If Current NBA Teams had NO Coach

[batmana]

Just to support the people who say the Spurs - there was a regular season game 5-6 years ago (can't remember which season exactly) between the Spurs and the Bucks where Pop decided to not take timeouts, call plays or tell the team anything - he let them play without any "coaching". The Spurs won handily by double digits.
Obviously this example doesn't mean much, plus I've seen games where Pop had initially decided to take it easy, then after a defensive lapse call a quick timeout and go HAM on the team but I can't think of an example where another team went basically uncoached throughout a game (and won it).

[qm22]

I forgot to say the Heat are a team that would do well without a coach, though obviously not to the point of winning a title. The Heat make zero adjustments under Spo in a playoff series. Other than against OKC I think this worked against them in playoff series. A lot of times they got into a hole vs. a worse opponent and had to rely on great individual play to squeak out Eastern conference series. It's still probably true of the post-LeBron Heat.

[Goner]

The fact that so many people are picking the Spurs seems insane to me. I think most would easily agree that Pop is far and away the best coach in the league, therefore it follows that the Spurs stand to lose the most in this hypothetical. I think it is also implied that there would be no coach throughout the entire season, training camp included. The Spurs seem like they would not be able to outperform their talent level as they have been doing for years.

[TaylorMonkey]

The fact that so many people are picking the Spurs seems insane to me. I think most would easily agree that Pop is far and away the best coach in the league, therefore it follows that the Spurs stand to lose the most in this hypothetical. I think it is also implied that there would be no coach throughout the entire season, training camp included. The Spurs seem like they would not be able to outperform their talent level as they have been doing for years.

The idea is that the Spurs players all know the system so well that they can function almost like a coached team without Pop actually being on the sidelines. I can see this but Pop also gets a lot of out replacement level players, and that might actually take some active managing.

Plus incorporating Aldridge this year would require Pop to actively make adjustments in the game plan.

I'm going with the homer pick of GSW. Similar system, similar philosophy and character, bringing back an identical team from their championship season. They've been able to run their system without calling plays in training camp and it's an instinctual read and react flow offense. The trick is making the adjustments Kerr did in the post season and managing minutes and rest in the regular.

Then again maybe one of the ISO ball teams would actually fare best because they're already functioning like a barely coached team on a high level, like OKC or HOU, or the Cavs.

[Potential]

Easily the one with LeBron or The Spurs or the Clippers

[I_Like_Dirt]

i guess everyone here doesn't think pop really does that much for the spurs

for me its OKC, they play with no system but have the most talent, if everyone did they their talent would beat everyone elses.

I think it's the other way around. A good coach gets players to buy in, and their presence is felt most on the defensive end of the floor. Good coaches get their players to play their defensive roles as a second nature and work as a unit. This is starting to become the case offensively as well, but it hasn't quite caught up to the defensive side of things. No coach on the Thunder and their defense would absolutely crumble, and despite having Durant and Westbrook, if their defense suffered, they would struggle just like every other team. Where the Spurs are concerned, Pop has that team knowing what to do from top to bottom. He has guys more willing to accept playing fewer minutes to stay fresh and guys like Duncan wouldn't be pushing to stay in the game for 48 minutes without a coach the way guys like Lebron and Durant would. The Spurs also have the most guys on their bench that are coach-ish material, too, and could handle things better without an actual coach.

The Cavs would clearly still be contenders because Lebron is simply that good, but I think without a coach there to add a bit more personal dynamic there and create a bit more of a target for his teammates, Lebron would wear on his teammates. Lebron trying to get his teammates to buy into team defense and doing the dirty work while he basically ran the offense by his own design has a lot of combustion potential there. With a coach, Lebron can clash with the coach a bit instead, and the coach can take at least a bit of the heat Lebron would otherwise take.

I also feel that the Mavs deserve an honorable mention here. They don't have the talent some of the other teams do at this point, and still probably wouldn't be as good as a few other teams, but they wouldn't suffer so much because of the great job Carlisle has been doing and the type of players they have on their roster combined with Dirk, who commands the respect to hold a team together. They'd be thin and injury-prone, which would be a problem, much as it likely will be this season, even with Carlisle, but for the assets they have, they wouldn't experience the type of drop off in play that other teams would.