John Stockton for Coach

[Hotdog]

I don't think John Stockton even want to coach

 

[One Brow]

What odds would you have put on him writing and then going on a promotional tour for a book?

Significantly higher than coaching. Writing a book requires you to be extroverted for a very small amount of time, compared to the time you spend writing. Coaching being interacting with the players, as a group, constantly.

 

[One Brow]

There you go again, confusing playing with coaching. Hey, I hear that Bill Russel is available too.

Bill Russell coached a team to a championship (as player-coach).

 

[zman1527]

You couldn't have picked a worse example. Bill Russell coached over 600 games, including some when he was still in the league, won more than half of them and won two NBA Championships.

I understand that being a good player does not guarantee that you'll be a good coach, and I wouldn't be shocked if the correlation was somewhat negative at high levels, but you picked a very very poor example.

Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
BOS 1966–67 81 60 21 .671 2nd in Eastern 9 4 5 .444 Lost in Div. Finals
BOS 1967–68 82 54 28 .659 2nd in Eastern 19 12 7 .632 Won NBA Championship
BOS 1968–69 82 48 34 .585 4th in Eastern 18 12 6 .667 Won NBA Championship
SEA 1973–74 82 36 46 .439 3rd in Pacific — — — — Missed Playoffs
SEA 1974–75 82 43 39 .524 2nd in Pacific 9 4 5 .444 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
SEA 1975–76 82 43 39 .524 2nd in Pacific 6 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round
SEA 1976–77 82 40 42 .488 4th in Pacific — — — — Missed Playoffs
SAC 1987–88 58 17 41 .293 (released) — — — — —

He took over an established team and was able to carry it forward on that basis. Working on his own he was not very good. Same happened with my 49ers: Siefert inherited a great team from Walsh and was able to win a SB with that team. On his own he was not very good.

Stockton has no record as a coach and therefore there is no basis to know what kind of a coach he would be. People who are getting hot and bothered over him being the Jazz HC are confusing playing ability with coaching ability.