<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Our good blogging friend Astro Joe raised a great question regarding the significance of coaching at the professional level and the individual tutoring that should and must go on, even at the professional level. I think his question should be viewed in a larger scope, though. Not just the Hawks or the NBA but in sports in general. Is it quality coaching or talent that paves the way to success? Obviously, it always helps to have heaping doses of both in order to achieve that cosmic chemistry that produces championship-level success. But if determining which is more important were a scientific process, which it certainly is not, I think most people would agree that they?d rather go to the field, floor or whatever the playing surface, with superior talent as opposed to what is perceived as ?superior? coaching. After years of watching sports at every level and covering them for more than a decade, I?m still not comfortable making a broad generalization about which is more important. On a case-by-case basis, it?s relatively easy to assess where a particular team is lacking. But generally speaking, there?s truly no easy answer to the question. The media (yes, we?re a large part of the problem) is prone to overstatement when it comes to the importance of a coach?s impact. But if you check the roll of coaching greats through the years, many of their success stories was accompanied by ultra-talented players that aided in the cause. If you don?t buy that, check all the ?genius? coaches, in all the major sports, who are trying to revisit that ?genius? these days with teams that can?t match the talent of their glory years. Phil Jackson, Steve Spurrier, Bobby Knight and the NBA?s beloved Larry Brown (who is unemployed right now. but we all remember his ugly tenure with the Knicks) come to mind as examples of my theory that coaching greatness is always a relative thing. Look no further than Charlie Weis and Notre Dame?s flameout over the weekend against my crew (Michigan 47, ND 21). Weis was a genius at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. By 4:05 even the Notre Dame faithful were wondering if they?d gone too far in crowning their latest savior the new Rockne. The point is, coaching genius is a fragile thing when you?re dealing with comparable talent.</div> Source
