I fully believe, from listening to sports writers talk about this subject, that coaching in the NBA is MUCH MUCH tougher than coaching in college

3/29/2007 4:53:53 PM

college is worlds tougher. nba is all about what talent you have.

3/29/2007 4:56:31 PM

^^i would probably disagree

the main reason being that college players are obviously less experienced than pro players so they need more coaching...nba guys are more able to play ball for a few minutes consecutively without needing a lot of assistance from teh coaches

also college coaches have to recruit which pro coaches dont

neither is easy of course

also in college the coach seems a lot more liable or responsible for losses and wins

[Edited on March 29, 2007 at 4:57 PM. Reason : ^^]

3/29/2007 4:57:17 PM

college solely because of recruiting.

NBA coaches have to deal with huge egos, but even college guys deal with that sometimes.

3/29/2007 5:01:25 PM

course i would also say NBA coaches have a harder time keeping their team in line

who's more likely to back talk you and be stubborn: an 18 year old kid that says 'yes sir' to anything you say, or a 25 year old multimillionaire grown man

3/29/2007 5:02:58 PM

^That's why NBA coaches aren't as authoritarian. The chemistry is more professional. Talking back is not an issue because both sides respect each other.

Quote :

"college solely because of recruiting."

3/29/2007 5:05:48 PM

NBA

Agents, Money, Franchises, Talent, Attitudes, Contracts and fans.



in College you have to worry with schollys and recruiting but these kids are playing for their careers possibly...in the NBA they are playing for a paycheck.

3/29/2007 5:06:20 PM

college is more about "what talent you have" that is the exact opposite of the truth.

On court: definitely NBA

off court:: college by just a bit

3/29/2007 5:13:13 PM

in college you are more likely to have a team lose a game due to being outcoached. The nba generally comes down to being outplayed.

3/29/2007 5:24:34 PM

Being an NBA coach from a strategy standpoint is pretty simple. It's all basic X and O's and matchups.

The key to being a good NBA coach is using your rotation well, keeping guys focused, and keeping the respect of your players.


A college coach gets pulled in all kinds of directions.

They have to teach their players how to play basketball (most collegiate athletes were stars in HS, not team players). You are basically their mother and have to watch over them off the court.

Strategically there is a lot more to the game because the players don't present huge matchup problems like they do in the NBA. You have to create more dynamic offenses because the jump shooters arent as reliable, the post players have no moves, and the point guards don't make great decisions.

I'd much rather coach NBA it's a lot less work and pressure.

3/29/2007 5:37:07 PM

Quote :

"NBA Agents, Money, Franchises, Talent, Attitudes, Contracts and fans."

but in the NBA you also have a larger staff to take care of many of those things.


Also with college ball you have to worry about all sorts of recruiting violations, players leaving early for the draft etc. In the NBA with enough money you can basically guarentee a player will be there for X number of years, where college is 4 years at best

[Edited on March 29, 2007 at 6:00 PM. Reason : ^made me think, if you drop an NBA game, no big deal, college every game is]

3/29/2007 5:59:46 PM

apples and oranges

3/29/2007 6:12:19 PM

Like any coaching job, it depends on the personnel you have. If you are the coach of a fairly new team like the Bobcats, as opposed to a coach at a powerhouse college program, I'd imagine that the coach of the NBA team would have a tougher job, and vice versa. It all depends on the job. You've got teams in both that are on different ends of the spectrum. In the NBA you've got great teams like the Lakers that will always have plenty of money to buy good players. Then you have historically terrible teams like the Clippers. Does anyone really think Phil Jackson would have had the same kind of success he had with the Lakers if he would have been coaching the Clippers instead? Same goes for college, would Dean Smith had the same kind of success if he would have been coaching at some small school like Campbell instead of a large state supported school like North Carolina? They're both two different monsters with different factors that you have to account for. I don't really think this debate could ever be settled, because both arguments have good points that can't truly be compared to the other.

3/29/2007 6:21:00 PM

^ & ^^ /thread.

and i think it'd be interesting to ask Sid in a few years what his opinion is

3/29/2007 6:26:33 PM

i'd say college too, it doesn't really seem like there is a lot of innovation as far as coaching is concerned in the NBA.

You can buy your players as opposed to recruiting them, which normally is done by the General Manager

Although you won't have to worry about


in college


[Edited on March 29, 2007 at 6:38 PM. Reason : a]

3/29/2007 6:37:14 PM

The NBA teams run about 60 to 70 variations of zone and man to man defense

they also call almost a different offensive set each time down the court


College is basically the same exact offense the whole game


Also talent wins you most of your games in college where in the NBA you are playing the same talent level night in and night out

NBA IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT MONSTER

why do you think it is so hard for college coaches to go to the league???

