Best coach in franchise history? Bud? Wilkens? Good candidates, but I pick...

[sturt]

[Dejay]

Hobie was pretty good. Drugs and untimely injuries derailed his run here...

Hubie. Stupid autospell...

[NBASupes]

Hubie is one of the best. Atlanta has been blessed with great coaches. 

Bud, Czar, Lenny, and Hubie.

 

I'll say Bud because he was as advanced of a gameplanning coach and I've seen but it's unfair as Bud coached in an era where so much is available to coaches which wasn't available for the other guys. 

Hubie had the best mind but I remember him in Memphis, he couldn't relate to a chair much less a player in that locker room. 

Czar was an excellent communicator but wasn't the best in-game coach.

Lenny was the best in-game coach but his gameplans lack any adjustment. We were going to do what work even if it didn't anymore. 

[Diesel]

I guess the question is.. which coach got his team to play over their heads best.

It wasn't Hubie. 

I think the top three Hawks head coaches are:

1.  Bud

2.  Wilkens.

3.  Fratello. 

Bud took a blueprint that shouldn't have worked whatsoever and took them to the ECF.. a place the Atlanta franchise had never been before. 

Wilkens coached this franchise in much more competitive age.  Did well and showed more consistency than Bud but had less players moved on him. 

Fratello could easily make a claim for 2nd Best.  However, Fratello had the most talent of the three and did about the same as Lenny.

 

[benhillboy]

Never seen Hubie’s teams play, still a huge fan of his commentary.  Even though he’s my avatar I wasn’t mature enough to judge coaches when Lenny was doing it.  So I’m going Bud all day.  

Can’t think of anyone who would even think to build an offense around a career journeyman sharp shooter, let alone reach the Conference Finals with it.  I expect his reputation among fans to catch up to the one he has in league circles in Milwaukee with a bonafide MVP candidate sooner than later.  Based on his track record I think his best role is Lead Assistant, could’ve been Pop’s Tex Winter.  With any roster as a Head I don’t think a knowledgeable basketball fan could rank him outside of their Top 10.  Still had a clear-cut tanking team shooting the three ball very well and always moving the rock around.  Some coaches can’t do that with “contenders.”

[NBASupes]

I will always feel Bud got too much credit for the 60 win team and not enough credit for the playoff series v. Indy the year before. Al Horford was the reason for the 60 win season. Not Bud. That said, it was good to finally have a coach who realized how valuable Al was and use him like it. 

[Diesel]

8 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Never seen Hubie’s teams play, still a huge fan of his commentary.  Even though he’s my avatar I wasn’t mature enough to judge coaches when Lenny was doing it.  So I’m going Bud all day.  

Can’t think of anyone who would even think to build an offense around a career journeyman sharp shooter, let alone reach the Conference Finals with it.  I expect his reputation among fans to catch up to the one he has in league circles in Milwaukee with a bonafide MVP candidate sooner than later.  Based on his track record I think his best role is Lead Assistant, could’ve been Pop’s Tex Winter.  With any roster as a Head I don’t think a knowledgeable basketball fan could rank him outside of their Top 10.  Still had a clear-cut tanking team shooting the three ball very well and always moving the rock around.  Some coaches can’t do that with “contenders.”

Lenny's teams played a strong motion offense but more importantly, they overachieved.   I still wish we didn't trade Nique when we did. 

[Diesel]

7 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

I will always feel Bud got too much credit for the 60 win team and not enough credit for the playoff series v. Indy the year before. Al Horford was the reason for the 60 win season. Not Bud. That said, it was good to finally have a coach who realized how valuable Al was and use him like it. 

Supes, you have always been too quick to give Al the credit for Bud's work.  If any one player deserved credit for that team it was the combo of KK and DMC.  Our shooters made all things possible.   I agree though the team that scared Indy was an impressive display of IN the trenches coaching.   That was really the start of the idea of loading up the 3pt line and opening the game up. 

We lacked an enforcer duing Buds time.   Al was too much of a pacifist to be good enough to get us to the finals. 

[NBASupes]

8 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Supes, you have always been too quick to give Al the credit for Bud's work.  If any one player deserved credit for that team it was the combo of KK and DMC.  Our shooters made all things possible.   I agree though the team that scared Indy was an impressive display of IN the trenches coaching.   That was really the start of the idea of loading up the 3pt line and opening the game up. 

We lacked an enforcer duing Buds time.   Al was too much of a pacifist to be good enough to get us to the finals. 

