No Love: Disrespect for the NBA Coaching Position

2013 seemed to be a significant year for NBA coaches. There were 12 coaching changes in the summer of 2013 with most of the changes being coaches being fired or not resigned. That summer seemed to set the tone for coaches that we see today.

Earlier this year, Kevin McHale, the coach of the Houston Rockets was fired EARLY in the season. Not even a quarter of the season went by. They went to the Western Conference Finals last year and ran into a brick wall called the Golden State Warriors. However, they were off to a disappointing start this year. Then, David Blatt, the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers gets fired. The Cavaliers went to the NBA Finals last year with a team full of key injuries and ran into a brick wall called the Golden State Warriors (you see a trend here?). He got fired right before the All-Star break and the team was first place in the East. The coaches of the two first place teams usually coach their respective conferences for the All-Star Game. The interim coach for Cavaliers coached the All-Star Game having only coached for 3 games this season. These are the types of things that are going on in the NBA.

Five coaches have been fired this year and we are at the “halfway mark” of the season which is right after the All-Star game despite the fact that more than half of the season has passed. I would say that coaches are on a short leash, but a guy like Lionel Hollins, who has been successful as a coach in the NBA before, only lasted 1 and 1/2 seasons with the Nets. That’s another level of short. I would say you would have to win quickly as a coach in the NBA, but David Blatt got fired while his team was at the top of the East. The only logical reason that I could think of that coaches jobs are constantly on the line like this is a lack of respect for coaches in the NBA.

Analytics plays a factor in this, as well. We are in a new era of NBA basketball. Math has invaded the game. General managers are looking for today’s coaches to take into account shot percentages when they are coaching offense. I don’t mean that the general managers want them to tell their players to take high percentage shots. I mean that LITERALLY want the coaches to coach players to take shots that go down at a higher percentage using the advanced statistics that are available to teams. For example, if your team makes threes at a higher rate than layups, today’s general managers are going to look for you to coach your team to jack up threes and turn down layups. This newer way of coaching with an emphasis on numbers and not just traditional offense has resulted in people looking away from older coaches despite having the numbers. Many older head coaches lament this new focus by general managers due to the fact that a coach might have the results and it still might not be good enough. This is why the Memphis Grizzlies fired their successful head coach Lionel Hollins and signed rookie, analytics focused Dave Joerger as head coach. Although, even his job isn’t all too safe. This why the Houston Rockets only score from behind the three point line and close to the basket, nothing in-between.

But, it’s more than that. You cannot tell me that coaches are having their teams at the top of the NBA, still getting fired, and there not be anything deeper going on here. Stan Van Gundy is one of the most well-respected coaches in the league and he just got his first job since getting fired by the Magic at the end of the Dwight era. It seems as if Gregg Popovich, Rick Carlisle, and Steve Kerr are the only head coaches that are untouchable in the NBA and I only say Steve Kerr because the Golden State Warriors might have the best season in NBA history. There is a lack of respect for the coaching position in the NBA.

Job security is important in all career fields. If a person constantly works with the pressure of one mistake costing them their job, they are probably not going to do their job well. In coaching, your job security is dependent on how other people do their jobs. It is supposed to (emphasis on supposed to) be that if the players play well, then you keep your job. However, when you look at head coaches like Scott Brooks from the Thunder, David Blatt from the Cavaliers, Tom Thibodeau from the Bulls, and others, then you see that may not be the case in the NBA. Even if your team isn’t doing well, you have to give a coach time to really implement what he wants to implement with a team. A coach has to get to know their team. One year is not enough to do this. Two years might not even be enough to do this. Look, I’m a Knicks fan and even though a lot of fans wanted him gone, and I’m not saying that they are wrong in saying that or that the Knicks are wring in their decision, I cannot be totally outraged if Derek Fisher didn’t get fired this year or even came back for another year…………… OK, that extra year might be pushing it, but my point is that teams have to allow coaches to work and work freely. In the previous eras, coaches were given time to work. If a coach has a bad year in the 1990’s, or even two, unless it’s historically they’re not going anywhere. They have time to develop an identity with their team and see if they are the right fit for a team. In addition to finding the right fit, giving the coach a few years gives the general manager time to figure out if an underachieving team is underachieving because of the players or the coach.

Who’s more important: the player or the coach? Really think about this. Gregg Popovich and the whole Spurs organization are what general managers want. They want the perfect coach, the perfect system, and players who take discounts. So, in an era where people have no patience in general, are general managers giving coaches no real time to prove themselves because they are in a rush to look for the next Pop. Or, are they blame deflecting on the coaches anytime a team doesn’t live up to the expectations of the public.

The NBA is a player’s league. If you don’t have good player’s, you cannot win no matter what system you run. Yet, organizations hold coaches accountable for a team not doing well. Part of the reason for this is that general managers choose the players so if they blame the players, they are really blaming themselves. Another reason is that general managers invest a lot of money in players so trading players, even if that may be best for the team, means that the general manager wasted their money by signing this player in the first place, so they rather stick with the player, hope that the team suddenly starts to play well, and fire the coach to look like you’re fixing the problem. These are people’s livelihoods that teams are playing with. You literally have guys like Doug Collins, Jeff Van Gundy, and maybe even Mark Jackson that do not want to coach in today’s NBA because of what they would have to deal with. They rather stick to being commentators. At the end of the day, from what I’ve noticed, these teams usually set their teams development back by firing coaches quickly so to the teams that fire coaches quickly…

