Who's the worst coach to win a NBA Championship?

Rupert Murdoch · Post #1 » by **Rupert Murdoch** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:06 pm

It's harder to rank coaches in basketball because it's so player-driven but if you had to pick one, who was the worst of the bunch? For me, the first name that comes to my mind is Paul "I make Mike D'Antoni look like a defensive genius" Westhead. He was a disaster with the Nuggets after leaving the Showtime Lakers. I'm not particularly impressed with Bill Russell either. Bill Russell the coach was very mediocre when he didn't have a team with Bill Russell the player.

magicmerl · Post #2 » by **magicmerl** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:17 pm

Having Rivers, Rudy and Spo on a list of bad coaches is a bit of a joke.

Purch · Post #3 » by **Purch** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:27 pm

Rivera and Rudy should be off the list, they're both above averge.

RSCD3_ · Post #4 » by **RSCD3_** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:34 pm

magicmerl wrote:Having Rivers, Rudy and Spo on a list of bad coaches is a bit of a joke.

When you look back of the last 30
Years there isn't a lot of championship winning coaches

Popovich
Spolestra
Carlisle
Jackson
Rivers
Riley
Brown
Rudy T
Daly
Jones
Fitch
Westhead

And that covers all of the 3pt era

If your gonna say nobody is below average on this above list then the center changes

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RSCD3_ · Post #5 » by **RSCD3_** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:35 pm

Purch wrote:Rivera and Rudy should be off the list, they're both above averge.

RSCD3_ wrote:
magicmerl wrote:Having Rivers, Rudy and Spo on a list of bad coaches is a bit of a joke.

When you look back of the last 30
Years there isn't a lot of championship winning coaches

Popovich
Spolestra
Carlisle
Jackson
Rivers
Riley
Brown
Rudy T
Daly
Jones
Fitch
Westhead

And that covers all of the 3pt era

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Out of these coaches in the 3 pt era who would you rank as above average, average and below average

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G35 · Post #6 » by **G35** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:13 pm

RSCD3_ wrote:
magicmerl wrote:Having Rivers, Rudy and Spo on a list of bad coaches is a bit of a joke.

When you look back of the last 30
Years there isn't a lot of championship winning coaches

Popovich
Spolestra
Carlisle
Jackson
Rivers
Riley
Brown
Rudy T
Daly
Jones
Fitch
Westhead

And that covers all of the 3pt era

If your gonna say nobody is below average on this above list then the center changes

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I am really interested in hearing what some of the more respected posters have to say about this topic......

Post #7 » by **penbeast0** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:25 pm

Well, from this list it's clearly Westhead, at least as a professional coach. If you can't keep Magic Johnson happy with a ring and a finals appearance in your first two years, sheesh . . .

The jury is out of Spoelstra (and to a much lesser extent Carlisle); his rep will depend a lot on his post-LeBron success.

Of the others, KC Jones is probably the most "average" of the coaches. Not a great innovator, motivator, or X and O guy, but a solid professional coach whose one main weakness was probably his desire to win extra regular season games and burning out his starters with big minutes.

Bill Fitch could be the worst depending on the team. A great basketball mind and very successful in some places but a yeller and screamer who could wear out his welcome fast. (Larry Brown may have been as intense but was less abusive and tended to leave before everyone got sick of him, lol.)

As for the rest, the list of GOAT coaches tends to start with Red, Phil, Larry, Pat, and Pop, 4 of whom are on that list leaving only Doc Rivers, Rudy Tomjanovich, and Chuck Daly. And I have Chuck Daly in my top 10 of all time without a doubt; probably closer to 6 than 10.

HeartBreakKid · Post #8 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:36 pm

I'm surprised to see Doc Rivers on this list, I know there is backlash for all the hype he gets and people feel that he is overrated, but he's certainly a very good coach.

I thought he really proved his stripes for sure on LAC this year. I thought he made a very noticeable and positive impact on those players.

I've also never seen someone get criticism for having a great assistant coach. Shouldn't him having Thibs as his defensive coach be a pro in his favor?

Post #9 » by **PaulieWal** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:38 pm

penbeast0 wrote:The jury is out of Spoelstra (and to a much lesser extent Carlisle); his rep will depend a lot on his post-LeBron success.

I agree on Spo (I think he will be good this season) but is the jury still really out on Carlisle? I thought what he did post-2011 by making the playoffs in 12 and 14 (pushing the Spurs to 7) and being extremely competitive in 13 proved that he is an elite coach in the league. To me he is #2 behind Pop right now in the entire league.

Purch · Post #10 » by **Purch** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:39 pm

Wait why is the Jury still out on Carsile? His schemes against the Heat in 11 and Spurs in 14 just show how elite a coach he is

HeartBreakKid · Post #11 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:40 pm

I'm perplexed on why the jury is out on Carsile as well. He's easily the second best coach behind Popovich to me right now, better than Thibedou. Perhaps PenBeast meant if Carsile will ever be seen as an all time great coach?

Post #12 » by **penbeast0** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:52 pm

I don't think there's any doubt that Carlisle is an excellent coach but I think the case is still open comparing him to the likes of Chuck Daly and the top 10 NBA coaches of all time.

Warspite · Post #13 » by **Warspite** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:55 am

I concur with Penbeast about Westhead.

For me KC Jones is pretty bad. Couldnt draw a play to save his life. Horrible rotations and never used his bench.

I recall many a TOs in which the players would just toon him out and that as they would get to the court Bird would just point and they all knew the play.

One of the worst end of game plays has Ainge throwing in the ball to Bird to hits a 30fter for the win but KC called a TO because he didnt like it. Luckily for him they did the same play and Bird hit another 30fter for the win. Right in X mans face.

Johnlac1 · Post #14 » by **Johnlac1** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:08 pm

Warspite wrote:I concur with Penbeast about Westhead.

For me KC Jones is pretty bad. Couldnt draw a play to save his life. Horrible rotations and never used his bench.

I recall many a TOs in which the players would just toon him out and that as they would get to the court Bird would just point and they all knew the play.

One of the worst end of game plays has Ainge throwing in the ball to Bird to hits a 30fter for the win but KC called a TO because he didnt like it. Luckily for him they did the same play and Bird hit another 30fter for the win. Right in X mans face.

Most players, like K.C. Jones, from the older era were not much for x's and o's. They knew who their best players were and tried to have them on the floor and get the ball to them. Many of them just put their best players on the floor and watched only making substitutions when necessary.
It wasn't until coaches like Dick Motta, Bill Sharman, and college coaches came along and stressed more technical things did the strategy change. Jones probably took his cues from Red Auerbach who set up a winning strategy in Boston for twenty years and basically only changed the players.