My ranking for NBA head coaches, with tiers. Available head coaches in parentheses. GreatGregg Popovich Steve Kerr Rich Carlisle Brad Stevens Stan Van Gundy Erik Spoelstra Good(Tom Thibodeau) Mike Budenholzer Terry Stotts Doc Rivers Steve Clifford (Jeff Hornacek) Quin Snyder David Joerger AverageFrank Vogel Dwane Casey Michael Malone (Jeff Van Gundy) Jason Kidd (David Blatt) Tyronn Lue Kenny Atkinson Poor(Kevin McHale) (Mark Jackson) Alvin Gentry (George Karl) Earl Watson Billy Donovan Fred Hoiberg (Scott Brooks) TerribleJ.B. Bickerstaff Scott Skiles (Randy Wittman) Brett Brown Byron Scott Kurt Rambis
Start off by analyzing the terrible coaches. JB Bickerstaff has horrible substitution patters, doesn't play productive young players. No offensive system. Horrific transition defense. Scott Skiles has terrible relationships with his players and doesn't develop young talent. Needs to give players freedom. Randy Wittman doesn't understand NBA offenses, gets exploited in x+o, poor lineups against opponents personnel. Brett Brown has no offensive system and his team takes frequent poor long 3pointers very early in the shot clock. Byron Scott is stuck in the 80's, doesn't understand 3 pointers, ball movement, gravity, space, screens, or player movement. Kurt Rambis has terrible personal skills with his players and no idea how to fit a system to best use his players.
Scott Skiles buried Harkless on the bench as soon as Harkless started showing promise. Now look at what he's doing with reliable playing time. Good call with Skiles. Without nitpicking or really going in deep on every coach, this list looks great. Wouldn't argue much, maybe just a few 'move this guy up one, this guy down one' scenarios. For example I think both McHale and Karl should at least be considers average. McHale being the better of those two. My main complaint is that I think Terry is a great coach. I would agree he hasn't proven it yet (deep playoff runs are a big part of establishing yourself as one of the greats), so I can understand why you put him where you did. I think in time he will prove me right in this regard. He does make mistakes and has his flaws. But even the best have their flaws.
Seeing what SVG accomplished in ORL, and now to have turned this Pistons team into a promising group of the future... Definitely a great coach, deserving of being considered one of the best in the league.
Skiles actually never coached Harkless; that was Jacque Vaughn who was even worse. Yeah it's odd with Terry I think if my list was 100% accurate some posters would use it as evidence he is doing well and others would use it to show we need a change. I think Stotts is a good coach; not the best but much better than average. I'd give him at least two more years and if he can elevate this team defensively as he did with the second year of the Lopez/LMA/Nic/Wes/Dame core to a top5 defense he could enter my great coaching tier. Our defense can be frustrating to watch but with such a young team and defensive limitations of many players on the roster its understandable.
Yeah he has been very good. I think Glenn Rivers is a bit underrated too; he's not elite but he's above average. Glenn's teams always defend well; get good shots, and play hard for him. He's a bitch on the court sort of the Harden of coaches effective but annoying as hell to watch much of the time. Some of these coaches have GM responsibilities which is a horrible idea. Glenn the GM really hurts Glenn the coach. My list is only for their coaching hat.
I have seen many coaches move way up then way down, then their career ends. Probably the record for ups and downs is Lenny Wilkens. What happens is a coach starts with a gimmick, which takes Rook a couple of years to perfect. The Great Young Coach shoots up in rank, but other coaches develop countermeasures, and copy his trick too. His players get old and injured. The Bum changes teams. The Comeback Kid starts off great! Then the years make the Ancient Mariner's players old. That's about all the tries he gets, booted out at age 45. He has a lot in the bank now, so he takes the easy road with a media job. That's the typical story. Stotts' gimmick is moving the ball fast and depending upon the 3. Each year, it works less because after his first year here, most teams copied him.
Bill Fitch...SNUBBED by the Hall of Fame. Chuck Daly, Jack Ramsay, and John Kundla...SNUBBED for Coach of the Year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Greatest_Players_in_NBA_History#Coaches
5 Star: Greg Popovich Steve Kerr Rick Carlisle 4 Star: Brad Stevens Mike Budenholzer Terry Stotts Doc Rivers Dwayne Casey Frank Vogel 3 Star: Tom Thibodeau Steve Clifford David Joerger Quin Snyder Eric Spoelstra Mike Malone 2 Star: Fred Hoiberg George Karl Scott Brooks Kevin McHale Randy Wittman 1 Star: Scott Skiles Jason Kidd Alvin Gentry Brett Brown Tyronn Lue 0 Star: Byron Scott J.B. Bickerstaff Kurt Rambis Unknown: Earl Watson Kenny Atkinson
