Larry Bird's Coaching record. The best model for Kidd?

[EGarrett]

When I think about what I want to see for Kidd's performance as a well-respected, super-knowledgeable player taking over as the rookie coach of a top-level team, the model that comes to my mind repeatedly is Larry Bird's as coach of the Pacers.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/coa ... la01c.html

From wikipedia:

"The Celtics employed Bird as a special assistant in the team's front office from 1992 until 1997. In 1997, Bird accepted the position of coach of the Indiana Pacers and said he would be on the job for no more than three years. Despite having no previous coaching experience, Bird led the Pacers to a 58–24 record—the franchise's best as an NBA team at the time—in the 1997–98 season, and pushed the Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year for his efforts, becoming the only person in NBA history to have won both the MVP and Coach of the Year awards. He then led the Pacers to two consecutive Central Division titles in 1999 and 2000, and a berth in the NBA finals in 2000."

Larry relied heavily on Rick Carlisle when it came to the X's and O's, and used his leadership skills to keep the team motivated. The result was excellent, they 58 games in their first season and Bird finished 147 and 67 overall.

It's good proof, IMO, that this could work out well, and should be a good model for how Kidd could handle things.

[Boarder Patrol]

Yeah. I'm sure Lawrence Frank will be doing a lot of the 'real' coaching. Kidd is there to innovate, keep the egos in check (though that shouldn't be tooooo much of an issue), keep the ball moving and spread the winning attitude.

It sounds like a scrubby job, but it's incredibly important with this group