Photo credit: Boston.com
There are people who don’t clearly get basketball. There are many that do. And then there are a rare few non-conformists who see the game in a completely different light. They go on to make amazing contributions to the game of basketball. This includes players, coaches, executives, analysts and even fans. This post is on a few coaches that I highly respect.
Tom Thibodeau, Doc Rivers & Greg Popovich
The 3 things Thibs, Doc and Pop have in common is their ability to maximize their team’s true potential, even when their respective rosters’ face significant injury/personnel challenges. They demand nothing less than excellence in the rosters and challenges they are presented with.
As a Bulls fan, it’s incredible to watch Thibs’ coach, it seems like he’s a 6th player on the court, always yelling and orchestrating. Don’t let his anger fool you, because inside he’s actually one of the calmest and most poised coaches this game has ever seen. He didn’t give a shit when Lebron, Wade, Bosh and other 2010 FAs didn’t come to Chicago. He took DRose under his wing and helped him become a better defender, an improved shooter and eventually the youngest MVP in NBA history. He helped every other player on the team improve defensively and offensively and took the team to the ECF even despite key injuries throughout the season.
He continued producing similar, arguably better results, the past 2 seasons. We didn’t get as far as the ECF but damn, with Rose and Noah fighting major injuries, he still manages to max out on the team’s potential. You can argue all you want about how he overworks players and how he’s too demanding. At the end of the day, you are wrong because the players all believe in him and they are willing to go out there and give their best, even if it means playing 40+ minutes every single night.
I don’t watch Pop and Doc as much but when I do get to see them coach on national TV games, it’s so easy to see how much they all share in common and how they approach the game from a coaching and teaching standpoint. Not every coach follows these rigorous standards of excellence. If you don’t believe me, go watch Vinny Del Negro coach.