Coaching Carousel Getting Out of Hand?

by RamVA on Jun 30, 2009 1:55 PM EDT

Michael Curry got fired today.

And with that, 15 teams have changed coaches since the end of the '07-08 season, and a remarkable seven of those have changed twice. In fairness, three of those seven were interim, and of the 15, Riley removed himself, but nonetheless that's a lot.

None of these removals, if looked at independently, is terribly unfair in my opinion. In aggregate, though, it's an interesting pattern which is changing the incentives that coaches face and might change the nature of the sport. No other sport has coaching turnover to this degree.

Surely part of the problem is that there are perhaps only 15 genuinely "qualified" head coaches in the league (we have one of them). Regardless, though, when the perceived job security in this league is what it is some issues are going to arise:

- Young head coaches must take care not to butt heads with a star (or semi-star) player. The player will win.

- Developing talent at the expense of wins is a risk even if it's a consensus decision with the owner and GM. Fans (overall) don't like it, won't pay for it, and the head coach, especially an unknown one, is an easy scapegoat.

- You must change your style to fit the personnel you have, because you probably don't have time or leverage to do the reverse. (Also, see rule #1.)

No doubt, winning is important. I suspect, though, that the focus on the short term at the expense of the long term will make life difficult in many NBA cities.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.

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With the exception of cases like the Wizards 08-09 Season

firing a coach typically means a firesale of sorts. Some of their players will become available. That could work in our favor.

by Pryme on Jun 30, 2009 2:27 PM EDT reply actions

True

Thats one criteria I used when pinpointing which players could be available. If there is a coaching change players are more likely to be available since roster turnover is pretty common in those situations. Other criteria would be teams you know ant to slash salary.

by Jheiser3 on Jun 30, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions

This is the NBA

And only in the NHL are coaches more in the “hired to get fired” role than here. What puzzles me is why fire Michael Curry now?

"Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home." --- Daffy Duck

by George Templeton on Jun 30, 2009 3:04 PM EDT reply actions

Great FanPost

You make some excellent points. I REC’d it.

Jeff Van Gundy made a reference to the job insecurity head coaches face in the draft when he talked about playing young players a lot of minutes. I can’t remember his exact quote, but it was something like the head coach won’t be around long enough to watch the young player he is giving a lot of minutes to become good. So true.

IMO, head coaches aren’t given enough respect for what they do. The good ones make the difference between a talented team and a championship one. Check out this list:

Pat Riley
Chuck Daly
Phil Jackson
Rudy Tomjanovich
Gregg Popovich
Larry Brown
Doc Rivers

That’s 7 head coaches responsible for all of the past 23 championships, and 24 out of the last 25 championships. Only Larry Brown and Doc Rivers have not won multiple times. How could that possibly be all coincidence?

Coaching matters. They should be respected and paid more, IMO.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Jun 30, 2009 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

being fired

does not always mean a guy can’t coach. Plenty of great coaches have been fired. In our situation, I think Eddie Jordan is a good coach. I just think it was time for him to leave this team. As for Curry, who knows if he is any good. I believe Rivers was thought of as below average when he was in Orlando. But Curry was screwed by the Billups trade. He was held to the standard of the previous coaches, but he didn’t have the same team. Plus, Dumars showed how quick his trigger was when he aced Flip.

by CJHutch on Jun 30, 2009 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Let's Be Fair

I agree with your point in general, but my point was that a coach should be given a little more than one season to prove himself. We gave Eddie Jordan over 5 seasons, and in one of those seasons he didn’t even make the playoffs, and in 3 others he fared no better than Michael Curry. Yet he got to keep his job while Curry was given his walking papers after just one season!

While I agree that doesn’t mean that Curry is not a good coach, it is still just plain disrespectful. It wasn’t his fault that Dumars ripped away his starting point guard just a couple of days before the season started and replaced him with a player better suited for creating shots for himself than for his teammates. But in a sense, by firing him, Dumars is essentially saying it is his fault.

Life is not fair, and neither is coaching in the NBA.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Jun 30, 2009 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions

We'll find out more, I'm sure

But I think Curry got fired foremost because he didn’t get along with the players, particulary Rip. I think this is a sign that Rip’s not going anywhere.

by RamV on Jul 1, 2009 7:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

I heard the same. Ar first I thought Curry got screwed on it, but the more I hear, it sounds like he didn’t know how to handle the players. 1st he pissed off Rip by benching him, then he pissed off Iverson by benching him. Now that Iverson is gone, apparently Curry wasn’t willing to mend fences with Rip. Now I hear their gonna hire either Avery or Doug Collins. Personall, I’d prefer they kept Curry. I think the other 2 are better coaches.

by CJHutch on Jul 1, 2009 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions