I think Nate has done a great job, but that his true challenge hasn't happened yet. Nate is blessed with having down to earth players that respect and listen to him. I know he has a young team young . . . but what an ideal situation for a coach . . . a bunch of young talented players that listen to you. Soon these young players will be getting older and huge contracts. Soon some of these young players will not be so young and want more PT. As these players get older, I think Nate's true challenge is keeping egos in check and having the the not so young guys respect and listen to him. If he can maintain this same level of respect and team atmosphere in teh locker room as the Blazers become more and more successful . . . that will take him to the next level, IMO.
I wouldn't at all disagree if Brown wins COY, but an argument in Nate's favor is that Brown inherited a team that LeBron led to the NBA Finals in his second year as coach and then regressed a bit last season. He's won 50 games 3 times now, but then again, Cleveland won 42 games in 2004-05 with LeBron in his second season prior to Mike Brown. I'd argue that Nate has to do more coaching than Mike Brown, but then again, 60+ wins, even in the East, is a noteworthy accomplishment and probably will lead to Brown being named COY.
but that doesn't mean he's not an answer to your question. there's no doubt in my mind that he'd have the blazers playing better defense and he'd be running the offense through the stars of the team(roy/aldridge). that makes 50 wins likely to me.
Nate's not going anywhere, anytime soon. People may as well get used to the idea of him being the coach, like it or not. Complaining about a 50-win coach with a young team does seem a bit on the extreme side of things.
i didn't complain about nate or suggest that he should go anywhere in this thread. when the question "what available coach could have gotten this team to 50 wins?" was asked, i presented an answer and then explained that answer.
Whether or not JVG could wrest fifty wins out of this team is unanswerable, but based on his historically mediocre offensive teams I question if his ability to teach defense would make up for his deficits at this end of the court. Furthermore, this team already runs its offense through Roy and LaMarcus no? And correct me if I'm mistaken, they've somehow manged to have a top 3 rated offense all season long, so he must have them doing something right at that end of the court. On the defensive end I tend to attribute the defensive struggles early in the season not so much to any systemic problem with schemes or coaching, but rather with the overall youth and inexperience of the team -- as the season has progressed they've become more cohesive, more used to playing with one another and presumably their ability to read and react correctly on defense has improved with repetition. Isn't it possible the Blazers are finally playing defense the way Nate wants them to? As I said before you don't have to be a Nate believer or like him, but to not give him any respect for the job he has done seems a little 'strange' (for lack of a better word).
Fair enough. JVG may have been able to lead this team to 50-wins, but the most he ever won in a season was 57 in 1996-97, and he has only won 50 games 4 times total in 10 full seasons of coaching. Nate could very well win 53 games this season, won 52 games with Seattle one year, and looks to have a roster that will yield 50+ wins for the foreseeable future.
in regards to the offense, i wasn't saying that nate doesn't already do that but based on jvg's history that is what he would do. i'm not saying that nate is doing a bad job offensively or commenting on the job nate is doing at all. i'm saying that jvg would run an offense heavily based around his star players as he always has done and that anywhere he's been he has made that team a good defensive team. i would expect those two things(the offense being carried by roy/aldridge and the team playing good defense) to equate to 50 wins. and i didn't ever say that i don't give nate any respect he's done. i said he was no question a top 10 coach of the year candidate and likely a top 5 candidate. i'd say that is respect. but that also doesn't mean that there isn't an available coach out there that couldn't have them at the same win total.