Al always deserved the most credit on that squad. It was foolish the NBA allowed 4 Hawks to be AS that year. It should have been just Al. I told you Al was carrying Milsap. Millsap the year after Al left had the starting five looking like one of the worst in the NBA. If it wasn't for Tim and the bench producing at an extremely high level, we easily would have missed the playoffs like Denver did. 

[hazer]

1) Lenny

2) Hubie 

3) Bud

4) Fratello 

[Peoriabird]

Kinda hard to compare different era's but Bud was somewhat of an innovator.  He along with a few other coaches in the league recognized the advantages of having a strong perimeter game vs focusing on trying to score in the paint.  To this day, some GM's and coaches are emphasizing length and reach whereas the smart Gm's and coaches are emphasizing skill especially shooting.  He was just a average to below average bench coach.

[KB21]

1.  Mike Budenholzer

2.  Lenny Wilkens

3.  Mike Fratello

[bleachkit]

I like Pierce so far, hopefully he will do good things here. He seems like he's in tune with where the league is going.

[Buzzard]

The Czar and Hubie. I could toss a coin and be happy with either. I think Fratello was very underrated in his ability to deal with big stars and big egos. I read an interview of Reggie Theus years after our one and only super team was broke up after just one season

Reggie loved that team and he was adamant that we should have kept it together.

[sturt]

11 hours ago, NBASupes said:

I will always feel Bud got too much credit for the 60 win team and not enough credit for the playoff series v. Indy the year before. Al Horford was the reason for the 60 win season. Not Bud. That said, it was good to finally have a coach who realized how valuable Al was and use him like it. 

Disagreed when i read the bold part.... Horford's skill set resonated extremely well with the Bud/Pop system... arguably, as well as Tim Duncan did... and even got better once Horf expanded his shooting range the following season.

But then... agreed after all... the last sentence which essentially says what I just said.

And while it ALL matters, I don't think Horford was as key as was Korver, and how Bud and staff worked very hard with him (by evidence of interviews KK gave) on creating innovative offensive patterns to give him new opportunities to get his shot.

Me, I can't take ANYTHING away from the mastermind of the court. If I skim off any credit away from Bud, it goes to Ferry for assembling a roster in which so many players were on the cusp of what would become one of their best, if not their very best season.

[JayBirdHawk]

11 hours ago, NBASupes said:

I will always feel Bud got too much credit for the 60 win team and not enough credit for the playoff series v. Indy the year before. Al Horford was the reason for the 60 win season. Not Bud. That said, it was good to finally have a coach who realized how valuable Al was and use him like it. 

Lol, please stop.

I'm sure not one team worried about Al as they did Korver as the linch pin to stop.

Bud had a 'kit of parts' that he had humming. It was working like a fine tuned machine. Everything in it's place and a place for everything.  No one was greater than the some of it parts.

[JayBirdHawk]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

Lol, please stop.

I'm sure not one team worried about Al as they did Korver as the linch pin to stop.

Bud had a 'kit of parts' that he had humming. It was working like a fine tuned machine. Everything in it's place and a place for everything.  No one was greater than the some of it parts.

Ferry gave Bud the ingredients, Bud made the best soup the Hawks ever tasted.

[High5]

11 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Hubie is one of the best. Atlanta has been blessed with great coaches. 

Bud, Czar, Lenny, and Hubie.

 

I'll say Bud because he was as advanced of a gameplanning coach and I've seen but it's unfair as Bud coached in an era where so much is available to coaches which wasn't available for the other guys. 

Hubie had the best mind but I remember him in Memphis, he couldn't relate to a chair much less a player in that locker room. 

Czar was an excellent communicator but wasn't the best in-game coach.

Lenny was the best in-game coach but his gameplans lack any adjustment. We were going to do what work even if it didn't anymore. 

I don't think Bud was great at game-planning. We were routinely beaten in the same ways over and over during his tenure. His strength was his system and getting his players to buy in. 

[Spud2nique]

1. Bob Weiss

2. Lon Kruger 

? 

 

ok fine..

 

1. Bud (even tho he’s a d*ck I guess)

2. Lenny Wilkens

3. Baby ? Mike Frat

10 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Ferry gave Bud the ingredients, Bud made the best soup the Hawks ever tasted.

I disagree. Karl Horford did it all!

 

[sturt]

11 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Ferry gave Bud the ingredients, Bud made the best soup the Hawks ever tasted.

 

Reminds me of this...