What makes a good NBA coach?
By: Phil Safari on Aug 16 2008Phil Safari, a reluctant Candidate, must prove himself worthy to the gods by completing a Heroic Task: change 1000 lives for the better… or else! This is an episode of the philosophical sci-fi webserial, the Safaris.
As was customary after a long, crappy day at work, I logged into Azeroth. At least in the World of Warcraft I knew that if I put in enough time, I would get the results I wanted. You can’t say that about the real world. Besides, it was really the only way I could find my friend, Jake Sunwell, who ceased to exist outside his female gnome warriors ever since he was laid off a few weeks ago.
Aeriska (my hot night-elf druid): what’s up, jake? how was your raid?
Razzlebop (Jake’s giggly pink haired gnome warrior): shitty as usual; i’m probably gonna quit this guild soon. there are too many people who can’t play their toons, and they’ll never get booted because they’re real life friends of the officers. “hardcore raiding guild,” my ass!
Aeriska: sorry, bud. your whining is exactly why i’m pretty sure i’ll never raid. it is too hard to find capable people who can devote the time needed to raid successfully, at least alliance side. too many immature teenagers who like to play the pretty characters. you should have rolled horde.
Razzlebop: nah, no good female toons.
Aeriska: lol. yodf (your own damn fault).
Razzlebop: hah. how was your day?
Aeriska: i’ve had better. i had a bizarre conversation with my boss, which was strangely similar to your gripe just now. i’m not saying he’s wrong, but he could use the people he has better, especially since it’s so hard to get new blood there.
Razzlebop: oh, so you mean he’s like jvg? (JVG – as in Jeff Van Gundy, who had a penchant for reducing teams to playing a grind-it-out, low scoring style of basketball, including my favorite team, the Houston Rockets. So you want to go there, eh, Jake? No worries; it was easy to get him back when his hometown team was the Knicks)
Aeriska: hey, he’s a good guy and a great commentator. now isaiah thomas on the other hand…
Razzlebop: shit! okay, you win. omg, just don’t say his name again. worst gm in nba history, but at least he’s gone now. hey, what’s wrong with having your own style of play? that’s the coach’s right. it worked out pretty well for the rockets, i recall. they won like 50+ games with it.
Aeriska: yeah, you’re right. i guess that i should clarify. it’s the uncompromising commitment to the style that’s the problem, not the style itself. jvg didn’t develop any rookies or much of a bench, and he never played anyone who didn’t buy into the system, no matter how talented he was. come playoff time, he always had a bunch of tired/injured veterans to battle against younger, deeper, and more athletic teams.
Aeriska: that’s just not a smart use of resources. talent needs to be developed to be useful. you are paying them anyway; might as well put them to work. a good leader adapts to the situation as needed.
Razzlebop: yeah, whatever. alright, i’m tired of typing. you need anything?
Aeriska: run my alt through zf?
Razzlebop: sure.
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A great article about Byron Scott, who shares a few of Jeff Van Gundy’s habits: not developing young players and stubbornly sticking to his systems.