This week, we have our first topic submission and I think it is a well posed question.
Nathan M. – Why do teams fire good coaches when a better one is not available?
I have been thinking about this question a lot recently, in light of the now former Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey (The 2017-18 NBCA Coach of the Year mind you) being let go from his job after suffering a 4-0 sweep in the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the hands of LeBron James.
Around the NBA, Casey is considered a good man and a great coach. His record in his time with the Raptors speaks for itself. He started in 2011 and finished with just 23 wins. They jumped to 34 wins in 2012, and made the playoffs the next 5 seasons with win totals of 48, 49, 56, 51, and 59. This season they paced the Eastern Conference as the 1 seed and were legitimate contenders to make the NBA Finals.
Their playoff runs were typical of a team on the rise. The first two years, they were young, inexperienced, and got bounced in the first round. They made the conference finals in 2015-16, and the semifinals the past two seasons. If that doesn’t seem like success, just ask the Timberwolves how far they have gone in the playoffs in the past 15 years.
One of the complaints about Casey was that he couldn’t adjust to beat LeBron each of the last 3 seasons. If you ask me, trying to stop the 2nd (maybe 1st) best player of all time is no small task and is an entirely valid excuse.
Casey had a .573 win percentage in his time with Toronto and the most wins of the Eastern Conference over the past 5 seasons. Does it really pan out in the long run to fire a good coach who can’t get over the hump when very few coaches can? Does it pay to experience dramatic changes without much of a plan as to finding someone who has that magic formula to win a title?
Let’s relate this to the local sports landscape. A similar comparison would be in 2010 when the Vikings fired Brad Childress… just kidding. Brad Childress and his play card, the size of a menu at one of those places where you can order everything from scallops to stir fry to vegan lasagna, filled with terrible plays completely deserved to be fired.
However, with the nature of the professional coaching position, this isn’t that different than if Mike Zimmer got fired. Obviously right now that seems impossible. But when you compare their development as head coaches, it is more similar than you think. Both have improved their teams drastically, made the playoffs consistently and proven to be dedicated, intelligent, and worthwhile to their franchises.
Look at where that got Dwane Casey. After making the playoffs 5 straight seasons, making the Conference Finals once, winning 59 games and coach of the year, he still found himself filing for unemployment. What more could he do?
Zimmer has had 2 playoff runs flame out so far. What if the Vikings go 7-9 this season? Is he suddenly a terrible coach? What if, like Casey, he always leads the Vikings to the playoffs, but they never make a Super Bowl? Should he be fired because he can’t win the big game?
Seems to me that teams pull the trigger much too quickly on good coaches. Just ask the Spurs, the Patriots, and the Blackhawks for example, how having a stable coaching staff has worked for them.
As always, feel free to send me an email at jwandersee@heraldjournal.com any time during the week if you have a topic, opinion, observation, or snide remark for me. I will work to integrate them into the column each week.