“Coaching is nothing more than eliminating mistakes before you get fired” — Lou Holtz
When assessing post-season match-ups, much attention is paid to players and styles. Regular season records, both overall and against, are also considered. But in all of the analysis, coaching is perhaps the one aspect given the least thought. After all, the NBA is considered a players’ league. And rightly so. To be sure, there will be match-ups where one team is so superior to another that nothing less than a miracle will save the lesser team. In nearly all cases, however, it still comes down to coaching, where impact and effect are often magnified.
THE WEST
Lakers/Nuggets – Predictably, with Denver having no defensive answer for the Lakers — save Game 4 where they actually played a modicum of D — this match-up never lived up to the hype. From the outset, my optimistic side thought maybe Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, Allen Iverson, and Kenyon Martin would cause problems for the Lakers. After all, on paper Denver’s roster compared favorably to Los Angeles, with talent being pretty close to equal on both sides. Unfortunately, however, George Karl’s team played like disparate parts rather than the sum of its whole, with Karl’s coaching style becoming the pendulum swinging between his players distrust of his abilities, and the media’s doubts about his system. In the end, and predictably so, the Nuggets’ 2008 postseason ended just like it did in 2007, leaving Karl’s future with the Nuggets in serious doubt.
Hornets/Mavericks – New Orleans head coach Byron Scott has done a stellar job of walking the fine line between letting his team know how good they are, while not allowing them to become overly confident. Scott’s Hornets could very well emerge as the team to beat in the West due to their ability to play both up-tempo and half-court styles. And by closing out this series quickly, the Hornets made a big statement, but, unfortunately, so did the Mavs, who are now 3-12 in the post-season since being up two-zip over the Heat in the ‘06 Finals.
The consensus is that there will be major changes in Dallas, however, I’m not so sure. There may be another coach and/or a couple of minor personnel moves, but a strong basketball GM making decisions rather than Mark Cuban might do wonders. Thankfully, after such a positive season, with the Mavericks bowing out early, the Josh Howard story will now go away, with more uplifting stories taking its place. Nonetheless, like Phoenix Suns coach Mike D’Antoni, it will be argued that Avery Johnson has taken the Mavericks as far as he can.
Back to B-Scott …
To his credit, Scott played for a stellar coach in college, and he won multiple titles in the NBA under an all-time great as well. What’s more, he fits the perfect coach’s mold; successful role player on a great team, with solid pedigree and a high basketball I.Q. All of these factors coalesced to help him lead the Hornets into the second round, so congratulations to this year’s COY. It is a well-deserved honor.
Jazz/Rockets – This may be the only series where my coaching theme may not apply. After all, despite being down 3-2, Rick Adelman led this team to a 22-game winning streak just prior to the post season, with the last ten coming without injured center Yao Ming. Jerry Sloan, on the other hand, is a veteran at post-season competition. And while neither coach has reached the pinnacle, both have admirable credentials, which is why this has turned into one of the best first-round series. Can Tracy McGrady and his short-handed teammates get through to round two? If so, it would represent Adelman’s finest coaching job to date, which would cause Sloan’s coaching to take a huge hit, whether warranted or not. However, don’t be fooled, look for Utah to close out the Rockets in Game 6.
Spurs/Suns – This series was always about coaching. From the outset, Gregg Popovich employed strategies to exploit the Spurs deft guard penetration, Phoenix’s propensity to take low-percentage shots, Shaq’s poor free throw shooting, and San Antonio’s strong defense. As a result, Pop may have ended Mike D’Antoni’s reign in Phoenix? Even in the fifth and deciding game of the series, D’Antoni had no answers or adjustments for any of the above, which is hard to believe. Thus, like Avery, it is clear that he has taken the Suns as far as he can, so look for a change to be made.
THE EAST
Boston has allowed Atlanta to tie the series 2-2, which I attribute to two factors. First, the Celtics played the last month of the season on cruise control, which can cause a team to lose its edge. Second, for all the great things they did this season, and despite their stellar record, the C’s are still a team with an unproven nucleus, which usually works against championship aspirations.
Nonetheless, the Celtics will right the ship. But to do so they must look deep within themselves if they hope to prevent what amount to the greatest post-season loss ever should they fall to the eighth-seeded Hawks.
Detroit – Not much to say that hasn’t already been said. Perhpas we’ve given the Pistons too much credit, when we should be crediting Maurice Cheeks for turning this series into what is has become, a barnburner.
By the way, congrats to Cleveland (after tonight) and Orlando! And good luck in Round II.
As always, thanks for reading …
Photo:
George Karl – Rick Giase Photography
Avery Johnson - Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Byron Scott - AP/Bill Haber
Doc Rivers - AP/Gregory Smith
Profiles/Teases are done for the season
LOTL Postseason Edition posts Monday & Friday mornings
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All Rights Reserved.
Rick O
I for one believe that the Celtics Hawks’ series is far from over. I do believe however that the Celtics in their misguided belief thought that they’d have an easy time of it with Atlanta. Now they’ve got a real battle on their hands. And if they should end up getting beat. Then look for Boston Harbor to be littered with a few bodies of psychotic and depressed Celtics’ fans. If nothing else they’ll have learnt after what happened with the Patriots not to take anything for granted.
As for George Karl and the Nuggets. I don’t think nude pictures of Rosie O’Donnell dressed in nothing but a thong is a good motivational too for inspring your players to win a game let a lone an NBA series.
Hopefully that wasn’t the same thing being used by Avery Johnson as well in Dallas ? But in Avery’s case it was Star Jones-Reynolds ne’ soon to be Jones once again.
tophatal …………
Left by tophatal on April 30th, 2008