When I went to go see the Pacers take on the Knicks a little while ago just to see my friend Jamaal Tinsley play (which he didn’t due to injury), I looked at both benches and realized something. Congratulations to whoever came up with the scam of convincing NBA owners that you not only need one coach that gets paid millions of dollars, but you need five assistants to help and take money from the organization for basically doing nothing. If you look at a lot of college and high school teams as well, you will notice the same thing. Last year, when I played at Broward Community College, the assistant coaches started to outnumber our players. Of course that was due to my fellow teammates quitting or getting kicked off because our head coach wasn’t doing his job, but still….We had five assistants! When you do something wrong, you hear about it from six different people. When I was playing in high school and college, I felt like I was in that movie Office Space where the employee working for his company had six different bosses telling him that he made a simple mistake. Plus, four out of my five assistants did basically nothing sorry to say. I’ve been to NBA practices and it’s the same thing there. A head coach should need one or two assistants at most.
NBA coaches have the least to do on the team and they can’t even do most of the work themselves? They need five other guys to help them do what exactly? I laugh even more when looking at Isiah Thomas’ bench because he has help and doesn’t do one thing right.
As for the Pacers, they never seem to get a break. They can’t seem to find a good coach. Isiah was horrible. Rick Carlyle was horrible. And what came to President Larry Bird’s mind when trying to figure out who to hire to help fix this team? Jim O’Brien! He came up with O’Brien who was fired within one year when he coached the Sixers. Not too long ago, O’Brien suspended Tinsley for a game for doing his job as point guard and yelling at a teammate who did something wrong on the floor. Tinsley, who was starting to trust and like O’Brien completely lost faith in his coach and rightfully so. When he came back, Tinsley didn’t even start and was playing behind Travis Diener.
After awhile, things got worse between O’Brien and Tinsley, and as every knows, he now wants to be traded. It’s a shame that Tinsley has had so many bad coaches like Thomas, Carlyle, and O’Brien who mess with how he plays the game or not giving him much playing time. Jamaal is still in my top ten point guards list, but until he plays for the right coach — I’m sorry, a good coach, he won’t be able to display his full ability as a true point guard.
Lastly, it’s also a shame to see coaches get so much power being that they really don’t do much and are the least important on the team. These NBA coaches get paid millions of dollars and for some reason nobody has the guts to tell them how do their jobs. They never seem to admit that they are doing something wrong. The reason for this is that most of them like the ones I’ve listed have huge egos and take themselves way too seriously. When Rick Carlyle first became head coach of the Pacers, he wanted the locker room renovated apparently because he simply didn’t like it. They spent a lot of money on the renovation, and when O’Brien received the job, he said he didn’t like it. Since management said they wanted to make him happy, they changed it for O’Brien, too. This gives you an indication of what these coach’s personalities are like and how important they think they are. Since those two were met on their demands, why wouldn’t they think they were important? An Allen Iverson or Kobe Bryant has a lot more right to ask for a renovation of a locker room than those two do in my opinion. Heck, I’d even hear out Rafer Alston if he made the request.
“The game was meant to be played, not coached”…..My vote is coaches should get paid the least amount of money. Players play, trainers help you with your body, water boys keep you hydrated, and coaches stand on the sidelines and watch the game. I’m not saying there are no good coaches, but no coach deserves to make the amount these NBA coaches are making. Nor do they deserve that much power. And that goes for NBA, college, high school, and AAU coaches, too! Any coach who doesn’t like what I’m saying or disagrees with it, feel free to leave a comment.
“I wish I could take the jobs of coaches, just so I could do it correctly.” — Joseph Vecsey
March 19th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
ugh . . . joseph, i think you need to start doing yoga or meditation. you seem to be very irritable lately! i’ve had my fair share of terrible coaches, but god bless the good ones i’ve experienced. they taught me the game like i would’ve never seen it otherwise. i don’t think the idea of a teacher and director is bad. perhaps a camp for coaches? does that exist? players go to them to improve, why can’t they?
March 19th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Jacek says:
I think you just underestmiate the role of coaching and tactic (!!!) in game of basketball (basically in every team sport). With all respect for playground basketball, you must understand that any organised ball is much more than a pick-up game. There are teams that wouldn’t exists with their coaches. I agree bad decision are made by coaches but the same thing goes with players.
I can imagine NYK without Isiah, but can’t imagine Heat winning with Dallas without Pat Riley, current LAL without Phil Jackson, and many more examples.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Derrick Canada says:
Joe,
I think you are underestimating the importance of having someone “stand on the sidelines and watch the game”. While I agree that there are way to many coaches on the sidelines today and that the game is way over-analyzed, coaching is an important part of the game especially when it is done correctly. Yes, some coaches have big egos, but I learned a long time ago that to be a successful basketball player you need to be really confident in your abilities, i.e. big ego on the court.
