Author Topic: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?  (Read 1539 times)

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Offline TheReaLPuba

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Everyone is trashing Coach Stevens because this team is underperforming but he's been given an almost impossible situation.

How do you spread out the necessary minutes to two studs who NEED time to flourish and grow AND give minutes to your Vets who have proven they can get the job done and also find minutes for an All-Star coming back from major injury?

It's almost as if this team is severely conflicted in of itself. The guys we have are at the wrong point in their careers.

Young guys want to shine.

Vets want to win.

It's quite difficult when the team plays so disenchanted and fragmented from a mental and emotional stand point.

As much as C's fans trashed Doc as a coach....he was definitely better at handling superstar/talented players.

Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2019, 08:04:41 PM »

Offline Roy H.

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I think it's tough to coach a team without a clear hierarchy.  Deep, talented teams without distinct roles may struggle a bit, especially with free agency on the minds of various players.

But, as a counter-point to your thread title, think Luke Walton and the Warriors.


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Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2019, 08:07:18 PM »

Offline bopna

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I think only the Cs fans see all this talent across the line up but thye reality was, our lineup is misconstrued.

Id rather have Korver or Lou Williams instead of Rozier.  Yes Gordon is a talent of 2017, but right now he is being outplayed by the bertans of the world so there is still lacking in taleny in that dept...untl GH fully recovers.

Give me LMA than Horford any day. The only obvious talent we have right now is Kyrie...the rest are role players trying to blend in. Tatum and Brown are both too yoiung to even see how theyd develop, but obviously Cs fans are jacking em up over proven talents like Derozan or Butler.

Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2019, 08:13:09 PM »

Offline GreenWarrior

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 :'( wah! we have too much talent  :'( wah!

doesn't sound like a great excuse no matter how you phrase it imo.


Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2019, 09:49:07 PM »

Online tenn_smoothie

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I think it's tough to coach a team without a clear hierarchy.  Deep, talented teams without distinct roles may struggle a bit, especially with free agency on the minds of various players.

But, as a counter-point to your thread title, think Luke Walton and the Warriors.

Seems like a bad example - Warriors were on auto-pilot from a coach who had already organized the talent and the players knew their place in the hierarchy. I think OP makes a very good point - this team is a bad mixture coming back together in an awkward way at disjointed places in their careers and a coach who really has not ever coached superior talent in college or pro. We may look back on this eventually and see that these struggles were inevitable.
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Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2019, 09:50:51 PM »

Online tenn_smoothie

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:'( wah! we have too much talent  :'( wah!

doesn't sound like a great excuse no matter how you phrase it imo.

Not too much talent - just talent that doesn't mesh the right way for various reasons mentioned by OP.
The Four Celtic Generals:
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Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2019, 10:01:20 PM »

Offline jambr380

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Edit: Wrong thread...sorry  :'(

As for the topic, I agree that teams with defined roles are a lot easier to coach than those that do not. In our case, two of our most likely stars (Hayward and Brown) were moved to the bench so we probably still need time. Hopefully we get there soon.

Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #7 on: January 02, 2019, 10:06:08 PM »

Offline Roy H.

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I think it's tough to coach a team without a clear hierarchy.  Deep, talented teams without distinct roles may struggle a bit, especially with free agency on the minds of various players.

But, as a counter-point to your thread title, think Luke Walton and the Warriors.

Seems like a bad example - Warriors were on auto-pilot from a coach who had already organized the talent and the players knew their place in the hierarchy. I think OP makes a very good point - this team is a bad mixture coming back together in an awkward way at disjointed places in their careers and a coach who really has not ever coached superior talent in college or pro. We may look back on this eventually and see that these struggles were inevitable.

I just disagree.  If it's much harder to coach talent, then the Warriors are the poster child, right?  You have Curry, Thompson, Green and Durant all in their primes, plus extremely talented depth guys like Iguodala, Livingston, etc.  Yet, a rookie head coach led them -- without Durant -- to a 67 win season and a championship.  Then, Walton -- a rookie head coach temporarily elevated -- led them to a 39-4 start the following season.  Then they added Durant, and won another title, followed by another.

Me or you could coach the team, and they'd win 60 games and a title.  Because, it's not much harder to win with a talented team.

The problem isn't talent.  It might be selfishness, it might be role confusion, but it isn't because of having too much talent.


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Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2019, 08:22:31 PM »

Offline 10610786d

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I think it's tough to coach a team without a clear hierarchy.  Deep, talented teams without distinct roles may struggle a bit, especially with free agency on the minds of various players.

But, as a counter-point to your thread title, think Luke Walton and the Warriors.

I almost wonder if we should merge this thread with the "trade Kyrie" thread.

Not because I think we should trade Kyrie. But maybe we should keep sitting Kyrie and Mook for "mystery injuries" so guys like Terry can get in a groove.

But I guess shady **** like this always backfires.

Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2019, 08:27:11 PM »

Offline Phantom255x

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It can be especially at the beginning of seasons. Sometimes teams just need to go out there and play together and the coach can figure things out from there. Remember those Miami teams w/Lebron would have a somewhat mediocre start but then cruise in the 2nd half and playoffs. Same with the Warriors teams, they'd have some rough stretches and moments where things looked bleak but they managed to figure it out as the season progressed. When you put it together with all the talent, then you can be an unstoppable team especially late in the year.
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Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2019, 08:39:58 PM »

Offline RockinRyA

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It depends. Deep teams yes I think so. Top Heavy teams not so much.


Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #11 on: January 04, 2019, 09:01:42 PM »

Offline Neurotic Guy

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I suppose that there are variables outside of talent level that would make a team more or less difficult to coach.  But, it makes absolutely no sense that coaching difficulty and talent would naturally rise concurrently.  Were anyone stupid enough to hire me as a coach, the only chance I'd have to not be considered an idiot would be if my team was exceptionally talented.   

KC Jones may have argued that there were unique complications to coaching a mega-talented roster, but I can't believe he'd say it was harder.

Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2019, 10:28:52 PM »

Offline gouki88

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It's definitely tough, but I think the higher expectations and increased spotlight add to it.
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Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2019, 11:55:37 PM »

Offline Hoopvortex

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False choice; and I’m not even sure what “harder” would mean in this context.
'I was proud of Marcus Smart. He did a great job of keeping us together. He might not get credit for this game, but the pace that he played at, and his playcalling, some of the plays that he called were great. We obviously have to rely on him, so I’m definitely looking forward to Marcus leading this team in that role.' - Jaylen Brown, January 2021

Re: It's much harder to coach with a talented team....agree or disagree?
« Reply #14 on: January 05, 2019, 01:17:07 AM »

Offline tazzmaniac

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Let's see.  Great ownership and great GM that fully supports you.  Deep talented team with a good mix of veterans and young talent and which relatively speaking doesn't have difficult personalities to deal with.  I'm sure the other coaches are saying I've got a difficult job but I'm sure glad I'm not in Coach Stevens situation.