All-Star Discrimination: Voting and Centers in the NBA

These are the starters for the NBA All-Star game in this year, which is going to be held in Toronto. The left side is the Western Conference team and the right side is the Eastern Conference team. So, there were many stories that surrounded the All-Star lineup this year. Zaza Pachulia almost started. If you don’t know who he is then you should already see the problem there. Stephen Curry is an automatic shoo-in every year now since he has become the NBA’s most popular player over the last 2 years. Some people are questioning if Kyle Lowry deserves to be starting, but not that many people too mad at him starting and how would it look if the host city didn’t have representative from its team starting the game. Some people are mad that Kobe is in it at all and definitely shouldn’t be starting despite this being his last year due to his performance this year and his team’s poor record. However, those are mostly Kobe haters. Besides that and annual conversation of who got snubbed, there hasn’t been much conversation about who’s starting. When you look at that list, you think to yourself, “I guess all those people deserve to be there. However, when I look at that list, I see one glaring issue: no centers. There are absolutely no centers in the All-Star game. Why is this you may ask? This is due to the voting format.

That is Andre Drummond, the starting center for the Detroit Pistons. These are his stats this year, so far.

That is Demarcus Cousins, starting center for the Sacramento Kings. These are his stats this year, so far. This was actually soon after the All-Star starters were named. So, that is how he responded to not being named a starter.

Andre Drummond plays in the East and Demarcus Cousins play in the West. So, it works out that both could have played and would not be competing against each other for votes. There are other people that got snubbed. There is Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls that’s having a career year. There is Damian Lillard who is having a very underrated year, as well. There is no doubt that everybody mentioned so far will make the All-Star team as reserves. The fact of the matter is that there are only 5 people in each conference that can start. Therefore, to Jimmy Butler and Damian Lillard, oh well. However, for Demarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond, it’s different. They aren’t starting not because there were other people in their conference and their position that were better than them, they aren’t starting because they are centers. Period.

Originally, the NBA All-Star voting was done by the position. You vote in a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Then, the NBA realized that most players are able to and do play 2 positions. So, they changed the format to 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a center.  Two seasons ago, the NBA changed their format to the format that we have today. They completely eliminated the center position from the voting process. Now, you vote in 2 back court and 3 front court players. This is why you have 3 small forwards starting in the East. The game of basketball is changing. The Warriors are the face of that change. They don’t shoot threes because the defense makes them. They want to shoot them. Positions 1 to 5 are above average three point shooters. They embrace spacing. And, argument can be made that their best lineup is a lineup in which Draymond Green is starting at the center position and he might be shorter than their starting shooting guard. However, Demarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond are undoubtedly the best players at their position in their conference. Can anybody really say that they do not deserve to be starting in the All-Star game.

Let’s be real. The All-Star game is a popularity contest. The most popular players always start because the fans vote for who they like and the most popular players tend to be the most liked. However, the most popular players tend to be the best players, as well. Their skill level, numbers, and success get them noticed and the better they play, the more popular they become. However, there is an issue here. There is only so much that a good center can do as far as exciting a crowd. Most (almost all) centers cannot handle the ball well enough to break somebody’s ankles. Most centers, although that is changing, cannot hit threes like guards. The traditional elite center has post moves that make them elite at scoring in the paint. The traditional elite center garners the hearts of fans by fooling their defender with posts moves like Hakeem Olajuwon. Traditional elite centers can dunk on you. The absolute, undisputed best centers possess all these skills. Demarcus Cousins and to a lesser degree Andre Drummond do. However, the best guards and forwards possess those skills as well in addition to their ability to cross you up, shoot threes, and make fancy passes. So this AUTOMATICALLY puts the center at a disadvantage in All-Star Voting. Centers can still be voted in because they are categorized as front court players. But, can Andre Drummond, a guy that is incredibly productive but in a limited way, become more popular than Carmelo Anthony, a guy that is productive as well but in a more exciting way. Unless he is dunking, Andre Drummond will not entertain you with his rebounds, but Carmelo shooting over 2 people and making the shot will. I am a Knicks fan. Carmelo Anthony has been playing very well recently (keyword: recently) and has looked like the superstar that he is. However, he does not deserve to be there over a guy who has been the best center in the Eastern Conference all year and if it had not been for this voting format, he would not have been. Carmelo only had 360 votes more than Drummond who was leading him for months. Plus, the effort put forth by his team alone should make him a starter in the All-Star game. Look at this.

And, he still didn’t make it. My point is this. If you are the best in your position, you should start in the All-Star game for your team. This is basically discrimination by the NBA against centers. The center position, despite the lack of scoring from most teams at this position, is still very important to the NBA. Centers are extremely important to a team’s defense. If you can’t rebound well, it makes it extremely hard to win a championship. Their importance to the game alone should warrant them still having a position on the All-Star ballot. It is true that the game is changing and most centers either shoot threes or get rebounds and defend. However, the best centers are still traditional in playing style. You might see Demarcus Cousins take a three point shot here and there, but his game is based off of his dominant post play in the paint. He is not a combo center/forward or whatever you want to call these new age centers. Andre Drummond is not shooting threes. Hassan Whiteside is most likely not going to take defenders off the dribble with elite ball-handling skills. But, they are the best at what they do. Most centers cannot decide to play a back court position if they want to for most of the year. But, Kobe, one of the best SHOOTING GUARDS in NBA history, is a frontcourt player this year. This is another unfair advantage. Demarcus Cousins might have to win the NBA Championship and get the Finals MVP if he wants to make an All-Star team just because he is a center despite being the best one in the NBA and that is wrong.