Playing the game without coaches would be like shooting a movie without a director. There are great players who may not need a lot of coaching, but they don’t always know what to do to make their players better, which probably explains why great players typically don’t make great coaches.
Coaches tend to teach you life through basketball. It’s about encouragement, motivating, competing, identifying strengths and weaknesses, seeing what’s there before it’s there. It’s not always about the coach, most times it’s about the players buying into the coaches vision. As players, we’re all a bit selfish and the coach’s vision may not always fit our agenda.
I have had my share of coaches and I’ve been able to learn something from all of them, good or bad. Sorry for the long post, but I could go on for days on this one. Great topic!
DC
March 19th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Sean Couch says:
A good coach can see five plays ahead. A good assistant coach instantly spots a weakness in the opponent, keeps scores and fouls, tells the coach in important situations options needed to put the best players on the floor and maintains good decorum on the bench.
While 5 might be excessive to you, having 5 good men telling you the same thing but in different ways makes it right. For instance, you might throw the ball away on consecutive plays and come out. One coach says, “Joe throw the ball earlier.” You sit down and the second coach asks you “What did you see out there to throw the ball that way? You tell him your case and then the third coach says “next time throw it earlier, or go tell your man where to place his hand. The fourth coach in practice helps you as a practice coach when the other two are on the road recruiting players, the fifth coach is breaking down tape, while the head coach runs the practice with assistants 3 and 4.
It’s a lot of work running a college program with a family . All those coaches appreciate the others working hard to make a program work and make their off the court lives work.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
illest says:
you sound more and more like your father joseph.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Joseph Vecsey says:
You’re right, illest. As I grow up, I will most likely sound more and more like my father. Lol.
Bobbito:
That’s a great suggestion. Camps for coaching.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Candice says:
Bobbito:
There are camps/clinics for coaches at the elementary, middle school and high school levels (I’m involved in a a lot of them) but it definitely needs to be extended to the college and pro levels. I don’t know what the attendance would be like though unless they were mandatory.
March 19th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Bobby V. says:
I can’t help but feel that most ballers can completely relate to Bobbito’s words ” I”ve had my shair of terrible coaches but, god bless the good ones”. Showing anything but luv towards those who’ve dedicated themselves to coaching/teaching is an injustice.In all walks of life there are a percentage of peope who are inept at what they do, but to suggest that all coaches are worthless is absurd. I’ve learned things from coaches(both ball-lessons&life-lessons)that I’ll surely pass on to my children and I hope they do the same. God bless the good ones!
March 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Rory says:
I don’t know the age of most of writer’s of the posts, but from where I sit in school administration there are not many coaches teaching life lessons to kids. As a matter of fact, I have seen great damage done to kids–good and bad players alike in all sports. It is a shame because a coach is in a great position to influence.
Point 2: Don’t give me the game has changed bs, — how many coaches were on the bench in the 60’s and 70’s? The great point guards ARE coaches on the floor.
Point 3 Was James Naismith wrong about the game he invented?
Point 4 Less people watch basketball now than ever.
Point 5 Sean Couch makes Vecsey’s point–there are too many players thinking too much and not reacting.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
illest says:
there is nothing wrong with that joseph.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
ali says:
i disagree w/ your assertion that isiah was horrible in indiana. he oversaw the development of a young crew w/ron ron, jermaine, al harrington, jamal, brad miller, etc and they made the playoffs all 3 years he ran the team. the first year, they lost to to 76′ers and a.i., who went on the the finals. the next year, they lost to the nets, under the jkidd rennaisance, in the playoffs, who also made it to the finals. what’s so horrible about that?
cats are real quick to question his credentials, but in toronto, he put together tracey mcgrady, marcus camby and damon stoudemire and instituted a plan that established the raptors as a model for the new jack start up franchise.
the knick debacle is up for debate, but he did what he had to do by bringing steph home and resurrecting some energy at the garden with the zach randolph and eddie curry moves. yeah, they haven’t won yet, but david lee is the truth, nate and balkman will be good pros for ten years and isiah’s gift has always been finding underappreciated value in the draft.
