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The 20 Greatest NBA Coaches Poll
1. Red Auerbach
2. Phil Jackson
3. Pat Riley
4. Greg Popovich
5. Larry Brown
6. Chuck Daly
7. Red Holzman
8. John Kundla
9. Alex Hannum
10. Bill Sharman
11. Jerry Sloan
12. Don Nelson
13. Rick Adelman
14. Slick Leonard
15. K.C. Jones
16. Lenny Wilkens
17. Doug Moe
18. Billy Cunningham
19. George Karl
20. Rudy Tomjanovich


Bill Fitch 25 years (9 with Cleveland) / 2x Coach of the Year / 1 championship (Boston)
Career NBA 2050 944 1106 .460

Jack Ramsay 21 Years (10 with Portland) / 1 championship (Portland)
Career NBA 1647 864 783 .525

Mike Fratello 16 years (7 with Atlanta) / No championships
Career NBA 1215 667 548 .549

Hubie Brown 15 years (5 with ATL/NYK) / 1 championship (Kentucky ABA)
Career TOT 1087 528 559 .486

Bill Russell 8 years (5 in Seattle) / 2 championships (as player/coach in Boston)
Career NBA 631 341 290 .540

Anyone else that people feel strongly enough about to vote for as their choice for one of the greatest coaches of all time?

Vote: Jack Ramsey . . . Fratello was just as much as system coach as Ramsey but doesn't have that magic year that Ramsey did, Tomjanovich and Russell had the great centers to build around during all their successful years, Fitch and Hubie Brown had losing records overall, I find it tough to vote for someone with a losing lifetime record.

Rudy T

Jack Ramsay.

Rudy T

BTW, i think if you do this thread again today. Phil Jackson would be at the very top.

tough. rudy t.

Dr Jack

tied 3-3 . . . nice

in a act of proactiveness, i'll elaborate on my post.

Dr. Jack is a good coach. He really is. He took really bad teams like the post-wilt 76ers (though he was the gm who traded wilt away), and the injury-plagued Blazers to the playoffs. However, outside of that one cinderella run to the championship, his teams really floundered in the playoffs. He worked with wunderkind HOF Bob McAdoo for 5 seasons and only made it to the playoffs 3 times, twice ousted in the first round. In fact he's had 12 1st round exits in 16 appearances.

Also, in the mid-late 70's the league was definitely weak. That's when the Blazers, Bullets, and Sonics snuck in their championships when the Celtics were down (an aging Havlicek) the Lakers were down (post West, pre Magic), and the 76ers hadn't united Dr. J and Moses. I give Jack credit for winning the championship, but looking at his lack of consistent success, the ring looks more of an accomplishment of serendipity than coaching/talent.

Rudy T on the other hand, in his short but illustrious career, was only bounced twice out of 7 tries in the 1st round, won 2 crucial championships in a narrow window where Robinson, Barkley, Stockton/Malone, Ewing, Mourning, etc. were all gunning for a championship, and had three 50-win seasons to Jack's 2.

so, again... slightly, but i'm sticking with rudy t.

if I was voting on which coach i liked more it would be easy - Dr. Jack.
But i gotta choose Rudy T. by an inch.

i choose Rudy.T

and by a 6-3 margin, Rudy T slides in as the last coach standing