Top 10 Coaches of the Decade: Guess who's #1

[peacemaker885]

The top 10 NBA coaches of the last decade

By Kelly Dwyer

1. Gregg Popovich

He's just the perfect coach for our times. He gets on with the stars and slumpers, he piles on the self-deprecating tone without making it seem like an act, and he's honest and direct about a game that needs more of, "well, no. They just made more free throws than we did" without seeming like a smart-ass. OK, he kind of seems like a smart-ass sometimes.

Pop's also won heaps of games, four titles overall and the respect of just about everyone who's ever played for him. Bruce Bowen's(notes) kind of angry at him, right now, but you watch. Bowen'll probably be assisting Popovich on the Spurs bench by 2013.

[NRHector]

it will be nice for Bowen to be assisting Pop but Pop will not be coaching after 2012:depressed

[bd_monster]

I personally hope Avery mans the helm when Pop leaves. Pop will more than likely stay in the front office. He may retire from coaching but he will still play a major role in the spurs organization:flag::flag::flag:

[Agloco]

The top 10 NBA coaches of the last decade

By Kelly Dwyer

1. Gregg Popovich

He's just the perfect coach for our times. He gets on with the stars and slumpers, he piles on the self-deprecating tone without making it seem like an act, and he's honest and direct about a game that needs more of, "well, no. They just made more free throws than we did" without seeming like a smart-ass. OK, he kind of seems like a smart-ass sometimes.

Pop's also won heaps of games, four titles overall and the respect of just about everyone who's ever played for him. Bruce Bowen's(notes) kind of angry at him, right now, but you watch. Bowen'll probably be assisting Popovich on the Spurs bench by 2013.

Bruce ain't mad. :nope

[Solid D]

it will be nice for Bowen to be assisting Pop but Pop will not be coaching after 2012:depressed

According to the Mayans, nobody will be coaching after 2012.

[mVp]

according to the mayans, nobody will be coaching after 2012.

lol

[duncan228]

According to the Mayans, nobody will be coaching after 2012.

Duncan retires, the world ends. :)

[Mel_13]

Duncan retires, the world ends. :)

Hilarious :lol

[duncan228]

The rest of the Top 10.

10. Larry Brown

He abhors the 3-point line, even after years of data and sound play have revealed the 3-point stripe can be used as a dangerous, dangerous weapon when applied properly. He takes the air out of the ball, sometimes falls in love with the wrong player and his work as de facto GM often kills his own team's chances.

But watch any Larry Brown team, and there have been many, execute a play after a timeout. Nobody's better at it. For all his warts, Brown is a fantastic, effective, coach.

He's also ... he's also won an ESPY.

9. Pat Riley

Riley the GM often destroys his team's chances. He doesn't like rebuilding, he doesn't like coaching rebuilding efforts, and we should probably stop talking about Riley the GM.

Because Riley the coach? He wins games. He milks the absolute most he can out of the players he's traded for, and despite his exacting style, players still like playing for him. And as soon as the Heat get pretty good again, sorry Erik Spoelstra ...

8. Jerry Sloan

You look at Sloan's rotations sometimes and wonder just how he's managed to make it to 50 wins, again. No shooting guard, no center, injuries or thin bench or whatever. That's what he'd say. "Whatever," and then he'd go out and beat the Trail Blazers in Portland by 12.

There are holes. Sloan sometimes hands minutes to players who don't deserve them, and his "no layups" rule is more of a reality than a clichéd throwaway line. He sends teams to the line, endlessly, putting his Jazz behind the 8-ball by giving the opposite side easy points. Oh, and he's also been winning, pretty much non-stop, since 1988. So I'll be quiet now.

7. Scott Skiles

A few brief reasons why. Because that's how Skiles likes to answer things.

The team would run.

As a player, I'd be ticked off at Skiles, but I'd also be running through the proverbial brick wall for him, and I wouldn't know why.

As an executive, I'd have just traded my leading scorer and signed Malik Allen for Skiles, I'd be winning more than I was the year before, and I wouldn't know why.

6. Mike D'Antoni

It's not just the "we'd-get-to-run-and-shoot-at-give-defense-a-lick-and-a-promise" ideal. That's the wrong ideal, idea, anyway.

