NBA Playoffs: Will college coaching experience helps teams in the bubble?

Will coaches with college experience have an advantage in the NBA bubble?

Let’s talk about coaching. Coaching in the NBA has become viewed as quite a mixed bag. On one hand, there have been coaches who are viewed as geniuses. Head coaches like Gregg Popovich and Quinn Snyder, for example, are coaches viewed as schematic experts who make the most of players even if they aren’t superstars.

Then, there’s the other side where many NBA fans view coaching as a little bit overrated. The argument being sure someone like Phil Jackson won so many championships, he had Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Shaq. Those fans believe that as long as a team has star players it doesn’t matter who the coach is because it’s the player will ultimately determine the success.

Both sides have merits, and the truth is it probably is a combination of both that really determines success. Regardless of the argument, one thing everyone can agree on is that as the NBA begins playing again in Orlando, is that this is going to be an entirely new experience for coaches just like it is for players.

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Coaching is going to be impacted in Orlando in terms of schematics as coaches now have to look to re-institute their systems and plays to their players and change them with the time away. Then, coaching will impact in the personal way of how does a coach who has learned how to navigate and communicate with his roster during a normal NBA season adjust that to life in a confined zone.

As little as their experiences might mean to the actual play, there are two coaches that might have a leg up on the rest of the league. Those two coaches being Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan

Recent NCAA Tournament experience could help Donovan and Stevens

The thing that stands out when looking at Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan is that they have a fairly recent history in NCAA college basketball. Their path of making the jump from college to the NBA which is historically a difficult one may now be giving them an advantage.

Unlike in the NBA where the concept of this “Bubble” lifestyle feels extremely unprecedented, in certain aspects, it’s not unlike the NCAA tournament for college basketball, the tournament we appropriately call March Madness.

In March Madness, anything can happen. Teams are playing off at neutral sites staying in locations with a variety of other teams and playing on the tournament schedules. In many cases, those players are away from family and friends leaving the coaches left to manage and guide their players through those circumstances to ultimately achieve success.

This something both Donovan and Stevens have experience doing. In his time at Butler, Brad Stevens lead his team to multiple conference tournament championships and brought his team deep into March Madness twice. Making two Final Fours and an appearance in the National Championship. That’s a long time playing at neutral sites and trying to get the best out of his players.

In Billy Donovan’s case, he spent 19 seasons at Florida where he took the teams to four Final Four appearances and back-to-back National Championships. He spent an enormous amount of time in the long-haul of tournament style basketball playing in strange locations and neutral sites.

Both men’s experiences are something that while they might not ultimately help their respective team win, can’t be overlooked. In a way, Stevens and Donovan have done this before. Sure it wasn’t due to a pandemic with frequent COVID-19 testing, but it was neutral site basketball set up like a tournament which in many ways is what the NBA in Orlando will be.

Donovan and Stevens are going to have the unique opportunity to take from their experiences in a similar style of play and bring it to their NBA rosters. It’s unknown what exactly they will bring but I’m sure there are some intangible items like how do players cope with being away from their support systems and how to make the best out of playing in a neutral location.

These factors could be key components to their teams in the Boston Celtics and the OKC Thunder win games and get off to great starts in Orlando. At the very least, they can at least remove some of the negative qualities of being Orlando that other coaches in the league may not be able to because many of them will be in the same boat as their players.

With major contributors on both teams being on the younger end, and still close to their college careers it possible that Orlando might see some good basketball come from Boston and Oklahoma City very quickly thanks to the recollection of NCAA and the experiences of the men leading them.