Started at 5 for an easier read...

http://www.hoopsvibe.com/nba/nba_articles/ranking_the_nba_head_coaches-ar23188.html
By Paul Benedict

With the Knicks officially hiring Larry Brown and now all 30 teams having a permanent head coach, I decided that it would be an opportune time to just go ahead and rank the NBA coaches from the bottom to the top. Now before I receive a great deal of scrutiny, understand that I weighed in numerous aspects— career accomplishments, current reputation, and regular season track record among others. You’ll also notice, much like everyone did when ESPN ranked the top NBA head coaches in 2002, that African-American coaches tended to populate the low end of the rankings with Nate McMillan being the only one in the top 16. I shouldn’t have to explain why the rankings turned out this way, but if you thoroughly read through my explanations you’ll understand why I ranked each person where I did. In fact, I didn’t even realize my rankings came out like this until after I carefully figured out my list. Consider that 9 of the top 15 coaches on the list have 10+ years of experience, which means many of them received opportunities to coach back when African-Americans weren’t being hired at the same rate as they are now. And of those other 6, Scott Skiles and Nate McMillan are the only ones who aren’t direct descendents of those coaches with 10+ years of experience. If you really want to argue with me, I refer you to David Aldridge’s article from 2002 responding to the criticism ESPN was taking for its head coach rankings.


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5. Rick Carlisle, Indiana (205-123, .625) -If Larry Bird is deemed the "basketball Jesus", then Rick Carlisle must certainly be considered one of his apostles. Bird and Carlisle have been close friends since 1985 when they played together in Boston and later renewed their friendship in Indiana when Carlisle joined Bird’s coaching staff in 1997. Carlisle was considered by many to be the wizardry behind those overachieving Pacer teams under Bird, so it wasn’t a shock when the Pistons swooped in and named him their head coach in 2001. In a sense, this was really the start of the Pacers/Pistons rivalry that is the best in the NBA as of today. Carlisle flipped Detroit’s record from 32-50 to 50-32 in his first season despite having essentially the same roster from the year before— he was not surprisingly, named NBA Coach of the Year. The next year he led the Pistons to another 50 win season and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, but that wasn’t enough for Joe Dumars who decided to bring in Larry Brown to give the Pistons a more experienced voice on the bench. Larry Bird didn’t mind one bit as he almost immediately named Carlisle as the Pacers head coach after his firing, and the results since speak for themselves. 61 wins and another Eastern Conference Finals berth in 2004, and an improbable run to the Conference Semifinals this past season despite a tumultuous year that probably would have driven any other coach into the ground, if they weren’t a blessed apostle like Rick Carlisle.

4. Jerry Sloan, Utah (943-617, .604) -The longest tenured coach in major US professional sports today is coming off not only his worst season as coach of the Utah Jazz, but also his only losing since since taking over for Frank Layden in 1988. But does anyone honestly believe that a little bit of losing is going to take away the fire and intensity that have typified the career of Jerry Sloan? 15 consecutive years Sloan led the Jazz to the Playoffs— 5 times to the Western Conference Finals and twice all the way to the NBA Finals. He’s even proven that the Coach of the Year Award is flawed since he’s never received it simply because he molded the Jazz into such a perennially consistent team that it was nearly impossible for them to exceed expectations. And what’s more, Sloan has had to guide this team despite playing in the most obscure market in the NBA. It’s nearly impossibly for the Jazz to contend with other teams in signing big name free agents. Yet no matter what obstacles Sloan and the Jazz face, they still go out and compete hard every single night out. That’s why fans fill up the Delta Center and that’s why Jerry Sloan is Utah Jazz basketball.

3. Larry Brown, New York (987-741, .571) -You know the numbers by now. Every single team Larry Brown has gone to he has magnificently turned around, with the exception of one— the Detroit Pistons, who he didn’t have to turn around. No, they were already a damn good team, LB just went out and won a championship with them in year one. The guy has done more cities than Debbie and he may rub you the wrong way for that reason, but how can you blame someone for seeking a challenge? If you had felt fulfilled at your job and were ready to tackle a new task, wouldn’t you look to contribute your expertise elsewhere? Well LB’s travels have led him back to his roots in New York where he’s set to take on perhaps his most difficult project yet— a roster that doesn’t suit him, very little flexibility to make personnel changes, a GM who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, and all the pressure in the world. But if you have even an inkling of doubt that Larry Brown is going to turn around the Knicks, allow me to say this— you’re wrong.

2. Phil Jackson, LA Lakers (832-316, .725) -9 rings. That’s really the only thing that matters when you talk about Phil Jackson. He pushed arguably the two most dominate players in NBA history over the hump as contenders and made them into champions. The Zen Master didn’t stop there—he turned championships into dynasties which as anyone will tell you, is the most difficult and greatest accomplishment in all of sports. We can stop here, but that wouldn’t be fair to Jackson who in some ways is underappreciated for what he’s achieved as a coach. People can talk all they want about how Jax rode the coattails of Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal to 9 titles, but they weren’t the ones drawing up complex offensive schemes with Tex Winter for the triangle offense. Nobody has ever been able to maximize a star player’s capabilties quite like Jackson and that’s all because he realized that to make a superstar truly unstoppable, you have to get the most out of the people surrounding him. And Jackson did just that in Chicago and LA, filling the roles necessary to make the triangle a tour de force by convincing every single one of his players to buy into a team concept. Now Phil is back in LA after a one year hiatus and for the first time ever, the odds are against him. While many believe he’s risking his legacy by taking over a team far from title contention, Jackson’s actually out to prove that he is indeed the greatest coach of all-time.

1. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio (455-233, .661) -You can easily point to the 3 championships since 1999 in a secondary Texas city as reason enough to put him at the top. You can credit him for turning nobodies like Jaren Jackson, Malik Rose, Stephen Jackson, Bruce Bowen, and Devin Brown into key contributors on title teams. You can attribute the success of his current stars Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and most notably Tim Duncan to Popovich’s teaching and mentoring since they’ve entered the league. No matter how you want to break it down— no coach out there has as much to do with his team’s success as Gregg Popovich. In essence, Pop has done exactly what Jerry Sloan was able to accomplish in Utah— build a small market team from scratc

[Edited by - rvhoss on 09-01-2005 2:03 PM]

3. Larry Brown, New York (987-741, .571) -You know the numbers by now. Every single team Larry Brown has gone to he has magnificently turned around, with the exception of one— the Detroit Pistons, who he didn’t have to turn around. No, they were already a damn good team, LB just went out and won a championship with them in year one. The guy has done more cities than Debbie and he may rub you the wrong way for that reason, but how can you blame someone for seeking a challenge? If you had felt fulfilled at your job and were ready to tackle a new task, wouldn’t you look to contribute your expertise elsewhere? Well LB’s travels have led him back to his roots in New York where he’s set to take on perhaps his most difficult project yet— a roster that doesn’t suit him, very little flexibility to make personnel changes, a GM who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, and all the pressure in the world. But if you have even an inkling of doubt that Larry Brown is going to turn around the Knicks, allow me to say this— you’re wrong.

I really love this part. I think we will be over .500 this year. I also think that we can go past the 1st round of the playoffs if Marbury plays defense and if Jerome plays 30+ mins.

[Edited by - Silverfuel on 09-01-2005 2:04 PM]

a GM who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing

Zeke! Send that man some popcorn.