Cause ‘foulteam’ made no sense

Went to have a lunch with my friend the other day. He has been following NBA for few years and knows few things about it, but currently he isnt actively following it anymore so he gets most of the information directly from me when we meet here and there. Houston just lost a game and the streak was over – thats the first thing I told him. He didnt actually think that was such a big deal, but changed the topic right away when asking “Has Isiah been fired already?” Thats our “inside joke” cause we both really think (like 100% of the world minus Dolan) that this should have happened a long-long time ago. For not just answer “No, he hasnt” I made it a bit more interesting and said “Of course not – you dont fire GOOD coaches!” We both knew I was joking, so we had our laughs, but that all led to a discussion what is really good and what is bad when it comes to coaching a basketball team and who is really a good coach and who is bad.

Considering the amount of money the Knicks players get for their job one could say they should be a very good team. Well the reality is that they are not as talented as money shows, but rather overpaid due to Dolan`s habit not to be worried about the money and Isiah`s habit to use it in his own advantage and not always look for the value (quality/money). But of course they should at least be a solid team and get to the p-offs without any big problems – especially in the East. The fact itself shows that Isiah sucks … as a coach. He could be the one who percentage wise gets the least talent out of his players.

I know I am not making a huge discovery here, but the good example for a coach is Phil Jackson. And for me not for those 9 titles he has as a coach, but for the work he has done with the Lakers in post Shaq era. They have had maybe the most taleneted player in the league, but thats about it. Still Lakers has been a p-off team and has given a scare to the Suns in last 2 seasons when they really should have been erased without any problems. Think about what Phil and his staff have done with Bynum, Farmar and Odom even Kwame had his moments in previous seasons before Bynum got too good this year. Kobe has never lost a step and of course the team plays well together. Thats a quality coaching I would say.

Difference between Isiah and Phil is that when Isiah is making his players to play worse, Phil is making them play close to their potential. That makes one good and one bad coach. I mean if we would exchange Phil and Isiah between the teams in my mind Lakers would have double digit number wins less and the Knicks double digit number wins more in few years even if the players would stay the same. That could still mean that Lakers would have a better record as Knicks, but of course wouldnt change my mind about who is bad and who is good coach.

There are also coaches in grey area – like Larry Brown. He got the most out of Philly and definately the most out of Detroit`s players. What happened in NYK could be described as a disgrace, but I tend to think he never wanted to get anywhere with this team, but rather saw it as an opportunity to milk some cash from Dolan.

Point of the story? Just wanted to say that if the Knicks ever wants to get better they should start from booting the idiot running the things. Cause you can trade for good players, but bad coach still gives you such a disadvantage and always finds a way to kill all the potential. As for the Lakers … their real MVP might be sitting on the bench wearing a suit and tie when its “showtime”.