April 30th, 2008 – Dr. Browntorious
Did last night signal the end of an era for the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns? An era possibly defined by 5 straight years of domination throughout the regular season each followed by playoff let down after playoff letdown. I do have to give both teams credit for fighting till the bitter end in their respective Game 5’s last night, but I’m sure that is no consolation for the Phoenix and Dallas fans that realize the window of opportunity is closing fast on their aging team leaders. Neither team got any younger with their mid-season trades where the Mavs acquired the aging PG Jason Kidd and the Suns making the move for aging Center Shaquille O’Neal. Given the fact that both those trades occurred in the latter half of the season, the players and coaches involved didn’t have a full training camp and season to become acclimated to their new roles, so we won’t have a definitive answer to the success or failure of those trades until as late as June of next year. But as of last night the early indications are pointing to failure for the key decision makers in the two trades: the Suns GM Steve Kerr, and the Mavs Owner Mark Cuban.
So what does this have to do with “Coaches Beware?”
As I’ve seen time and time again in the corporate world, when things aren’t going smoothly for an organization it’s time to play the Blame Game. The inability for key executives and decision makers to take blame in a hierarchical organization transcends sports and generally exists in all types of business. As early as this morning, Mark Cuban began the blame game firing his Head Coach Avery Johnson. Timing is everything, as this move by Cuban looks more like an exercise in public relations strategy than basketball strategy. Reports from various sources this morning are buzzing about the potential firing of the Suns Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. Don’t feel too sorry for these two though, because although Johnson and D’Antoni have very opposing styles of coaching and playmaking, both have proved to be highly successful and won’t be without jobs for long.
For some reason however, history keeps repeating itself, and the musical chairs game for NBA Head Coaches often happens in spurts or phases. Sure feels like we are entering another one of those phases, doesn’t it? In the last few weeks we have heard of a variety of coaching changes: Miami Heat coach Pat Riley steps down and the Heat appoint Erik Spoelstra, Charlotte Bobcats fire Sam Vincent and hire veteran coach Larry Brown, Milwaukee Bucks hire Scott Skiles, Knicks finally fire Isiah Thomas, Bulls fire interim coach Jim Boylan, and now the Mavs fire coach Avery Johnson. Those are what we’ve seen so far, but rumours persist about the possible firing of Raptors Coach Sam Mitchell (one year removed from COY honors), Suns coach Mike D’Antoni, Nuggets coach George Karl etc. etc.
Coach, after coach, after coach is being let go when their team doesn’t live up to expectations. Now this may seem pretty silly but if all GM’s use this logic, then since only 1 of the 30 NBA teams every year wins the title, 29 coaches around the NBA should start getting tight around the collar every June. Or maybe there is more to it? Maybe each team isn’t expected to win the title, right. For example after a team has had multiple years outside of the playoff picture, just making the playoffs would seem like a huge coaching success, right Isiah? And further to that concept, after a team has had multiple years outside the playoffs then is lauded for making them, if the Coach has two or three consecutive playoff seasons resulting in first round exits he’s back in the doghouse, right George Karl?
What does all of this mean? Well probably just the rants of an NBA obsessed fan. Or maybe not, maybe the current NBA Owner’s are breeding NBA head coaches of the future who have a new brand of job securing techniques. The techniques being extremely low drive to win, and extremely high success at managing expectations. This may be a bit extreme but could we start seeing coaches whom shortly after being hired, publicly announce they predict a 25-win season given their roster? Then after closing out a tidy 48-win season with decent playoff positioning, can modestly accept the praise of their bosses. Under-promise and Over-deliver anyone? Ahem…sarcasm.
