So many good ones to pick from. I could easily pick 10 or 20 if I could but then that wouldn't technically be a fave five anymore, so I have to stick with just 5. It was hard for me to not include legends like Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, Gary Williams, Rick Majerus, Lute Olson, Billy Donovan, and on and on. Then there are the ones that came before my time, John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, etc...
Also, as you can tell from my fave five, I grew up in the 80s, 90s and this decade so I'm influenced primarily by what I see. These are my fave five Men's NCAA Div1 coaches of all time in no particular order:
Dean Smith
The famous UNC coach for almost 40 years. When you think of UNC, you think of Dean Smith. He won the National Championship in 82 and 93, went to the final four a mind-boggling 11 times and was the winningest coach in Div1 history before Bobby Knight passed him a few years ago. The 82 Championship is legendary of course with Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. But I remember the 93 Championship mainly because I was older then, watching the likes of George Lynch and Eric Montross. Tactically, Smith was the one that used the 4 corners delay offense that forced the NCAA to introduce the shot clock and also prominently featured the point-zone and scramble defenses that Roy Williams has also adopted.
Bobby Knight
Probably the most controversial and polarizing coaches in the history of basketball. I don't think you can be a coach and not have an opinion about Bobby Knight. Though I personally question most of his motivational methods, there is no doubting his legacy as a winner (3 national championships with Indiana), high graduation rate, and strict follower of NCAA guidelines. Tactically, Bobby Knight's Blocker Mover motion offense and emphasis on hustle and hard-nosed M2M defense are legendary.
Mike Krzyzewski
Coach K as everyone knows him by. I guess I couldn't include Dean Smith without including Coach K but Coach K truly belongs on this list as his record of achievement over the past 20 years is unsurpassed. When you think of Coach K, you think of leadership. Someone who is a leader of men, if he wasn't a head coach, he would be a CEO or the President. The glory years were the back to back championships in 91 and 92 with Hurley and Laettner but the 2001 championship was special with players like Jay Will and Battier. One of the great things I like about Coach K is his willingness to incorporate new tactics, case in point this season with the Phoenix Suns spread offense. One of the better developers of skill sending a long list of players to the NBA.
Jim Calhoun
I've always like Jim Calhoun. If there was a coaching style that I would most want to emulate, it would be Calhoun. Tough but genuinely cared for his players. His coaching record includes 2 national championships, my favorite being the championship in 99' with El-Amin and Hamilton. Calhoun is probably best known for his player development. He has a long history of preparing guys to play in the NBA having coached guys like Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen, Emeka Okafor. Tactically, Calhoun has always been a straight up M2M guy running pro-style sets including PNRs and stagger sets.
Rick Pitino
The only coach to have taking 3 different programs to the final four winning it all in 96 with Kentucky, Rick Pitino stands tall as one of the legends of the college game. Tactically, Pitino is famous for his full-court presses. He uses them to this day at Louisville and his teams have always played fast using pressure defense and 3-point shooting as the primary mode of attack. Perhaps what Pitino will be most remembered for though is large and growing coaching tree of assistants who have gone on to coach in college and the NBA. Guys like Jeff Van Gundy, Reggie Theus, Billy Donovan and Herb Sendek just to name a few.
Starting a new series here at X's and O's of Basketball, the Fave Five series. Just a random sampling of my favorite basketball related stuff. If you have any ideas, go ahead and post a comment here or on the tracking page.
Keeping in mind that I grew up in the 80s, 90s and this decade so I didn't get a chance to see Red Auerbach, Jack Ramsey or Bill Fitch. These are my fave five NBA coaches of all time in no particular order:
Chuck Daly
Architect of the Detroit Bad Boys in the 80s. What's amazing to me about Daly is the ability to keep that crazy group of players together. As talented as that group was, it was a dysfunctional one. Think about it, Laimbeer, Zeke, Rodman, Salley and Dumars. You couldn't find a more dysfunctional group of players even if you imagined it. Yet, the Bad Boys are still considered one of the greatest teams to have ever played in the NBA.
Hubie Brown
In my opinion, Hubie Brown is one of the greatest basketball minds in the history of basketball. He's like the brain surgeon of basketball, he knows exactly what is required for every situation. I'd like to hope that someday, I can be as smart as him.
Coach Brown's greatest achievement in my opinion was coaching the Memphis Grizzlies to the playoffs in 2003 for the first time in franchise history, and winning the Coach of the Year award that year. We're talking about the Grizzlies here. I watched the Vancouver version for all 6 years and to even imagine that they could win a quarter of their games would be too much to ask.
Phil Jackson
The Zen Master. I love Phil Jackson because he's a philosopher, and I like to think that I'm a philosopher. He seeks to understand why people do the things they do and then uses that knowledge to motivate his players. I also like how he's been willing to delegate and not micromanage. Everyone knows Tex Winter is the genius behind their Triangle Offense.
The genius behind Phil in my opinion has been his ability to manage the egos on the teams that he has had to deal with. You think about the Bulls, the fragile psyche of Scottie Pippen and balancing that with the mega-ego of Michael Jordan. Then with the Shaq-Kobe feud. How many coaches do you know could've won 3 Championships with those 2 guys at each other's throats. But he made it work.
Pat Riley
Mr. Slick. Pat Riley brought the cool back to being a basketball coach with those armani suits and the slick back hair. He was like a gansta coach.
But seriously, Riles is so much a part of the NBA the past 30 years. I think back to the Showtime Lakers to the last time the Knicks were really good with Ewing/Starks/Oakley to the Hardaway-Alonzo years in Miami and finally the 2005 Championship with Wade and shaq. He's been good for so long, it's hard to believe that he's coached his last game ever.
Gregg Popovich
Arguably the best coach currently coaching in the NBA. Gregg Popovich in my mind is the ultimate game coach. Though he probably micromanages more than he should, it always seems that he makes the right call, the right substitution, the right matchup all the time. Of course, it helps to have such a coachable group of players in Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. For a guy that most thought wouldn't amount to much when he took over the coaching job in '96, Pop has proved all the doubters wrong.
Welcome to the Fave Five Series page. I'll add each post that I write of my fave fives. If you have an idea for a fave five, just post a comment below.
Fave Five NBA coaches of all time.
Fave Five Men's NCAA Div1 coaches of all time.
