What is the 2nd biggest coaching mismatch in Nba history?

GSP · Post #1 » by **GSP** » Mon May 22, 2023 3:53 am

Behind Spo VS Mazzulla?

Cavsfansince84 · Post #2 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Mon May 22, 2023 4:23 am

Brown v Pop in 07 finals.

GSP · Post #3 » by **GSP** » Mon May 22, 2023 4:37 am

Cavsfansince84 wrote:Brown v Pop in 07 finals.

No way.

Spurs were MASSIVE favorites. They were actually favored as much as Celtics were this series.

3 single possession losses. Game 3 and 4 decided by a 4 points combined despite a massive gap in talent. And its not like Bron was in peal playoff form or something. He had a really bad series.

Brown prolly deserves great deal of credit for teams defense and rebounding that series specially on Timmy who got locked up to a .483ts. Timmy got erased offensively in games 3 and 4 after adjustments 2 of the worst playoff games hes had in his prime that allowed Tony to steal Fmvp

Cavsfansince84 · Post #4 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Mon May 22, 2023 4:55 am

GSP wrote:
Cavsfansince84 wrote:Brown v Pop in 07 finals.

No way.

Spurs were MASSIVE favorites. They were actually favored as much as Celtics were this series.

3 single possession losses. Game 3 and 4 decided by a 4 points combined despite a massive gap in talent. And its not like Bron was in peal playoff form or something. He had a really bad series.

Brown prolly deserves great deal of credit for teams defense and rebounding that series specially on Timmy who got locked up to a .483ts. Timmy got erased offensively in games 3 and 4 after adjustments 2 of the worst playoff games hes had in his prime that allowed Tony to steal Fmvp

Well I am tempted to also put Brown vs SVG but tbh I think this is a bigger mismatch and the Spurs playing at an ultra slow pace sort of played into our strengths and allowed us to keep it close.

PhiEaglesfan712 · Post #5 » by **PhiEaglesfan712** » Mon May 22, 2023 1:26 pm

Ty Lue vs. Dwane Casey in the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals

Casey's 1-seed Toronto Raptors were swept by Lue's Cavaliers team that went 7 games in the first round.

Post #6 » by **Slava** » Mon May 22, 2023 1:47 pm

If you're just picking upset wins, Don Nelson vs Avery Johnson in 2007. One is a hall of famer and the other had one other forgettable stint in Brooklyn and was most recently fired by Alabama.

Post #7 » by **penbeast0** » Mon May 22, 2023 2:01 pm

It doesn't say playoffs so I'll go with Wilt Chamberlain, who was sort of coaching the San Diego franchise in the ABA for a year (he didn't always bother to show up for practice and would arrive 5 minutes before games) v. Larry Brown (one of my top 10 all-time coaches as long as you don't need him to stick around for a long time). Wilt did have Stan Albeck for most of the year as an assistant coach and Albeck went on to be a pretty good coach but still . . .

Warriors Analyst · Post #8 » by **Warriors Analyst** » Mon May 22, 2023 2:26 pm

Kerr vs Kevin McHale in the 2015 WCF was brutal.

PhiEaglesfan712 · Post #9 » by **PhiEaglesfan712** » Mon May 22, 2023 2:51 pm

Warriors Analyst wrote:Kerr vs Kevin McHale in the 2015 WCF was brutal.

I blame Doc Rivers for this one. Clippers vs. Warriors would have been a better series, but Doc inexplicably choked that 3-1 lead. Besides, that was the one year the Rockets got the most out of their talent.

MartinToVaught · Post #10 » by **MartinToVaught** » Mon May 22, 2023 2:52 pm

#1. Doc vs. [insert coach here]

Dr Positivity · Post #11 » by **Dr Positivity** » Mon May 22, 2023 3:41 pm

For actual important series, Jackson vs Gentry. I always thought Gentry was one of our worst modern coaches, though they had success that year and iirc I don't know if that loss was his fault, he did sweep Pop too in another lopsided coaching matchup.

Popovich and Spo vs Brooks, even though Brooks managed to beat Pop once.

Owly · Post #12 » by **Owly** » Mon May 22, 2023 4:14 pm

Short answer we don't know, we don't see all that goes in to coaching and how much influence that has versus some hypothetical average coach ... and we shouldn't assume what just happened is "the biggest X in history" (and shouldn't ask others to implicitly sharer our assumptions).

Further responses would ask what we are measuring, whether a playoff series is the best sample, how much the head coach is being used as a proxy for "the whole coaching staff [/whole Basketball Operations staff with any input]" (or "my perception of the team's preparedness based on their performance") etc. Fwiw I would guess earlier years where the league was less established might have had some guys that just weren't up to the job.

Rubin got quite a lot of flack for his 76ers season though that could be players deflecting blame. Baylor's 2nd year coach in LA gets some criticism too (vs Auerbach if we're looking for a mismatch, but not requiring playoffs).