Le Basketbawl

The way that New York Vinnie sees coaches in the current era of the NBA they fall under one of three categories. The first group are fading fast because of the way that the NBA and society in general has evolved over the last few years. That is the group that goes by the Mantra it is my way or the highway. The NBA is a players league not a coaches league and though certain guys like a Gregg Popovich with San Antonio or Jerry Sloan in Utah can get away with that mind-set they are truly a dying breed.

The Second kind of NBA coach is what New York Vinnie refers to as the Reactive type; they don’t act they react when a crisis springs up they deal with it rather than nip it in the bud before it becomes a problem. Unfortunately these coaches are so involved with putting out brush fires that they can not do what they were brought in to do and that is win games. And those coaches are the guys that never seem to last too long in any one job.

Now the third kind of NBA bench boss is by far the most successful as a whole. They are the men who treat their players as professionals until that player gives them a reason not too! They allow the player to have enough rope and what that player does with that rope is up to them.

They can be a hero and like “Tarzan” they can take that rope  and swing from tree to tree and save the day! Or they can take that rope  and hang themselves with it; it is totally up to the player. These are the coaches that by and large are the most successful in the NBA. They are pros who treat their players in kind until the player proves they can not handle it.

Washington Wizards coach Flip Saunders has told “The Washington Times” that he believes he is going to have to put the Washington Wizards on a shorter leash. Saunders is in his first season as bench boss of the Wizards after previous stints as head coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons. This was going to be the year that Washington was going ton turn it around with Saunders at the helm and a healthy Gilbert Arenas back in the line-up. Things have not worked out as planned.

As of Saturday morning the Wizards had an 8-16 record and had gone 3-7 in their last 10 games. Clearly this team is not headed in the direction they want to be in or expected to be in. So Saunders is going to change his coaching style he told reporters “I think I’m going to have to rein it in.In all my years of coaching – and this is CBA and 15 seasons in the NBA – I have never had to yell at a player for taking bad shots in a game; until this year. I think there’s no question, it’s a Catch-22. You try to give them their freedom so they find their confidence. But then when you have to keep talking to them about what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot, you get to the point where you say, ‘To hell with the confidence. You have to understand.’”

Now in an “Ideal World” it is far better to come in as a tough guy and ease off as the players buy into the system and earn more and more freedom and latitude. Life is seldom “Ideal” so Saunders is going to have to take the opposite approach. Deep down inside every player on that Washington squad has to realize that they have no one else but themselves to blame for their coach’s change in attitude. If they want to get back Flip’s respect this time they are going to have to earn it!