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The 20 Greatest NBA Coaches Poll
1. Red Auerbach
2. Phil Jackson
3. Pat Riley
4. Greg Popovich
5.?

Who is the next best coach?
Is it Larry Brown (who rarely stays for more than a couple of years)?
Is it Jerry Sloan (who has volume going for him if not championships)?
Is it Red Holtzman (who coached Willis Reed and Walt Frazier)?
Is it Slick Leonard (who was the best in the ABA, but when the Pacers changed leagues he slipped)?
Is it Alex Hannum (the man who convinced Wilt to focus more on defense than scoring)?
Is it John Kundla (who coached George Mikan, but when Mikan left, so did his winning streak)?

Anyone else? Ramsey, Daly, Wilkens, Nelson, or my personal favorites -- Doug Moe or Stan Albeck?

#5...

Chuck Daly. 11 straight playoff appearances, back to back championships with relatively inferior talent, coached the dream team and had "other team success" in taking a really crappy Orlando team to the playoffs twice in the late 90's.

I am clearly going with Larry Brown. More success in more places (everywhere but NY) including titles in both the ABA and NBA neither time with the most talented team. The greatest short term coach ever . . . that's the only real knock against him.

It's Larry Brown time.

tough call btwn Brown n Sloan..undecided

Larry Brown

You mean #5 right?

I still have Holzman over Brown. Brown has had too much failure to put him this high.

Larry Brown

Brown, Larry Brown.

Brown v. Sloan v. Daly v. Holzman

Larry Brown 29 years (6 years in Philadelphia) / 4x Coach of the Year (3 in ABA) / 1 championship (Detroit)
Career TOT 2228 1274 954 .572
(NBA 1892 1045 847 .552 / ABA 336 229 107 .682)

Jerry Sloan 23 years (20 with Utah) / never named Coach of the Year / no championships
Career NBA 1888 1137 751 .602

Red Holzman 18 years (14 with Knicks) / 1x Coach of the Year / 2 championships (New York)

Chuck Daly 14 years (8 with Detroit) / never named Coach of the Year / 2 championships (Detroit)
Career NBA 1075 638 437 .593

Brown and Daly had success with multiple teams, Sloan and Holzman didn't have much success in their other stops.

i guess i'll choose brown

what about bill sharman? coached the 71-72 lakers and i believe introduced a bunch of modern stuff to the game like breaking down stuff on film (or was that hannum? or someone else?) also has an aba title

The coach of the year is a pretty meaningless title in my opinion. Looking at career victories and career playoff victories is much more pertinent.

Having said that I'll chose Larry Brown once again.

Pretty tough spot. Brown, Daly and Holzman are all strong candidates for me here.

I'm really torn on those guys. I'll pick Daly for now, but I could change my mind on how to rank these guys given more thought.

btw, I don't wanna create a new thread so I'll ask here. Does anybody know why Phil Jackson is the only person connected to basketball not wearing a Chuck Daly pin ?

I guess Larry Brown deserves this spot because of his resume, but I do think that Sloan is the better coach.

Vote Brown.

Larry Brown

Phil shouldn't automatically be on that list. Do you think any other coach on that list would be as stupid as to keep Fisher in the lineup? I mean, the guy is trying VERY hard to tank the series for the opponents. Unfortunately for him, his luck has run out this time(unless the refs are fair Denver, but I doubt it.)