Content provided in partnership with
Where it stops nobody knows: the NBA's coaching carousel is spinning faster and faster. That means coaches must be adept at stepping on the ride at midseason and getting their teams to the playoffs
Sporting News, The, April 15, 2005 by Sean Deveney
After the Magic fired Johnny Davis on March 17, Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said, "At this late date, I'm just very, very surprised. A team right there in the playoff hunt, tied for the eighth spot ... I don't know what to say about it. Not much in the NBA surprises me, but this does."
What Van Gundy did not know then was that two more coaching changes involving playoff teams were coming. Only one team, Portland, has made a coaching change while hopelessly out of the playoff picture. Four other teams--the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Cavaliers and Magic--have made their coaching changes with the intent of motivating players. And one team, the Mavericks, nudged Nelson aside because players were responding better to coach in waiting Avery Johnson. The results have been mixed:
- Most Popular Articles in Sports
- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
- The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...
- Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...
- Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association
- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
- More »
* Denver has had tremendous success under new coach George Karl, with a 24-6 record since he took over January 27. The team, which had lost respect for lame-duck coach Jeff Bzdelik, has responded to Karl's pedigree, which includes 16 years of experience and a visit to The Finals. The Nuggets are defending better and playing a faster pace.
* A soft schedule, months spent learning from Nelson and the performance of two bench players--Keith Van Horn and Jerry Stackhouse--have made Johnson's transition smooth in Dallas, where the Mavs started with seven wins in eight games. Johnson has implemented more consistent rotations and is getting more out of talented youngsters Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard.
* Former Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders is regarded as one of the league's best, and Minnesota could regret letting him leave. But the team was weighed down by heavy expectations and bad attitudes. To get its attention, team vice president Kevin McHale fired Saunders and made himself the coach. McHale simplified Saunders' playbook, altered the starting lineup and started bringing point guard Sam Cassell off the bench, igniting a five-game win streak. Minnesota (13-8 since firing Saunders) still is struggling to move into the eighth playoff spot in the West.
* The Cavaliers, disappointed with a stretch in which the team went 3-9, fired veteran coach Paul Silas despite a 34-30 overall record and a place in the playoffs that was all but assured. New coach Brendan Malone has gotten better defensive effort from the Cavs, who are 3-4 since the change. The team had been worried about a lack of depth and the heavy burden Silas was putting on star LeBron James. Those problems have not changed under Malone, who used James in all 53 minutes of an overtime loss last week.
* The Magic was a respectable 31-33 under Davis even though he was in the final year of his contract and failed to get solid control of his team. Orlando fired Davis after a six-game losing streak and replaced him with 35-year-old neophyte Chris Jent. The same problems that plagued Davis--little control over his players and no defense--have weighed down Jent, and the Magic is battling to stay in the playoff picture.
Karl and Fratello have been the most obviously effective, showing that hiring an established veteran usually helps make a midseason change go more smoothly. Many have marveled at Karl's ability to turn around teams quickly, and the key may be his innovative use of practice drills. When Karl noticed the Nuggets were not exploiting their uptempo abilities, he instituted a scrimmage drill in which one team has a full 24 seconds to score but the opposing team is given a short clock of seven or eight seconds--it must advance the ball and figure out how to get baskets quickly.
Find Research Guides for:
Most Popular Articles in Sports
- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
- The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...
- Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...
- Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association
- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
- More »