The coach is supposed to use training camp as a way to find out how to approach the season....after that he has to work in a line-up and rotation which can change over the course of the season becasue of injury, guys stepping up in practice, acedemic/disiplinary actions, etc.....

In training camp....lets say in the college or high school level......you have to see what players are coming back. Parents might decide to move out of state or kids might just want to transfer for whatever reason.....The coach is still there and has to win to save his job.

If your tallest guy is 6'6" then you have to promote a running game. Lots of trapping on defense and fast breaking on offense.

If your point guard can't go to his left, or if you only have one true point guard but he is green, or if you have no real point guards, or if your best scorer is a point guard.....you have to adjust your plan of attack.....because your job is on the line.

It goes with the whole roster.....if you realize you have no shooters then you can't get on your guys about it......you do the best you can to improve your plays in practice.

If you got a big man that is 7'0" but he gets out played but guys 6'5" in practice then you have to bench the 7'er. If your big men can't score inside, you have to refocus your whole scheme.

If your guys can't dribble drive but you have a lot of shooters then you have to adjust.

To me this is what coaching is about. You have to be a teacher. You have to reinvent the wheel every season. Guys graduate, or go pro too.....you still have to do your job.....

Look at UNC? That coach lost his whole starting 5 to the NBA. He got new players and had to change his game plan. Now he has inexperienced players. He still has to do his job......or he won't have one.

Last story:

My son plays in a community center basketball league. Only 4 teams with like 10 kids each...some have 15 kids. They didn't scout the kids cuz they are only 8-10 so the talent level is sporatic.

My sons team was a straight up defensive team because they just had alot of fast and quick kids. Their whole game was stealing the ball and going on the break. Another team just couldin't get the defense down as a team but had 4 really good ofensive players. Another team couldn't really score at all but had a group of active players that got to the line and rebounded. The fourth team flat out sucked and relied on long range prayers if they even got the ball across the half court line.

My son's coach who was just a volenteer but he was just like me so I didn't question him. He had those kids playing that defense and just playing together. He had them communicating and going to spots where they can sucseed. It was great. The kids got better every game.

The other kids didn't really get better. The scrappy team got better on defense, but never really learned how to score. The team with all the scorers weren't even coached really. The guy that coached them just let them play because they could score, but they didn't really get better. The team that sucked they were just lost. The best kid on that team got better though because he was the only one that could get a shot off.

Long ass lead topic, lol.....

I just wanna know what you guys expect out of a coach. The NBA is different, but the basic job of a coach is to do what I have been talking about in this long ass post, lol.

What are your thoughts?

Your son did not have to play with Marbury.

If Marbury was 7 foot, he'd be an even bigger arsehole.

A coach's job is to build a winner. Not coach for year to year wins. Do what it takes to build a winner. Four coaches since Van Gundy have not been given the tools to do this. They were told to shut up and coach whoever the GM brings in regardless of whether they fit that coach's style. It's silly but we are now working on our fifth coach in a couple years.

But the coach in college is still able to recruit players that fit his style. So even if they are less talented he can develop a cohesive bunch. In our team we recruit the players that all play different styles or conflicting styles then each year we hire a new coach and tell them they aren't allowed to recruit their own players they must coach the mess that was here. That's fine for one year but eventually that coach is going to want to recruit his own players or he is going to raise hell.

You are correct. Either hire Larry, Herb or Lenny and give them players that fit their style. Or hire a coach that fits your roster. WE seemed to do neither of this. And every year the coach gets escorted out and we fans celebrate liek we "got the guy" that did this to us. Meanwhile the losing goes on and the guy(the organization-can't really get the guy because it's more than one but you get what I mean) we are supposed to get, gets off scott free.

Nobody thinks LB did a good job so of course I think he overdid it.

I have no idea who wanted Rose and Francis. It's all speculation. LB could have begged for them. Or Isiah could have traded for them and in his sarcasm LB said Marbs and Francis would be Monroe and Frazier. I don't know which is true. I dont' care. What I care about is our GM and coach getting on the same page regardless of the names. Fire LB, I don't care!!!! I care about the Knicks making proper decisions and stopping this every man for himself cr-ap. This is just another in a long line of bad decisions and yet I feel fans are celebrating because LB is gettin his!!! I said hte same thing when Chaney, Herb and lenny were replaced. Nothing changes here. Every year we make idiotic decisions and our only counter is to fire the coach. When we hire the next one will have another huge press conference and the fans will be stoked again and little will have changed.

So now I spend my time praying that somehow Zeke can pull off a crazy trade that actually works, because building a team that meshes and plays together and listens to the coach appears not to be an option. I am resigned that luck is the only way to get things done here. 34 years without a title and now it comes down to luck.

The coach should criticize his players as often as possible, preferably publicly. He should deride his players and unermine their self confidence. He should break them down, leave them babbling incoherently until the men in the white coats come to get them.

That's the way to build team unity. That's the way to build character.

[Edited by - BASKETBALLJONES on 06-09-2006 14:41]