Rick Carlisle is a great coach. I haven't seen San Antonio so out of sync. Normally, they are shooting wide open 3's when I watch. Dallas is keeping Parker out of the lane well too. I thought Dallas was a bad defensive team too. The Spurs normally adjust, but this is going to be a tough series for them. I honestly thought they would sweep or win in 5.
Carlisle is great but it could still be over in 5. SA is going to adjust, I'd be shocked if they lost game 3. Then we'll see if Dallas has another move in them. I just doubt it because that roster is fairly limited. I think we'll see Leonard have a big game 3.
Carlisle is the only elite coach I feel who isn't on an elite team. He's a top 5 coach and I think against OKC they could have had a shot.
My top 5 are
1. Pop
2. Spol
3. Rivers
4. Carlisle
5. The rest is a fucking a dreckfest
Wow. I am just not a Rivers beliver. Anybody could have won with Pierce, Garnett and Allen in their primes (or close to) and a young Rondo. He'd barely be top ten for me, if that.
But you got #1 right and that's really all that matters. Pops >>>>>>> errybody.
Rivers took them when they were aging to the NBA Finals though in 2010 and really one luck ass Metta World Peace bullshit three away from winning a title.
Then in 2012 when they were even more aging pushed the Heat to the brink to 7 games and even had a lead in that game 7.
Rivers is a top tier coach. I would really like to see your list of 10 coaches who are better than Doc.
Pierce and Garnett swept the Heat in four games this season this season with two more years of wear and tear on them, no Doc and Jason effing Kidd coaching them.
I don't think Doc's the reason those teams did anything special.
I'm not a huge NBA guy anymore but slowly getting back into it. If I was starting a team from scratch with Paul Allen's money (hi AOG!), here's the rough order I'd call the men currently coaching NBA teams.
1. Popovich
2. Carlisle
3. Thibedeau - yeah, this year doesn't speak highly of him, but I value defense and Thib's is the best defensive coach in the league. His team's have overachieved far more than they've underachieved.
4. Vogel - yeah, they've sucked ass down the stretch this year, but like with Thibedeau I don't think you can overreact to one bad stretch (in Vogel's case, two bad months basically). They overachieved significantly the last two and a half years before the collapse. I think he can coach.
5. Spoelstra - Hard to say where he really belongs, haven't seen him without massive amounts of talent. But when he's been without one of the big three he's generally done pretty well. I think he's pretty good, but I'm not really sure how good.
6. Hornacek - hated him as a player but he's coached his ass off this year.
7. Mark Jackson - his team's play hard and he gets a lot out of a pretty limited roster.
8. Brad Stevens - yes, I'm a believer. Dude can flat out coach.
9. Buddenholzerheimerschmidt
10. Rivers - I've never been impressed with him as a coach, but he brings name value and attracts talent, so I'd slide him in right about here. But I do not think he's special.