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This is a spinoff of my post yesterday, ranking the LEAST valuable players in the league. That post wasn’t perfect (apologies, Josh Richardson!), but it was fun to discuss, so we’re doing it again here with coaches.
Now, it’s aways difficult to judge coaches unless you watch them night in and night out and see how they’re evolving their strategies and rotations. So if you’ve watched and studied the coach of your particular team and feel like he’s too high (or too low), let me know why.
With that said, here’s my amateur opinion and award for WORST coach of the year.
Not considered
Steve Clifford, Rick Carlisle, Tom Thibodeau
Based on preseason expectations, all three of these coaches “underachieved” this year. According to vegas over/unders, the Hornets and Mavs were both projected to win 39.5 games, but only logged 36 and 33, respectively. The Timberwolves were expected to jump up to 41.5 wins, but could only muster a 31.
Still, I’d excuse all these coaches as being the victims of their own success. Clifford and Carlisle both over-achieved in 2015-16, which may have set expectations too high for their squad’s talent level. Thibs was expected to be a miracle worker, but that may have been too ambitious in his first year. The T-Wolves’ W-L record is a disappointment, but they did improve their point differential from -3.5 to -1.1. It may not have been the magic touch, but it progress.
Considered, but missed the cut
Stan Van Gundy, Alvin Gentry
I’ve always thought Stan Van Gundy was a top 5 coach in the NBA, but he certainly struggled to show that in 2016-17. The Pistons didn’t capitalize on their 2015-16 finish, slumping down to 37 wins this year (8.5 less than their Vegas over/under). The only reason that SVG isn’t in my top 5 worst of the year is because I’d place more blame on his struggles as a GM than coach. But still, there are reasons for concern here on both fronts. He’s already criticizing the team’s stars, which hasn’t been a good sign for him in the past.
Unlike SVG, I didn’t have much faith in Alvin Gentry’s coaching ability. It’s no surprise that his Pelicans underwhelmed us again this year, despite the brilliance (and health) of Anthony Davis. Still, I’m going to excuse Gentry this season because of difficult circumstances, with Jrue Holiday’s personal issues, and the midseason trade of DeMarcus Cousins (who is not an easy cog to fit.)
THE WORST COACHES OF THE YEAR
(5) Mike Malone, Denver: over/under 34.5, won 40
Look, I get it. Even after his promising rookie season and stellar per-minute numbers, I still wasn’t sold on Nikola Jokic as a budding superstar. But then again, I wasn’t the coach of the team who saw play him every day. Mike Malone should have known better.
Given that, Malone and the Nuggets may look back at their 2016-17 season as a missed opportunity. Based on stats alone, Malone did a good job. The team improved in terms of record and point differential — even surging late and nearly making the playoffs. However, I’m docking him because his team may have done even better than that if they unleashed the Joker earlier. Jokic only played 23.1 minutes per game in the first month of the season and averaged only 27.8 for the year (starting 58/72 games). But don’t fret, Nuggets’ fans. Mike Malone’s a good coach who has found the formula in Denver, so the future should be bright.
(4) Jeff Hornacek, New York: over/under 38.5, won 31
Make no mistake about it – the trainwreck of the New York Knicks season should be blamed on Phil Jackson. He’s pulling his best impression of Mr. Glass from Unbreakable – wreaking havoc and seeing who may survive the carnage. If Knicks fans are upset about the Joakim Noah contract now, wait until 2019-20, when he’s 34 and still making $19.3 million a year.
But a head coach still has some culpability as well to keep his organization and his team under control. Hornacek couldn’t do that. He couldn’t juggle the egos and offensive systems, wasting Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony (who is not “bad,” sorry) on a 31-win team. These Knicks weren’t properly put together, but another coach may have been able to cobble together a playoff run like the Bulls did with their own odd roster. Someone get Bruce Willis on the phone, stat.
(3) Tyronn Lue, Cleveland: over/under 56.5, won 51
It’s hard to criticize a winning program like Cleveland, but if we’re going to nitpick, there are a lot of nits to pick here.
Simply put, the Cavs are way too talented to be a 51-win team (with a modest +3.2 point differential.) They finished the season on a 23-23 stretch, which is simply unimaginable. More concerning than anything is their defense, which has taken a major step backwards. Lue can also be criticized for playing LeBron James too many minutes per night (37.8). He’s also struggled to develop younger players and had to over-rely on older role players (a la his mentor Doc Rivers).
But at the end of the day, the Cavs did get through the season healthy (which was their primary goal), so maybe there’s a method to the madness here. Let’s just see if they can flip the switch and play some D come playoff time.
(2) Frank Vogel, Orlando: over/under 36.5, won 29
I always thought Frank Vogel was a good coach (and an undeserving scapegoat for the Indiana Pacers), which makes his debut in Orlando all the more underwhelming. By all metrics, the team took a major step backward. They dropped 6 wins from Scott Skiles’ unit last year and sunk an incredible 5.0 points per game in differential (from -1.6 to -6.6). Of course, most of the blame for the Magic roster should go to dearly departed GM Rob Hennigan, but Vogel hasn’t made the most of the pieces left on the roster.
In hindsight, I wonder if Hennigan and the Magic front office should have kept up-and-coming coach James Borrego (their interim coach after Jacque Vaughn) to ride out the Hennigan rebuilding vision. Instead, they have a veteran coach who wrapped ups his first year paired with a GM who just wrapped up his last year.
(1) Nate McMillan, Indiana: over/under 43.5, won 42
Larry Bird surprisingly fired Frank Vogel on the presumption that Nate McMillan may jumpstart the offense and kick the Pacers into another gear. Simply put… that hasn’t happened. The team won 3 fewer games than last year, and their erosion in point differential (from +1.7 to -0.2) was even worse than that.
Paul George (and the return of Lance!) fueled a five-game winning streak at the end of the year that kept the Pacers in the playoffs, and almost saved McMillan from this dubious honor. Still, McMillan hasn’t exactly inspired confidence in me. He may have lost the team’s defensive identity (their opponents’ FG% ballooned from 44.0% to 45.1%), he may have lost the locker room (according to George’s disgruntled comments earlier in the season), and he may/definitely played my “LVP” least valuable player Monta Ellis too much. In fact, McMillan may be on the hot seat after only one year in Indiana.
As strange as it sounds, the Pacers’ first-round series against Cleveland may be important for the franchise. If they can win a game or two, that may give them enough confidence that they can keep tinkering and stay relevant. If they get swept, then it may be time for a complete overhaul.
