Power rankings

[evildallas]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/teams/Rankings.asp

It's meaningless. It's early. But we're on top. Just love positive publicity.

EDIT
Here is the Marc Stein Power Rankings for ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking


Just found out that their is an RPI for the NBA (who knew?)

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi

[TONEGULLY]

It feels good to be on top. Even if its a short stay..I LOVE IT...

[evildallas]

Bumping because I added the ESPN and RPI rankings to further toot the horn on the Hawks start.

[JoshB914]

We're on an ESPN list that doesn't include a Chris Paul joke? That's a new one.

[LL Cool Scott]

It's a beautiful thing to watch your team overacheive and play as a team. A beautiful thing. I haven't been this excited since we traded 'Nique.

[killbuckner]

So has there ever been a team doing this well where so many of the fans want to see the coach fired?

[LL Cool Scott]

So has there ever been a team doing this well where so many of the fans want to see the coach fired?

Haha! Maybe now people will understand that "NBA Head Coach" is possibly the most irrelevant position in all of professional sports. No matter if my Aunt Joan or Red Auerbach were coaching this team, we'd probably have the exact same record. Hell, we could anoint Zaza as player-coach and let him bark out orders in Romanian gibberish and win 50 games this year.

[JoshB914]

So has there ever been a team doing this well where so many of the fans want to see the coach fired?

Sadly, yes. Check out the Lakers board after a loss. With the exception of a few teams, everyone seems to think their coach is costing their team victories.

[evildallas]

I don't want Woodson fired anymore. This is exciting push it up the court style I've wanted to see for years. The key being the rebounding domination that Josh and Al have achieved. Are there elements to Woodson that I don't like? Sure, but results are results (and I am also aware of the low impact head coach has on the win total in the NBA).

[azuresou1]

Actually, I'm pretty sure coaches make a huge difference, not so much in terms of the plays they call, but in terms of locker room chemistry and leadership.

A good coach like Pops consistently gets his team deep into the playoffs, even when there are tons of injuries.
A good coach like Adelman can get teams with solid but not spectacular players to overperform.
A mediocre coach like Woody is mediocre, and doesn't really influence too much.
A bad coach like Don Nelson under-utilizes talent and destroys locker room cohesiveness (and is particularly bad for young, impressionable players)
A bad coach like Isiah leaves his team trending downwards and with no real hope

[evildallas]

Studies have shown that CHANGING coaches in the NBA has very little effect. Normally once you are at the point of changing coaches you are already screwed. It's hard to quantify off-season coaching changes in terms of impact because personnel and injuries change as well.

[JoshB914]

Actually, I'm pretty sure coaches make a huge difference, not so much in terms of the plays they call, but in terms of locker room chemistry and leadership.

A good coach like Pops consistently gets his team deep into the playoffs, even when there are tons of injuries.
A good coach like Adelman can get teams with solid but not spectacular players to overperform.
A mediocre coach like Woody is mediocre, and doesn't really influence too much.
A bad coach like Don Nelson under-utilizes talent and destroys locker room cohesiveness (and is particularly bad for young, impressionable players)
A bad coach like Isiah leaves his team trending downwards and with no real hope

But you only named two guys. Sure, there are a few guys who can truly change a teams' fortunes. But for the most part it's all about the personnel.

[JoshB914]

I don't want Woodson fired anymore. This is exciting push it up the court style I've wanted to see for years. The key being the rebounding domination that Josh and Al have achieved. Are there elements to Woodson that I don't like? Sure, but results are results (and I am also aware of the low impact head coach has on the win total in the NBA).

Honestly I think Woody has wanted us to run since we got Bibby. But like you said, the only way to do that is rebound the ball and get out in transition. When we weren't doing that over the past few seasons, it made playing a fast break style of ball very difficult.

[killbuckner]

I agree- Josh Smith's commitment to rebounding has made a huge difference in the team's ability to get out in transition.

[papasmurf038]

honestly I think more of coaches in the light that I think about your relationship with your boss in any other field...
most people who coach in this league know the game well enough, its just what type of personality that person and the affect it has on the personnel that can adversely or positively affect a team's play...
I really think there's not enough credit given to the continuity of this team. We've had pretty much the same core of players with a few additions here and there over the past 3 or 4 years. We returned all 5 starters from last year. Woody has been the coach of this team going on his 6th year now. No team in the entire conference has had the same coach and same core of players as long as we have and I think that's a big reason why the success is building

[JoshB914]

^^ Good point. For me, Woody has improved every year as an HC just like the players. Let's remember he had no HC experience when he started and it's taken him some time to figure it out. But every year you could see he was starting to find his identity as the head man. IMO people were just way too hard on the guy.

[NDaATL]

Studies have shown that CHANGING coaches in the NBA has very little effect. Normally once you are at the point of changing coaches you are already screwed. It's hard to quantify off-season coaching changes in terms of impact because personnel and injuries change as well.

This is only true mainly because coaches of the worst teams tend to get fired, in which case they have no hope anyway. But, with an already solid team it can make a big difference. See Detroit in Larry Brown's first year. The Mavericks making the finals under Avery Johnson. Pat Riley taking over in Miami (though they may have won with SVG anyway). SVG in Orlando (Lewis helped but he wasn't a 12 game difference).

Regardless, at this point I'm all for keeping Woody as it would just be dumb to fire him. But I don't agree with some of the assertions that coaching doesn't make a difference.

[HoopsGuru25]

Avery Johnson is Woodson with the added fact that all his players hated him. The Mavs were extremely fortunate that Amare didn't play that year and that Duncan was battling plantar fasciitis They also lost in the 1st round in the next 2 years. I like SVG as a coach...so I will agree with you on Orlando. Larry Brown is also a great coach,but one could argue he lucked out when they got Rasheed for peanuts.

[NDaATL]

Avery Johnson is Woodson with the added fact that all his players hated him. The Mavs were extremely fortunate that Amare didn't play that year and that Duncan was battling plantar fasciitis They also lost in the 1st round in the next 2 years.

The Mavs made the finals and then went to have the best record in the NBA the year after. In the playoffs they just happened to get matched up with the one team who had their number all season, and was also a 50 win team. They had a slight downfall afterwards, but he clearly made that team better, regardless of the players' opinions of him.

I like SVG as a coach...so I will agree with you on Orlando. Larry Brown is also a great coach,but one could argue he lucked out when they got Rasheed for peanuts.

That's true, Sheed made an impact for sure, but I still don't see that team winning it without Brown. I mean, they had that same team for 5 years and couldn't win it again. The Pistons made the finals in both years that Brown coached (lost in game 7 in 05), and haven't made it without him.