The turning of the tides; teams have become too quick to dismiss their head men, ignoring the fact that coaching really does matter in the NBA

Basketball Digest, May-June, 2004 by Tom Kertes

Kidd, the team's main cog and the chief culprit in Scott's demise, went from 8.8 assists and 3.4 turnovers; per game to 10.8 and 2.6. In beating Philadelphia, the Orlando Magic, and Houston Rockets, the Nets averaged just 9.3 turnovers--for a total of 28, or one less then they committed against Boston in Scott's final game.

Scott lost the team. Frank works like a dog (by the 10th win in a row he looked almost postpnbescent). He's committed, courageous in his in-game maneuvers (another correct complaint about the staid Scott), and beyond prepared. And, for now anyway, the players respect that.

"In the main, most NBA players have tremendous pride in what they're doing," Toronto Raptors coach Kevin O'Neill says. "They just want to win. So if they see a coach who will do anything to help them accomplish that, they'll play hard for the guy."

If they are allowed to play for the guy at all, that is.

If Scott's situation was unusual, O'Brien's was downright educational. As in, "Listen, children, this is what happens in this league of big huge nutty-nuts, no matter what you may have accomplished."

O'Brien is a guy who brought organization, discipline and, yes, winning, back to Boston, quickly straightening the seemingly impossible-to-keep-afloat Rick Pitino-Chris Wallace ship. He went to the Eastern Conference finals two years ago, and the playoffs last year, losing only when pitted against far more talented teams in both instances.

Still, he's gone. Because, in the meanwhile, Wallace made a trade (for Vin Baker) that O'Brien (and the rest of the intelligent universe) didn't want. Then owner Paul Gaston issued a "no luxury tax" edict, costing the Celts invaluable sixth man Rodney Rogers. Of course, if they didn't get Baker, they could have kept Rogers. Then the hapless Wallace himself gets fired. Gaston brings in ex-Celtics great Danny Ainge who keeps O'Brien (good)--while beginning to work at exact cross-purposes from him.

Not so good.

In brief, O'Brien wanted to win, correctly feeling that his team could still be a major player in the dehydrated Eastern Conference. Ainge? Well, no one knows what he wants.

First, he swapped versatile second-star Antoine Walker (for an injured Raef LaFrentz and Jiri Welsch--then he told LaFrentz, no problem, sit the year out with your injury). Still, we thought that Ainge thought Paul Pierce, Welsch, Marcus Banks, Chris Mihm, and the knuckleheaded renegade Ricky Davis (another curious acquisition O'Brien preferred only to a root canal with no anesthetic) were a core for a winning near-future.

Now, no one else thought so. But we thought that Ainge thought so--because he said so.

O'Brien, worn down and out from the chipping away of his strongly-contending team--nine of 12 players are gone from 2002 Eastern Conference finalists--"quit." Hmm, in reality Ainge is really going for the lottery, one of those "break-the-team-down to create cap-room deals," we think. Then, just as we think that, he takes on an unnecessary long-term contract in the incomprehensible trade for marginal point guard Chucky Atkins (88.7 million guaranteed the next two years), killing said cap room for the near future.