Most Influential Coach in a Championship run

[BigKAT]

Pretty simple.

Some people claim that some coachs deserve less credit for their rings then others.

I.E:
Tyron Lue could be said to not be that crucial to the win, much due to having Lebron and Kyrie playing out of their minds.

Phill Jackson could be said not to be that influential on their success in the 96-97-98 threepeat because he had the GOAT.

Doc Rivers could be said not to be that influential because he has won once with the Big 3 and didn't have much success past a finals appearence in 10.


On the opposite end:
One could say Popovich did much with 2014 Spurs squad with a past-past-past his prime Duncan and declining parker and Ginobili.

One could say that Larry Brown was very important since he won without a real superstar in 2004.

One could say that 1995 Rudy Tomjanovich was very influential in that championship due to the underdog nature of his team.


You got the hang of it ISH.
What do you think? What coachs overachieved the most? What Coachs could've been swapped with others and their teams would've still won?

[rmt]

Phil Jackson in 2000.

[Wally450]

Not a head coach but a lot of people give tom Thibodeau a lot of credit for the Celtics run in 2008. That defense clicked on all cylinders pretty much all season.

[jlip]

I like Larry Brown in 2004.

[BigNBAfan]

When the lakers and kings played each other back in the day, each substitution was KEY. I mean i cannot believe how pivotal some of those matchups were... even though it's a disgraced series it was still very much enjoyable.

[LAZERUSS]

Bill Sharman 1972.

Took over an aging and injury-riddled roster, and then RAN the league to death.

[iamgine]

Some coaches like Phil Jackson are influential particularly on motivating and handling the player egos. It's a long process, in which the result might not be attributed to the coach. Who's to say Phil Jackson wasn't the main reason Dennis Rodman wasn't a distraction? Who's to say Phil wasn't the main reason Kobe and Shaq stayed as long as they did? This kind of thing is very important for a team's well being. It is also impossible to measure.

[SouBeachTalents]

Larry Brown 2004
Pop 2014

[ralph_i_el]

Pop's most recent (2014?) run with the Spurs was masterful.

He spent the entire season managing his line-ups so they would be competitive while resting his starters. Succeeded in getting the maximum out of players that were undervalued by other teams. Goes on to make the Heat look absolutely foolish

[qrich]

From what I've seen, my top 3 goes, in no order, Larry Brown (04), Rick Carlisle and the Spurs last ring.

[RedBlackAttack]

Pop's most recent (2014?) run with the Spurs was masterful.

He spent the entire season managing his line-ups so they would be competitive while resting his starters. Succeeded in getting the maximum out of players that were undervalued by other teams. Goes on to make the Heat look absolutely foolish

First one that popped in my mind.

That whole season was executed beautifully. It was to the point where I was telling friends who are only casual basketball fans that they had to make it a point to sit down and watch what the Spurs were doing.

Duncan was still very good in 2014 and impacted the game way beyond whatever his statistics were, but that wasn't a group that had one of the best 3-5 players in the league that they could lean on during a rough patch. Most championship teams have at least one of those guys, if not multiple players.

The Spurs summarily executed a still very good Miami team in The Finals with damn near perfect basketball for 48 minutes a night.

In order to make that come together the way it did at the perfect time, Popovich not only had to do his thing with the Xs and Os, having everyone buy-in completely, etc ... he also had to be the puppet-master in knowing when to sit guys out and how much to give each night as the season wore on.

It's a fine line you have to walk, especially when you're relying on a team of high-end role players, so that they're all in-sync and healthy at the right time.

Pop has done some amazing coaching jobs in his three decades with the Spurs, but I don't think 2014 will ever be topped. And, I'm not sure I've ever seen a better prepared team. It was just the perfect coaching job.

[SouBeachTalents]

First one that popped in my mind.

That whole season was executed beautifully. It was to the point where I was telling friends who are only casual basketball fans that they had to make it a point to sit down and watch what the Spurs were doing.

Duncan was still very good in 2014 and impacted the game way beyond whatever his statistics were, but that wasn't a group that had one of the best 3-5 players in the league that they could lean on during a rough patch. Most championship teams have at least one of those guys, if not multiple players.

The Spurs summarily executed a still very good Miami team in The Finals with damn near perfect basketball for 48 minutes a night.

In order to make that come together the way it did at the perfect time, Popovich not only had to do his thing with the Xs and Os, having everyone buy-in completely, etc ... he also had to be the puppet-master in knowing when to sit guys out and how much to give each night as the season wore on.

It's a fine line you have to walk, especially when you're relying on a team of high-end role players, so that they're all in-sync and healthy at the right time.

Pop has done some amazing coaching jobs in his three decades with the Spurs, but I don't think 2014 will ever be topped. And, I'm not sure I've ever seen a better prepared team. It was just the perfect coaching job.

That and having them recover from arguably the most painful defeat in NBA history. A loss like that can carry over into the next season, and more often than not it does

[Real14]

Lue? Are you serious man??

[RunWithThePack3]

Thibs in 2019

[SCdac]

Rick Carlisle for the Mavs was impressive and deserves a good amount of credit in pulling them through what Don Nelson and Avery Johnson couldn't do. Getting the most out of his players, dealing with injuries, and taking advantage of matchups.