Rank NBA head coaches

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Draco

Draco

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My ranking for NBA head coaches, with tiers. Available head coaches in parentheses.

Great​
Gregg Popovich
Steve Kerr
Rich Carlisle
Brad Stevens
Stan Van Gundy
Erik Spoelstra

Good​
(Tom Thibodeau)
Mike Budenholzer
Terry Stotts
Doc Rivers
Steve Clifford
(Jeff Hornacek)
Quin Snyder
David Joerger

Average​
Frank Vogel
Dwane Casey
Michael Malone
(Jeff Van Gundy)
Jason Kidd
(David Blatt)
Tyronn Lue
Kenny Atkinson

Poor​
(Kevin McHale)
(Mark Jackson)
Alvin Gentry
(George Karl)
Earl Watson
Billy Donovan
Fred Hoiberg
(Scott Brooks)

Terrible​
J.B. Bickerstaff
Scott Skiles
(Randy Wittman)
Brett Brown
Byron Scott
Kurt Rambis
 
Start off by analyzing the terrible coaches.

JB Bickerstaff has horrible substitution patters, doesn't play productive young players. No offensive system. Horrific transition defense.
Scott Skiles has terrible relationships with his players and doesn't develop young talent. Needs to give players freedom.
Randy Wittman doesn't understand NBA offenses, gets exploited in x+o, poor lineups against opponents personnel.
Brett Brown has no offensive system and his team takes frequent poor long 3pointers very early in the shot clock.
Byron Scott is stuck in the 80's, doesn't understand 3 pointers, ball movement, gravity, space, screens, or player movement.
Kurt Rambis has terrible personal skills with his players and no idea how to fit a system to best use his players.
 
Scott Skiles buried Harkless on the bench as soon as Harkless started showing promise. Now look at what he's doing with reliable playing time.

Good call with Skiles.

Without nitpicking or really going in deep on every coach, this list looks great. Wouldn't argue much, maybe just a few 'move this guy up one, this guy down one' scenarios. For example I think both McHale and Karl should at least be considers average. McHale being the better of those two.

My main complaint is that I think Terry is a great coach. I would agree he hasn't proven it yet (deep playoff runs are a big part of establishing yourself as one of the greats), so I can understand why you put him where you did. I think in time he will prove me right in this regard.

He does make mistakes and has his flaws. But even the best have their flaws.
 
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Seeing what SVG accomplished in ORL, and now to have turned this Pistons team into a promising group of the future... Definitely a great coach, deserving of being considered one of the best in the league.
 
Fonzthecpt1 said:
Scott Skiles buried Harkless on the bench as soon as Harkless started showing promise. Now look at what he's doing with reliable playing time.

Good call with Skiles.

Without nitpicking or really going in deep on every coach, this list looks great. Wouldn't argue much.

My main complaint is that I think Terry is a great coach. I would agree he hasn't proven it yet, so I can understand why you put him where you did. I think in time he will prove me right in this regard.

He does make mistakes and has his flaws. But even the best have their flaws.
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Skiles actually never coached Harkless; that was Jacque Vaughn who was even worse.

Yeah it's odd with Terry I think if my list was 100% accurate some posters would use it as evidence he is doing well and others would use it to show we need a change.

I think Stotts is a good coach; not the best but much better than average. I'd give him at least two more years and if he can elevate this team defensively as he did with the second year of the Lopez/LMA/Nic/Wes/Dame core to a top5 defense he could enter my great coaching tier. Our defense can be frustrating to watch but with such a young team and defensive limitations of many players on the roster its understandable.
 
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Fonzthecpt1 said:
Seeing what SVG accomplished in ORL, and now to have turned this Pistons team into a promising group of the future... Definitely a great coach, deserving of being considered one of the best in the league.
Click to expand...

Yeah he has been very good. I think Glenn Rivers is a bit underrated too; he's not elite but he's above average. Glenn's teams always defend well; get good shots, and play hard for him. He's a bitch on the court sort of the Harden of coaches effective but annoying as hell to watch much of the time. Some of these coaches have GM responsibilities which is a horrible idea. Glenn the GM really hurts Glenn the coach. My list is only for their coaching hat.
 
Draco said:
My ranking for NBA head coaches, with tiers. Available head coaches in parentheses.

Great​
Gregg Popovich
Steve Kerr
Rich Carlisle
Brad Stevens
Stan Van Gundy
Erik Spoelstra

Good​
(Tom Thibodeau)
Mike Budenholzer
Terry Stotts
Doc Rivers
Steve Clifford
(Jeff Hornacek)
Quin Snyder
David Joerger

Average​
Frank Vogel
Dwane Casey
Michael Malone
(Jeff Van Gundy)
Jason Kidd
(David Blatt)
Tyronn Lue
Kenny Atkinson

Poor​
(Kevin McHale)
(Mark Jackson)
Alvin Gentry
(George Karl)
Earl Watson
Billy Donovan
Fred Hoiberg
(Scott Brooks)

Terrible​
J.B. Bickerstaff
Scott Skiles
(Randy Wittman)
Brett Brown
Byron Scott
Kurt Rambis
Click to expand...

The Greatest
The collective knowledge of the RipCityTwo forum!
 
download (6).jpg

"I would just like to say that I am hoping to use this rating on my future resume."

:smile:
 
I have seen many coaches move way up then way down, then their career ends. Probably the record for ups and downs is Lenny Wilkens.

What happens is a coach starts with a gimmick, which takes Rook a couple of years to perfect. The Great Young Coach shoots up in rank, but other coaches develop countermeasures, and copy his trick too. His players get old and injured. The Bum changes teams. The Comeback Kid starts off great! Then the years make the Ancient Mariner's players old. That's about all the tries he gets, booted out at age 45. He has a lot in the bank now, so he takes the easy road with a media job. That's the typical story.

Stotts' gimmick is moving the ball fast and depending upon the 3. Each year, it works less because after his first year here, most teams copied him.
 
5 Star:
Greg Popovich
Steve Kerr
Rick Carlisle

4 Star:
Brad Stevens
Mike Budenholzer
Terry Stotts
Doc Rivers
Dwayne Casey
Frank Vogel

3 Star:
Tom Thibodeau
Steve Clifford
David Joerger
Quin Snyder
Eric Spoelstra
Mike Malone

2 Star:
Fred Hoiberg
George Karl
Scott Brooks
Kevin McHale
Randy Wittman

1 Star:
Scott Skiles
Jason Kidd
Alvin Gentry
Brett Brown
Tyronn Lue

0 Star:
Byron Scott
J.B. Bickerstaff
Kurt Rambis

Unknown:
Earl Watson
Kenny Atkinson
 
^ This is a lot closer to my list.
I would have Stotts & Carlisle a bit lower though.
 
If that's the case maybe the Blazers should can Terry Stotts and hire Stan Van Gundy.
 
BigGameDamian said:
If that's the case maybe the Blazers should can Terry Stotts and hire Stan Van Gundy.
Click to expand...
iWKad22.jpg
 
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