3/29/2007 8:35:42 PM

college is harder because ontop of skills you have to coach motivation.

nba/pro players are motivated to keep their job... if pros dont want to play/practice hard they get fired (baring a few exceptions obviously)

3/29/2007 8:47:22 PM

^ i believe the exact opposite

3/29/2007 9:07:13 PM

^

3/29/2007 9:07:34 PM

NBA is harder to coach, because there are fewer coaching positions available to be filled out by the most talented coaches.

3/29/2007 9:32:40 PM

^^^^ the motivation statement is incorrect


NBA player salaries are guaranteed by the collective bargaining agreement.


Motivation is the most difficult part of a coach's job in the NBA

3/29/2007 9:37:40 PM

the nba

signed,

Rick Pitino
Jerry Tarkanian
Tim Floyd
Lon Kruger
Leonard Hamilton
sidney lowe

3/29/2007 10:34:09 PM

Talent has a shitload to do with it, colleges that have made a name get the best recruits and nba teams with the deepest wallets tend to get the best combination of tallent.

College tends to have more upsets and suprises, b/c a lot of non-top recruits come to develop grade A talent. NBA talent has pretty much been determined, best combination and coaches go to the team willing to open the wallet.

3/29/2007 11:19:51 PM

coaching in nba is much easier, but managing a team is much harder in nba

3/29/2007 11:28:16 PM

Quote :

"Rick Pitino Jerry Tarkanian Tim Floyd Lon Kruger Leonard Hamilton sidney lowe"

is the reason everyone is capitalized other than sidney lowe b/c you googled their names?

3/30/2007 12:11:41 AM

The best programs in college always have talent that is much better than mediocre or less storied programs. THe difference between a bad NBA team and a good NBA team is very slim. All NBA players are talented. In college, there is a huge gulf between the talent on UNC and and the talent on NC state, couldn't imagine the gulf between UNC and UNCG. NBA general managers do not just "buy talent". The nba has a salary cap. THey are also competing with other general manages for these free agents. Every season a team will pick up a couple free agents, but they are usually not great players. Players often become restricted free agents, which limits the player movement. Obviously superstars become free agents, but resigning them or sign and trades are more often than situation like Vince Carter this year. (other sports have much more active free agency periods, football)

In the regular season and especially the playoffs, college teams have much more time between games to scout and develop a game plan.

Colleges run the same offense throughout an entire game. NBA teams change their strategy throughout the game. There are a limitless amount of defenses that a team may see in a game. Becase the NBA coaches are working with players that are more basketball "smart" they can instiute more complicated sets.

over half of the games in an NCAA BB season are decided because one team has better athletes.

College coaches have to deal with almost as much as ego as the nba....why does everyone think the thugery begins once you're drafted. IT's the same players with the same bad attitudes.

3/30/2007 5:08:44 AM

a bunch of people on the internet discussing how difficult it is to coach at the highest ranks

yeah that makes sense

3/30/2007 5:11:51 AM

That's what the internet is for

3/30/2007 6:33:06 AM

The NBA has a soft salary cap unlike the NFL which has a hard cap so it's still not exactly an even playing field.

Teams like the Mavericks, Knicks, Lakers, etc still have a boatload more money to spend than the Charlottes, Milwaukees, etc

3/30/2007 7:47:34 AM

I say the NBA because of the guaranteed contracts. In NBA or pro sports in general, players > coaches in most situations. College, coach > players in most situations.

3/30/2007 7:56:25 AM

Quote :

"Although you won't have to worry about in college "

Sprewell didnt play college basketball at Alabama?

3/30/2007 9:21:21 AM

Different skill sets

Also, it really depends on the specific situation and job responsibilities. Are we talking strictly coaches or coach/GMs? College coaches are responsible for running their PROGRAM, importantly including personnel. NBA is probably tougher from an X's and O's standpoint. College you have more teaching/player development to do, etc. etc.

3/30/2007 9:27:05 AM

In college, coaches choke players (Knight). In NBA, players choke coaches.

3/30/2007 9:39:51 AM

THe cap is soft, but the luxury tax still keeps teams other than Dallas and New York from spending outrageous amounts of money and creating an MLB environment. THe amount of money owners spend and success in the NBA seems to have almost no correlation. Now, owners that refuse to spend alas Doland Sterling and Bob Johnons may cause their teams to suck....but that wasn't what he was trying to say. and this is actually a rare case, and Sterling has obviously reformed

3/30/2007 11:25:28 AM

If your Sidney Lowe, does it matter?

3/30/2007 12:09:45 PM

^^^hahaha

i knew there was some type of "soviet russia" parallel between college and nba

[Edited on March 30, 2007 at 12:23 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2007 12:22:49 PM