Coaching is coaching. It’s primarily about enchancing a player’s overall performance to a level which will lead to the team being successful. Motivation is a big part of the puzzle. As per Rule No. 2 of Coaching … a coach should coach thru his own unique personality and character.
For instance, the jovial, tough minded Vince Lombardi was my favorite coach growing up. But his exact personality opposite, the stoic Tom Landry was extremely successful as well winning a ton of games and several Super Bowls.
There isn’t just one set way to motivate players, because if a player isn’t driven from within it’s not happening. That doesn’t come from a coach, that comes from a player’s DNA and life history.
Every coach motivates differently.
Brad Stevens doesn’t motivate players like Steve Kerr does. Greg Popovich doesn’t motivate players like Phil Jackson did. Every coach is uniquely different even if they’ve picked up certain attributes from coaching mentors along the way thru their coaching career path.
Billy Donovan and Brad Stevens are both current NBA coaches who came from college programs into the NBA. Neither has gotten his team to an NBA Finals in their time in the NBA. Neither has crossed that hurdle.
Neither are my favorite NBA coach. That would be Pop. You know why? He’s the coach I find most interesting as a person. He’s someone I’d want to have dinner with and talk about every topic imaginable under the sun. He’d make me a better person and a better player. Steve Kerr would be my second favorite coach for the same reasons.
Obviously Billy Donovan could motivate his players at the University of Florida. You don’t win two national championships if you can’t coach and motivate. I’ve yet to see this though from Donovan with professional players at the NBA level. His style seems awkward to me from the outside looking in. I don’t get the feeling his players have bought into him at this level while I do feel Brad Steven’s players have bought into his philosophy.
The Boston Celtics are in Oklahoma City tomorrow night to play the last place Thunder. The thing which puzzles me the most about the Thunder is that they were the biggest disappointment in the NBA last season, yet there doesn’t at all seem to be a team attitude of ‘we have something to prove this season’. None of that is visible. You would think they’d be embarrassed about last season, but it’s as if they don’t really have any urgency.
It probably doesn’t help that the Thunder play in a college market where they take little if any tough comments from the local media other than perhaps when Barry Tramel writes something bordering on the critical. Anotherwords, this team very seldom if ever takes much heat from writers like it would if they played in a major league pro town like say Boston. I’ve always to a certain extent thought that’s hurt the Thunder in some regards.
Tramel is the only writer in the market other than myself I read. That may sound arrogant coming from a guy who writes on an obscure rogue blog, but it’s the way I feel. And it’s primarily the reason I stick with my blog in that I want someone else locally to read in regards to the Thunder other than Tramel.
It is what it is.
I thought this video would be timely with Brad Stevens coming to town tomorrow night.