Depends on what the criteria are for judging Corbin's decision. If the criterion is wins, then obviously it was the wrong decision because the Jazz lost. We are left wondering what would have happend had he put Favors back into the game. While we can speculate all we want about the counterfactual, by the measure that presumably matters most, Corbin made the wrong decision.
Do you think putting Favors in gets the Jazz the W? Just your opinion, I get that nobody knows, just wondering what you think.
I have no idea. We can only judge the decision based on the outcome, and the outcome was a loss.
We can't know but we can use logic and have an opinion. The guards killed us, the bucks guards and the jazz guards. Kanter and Sap played well. There is a very good chance that Favors makes absolutely no difference or even hurts the Jazz in comparison to what Kanter and Sap did. I can use what I know about Favors game to form an educated opinion on the matter.
Of course, but there's no way of knowing if you're correct, or what the actual odds of being correct are.
I'm just saying that IF the evaluation metric is wins, then praising Corbin for coaching decisions that don't produce wins stikes me as a bit out of place.
The loss had less to do with Favors not playing and more to do with Watson and Marvin starting and playing too much.
I get what you are saying, but in that same breath, you can't really fault him because we have no idea what would have happened had Favors come in.
Couldn't one then apply this argument to any coaching decisions that don't produce wins?
Can you imagine an end of the year meeting between coach and GM that goes something like this:
GM: Well, I see that with you as head coach we missed the playoffs and only won 30 games. That's not very good.
Coach: You can't fault me for the losses because you have no idea what would have happened had I done things differently.
At the end of the day, IF the relevant evaluation criterion is wins, what might have happened in a counterfactual scenario is irrelevant.
Its your argument, not mine.
Have I inaccurately understood your statement "but in that same breath, you can't really fault him because we have no idea what would have happened had Favors come in"?
Using your logic we can't. Using mine, you can decide whatever you want.
Ok, fair enough. For what it's worth, I don't blame Corbin for going with the hot hand, but I do worry that at some point, he will alienate Favors to the the degree that affects Favors' long term future with the Jazz. Also, I am guessing Favors is thinking something along these lines, "During the entire year, Corbin would sub me out regardless of how I was playing, and now suddenly he decides to go with the hot hand, when he never did before. What do I have to do to get playing time with this guy?" Many pro athletes have fragile or less than fully robust psyches. Being a good coach involves knowing how to manage these, particularly when the player in question is considered a future franchise cornerstone. Corbin can only piss on Favors so much (at least from Favors' perspective if not from an objective perspective) before it begins to approach a breaking point.
I think thats a fair worry. Hopefully everything will be sorted out by the time Favors contract extension comes up and all ill will will be forgotten. He seems like less of a diva than most so I think we have got that going for us.