Every coach needs great talent to win championships but it takes great coaches to take that talent and to do the impossible every year.Red Auerbach 938 wins 479 losses (.662) Third-winningest coach in NBA history ... Served 20 seasons as NBA head coach ... Coach of the Year for 1964-65 ... NBA 25th Anniversary All-Time team coach ... Selected as the "Greatest Coach in the History of the NBA" by the PBWAA in 1980 ... Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968. Phil Jackson 545 wins 193 losses (.738) Best winning percentage in NBA history ... Enjoyed nine successful seasons as Chicago head coach (1989-98) ... Reached 400 wins in only 557 games, second-fastest to milestone in league history ... Guided the Chicago Bulls to NBA championships in 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 ... 1995-96 Coach of the Year. Chuck Daly 605 wins 420 losses (.590) Fifteenth-winningest coach in NBA history ... 1998-99 is his second season as Orlando Magic coach; 14th season as NBA head coach ... Guided Detroit Pistons to victories in 1989 and 1990 NBA Finals ... His teams posted winning records in 11 of 13 campaigns ... Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. Pat Riley 914 wins 387 losses (.703) Fifth-winningest coach in NBA history ... Achieved 800th career win on Nov. 2, 1996, reaching the mark faster than any coach in league history... 1998-99 will be his fourth season as Miami head coach; 17th season as a head coach in NBA ... Led four L.A. Lakers teams to victory in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 NBA Finals ... 1989-90, 1992-93 and 1996-97 Coach of the Year. For me it's Phil Jackson hands down.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BCB @ May 5 2006, 09:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Every coach needs great talent to win championships but it takes great coaches to take that talent and to do the impossible every year.Red Auerbach 938 wins 479 losses (.662) Third-winningest coach in NBA history ... Served 20 seasons as NBA head coach ... Coach of the Year for 1964-65 ... NBA 25th Anniversary All-Time team coach ... Selected as the "Greatest Coach in the History of the NBA" by the PBWAA in 1980 ... Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968. Phil Jackson 545 wins 193 losses (.738) Best winning percentage in NBA history ... Enjoyed nine successful seasons as Chicago head coach (1989-98) ... Reached 400 wins in only 557 games, second-fastest to milestone in league history ... Guided the Chicago Bulls to NBA championships in 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 ... 1995-96 Coach of the Year. Chuck Daly 605 wins 420 losses (.590) Fifteenth-winningest coach in NBA history ... 1998-99 is his second season as Orlando Magic coach; 14th season as NBA head coach ... Guided Detroit Pistons to victories in 1989 and 1990 NBA Finals ... His teams posted winning records in 11 of 13 campaigns ... Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. Pat Riley 914 wins 387 losses (.703) Fifth-winningest coach in NBA history ... Achieved 800th career win on Nov. 2, 1996, reaching the mark faster than any coach in league history... 1998-99 will be his fourth season as Miami head coach; 17th season as a head coach in NBA ... Led four L.A. Lakers teams to victory in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 NBA Finals ... 1989-90, 1992-93 and 1996-97 Coach of the Year. For me it's Phil Jackson hands down.</div>Agreed. 6 champs with the Bulls and 3 with Lakers. 9 Champs...Can't beat that.
I'll take Phil Jackson.People always say, "Well, give any coach MJ and Pippen or Shaq and Kobe and they would win 9 championships," but that isn't the case. You can have all the great players you want, but the coach still has to get the team on the same page.
PJ all the way. I'm still amazed by his 193 losses only.He's produced GOAT's... it's just crazy what he's done
Gonna go with Red Auerbach. I recently read a book about him and the Celtics' success in the champhionship run, and just the franchise in general. Phil Jackson is a great coach, but Auerbach did more things. When he was coaching the C's in the '50s and '60s, he was the GM also. He had to put the right pieces in place, Jackson didnt have to do that. The pieces were already in place when he arrived.
Red didn't have a salary cap and didn't have to deal with all the inflated ego's and problems that are in the NBA now. Not to mention he has to deal with 100 times the media...etc.
Phil always had amazing players to it's hard to say, but I'll still have to pick him. Red is definitely number two, but the league was so different back then.
I'll take Phil #1 because he's never lost in the 1st Round, never had a losing record, and because of his 9 rings. Red is the 2 best coach
Red Auerbach in my opinion. He basically coached the team that dominated the league for like an entire decade. Also, like Zards said, Jackson had the team layed out for him, Auerbach put it together and kept it together for a long period of time. The bottom line for me is that I would rather have Auerbach coach a NBA Finals seris, not Jackson.
Phil Jackson is easily the greatest coach of all time. So many championships. And just a great leader and coach.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LUD @ May 6 2006, 06:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Red Auerbach in my opinion. He basically coached the team that dominated the league for like an entire decade. Also, like Zards said, Jackson had the team layed out for him, Auerbach put it together and kept it together for a long period of time. The bottom line for me is that I would rather have Auerbach coach a NBA Finals seris, not Jackson.</div> Red had the best players in the game and a bench that could win some teams 45 games. Not to mention he didn't have the current salary cap and FA, etc.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JustBlaze @ May 6 2006, 04:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Phil always had amazing players to it's hard to say, but I'll still have to pick him. Red is definitely number two, but the league was so different back then.</div> Red had the best players in the league, back then it was to the point where it was almost unfair.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BCB @ May 6 2006, 09:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Red had the best players in the game and a bench that could win some teams 45 games. Not to mention he didn't have the current salary cap and FA, etc. Red had the best players in the league, back then it was to the point where it was almost unfair.</div>He built the bench. That is the point I am making. It was not lik ethe team was there for him like Phil's were.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BCB @ May 6 2006, 12:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Not to mention he has to deal with 100 times the media...etc.</div>You think Red didnt have to deal with the media back then? Everyone in the media pressured him to take Bob Cousy in the draft. Red didnt, because he thought Cousy was just a flashy type of PG. The media was on Red's ass the whole time to pick Cousy in the draft just because he was the hometown favorite at Holy Cross.To tell you the truth, I think Jackson gets praised more than hated by the media.
Don't bring Red into the picture. The guy simply had more talent than any coach in comparison to eras. His team only ran 7 offensive sets, something no team would get away with today. His team was just so much better than everyone else, and from the videos I've seen of him, he taught basics that are taught today in the 8th Grade.Like Bob Cousy said: "I was the innovator because back then I was the only guy dribbling through my legs. These days, 12 year olds are doing it better than me"Back then, Red was simply an outspoken coach on a good team who saw talent, and grabbed it. However, coach's teach more, and have more variaties of ways to win games for their team.
Phil Jackson is the best. The league is more diluted more now, don't forget that. It is much much harder to win a title, let alone build a dynasty. Chuck Daly probably shouldn't be mentioned here, b/c I don't think anyone on the board would pick him over Red and Phil.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ May 6 2006, 08:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Phil Jackson is the best. The league is more diluted more now, don't forget that. It is much much harder to win a title, let alone build a dynasty. Chuck Daly probably shouldn't be mentioned here, b/c I don't think anyone on the board would pick him over Red and Phil.</div> Very good point there, the salary cap and FA have made it much tougher to build a Celtics dynasty.