Who is the best NBA coach of all time?

People put Phil Jackson on the list but no mention of Pat Riley. Personally, I dont see a difference. Both won in 2 spots and both had the best players in basketball on their teams.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
People put Phil Jackson on the list but no mention of Pat Riley. Personally, I dont see a difference. Both won in 2 spots and both had the best players in basketball on their teams.

Phil Jackson has 58 more Playoff wins then Pat Riley.

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
People put Phil Jackson on the list but no mention of Pat Riley. Personally, I dont see a difference. Both won in 2 spots and both had the best players in basketball on their teams.

Phil Jackson has 58 more Playoff wins then Pat Riley.

Thanks JBot. I knew that. He also has 6 more titles. You obviously missed the point. Both won many championships, both won in 2 cities, and both won primarily because they had the greatest players on the planet.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
I think Pop said it best when he said it was all about the players that he had. Red had Bill Russell, John Havlichek, and other greats. Phil had the greatest player ever and 3 other Hall of Famers in their primes, and Pop had the best big man of this era.

Having said that I would put Popovich at the top.

The thing that puts Popovich at the top for me is how pliable he is. If you watch the Spurs from the late 90's to mid-00's, they were a completely different team. I can't think of another coach who had won multiple titles that totally revamped what he did, so he could win more. That's the very definition of a great coach. A guy who can understand what he has, can understand the overall environment of the league, and can adapt/improve on what other coaches are doing. Sure, you don't win without talent, but Duncan hasn't been the best big in the game for 5-6 years, and they've still been a perennial playoff team and NBA champion.

You could say the same about Riley though. What he did with Showtime couldn't have been more different than what he did with the Knicks, then Heat, three completely different teams/ players. I know he didn't win it all in NY, but Jordan prevented a lot of great teams from winning. Both guys took advantage of the rulebooks of their times.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
People put Phil Jackson on the list but no mention of Pat Riley. Personally, I dont see a difference. Both won in 2 spots and both had the best players in basketball on their teams.

Phil Jackson has 58 more Playoff wins then Pat Riley.

Thanks JBot. I knew that. He also has 6 more titles. You obviously missed the point. Both won many championships, both won in 2 cities, and both won primarily because they had the greatest players on the planet.

Pretty simplistic thinking that just because they won titles with two different teams that they are the same coach. The only coach to win a title without great players is probably Larry Brown.

I agree with the argument that Pops had less talent and still a ton of success, but it's just so hard to go against 11 titles.

I know everybody argues that he had guys like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, but that to me is what makes him such a great coach. Jordan was just a highlight real before Jackson got there, and even Shaq and Kobe credit so much of their growth on Jackson. Plus, the triangle offense. I know he didn't invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.

And who knows, if it wasn't for his health problems, he would've still been coaching right now.

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
People put Phil Jackson on the list but no mention of Pat Riley. Personally, I dont see a difference. Both won in 2 spots and both had the best players in basketball on their teams.

Phil Jackson has 58 more Playoff wins then Pat Riley.

Thanks JBot. I knew that. He also has 6 more titles. You obviously missed the point. Both won many championships, both won in 2 cities, and both won primarily because they had the greatest players on the planet.

Pretty simplistic thinking that just because they won titles with two different teams that they are the same coach. The only coach to win a title without great players is probably Larry Brown.

LOL Go back to your twitter reports.

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
I agree with the argument that Pops had less talent and still a ton of success, but it's just so hard to go against 11 titles.

I know everybody argues that he had guys like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, but that to me is what makes him such a great coach. Jordan was just a highlight real before Jackson got there, and even Shaq and Kobe credit so much of their growth on Jackson. Plus, the triangle offense. I know he didn't invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.

And who knows, if it wasn't for his health problems, he would've still been coaching right now.

Duncan and Robinson are top 10 all time players and Tony Parker & Manu Ginobili will be in the Hall of Fame.

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
I agree with the argument that Pops had less talent and still a ton of success, but it's just so hard to go against 11 titles.

I know everybody argues that he had guys like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, but that to me is what makes him such a great coach. Jordan was just a highlight real before Jackson got there, and even Shaq and Kobe credit so much of their growth on Jackson. Plus, the triangle offense. I know he didn't invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.

And who knows, if it wasn't for his health problems, he would've still been coaching right now.

Duncan and Robinson are top 10 all time players and Tony Parker & Manu Ginobili will be in the Hall of Fame.

