Collins is a lifer at NU

[corbi296]

I personally believe success in the NBA has far more to do with the talent level a team can put on the court than coaching ability. I'm quite confident Doug Collins could have won a championship with the rosters Phil Jackson had in Chicago and LA. It's pretty rare that a sub-par team talent wise makes a run to the championship. It's just too hard with a 7 game series. But in march madness, anything is possible.

I am a big Doug Collins fan so you get no argument from me on him. Doug was the guy that changed the culture with the Bulls and set the foundation that Jackson built upon. It was Doug that took over an underachieving/undisciplined Bulls team with the likes of Orlando Woolridge/Quentin Green and turned it into a hard working playoff team with the likes of an Elston Turner in the starting lineup. There is no better argument for how important coaching is in the NBA and any sport for that matter than reviewing what Doug Collins did for the Bulls. More recently look at what happened to the Bulls with Thibs and immediately after with Hoiberg dealing with almost the identical roster. No comparison. You need great talent and great coaching to win in the NBA and any other sport.

 

[corbi296]

Ask Tom Thibideau if NBA coaching is more about basketball than kissing ass. Ask Paul Westhead. Ask that coach that Lebron had fired last year. How do you think Fred Hoiberg got, and keeps, his job? You think he does less ass kissing now than he did at Iowa State? I'm the furthest thing from an NBA expert, but my impression is that until you reach the pantheon level of Pop or Riley or Phil Jackson, NBA head coach is one of the most ass-kissing-dependent jobs in all of sports.

Obviously the ability to build and maintain strong relationships is a requirement in any leadership position in any field. That's a constant whether you are a head coach in college or the pros. I was referring to the amount of time, travel and groveling that a college head coach has to spend to compete on the recruiting front. Most coaches do not like that aspect of the job and like the fact that the professional game allows for that time to be focused on actual coaching.

 

[hdhntr1]

Sadly, me too......

You hope to be dead?

 

[hdhntr1]

I don't know about the exception but there are certainly more coaches that have failed in making that transition than have succeeded. Not surprising since the NBA is the best basketball league in the world and only the best coaches will thrive. I happen to think that Collins has what it takes.

I laugh when I see college coaches going to the pros. One of the biggest factors in their success in college is their ability to recruit and that is pretty meaningless in the pros. A second reason for success is the ability to motivate but it is one thing to motivate over 30 games with generally two a week or less and something else to do it with a pro schedule. So the good to great college coach gives up two of the biggest advantages that got him to where he is to go to the pros. Not hard to see why so many fail.

 

[scru]

I laugh when I see college coaches going to the pros. One of the biggest factors in their success in college is their ability to recruit and that is pretty meaningless in the pros. A second reason for success is the ability to motivate but it is one thing to motivate over 30 games with generally two a week or less and something else to do it with a pro schedule. So the good to great college coach gives up two of the biggest advantages that got him to where he is to go to the pros. Not hard to see why so many fail.

Agree, it is a very different job.

 

[corbi296]

I laugh when I see college coaches going to the pros. One of the biggest factors in their success in college is their ability to recruit and that is pretty meaningless in the pros. A second reason for success is the ability to motivate but it is one thing to motivate over 30 games with generally two a week or less and something else to do it with a pro schedule. So the good to great college coach gives up two of the biggest advantages that got him to where he is to go to the pros. Not hard to see why so many fail.

The most important reason coaches at any level are successful is their ability to identify and development talent, and their ability to put their players in a position to maximize their individual talents and mold those collective talents into a game plan that results in wins. Chris Collins has those qualities in spades.

 

[cometclear]

Boy, I sure can't see someone having to eat crow on this declaration.