Is there such a thing as an adaptable coach?

[Barraketh]

What I mean by this is are there any coaches that you could bring in and they would get the best out of their players regardless of personnel? It seems like the best coaches in the game (Pop, Phil, Sloan) all coach to a system - Phil with the triangle, Sloan with the pick and roll offense, Pop with his defense first approach and exploiting mismatches. It's not just top tier coaches either - Larry Brown, Steve Van Gundy, Don Nelson all have distinctive styles of coaching.

So, are there coaches out there who regularly shift styles based on the players they have available? Coaches who had success coaching both a defensive minded team and a more run an gun style? Or is it always up to the GM to fit the coach to the players (or the players to the coach)?

[GreenWithEnvy]

HA! no such thing but it would make sense right? a good coach builds the offense around the players not the players around the offense.

[Boognish]

Pat Riley has adjusted to his teams. He won playing fast with the Lakers and won playing slow with the physical Knicks

[Flash3]

What I mean by this is are there any coaches that you could bring in and they would get the best out of their players regardless of personnel? It seems like the best coaches in the game (Pop, Phil, Sloan) all coach to a system - Phil with the triangle, Sloan with the pick and roll offense, Pop with his defense first approach and exploiting mismatches. It's not just top tier coaches either - Larry Brown, Steve Van Gundy, Don Nelson all have distinctive styles of coaching.

So, are there coaches out there who regularly shift styles based on the players they have available? Coaches who had success coaching both a defensive minded team and a more run an gun style? Or is it always up to the GM to fit the coach to the players (or the players to the coach)?

Riley?

Coached the Showtime Lakers and their fast break style to 4 titles. Then coached the Knicks and 90's Heat teams deep in to the post-season; with both teams being a hard-nosed defensively oriented teams. And, then adjusted to coaching a Shaq/Wade led team who was more offensively gifted, than defensively gifted, to a title.

He's been able to adapt to the personel he's had on his teams, even though he's always stressed defense no matter who he's had on his teams.

He's fared successful in different times; 80s/90s/2000s.

[Malinhion]

Pat Riley has adjusted to his teams. He won playing fast with the Lakers and won playing slow with the physical Knicks

QFT

Which is what places Riley so high on the coaching list to me--his adaptability.

[NO-KG-AI]

Yup^

[tsherkin]

Nellie sort of counts as adaptable; as rigidly as he has clung to his "no big men" doctrine of small-ball, he's been very adaptable in terms of his offensive strategies.

Rick Carlisle is presumably about to try and turn the Mavs into a running team to take advantage of Jason Kidd; George Karl (who coached the Payton-led Sonics) is coaching a team with no defense; Rick Adelman is working with a legit 20 ppg post scorer in Houston and has previously coached teams headlined by Clyde Drexler in Portland and then the Bibby/Webber/Divac trio in Sacramento.

Generally though, the "adaptability" of a coachs isn't in reference to his overall style of play. Consistency and the development of a system generally ARE preferable to a coach who's all over the map and constantly reinventing himself. Riles is a special coach, one of the three best of all-time.

The rest stick to their systems because it's better. Adaptability is more important in-game, when a coach should display quick recognition of opposition schemes and then produce his own stratagems to counter said schemes. Breaking a press, stopping a particularly effective offensive play, working out of the time-out, judicious use of time-outs, that sort of thing.

[Rerisen]

Pat Riley has adjusted to his teams. He won playing fast with the Lakers and won playing slow with the physical Knicks

I thought for the world you were going to say he adjusted to winning with his great teams and adjusted to losing with his bad teams.

But I guess that could go for all coaches.

[Rox_Nix_Nox]

Phil Jackson has adapted the triangle somewhat this year. The Lakers try to get out and run alot more this year, but they can still slow it down and play the half-court game.

[10scott10]

I think nellie is a good answer. i mean before he became the coach we all know now, didn't he used to be a very traditional, work through the bigs type coach.