You mean, like sports? Says the fan of the team that hasn't won a first round series in living memory. And how many players are "MVP-level"? If it's around 5, then there are a lot of good coaches that that's true of. Do you really think that in the next 5 years we would be winning a championship if it wasn't for Van Gundy? Thanks to a lot of very dubious foul calls for Dwyane Wade. So, if that proves anything, it proves that Pat Riley is a better finals coach than SVG. Good thing SVG won't be coaching against Riley when he next gets a team to the finals. You mean Shaq said that. Name the coach of his that Shaq hasn't trashed about five minutes after he (Shaq or the coach) leaves the team. That's sort of his thing. Oh, I forgot - PER is everything. And do explain why Hedo's game is nothing like Batum's. This team really doesn't deserve your support. If the team hires Van Gundy you should really go support a team more deserving of your insight.
True, but how many people responded to the poll? And how many coaches can most NBA players actually name? I think it has more to do with what coaches you see on TV than what they've actually heard from their peers.
Whatever the reason, even if just perception, I think a small market team has to stay away from him. Too risky that a player may not choose Ptd because of SVG.
So if 22% got the perception he's the worst, and 3% got the perception he's the best, and you assume most respondents went off of seeing him on TV, then wouldn't it be fair to assume there's a very small number who played for him, or who heard from those who did, who liked playing for him? Much smaller than those who didn't. Or are you going to make the assumption that for some reason the 3% is more accurate, and off of his players, and their peers, and the 22% is more off of guys watching on tv?
Carlisle was considered too tough on his players until his Dallas time. Now he's one of the most desired coaches. So van Gundy could change perceptions at his next stop if he wants to.
Carlisle was available to us but was passed over for McMillan. His main negative was the mean reputation.
Here's what I think: I think that, as a factor affecting whether or not a player will sign for a team, the coach's rating in this poll is fairly insignificant. It's behind who the owner is, what the facilities are like, what the endorsement opportunities are, how good the team is and a host of factors. I'd like to see a poll that asks "would you not sign for a team because of this coach?" and I bet you the results would be overwhelmingly that it wouldn't stop them. The reason why I pointed out that Van Gundy also came 8th in the "most-liked" poll was not so much to show that most players would prefer him over 22 other coaches, but that this poll was stupid and uninformative. I don't think it shows that, I think it shows that there's a limit to the number of coaches players can name, and I think that's because they're not all comparing notes and saying "my guy's an asshole!" but they don't actually pay much attention and only know the famous coaches.
From a players perspective, do you think the way SVG handled the "rumors" about Dwight was appropriate? Would you want to play for a coach who did that? As a fan, I like a coach standing up to the leader on the team and calling it the way it is. If I was a player, I would think the coach set Dwight up to eat his own words. SVG is a much smarter person than Dwight and I think he put that to use (and let his emotions get the best of him) when he decided to make Dwight look foolish. I don't know what to make of SVG as I also heard the locker room was divided between Howard and SVG (meaning some players took his side). But can Ptd even risk getting a controversial coach?
What primadonna's on our team are going to get into it with SVG? The guy is the cream of the crop of available coaches with his resume alone. Its not really even debateable.
