Joe mismanages 3 games in a row. He blew it against Toronto and we were [dang] lucky to win that. Just garbage coaching.
I could do better. Yeah I said it. You're [dang] right I could do better.
My 7 year old with a whopping one year of experience playing basketball could coach better right now. No logical basketball person would let that final play go without a TO given our injuries and how the fourth has went.
Seriously, there's got to be zero confidence in him as a playoff coach right now. If you're Brad, you have to sit him down and put his butt on the hot seat. This in-game management futility is costing us way too many games.
I can’t imagine he would coach this way in the playoffs. I think he’s determined to use live game experiences as teaching moments regardless of whether it leads to a win or a loss. There’s no other logical explanation. Mazulla got this job for a reason surely Brad would have known of his philosophy and signed off on it. That’s the only thing I can think of.
Even if this is true, it's ludicrous to give up games because of this. What is the team going to learn in that instance with 4 of their top 6 out and not having it going all fourth quarter long?
Whatever the true reason is, there's no justification for it.
Players being out is a great opportunity for learning. These guys who are usually not on the floor in pressure situations now get experience in a pressure situation and have an opportunity to build confidence.
So that when the playoffs do come around, if a situation arises where they are called into crunc Q4 minutes for whatever reason (like foul trouble), then they are then ready and prepared for the pressure moment.
Larry Bird used to do that as a coach. He would use the first couple of months of the season to give his 2nd unit more Q4 minutes in close games over his starters for this exact reason. He was intentional with it and he got great results. That 1998 Pacers team that pushed Chicago to 7 in the ECF and the 2000 Pacers that went to the Finals both got huge performances from their bench in big playoff moments.
Did they change the rules in the playoffs and take TO's away? He can teach how to handle pressure and coach the guys to a win at the same time.
It is about learning to make decisions for yourself and working as a group in difficult situations without having to look over to your head coach to ask what you should do.
Basketball is a game of instincts. Of making quick decisions. You don't want to be in your head thinking about what you are meant to be doing.
This is way of getting players to develop that in high-pressure situations ... essentially the most similar type of situations to a playoff game that a coach can get to teach his players.
There is also responsibility; ownership of the team. Coaches do not play. Players play. There is individual responsibility and collective responsibility. There is responsibility and then there is trust. These are qualities that developed in situations like this ... as unity in trust forged in difficult high pressure moments are much stronger than in easy low pressure moments of games.
There is a lot of very good things that can be gained for this type of strategy. I have long been a fan of it. Phil Jackson used it to great effect.