LOL at David Robinson being a top 10 NBA player of all time. Now THAT is funny.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
People put Phil Jackson on the list but no mention of Pat Riley. Personally, I dont see a difference. Both won in 2 spots and both had the best players in basketball on their teams.

Phil Jackson has 58 more Playoff wins then Pat Riley.

Thanks JBot. I knew that. He also has 6 more titles. You obviously missed the point. Both won many championships, both won in 2 cities, and both won primarily because they had the greatest players on the planet.

Pretty simplistic thinking that just because they won titles with two different teams that they are the same coach. The only coach to win a title without great players is probably Larry Brown.

LOL Go back to your twitter reports.

Wow what a response! You sure put me in my place....

I'm going to say Pop. I think his coaching philosophy is going to revolutionize the NBA in the next 5-10 years. You see it already in ATL. Not every team can have 2-3 superstars and the strong international influence makes his principles even more important. The competitive balance in the NBA will even out. I think he'll have changed the game.

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
I agree with the argument that Pops had less talent and still a ton of success, but it's just so hard to go against 11 titles.

I know everybody argues that he had guys like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, but that to me is what makes him such a great coach. Jordan was just a highlight real before Jackson got there, and even Shaq and Kobe credit so much of their growth on Jackson. Plus, the triangle offense. I know he didn't invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.

And who knows, if it wasn't for his health problems, he would've still been coaching right now.

Duncan and Robinson are top 10 all time players and Tony Parker & Manu Ginobili will be in the Hall of Fame.

Well he only had Robinson / Duncan together for just a couple of years. Plus, those Pippen / Jordan and Shaq / Kobe teams still had a lot of talent around them.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
I agree with the argument that Pops had less talent and still a ton of success, but it's just so hard to go against 11 titles.

I know everybody argues that he had guys like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, but that to me is what makes him such a great coach. Jordan was just a highlight real before Jackson got there, and even Shaq and Kobe credit so much of their growth on Jackson. Plus, the triangle offense. I know he didn't invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.

And who knows, if it wasn't for his health problems, he would've still been coaching right now.

Duncan and Robinson are top 10 all time players and Tony Parker & Manu Ginobili will be in the Hall of Fame.

LOL at David Robinson being a top 10 NBA player of all time. Now THAT is funny.

.

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
I agree with the argument that Pops had less talent and still a ton of success, but it's just so hard to go against 11 titles.

I know everybody argues that he had guys like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, but that to me is what makes him such a great coach. Jordan was just a highlight real before Jackson got there, and even Shaq and Kobe credit so much of their growth on Jackson. Plus, the triangle offense. I know he didn't invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.

And who knows, if it wasn't for his health problems, he would've still been coaching right now.

Duncan and Robinson are top 10 all time players and Tony Parker & Manu Ginobili will be in the Hall of Fame.

Well he only had Robinson / Duncan together for just a couple of years. Plus, those Pippen / Jordan and Shaq / Kobe teams still had a lot of talent around them.

Yeah i just think its more a false narrative that its all coaching with Pops and all talent with Jackson. Popovich is a great coach but he has had three hall of fame players for the last 10 years.

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
I agree with the argument that Pops had less talent and still a ton of success, but it's just so hard to go against 11 titles.

I know everybody argues that he had guys like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, but that to me is what makes him such a great coach. Jordan was just a highlight real before Jackson got there, and even Shaq and Kobe credit so much of their growth on Jackson. Plus, the triangle offense. I know he didn't invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.

And who knows, if it wasn't for his health problems, he would've still been coaching right now.

Duncan and Robinson are top 10 all time players and Tony Parker & Manu Ginobili will be in the Hall of Fame.

Well he only had Robinson / Duncan together for just a couple of years. Plus, those Pippen / Jordan and Shaq / Kobe teams still had a lot of talent around them.

Yeah i just think its more a false narrative that its all coaching with Pops and all talent with Jackson. Popovich is a great coach but he has had three hall of fame players for the last 10 years.

One of the reasons I say that, and a lot of people as well probably, is because all the Euro players he had, or how he managed to get more out of players than most coaches could. He's had a good stability with Duncan, Manu, and Parker, but I've always been impressed with how he's been able to use any other PF/C and make it work, and the same for his bench, he always seemed to have a really good bench no matter who was on the team.

Oh, and Bowen should deserve an honorable mention as well