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Permalink Reply by Carlos Gonzalez on March 24, 2012 at 2:06am

Pretty interesting. I've always wondered how I would be able to coach in the future without some sort of playing experience. It worried me actually, I had no clue that 3 of his the 4 coaches under Crean had no basketball playing experience whatsoever. That's pretty cool.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Sisley on March 27, 2012 at 10:12am

I love hearing stories like this. I played in college but at a very small school. I love hearing about how coaches made it into the bigtime without much playing experience. I know a few nba coaches went from being a video coordinator, then to assistant and then even to head coach in the nba.

I know lawrence frank didn't even play in high school! I tihnk that is so sweet he could make it that far in coaching.

I also know some good nba players were flops when it comes to coaching. so i guess it definitely means that just because you were a good player doesn't mean you will be a good coach.

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Permalink Reply by henry doble on March 30, 2012 at 10:55am

Being a player is not a guarantee that you will end up a better coach. Playing is different from teaching. There are so many guys who never played the game but were successful in their coaching. If we believe in the tenet " that you can only teach what you know", then non-players should have no business drawing in the white boards. But mentors and other smart fellows are good motivators and can easily memorize playbooks, learn from tapes and reading materials. If the ratio of mental  to physical is 4:1 in basketball, then we cannot question those with no experience in calling the shots. It comes natural for them to lead the players in winning games. And nobody ask who that unknown guy is as long as his teams keep collecting championship trophies.

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