Coaching

When a team blows, the coach gets canned. It's an unfortunate fact in sports. The common thinking is that the owner can't fire all the players, so he/she fires the next best thing. Sure, it's not always fair, but, more often than not, the firing has a positive effect.

Coaching at the collegiate level obviously differs significantly from the pros. Regardless of the sport, college coaches possess more authority, as the players are more malleable. At the professional level, though, the players tend to have more confidence in their own judgment and ability. Coaching morphs into part-strategist, part-psychologist. Watching Phil Jackson over the years, it was easy to doubt his coaching acumen. With the Bulls, hand the ball to Jordan. With the Lakers, hand the ball to Shaq... then hand the ball to Kobe. He's coached perhaps 3 of the top 5 players ever. How hard is that? Evidently, harder than it appears since the coaches before him failed.

In Detroit, not a single Piston fan wanted Flip Saunders retained after last season. Yet, today, there's not a single Piston fan who wouldn't take him over Curry. It's true Curry inherited a tough situation, but he's failed in what I believe is the most important aspect of his job -- an area in which the entire Red Wings management excels. The most important job for a coach is to put his players in a position to succeed. In Game 2, Michael Curry inserted a lineup of Kwame, Dice, Sheed, Tayshaun, and Rip. That's three power forwards, a small forward, and a shooting guard. How can that team succeed?

At the same time, the Red Wings won three straight games using two players, Darren Helm and Jonathan Ericsson, who played a combined 35 NHL games this season. How could Jonathan Ericsson, the very last pick of the 2002 draft, step in and contribute on a marquee team? And Helm... just ten days ago he was playing with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Then Draper went down with an injury. The system works because the Red Wings implement a consistent scheme throughout their major and minor league teams. The players grow up with the system and have to work their way onto the senior squad. Ericsson's been in the system for seven years. When he steps onto the ice, Babcock knows his strengths and weaknesses, and it's his job to accentuate those strengths. This ability eludes Michael Curry, and it's eluded the entire Lions organization my entire life. They continually draft players and ask them to play a different position (which is exactly what they'll do with Aaron Curry if he's picked #1). Or they rush a player on the field too quickly (which is exactly what they'll do with Stafford).

Put the players in a position to succeed. That's the job. It seems overly simple, but I believe coaches get weighed down by the pressure of the management and fans. That leads to bad decisions (see: Rip as a sub). If the coaches possess the confidence to stand by the unpopular decisions, the results are usually beneficial (see: Michael Curry as a starter).