I hope Brad Stevens is successful with the Celtics but I
really think it was an odd choice. I’m trying to think of a
successful college basketball coach other than Larry Brown who also had success
as a head coach in the NBA. I can think of a number of unsuccessful
coaches in the NBA who have had a stellar college career. The list would
include the disastrous one year term of Tim Floyd with the Chicago Bulls.
Jerry Tarkanian is one of my favorite college coaches but he didn’t even last a
year in the NBA. Everyone knows about Rick Pitino and John Calipari
but they are just the most famous of a long list. Mike Montgomery
was quite successful at Stanford but not with the Warriors. I know
Gregg Popovich, clearly the best current NBA coach, coached at Pomona-Pitzer
but does that count? Probably more important to his NBA success is the
year he spent with Larry Brown at Kansas. PJ Carlesimo had success
at Seton Hall and has had a mixed career in the NBA: definitely second tier as
to professional jobs. As I’m typing this two names have come to mind in
addition to Larry Brown: Chuck Daly and Bill Fitch. Bottom
line is that I think it is a very short list as to individuals who successfully
made the transition from college to the NBA. Can you think of
anyone else? I admire what Stevens did at Butler and hope he proves to be
the exception.
Current headline story is Dwight Howard leaving the Lakers
and joining the Houston Rockets. I think both the Lakers and the
Warriors, especially the Warriors, will be pleased he elected to move to
Houston. Andre Iguodala will fit with the type of ball Warriors are
playing much better than Howard. Howard is talented but he
definitely has a Shaq mentality, unlike James who is very much the team
player. I know Howard was hurt part of this past year and unlike Rose, he
chose to play when he may not have fully healed. But there are certain
guys who just seem to have issues. The Lakers may have felt
obligated to make the pitch but I think a Howard/Bryant combination will never
have worked, partly because Howard is not as good a player as Shaq was in his
prime. I’m more of a college hoops fan but next year there are some
interesting NBA teams that should make for an interesting season and the
Rockets are not one on my list. I’m wondering if the Spurs with Duncan
have one more run in them and I think both the Warriors and the Clippers will
be fun to watch. The Western Conference has some real excitement for the
coming year along with clashes between the Bulls and Indiana.
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