Who is the Macgyver of coaching in the NBA?

[Jabroni Lames]

nurse. Dude pulled a UCLA box and 1 during the playoffs

They also used a Triangle & 2 defense on Steph & Klay for a few possessions, but that didn’t get as much attention.

Nurse has some big stones to try shizz like that for first time when the whole basketball world is watching the Finals. And it worked, ffs. Gotta give him major props for even trying.

[dautjazz]

larry brown?

I was thinking about him, he jumped around alot and had lots of success everywhere he went (except the Knicks, but I'll give a pass on that, his roster was a joke).

1972-73 Carolina Cougars (ABA) : 57-27
1974-75 Denver Nuggets (ABA): 65-19
1975-76 Denver Nuggets (ABA): 60-24
1976-77 Denver Nuggets (NBA): 50-32
1982-83 New Jersey Nets: 47-29
1989-90 San Antonio Spurs: 56-26
1990-91 San Antonio Spurs: 55-27
1992-93 LA Clippers: 41-41 (the Clippers were TERRIBLE for years, so this was an accomplishment on it's own)
1994-95 Indiana Pacers: 52-30
1995-96 Indiana Pacers: 52-30
2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers: 56-26 (went to the finals)
2003-04 Detroit Pistons: 54-28 (upset the heavily favored Lakers)
2004-05 Detroit Pistons: 54-28 (went to the Finals)
2009-10 Charlotte Bobcats: 44-38 (made the Bobcats look respectable lol)

[Pennebaker]

Who is the one coach who seems to have a solution to every problem thrown at his way.

For Nick Nurse to build his team around Kawhi and then not have Kawhi and still be this good is quite an accomplishment.

To get my homerism out of the way, Quin took a team of jumbo, poor-shooting defenders, completely transformed them into a team of smallball snipers, and got them into the top half of tough WC brackets both ways.

But the Raptors were good under their previous coach too.

Maybe Nurse is overrated and there's more to Toronto than that.

[deadfeather]

I heard tell of a basketball legend. It apparently happened less than a decade ago but basketball historians are unable confirm if it really happened. It is of a head coach who having had success in the past, lost 4 out of his 5 starters (including his only all star on that roster) in a single offseason. Only to build a new one consisting of only broken toys handed down from other struggling teams and somehow not only still made the playoffs in the west but even made it to the second round.

[rapsdontlie]

Who is the one coach who seems to have a solution to every problem thrown at his way.

For Nick Nurse to build his team around Kawhi and then not have Kawhi and still be this good is quite an accomplishment.

To get my homerism out of the way, Quin took a team of jumbo, poor-shooting defenders, completely transformed them into a team of smallball snipers, and got them into the top half of tough WC brackets both ways.

But the Raptors were good under their previous coach too.

Maybe Nurse is overrated and there's more to Toronto than that.

Even when the Raps were good under coach Casey, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone refer to him as a "Macgyver of coaching". He's a good coach in his own right, but not a basketball-savant, Macgyver type.

On the other hand, Nurse has been referred to as a mad scientist of basketball by his team... and a brilliant basketball mind by people in the media and league.

They are two completely different coaches.

[Duffman100]

Who is the one coach who seems to have a solution to every problem thrown at his way.

For Nick Nurse to build his team around Kawhi and then not have Kawhi and still be this good is quite an accomplishment.

To get my homerism out of the way, Quin took a team of jumbo, poor-shooting defenders, completely transformed them into a team of smallball snipers, and got them into the top half of tough WC brackets both ways.

But the Raptors were good under their previous coach too.

Maybe Nurse is overrated and there's more to Toronto than that.

The Raptors were systematically taken apart under Casey. We had to scrap and claw to get past inferior teams in the playoffs due to his stubbornness. He'd make the same subs, at the same time of the game regardless of context or opposing lineups.

The # of 5 second calls we had out of inbounds was insane. I'm not kidding you. Our team had regular issues inbounding the ball in pressure situations. We'd have a single inbound option and went that failed, our team panicked.

The difference between Nurse and Casey is night and day.

I'll always love Casey. He's a players coach who is great at motivating players. He is not a good Xs and Os coach, not even a little bit.

[cupcakesnake]

Carlisle is the answer here.
The entire post championship era (2011 until... like last year?) was a comedy of Cuban/Nelson handing Carlisle increasingly awful rosters around Dirk's mummified body. He even took those squads to the Western Conference playoffs sometimes and in 2014, he took the eventual champion Spurs to 7 games with a squad built around: Monta Ellis, 37 year old Vince, Jose Calderon, Devin Harris, 35 year old Marion, Dalembert as starting center, Dejuan Blair and Brandan Wright. Those guys were the 9-man rotation around Dirk that year. They took the 2014 Spurs to freaking 7! Miami and OKC didn't make it to 7 against that all-time squad. It's not even like the Spurs played bad or went cold or anything. Carlisle and 35 year old Dirk straight just took it to Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Kawhi, Diaw, Green and the gang. The team that crushed Lebron/Wade/Bosh got taken to 7 by this lost and found veteran squad.

