Milwaukee Bucks
Kevin McHale - Houston Rockets
Avery Johnson - Brooklyn Nets
Byron Scott - Cleveland Cavaliers
Rick Carlisle - Dallas Mavericks
Mark Jackson - Golden State Warriors
Jacque Vaughn - Orlando Magic (need to see a lot more before he can accurately be judged)
Tyrone Corbin - Utah Jazz
Terry Stotts: Portland Trail Blazers
*Erik has been to the Finals 2 times in just 4 years of coaching, but his team is so loaded with talent that just about anyone who knows anything about basketball could win with the team. It's not meant to be a knock at Erik or an indictment, it's just my opinion on how good the Miami Heat actually are.
BELOW AVERAGE coaches:
These are the guys who can win just enough to keep their jobs on a yearly basis. Even with a really good team, the teams they coach will never be contenders and if any of these teams get into the playoffs, they'll sneak in with an 8 seed and then be bounced out within 5 games in the 1st round. There are more coaches here than I would honestly prefer to see based on my observation but they are in no order:
Lawrence Frank: Detroit Pistons
Mike Dunlap: Charlotte Bobcats (in all fairness, Phil Jackson couldn't win with this team)
Alvin Gentry: Phoenix Suns
Keith Smart: Sacramento Kings
Monty Williams: New Orleans Hornets
Vinny Del Negro: Los Angeles Clippers**
BAD Coaches:
These are the guys mentioned previously that would be better off finding another line of work. Thankfully this list is quite short:
Mike D'Antoni: Los Angeles Lakers***
Dwane Casey: Toronto Raptors
Randy Wittman: Washington Wizards
**Vinny Del Negro is currently coaching the team with the best record in the NBA, the LA Clippers. However, I rate him among the worst coaches in the NBA. I think Vinny Del Negro is the weakest link on the Clippers team. If the Clippers had any PG in the league not named Chris Paul, the Clippers would be a .500 team at best and yes that comment does include such names as Derrick Rose and Deron Williams. Chris Paul is such a great floor general that Vinny doesn't have to do a heck of a lot of actual coaching and it does appear that Vinny has decided to step back and let Paul run the team while he's on the floor so he should be given some credit for that. However, one good decision does not a great coach make. The Clippers will be a top 4 seed this year but mainly due to Vinny Del Negro's relative lack of coaching ability, I feel the Clippers can't be considered legitimate championship contenders.
***Mike D'Antoni led the Phoenix Suns to the Western Finals when he had Steve Nash as his PG. This ties also in with what I said about Del Negro in that D'Antoni had one of the smartest floor generals in the game and thus didn't have to do a lot of coaching. Mike D'Antoni proved in New York how far in over his head he actually is without someone to lead the team for him and if he didn't have the star power in Los Angeles that he does, he would've already been fired. I still think he'll be fired at latest by June 2013. The man does no defensive coaching whatsoever and his up-tempo style offense simply isn't going to work with a team as old and as large as the Lakers are. It also doesn't help that you have a confirmed ball-hog in Kobe Bryant who likes to try to do everything and D'Antoni's system can't begin to work when the PG isn't controlling the offense. This is an indictment on Lakers ownership as well as D'Antoni because of his adamant refusal to adapt his coaching style to his team instead choosing to force his team to try to adapt to his style. At the start of the season, I said the Lakers were likely the 2nd best team in the Western Conference but now, if the Lakers make the playoffs this year, it will be a miracle.
So ends my take on all 30 NBA coaches.
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