D'Antoni stresses defense. He works at it, and his teams have been underrated defensively. He's also been outfitted with some pretty small, pretty quick teams with short rotations. Mike loves his short rotations, and if you'd seen the end of his bench in some seasons, you'd know why. And he wins. Last year's Knicks weren't a 32-win team, but somehow they were.

5. Flip Saunders

Nobody seems to like this guy but me, and I know players have tuned him out and his teams don't get to the line often enough. But he also puts together fantastic offensive seasons for his team, he's a very sound defensive coach and he gets his teams in the playoffs.

And, silly me, I don't think it's his fault that he hurt Ben Wallace's feelings by not giving him low-percentage looks that never went in during Wallace's contract year (a year that saw Flip's presence take the team from 17th to fourth overall on offense), and I don't think it's his fault that Rasheed Wallace hates referees so much.

4. Stan Van Gundy

It may seem like SVG has a slim resume working for him, but I don't know if there is any other coach working today that has as sound a take on how the modern pro game works as much as Van Gundy.

The results speak for themselves. The Magic have been working to the absolute peak of their potential since he took over. That's gotta be coaching. Every year, he makes the best-case scenario come true.

3. Hubie Brown

Hubie didn't coach much in this decade, 168 games plus one playoff turn. But you know you'd absolutely have the time of your life playing for him.

He cuts to the core of you, Baxter, and as a GM you know you wouldn't be wasting a roster spot with Hubie. He'd get the most out of whoever you bring in.

2. Phil Jackson

The two and the one spot are so interchangeable, and the difference actually came down to a rather boring distinction — Phil Jackson took 2004-05 off, but Gregg Popovich coached. Therefore, Pop was just as brilliant, for just a bit longer.

Either person works, though. Jackson's ability to weave a free-flowing offense with few plays alongside stifling defense and stern (if not, yes, we'll break out the 35-year-old clichés regarding Phil ... unorthodox) leadership qualities have his teams constantly working in top gear. Yes, he's gotten to coach Kobe and Shaq, but last I checked, Coach Pop has had a pretty good roster or 10 in his lifetime.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-top-10-NBA-coaches-of-the-last-decade;_ylt=Arfd34Up.h6rwHoEsVIBdT68vLYF?urn=nba,1 93972

[lefty]

According to the Mayans, nobody will be coaching after 2012.
Haha

[ambchang]

This is a pretty bad list to say the least.

Mike D'antoni was responsible for all those exhausted Suns players during the playoffs after he refused, year after year, to play his bench during the regular season. He would play heavy minutes to his starters in a meaningless game to get 62 wins instead of prepare for the playoffs. That alone should knock him off the top 10.

Flip Saunders was a decent coach, but him handling the Pistons compared to larry Brown handling the Pistons gave a pretty good indication of who is the better coach. Brown has structure to his play, and emphasize defense as well as offense, Flip doesn't provide the structure or leadership, and the Wallaces turned him off in no time.

Jerry Sloan is one of the best coaches in the history of the game, there is just absolutely no way to rank him below the likes of D'antoni, Scott Skiles, Flip Saunders and Stan Van Gundy. Skiles wore out his players in a short period of time, and SVG, while a good young coach, showed his inexperience in the playoffs.

[Ditty]

i stopped reading after flip saunders

[benefactor]

According to the Mayans, nobody will be coaching after 2012.
Duncan retires, the world ends. :)
:tu...:lol

[tmtcsc]

According to the Mayans, nobody will be coaching after 2012.

It's odd how the Mayans saw the end of the World as occurring in 2012 but they didn't see their own demise many years before. Was it in the stars ? I can't remember.

[Jimcs50]

My list:

1 (tie )Pop Jand ackson

3. Sloan

4. Pat Riley

5. Stan Van Gundy

6. Brown


The rest don't matter

[senorglory]

I personally hope Avery mans the helm when Pop leaves. Pop will more than likely stay in the front office. He may retire from coaching but he will still play a major role in the spurs organization:flag::flag::flag:

I think Avery did a terrible job with the Mavs. Hope he finds a job elsewhere.