Brad is the best coach we had since Bill Russell was the player-coach of this team. A Grandmaster that values process over results in the regular season. When someone says otherwise I suspect they don't know the geometric shape of the basketball.
What has he done to be worthy of such accolades?
Championships? No.
Historically good offence or defence? No.
Making players look better here than elsewhere? No. Before I get barked at for that, look at guys like KO, Crowder, ET & Avery Bradley. Name me one of those guys who looks worse than they did here. AB did in LA, but look at him in Memphis (and his brief Detroit stint).
What has he done to be worthy of such accolades? He overachieved expectations in each one of his full seasons.
And because of this fact, he raised everyone's expectations to the maximum.
His end of games plays remind me of Mikhail Tals attacking imagination.
Championships? No.With what roster was he supposed to win it all?
Please be realistic. He is 42, and he never had a title-winning talent on the team up to this point.
Historically good offence or defence? No. We are 5th (Def.) and 8th (Off.), thats elite defense and a very good offense.
As a general rule when you are top 10 in both you have a fine chance for a deep playoff run.
That's enough for me. We were supposed to be a lottery team half of the time he is here, but he pulled out a 1. seed from a limited team.
Making players look better here than elsewhere? No. Before I get barked at for that, look at guys like KO, Crowder, ET & Avery Bradley. Name me one of those guys who looks worse than they did here. AB did in LA, but look at him in Memphis (and his brief Detroit stint).It is impossible to argue otherwise than, all players Brad coached play their best basketball under his leadership.
All of the players you mentioned did that. I'll just add a few more; IT4 (remember his status before Brad), Morris, and even Kyrie. I excluded Gerald Wallaces, David Lees and Sullyies from this conversation. They were out of the league in a few months after they parted ways with him.
There has never been a player that breathed a bad word about Brad in his 6 years.
In general, we are talking about confrontational testosterone filled, competition-driven males, in their contract years. That alone reminds me of playing water polo with against crocodiles and sharks. A seemingly impossible task, still he just keeps everyone in the line. He doesn't stifle them, he doesn't intimidate them, he lets them be themselves and that is his way to make them all fall in the line. By seasons end (playoffs) they always are.
I think that he is so good, I could spend a year in a muddy trench under monsoon rain, defending his work stoically.