Carlisle knows how to play around with random pieces like nobody's business. I get that Nurse is the golden boy, and he deserves it. But I got to go for Carlisle's 18 years of dope ass coaching in the NBA.

[Duffman100]

Carlisle is the answer here.
The entire post championship era (2011 until... like last year?) was a comedy of Cuban/Nelson handing Carlisle increasingly awful rosters around Dirk's mummified body. He even took those squads to the Western Conference playoffs sometimes and in 2014, he took the eventual champion Spurs to 7 games with a squad built around: Monta Ellis, 37 year old Vince, Jose Calderon, Devin Harris, 35 year old Marion, Dalembert as starting center, Dejuan Blair and Brandan Wright. Those guys were the 9-man rotation around Dirk that year. They took the 2014 Spurs to freaking 7! Miami and OKC didn't make it to 7 against that all-time squad. It's not even like the Spurs played bad or went cold or anything. Carlisle and 35 year old Dirk straight just took it to Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Kawhi, Diaw, Green and the gang. The team that crushed Lebron/Wade/Bosh got taken to 7 by this lost and found veteran squad.

Carlisle knows how to play around with random pieces like nobody's business. I get that Nurse is the golden boy, and he deserves it. But I got to go for Carlisle's 18 years of dope ass coaching in the NBA.

Yeah, Carlisle has been rolling out 50 win teams like it's candy. His defenses are almost always locked down.

[packforfreedom]

Jup, it's Carlisle. You could of give him a bunch of one armed players and he would make them a competetive team somehow.

[Lalouie]

I dont think pops can just up and grab anyone out of a box. sure sas has picked players who overachieved under the sas system, but that's different than working with what you're given. I prefer the pops way, dont get me wrong, because it's a value play and has legs, but the other way, the larry brown way, is more like a day trader to me

[GWVan]

Watch on YouTube

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Nelson is my vote

[UcanUwill]

nurse. Dude pulled a UCLA box and 1 during the playoffs

They also used a Triangle & 2 defense on Steph & Klay for a few possessions, but that didn’t get as much attention.

Nurse has some big stones to try shizz like that for first time when the whole basketball world is watching the Finals. And it worked, ffs. Gotta give him major props for even trying.

Nurse is opposite of Casey - that guy was no Macgyver. Just want to point out that just because we Raptors fans, we are not hypocritically vote for our guy, Raptors fans hated their coaches for 2 decades, Nurse is an anomaly. And man what a topical pop culture reference, there are probably people who can vote now who have no idea what this thread is all about Altho I know they made a remake show I believe.

Spoelstra is also very good, I like how he is not an old fart who just relies on establsihed guys. Like look what he did with Nunn and Robinson for example, stupider coach would have just played Waiters and guys like that, but this guy actually had balls to put a rookie as starter PG, move Dragic to the bench, while competing for a very high finish. Truly one of the better coach, and its funny how it all worked out. I am going sideways here right now, but remember when Spo was a rookie and LeBron fresh from decision wanted him gone? If not for Riley, Spo would have been gone after 30 games and it might have been the last we heard of him, and now he is one of the best coaches in the NBA. Thats why as huge Blatt fan I think he was unfairly canned and some NBA fans who just want to hate on euro ball act like Blatt was some kind of idiot, while in reality his biggest error was the fact he coached LeGM.

[dennythedino]

Popovich and Spoelstra.

These two can practically field a G-league roster out there and make them competitive.

[Zombiesonics]

The one great coach is actually lamented for his inability to macgyver things is bud. Maybe phil jackson too. Its actually a pretty deep question; is it best to master one specific approach and philosophy or be more malleable with the ability to completely flip the script?
I guess a combo of both.

[Vampirate]

It's Gregg Popovich in my opinion. Just look at how the Spurs transformed over the years.

[flow]

Being a great coach doesn't necessarily mean you're a "Macgyver" coach. Larry Brown and Rick Carlisle are great coaches, but they don't qualify here. They are both rigid in their beliefs and teachings/coaching. They do it their way, period. If they have the pieces that fit what they do, they'll be great. If not, they won't.

Pat Riley is a good choice, as someone mentioned above. The fact that the Showtime Lakers and the 90's Knicks/00' Heat were coached by the same person is crazy.

Nurse is a good candidate also.

[Richard4444]

I think Fizdale is Macgyver.

Macgyver is a pacifist, someone who try to be friend of everybody. He works for a NGO. He is a physic and has great knowledge of engineering and chemistry. He thinks winning is not so important. He is the last guy suited to coach a basketball game.

[yitur]

Watch on YouTube

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thankyou.gif

Not seeing his name come up made even a 27yo person like me feel old. Dude was the mastermind of the modern basketball as we know it.

[King4Day]

Ryan McDonough was sneaky good at finding bad coaches for the Suns for a while. Not sure if that counts.

[fbalmeida]

Nicholas David Nurse.

Honourable mentions:

Michael Malone
Brad Stevens
Erik Spoelstra
Quin Snyder
Billy Donovan
Rick Carlisle
Taylor Jenkins

These are the best coaches in the NBA right now.
Pop is a legend but he seemed to have been in pre-retirement this season.