c’mon b, isiah has not been horrible. there are things called extenuating circumstances. coach k was 9-17 at army the year before he got the duke job, and won 10 and 11 games at duke during his 2nd and 3rd seasons. thankfully, someone waited to write the epitath until a full body of work could be analyzed. so isiah horrible at indiana? can’t buy that w/ a food stamp.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Jon Q says:
We are not talking about him as a GM first of all, so that has nothing to do with anything. They did good the first year he was coach, but the next two years, they lost in the first round badly. A lot of it was due to the way Isiah was coaching. That’s why he was fired. Bringing those certain players to the Knicks was all about Thomas wanting to act like he was doing something special and he wasn’t. He didn’t get along with those players and they hate him right back. Rightfully so. He screwed up Francis’s game and brought in another big name Larry brown, which failed miserably as well. Know the game before leaving a comment, but thanks! Better luck next time! Can’t buy that w/ a food stamp? Step your game up. You must not be a writer
March 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
ali says:
Jon Q,you’re right. i’m not a writer, i just play one on tv. i challenged the statement that isiah was horrible in indiana. horrible connotates dreadful, revolting, unpleasant, very bad, etc. and it’s a matter of fact, not even up for debate, that isiah was not horrible in indiana.
you say he did good his first year when, in actuality, he did better in his 2nd and 3rd years. not only did they improve evry year in the win/loss column, but each progressive year they scored more and gave up less points.
he lost to the eventual eastern conference representatives in the finals those first two playoff losses. the 1st year, they finished 4th in the central division. the next year they finished 3rd and his last year, they finished second. each year, they improved offensively and defensively and when he took over the team, they no longer had the highly underrated interior presence of Rik Smits. a good coach molds players and has quantifiable evidence of steady improvement over time.
jalen rose had his best season ever, to date, under isiah’s tutelege that first year w/an average of 20 joints and 6 assists. jermaine became a beast, as did ron ron and, being one of the game’s greatest point guards, isiah recognized what he had in jamal and let him loose. reggie miller was the only bonafied transcendent talent on the team.
i offered up isiah’s gm and draft resume to round out the picture my man, and offer some texture to the overall portrait. to say that bringing in those players to the knicks was about isiah acting like he was doing something special when he wasn’t speaks more to your misunderstanding of the man, his internal wiring and his pedigree than anything else.
isiah personifies effort and determination. he has never, from the abject poverty of the south side of chicago to high school at st. joseph’s to college at indiana, where, by the way, he was all big ten as a freshman and led them to the NCAA chip as a soph, to what he did w/ the pistons, done anything but put every ounce of his blood and sinew on the line for the success of the team.
it’s easy to criticize the knick moves in hindsight but larry brown’s resume was unquestionable, from carolina in the aba, to getting ucla to the national championship, to taking it w/ kansas, danny manning and a bunch of future cab drivers, to getting a.i. to the finals in philly to winning the ring w/ detroit. are you buggin’?
oscar robertson, the big o, was the only player other than steph to average 20 and 8 for a career. the knicks haven’t had an interior presence since oak, patrick and mase so eddie curry and zach randolph made sense, considering the shaq’s and rasheed’s that ruled the east.
and isiah ruined steve francis? c’mon b, just say no! and what does not getting along w/ the players have anything to due w/ the price of bullets in afghanistan? you think chuck daley and pat riley were giving group hugs?
don’t write a check that your knowledge can’t cash. i know the game, my man. you might want to study up for the next debate. isiah was not horrible in indiana. in fact, he was very good. he got fired because larry bird hated his guts and would never work with him and isiah never got to finish what he started.
holla!
March 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Jon Q says:
Not even close to being right….i’m out…
March 26th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
ali says:
sounds like you just pulled a roberto duran by saying “no mas!”
open your mind and let the truth seep in. if i’m not even close, prove it w/ some valid arguments that can be backed up with facts, not misinformed blanket statements.
don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk, your flimsy argument just got outlined in chalk.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Jon Q says:
You’re finished….Take a hike. You lost. By the way, are you a coach or something? Or Isiah’s friend?
March 26th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Mike says:
Joseph Vecsey and Jon Q are right. Ali clearly does not know his stuff. He’s way off base.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Larry Simms says:
Yeah, Ali knows nothing. Don’t even argue with him, Jon. Isiah was fired for a reason. Jalen Rose and Tinsley hated his guts and he eventually stopped Tinsley from playing his game…He dosn’t know the behind the scenes stuff. He’s just a fan…
March 26th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Dan says:
Lol, bloggers. He has really wack lines, too
March 26th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
ali says:
refute my arguments with some semblence of an educated, basketball analysis and prove me wrong. ya’ll sound like the 3 stooges.
March 26th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Larry Simms says:
He really sounds wack! We rule!!!!
March 27th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Larry Simms says:
Is this guy ali seriious? Where is he from? isiah is one of the worst coaches in the NBA…he clearly doesn’t know the game. He must not have played it either.