The team doesn’t even have to have won the championship, but has a team in NBA history overachieved notably due to coaching? How did the coaching impact the team’s rotations, player roles, defensive schemes, etc?

  • Markel100@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Kerr in 2022 he coached a team to the finals and won with his core 3 messing big chunks of the season klay missed the first month. dray missed a couple of weeks. Than curry missed the last month

  • MichiganKarter@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Bill Russell, 1969 Celtics.

    The entire team was completely worn out. Over the previous decade they’d played an additional season and a half relative to a bad team in playoff games alone. Lousy shoes, rattly floors, useless surgery, bad food - a 35 year old basketball player in 1969 pictured next to a 35 year old basketball player today looks like a father and son photo.

    The coach also had to be the starting center. Surely they were just tanking for a high draft pick? That didn’t work in the regular season, as they made the playoffs.

    And then they stranded ten thousand balloons in the rafters in Game 7 of the finals.

  • shanmustafa@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    there was a lot of Brad Stevens slurping during 2018, and rightfully so, first year Tatum, second year Jaylen, and young Rozier as your three leading scorers, Horford and Morris as your vets, and you’re like a bad 6 mins away from the finals? not bad

    • FlowVoids@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      It’s such a bummer he isn’t a coach anymore. I’m sure being a front office guy is way more chill, but he was so good.

      • robzillerrrsss@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        Other coaches started figuring him out AND stealing all of atos. I think he peaked. You can only be so original for so long before the league copies you. I see him as similar to dantoni and thibs in that way where the rest of the league uses their tactics and sets and your advantage goes away.

  • RVAIsTheGreatest@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Jazz 2004 yes…Jazz 2006 as well. Boozer and Giricek missed most of the season and the Jazz roster was the same as their 26-56 season the year prior only with rookie Deron and other rookies. One of the youngest teams in the association and they won 41 games. 15 game difference missing two starters.

  • Suspicious-Summer-79@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Pop and the whole Spurs dynasty. Developing Manu, Tony and Tim into players they were, keeping them with the Spurs their entire careers, and managing to convince them to buy into the system he created is the greatest success of any coach in the last two decades.

  • mopooooo@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    A coach’s job isn’t to carry players. It’s to raise them up and put them in position to elevate the team.

  • rpdm@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    don’t know if it’s a carry, but 3 times (Bulls and Lakers twice) Phil Jackson came into an organization with a top, or the top player ( who did ok before him) and got the them to the Finals and more

  • rattatatouille@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Jerry Sloan with the Jazz in 2004. Projected to be the worst team in the league with Andrei Kirilenko leading a bunch of literally whos. Proceed to go 42-40 and just narrowly miss the playoffs.

  • Greaves624@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Brad Stevens felt like he was coaching circles around everyone in the league in 2016/17. IT and Bradley were the smallest back court in the league, then Jae Crowder who’s 6’5 at SF and they had Zeller starting lol

    Finished 1st in the East somehow

  • collect_my_corpse@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Thibs 2010-2011 - that team took on his personality. They thrived on defense. It was an amazing season. Rose was something else back then.