Yesterday I was asked by a friend if I thought Mike Dunleavy was a bad basketball coach. It was a good question.
Dunleavy’s tenure with the Clippers is tough to ignore. He’s had one winning season in six years and one of the worst overall winning percentages in NBA history during that time frame. In the most important aspect of coaching, wins and losses, Dunleavy failed quite a bit more than he succeeded.
But you know what? That doesn’t necessarily qualify Dunleavy as a bad coach. Good coaches fail magnificently all the time. Good coaches get fired all the time. Sometimes, for whatever reason, it just doesn’t work.
Just take a look at the resume of one of the best head coaches in professional sports in Bill Belichick. For 5 years, Bill Belichick was head coach of the Cleveland Browns, a franchise permanently hampered with an inordinate amount of bad luck, just like the Clippers. Belichick’s tenure as Browns head coach was pretty similar to Dunleavy’s tenure as Clippers head coach. Belichick had just one winning season in 5 years highlighted by a lone playoff win and a lackluster overall winning percentage of 46%. No one openly blamed the Browns when they let Belichick go. He didn’t produce wins. He deserved to get fired. Did that make Belichick a “bad” coach? Of course not. He was still young and in a less than desirable situation. Dunleavy’s on the opposite end of the spectrum as far as age goes, but he too walked into one of the worst situations in all of sports. Look, I’m not saying Dunleavy is anywhere near the level of coach that Belichick is. All I’m saying is that there are numerous factors that go into being a “good” coach and “bad” coach. The line between success and failure in professional sports is a very thin one. Even the best coaches can find themselves on the wrong side of the line.
Mike Dunleavy is still widely regarded around the league as one of the best X’s and O’s guys out there. He’s an insanely hard worker who puts a ridiculous amount of time into preparation. His post-centric offense and emphasis on defense is a smart formula for winning when executed properly. Despite all this, Dunleavy had trouble consistently winning games. Throughout last season it looked like the players had tuned him out completely by playing uninspired basketball most every night. Like every other follower of the Clippers, I was adamant about Dunleavy being released of his coaching duties. He didn’t have the players’ ears any more. It appeared he had lost the team.
It didn’t look like that was the case this season. Even in the most embarrassing losses of the year, the Clippers fought hard to get back in the game, most notably when none other than Baron Davis scored 23 points in a single quarter in a comeback attempt against Minnesota. I don’t think Baron or the rest of the team ever quit on Dunleavy or the season itself. Unlike prior years, both parties fulfilled their duties. The players played hard, and the head coach tried everything he could to make it work. It just never happened…and maybe it never would have. Sometimes a team needs to hear a new voice, needs that fresh start, needs to have a renewed sense of faith in their leader. I understand that. Mike Dunleavy understands that.
Did Dunleavy deserve to be released from his head coaching duties? Absolutely.
But does that make him a bad coach? I don’t think the answer to that is as cut and dry as it seems.
22 Responses
i disagree with that the players played hard…NOT all the time…Davis played hard one quarter in the game where he scored 23 points in the third….Dunleavy is TOO smart…too many plays ….thus he cant adjust to the K.i.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) way of playing….
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Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
“Mike Dunleavy is still widely regarded around the league as one of the best X’s and O’s guys out there” – D.J. Foster.
“We watched a lot of film with Mike, and it helped us see what we did wrong and what we did right. Instead, Kim will cut a lot of the film watching down and then we’ll go over everything on the court instead” – Clipper Player.
“He screamed at players more then any coach I’ve ever seen” – Season Ticket Holder near the bench.
“I won’t be talking as much and I’ll welcome player input. I’ll let Baron run it on the floor” -
Kim Hughes
Dunleavy may be a great X & O guy but he’s not a head coach. He has horrible people skills and ability with personal relations. Dunleavy didn’t/doesn’t trust the players ability, knowledge and experience playing basketball. Elton Brand left the Clippers because he didn’t want to play for Dunleavy and Dunleavy wouldn’t listen to everybody who knew who’d heard him say he wouldn’t and then played his attempt to lure Elton back so stupidly that Brand’s agent David Falk was forced to go on the attack. He shouldn’t be GM either. Much too controlling combination of ego and insecurity.
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Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
it’s all on the team now…no more excuses about complicated plays or injuries…i’d like to see my team man up and put in consistent effort every night
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Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Not coaching to your best players strengths is bad coaching, period. Baron is not a half court point guard. Period.
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D.J. Foster Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 12:52 am
The Clippers actually ran quite a bit when they had the opportunities – the problem was they didn’t get enough opportunities because the defensive rebounding was so bad and the turnovers were plentiful.
Dunleavy was constantly encouraging the team to “Run, Run, Run” on the sidelines.
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Beard The Curse Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 7:01 am
I’ve heard him all year screaming “Run” but it’s kinda an oxymoron when he’s also still micro-managing from the sidelines. You can’t have both. You can’t preach freedom yet still want to direct everything.
Also bad defensive doesn’t keep you from running, I’d argue it helps the cause because you’re not expending that energy defensively. Ala the Suns and Warriors. However, bad defense does keep you from winning games. lol.
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fluke Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 3:55 am
uh yes he is. He can run anymore, he can barely jump. All he has in the half court post up and weird floater hook shots.
He is uninspired and lazy, even if he is producing. He could of and still can be the best point guard in the NBA but he never and will never ever care that much to be that.
The real problem is Kaman, he is clumsy and acts like he doesn’t know how to drop step or dunk.
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Beard The Curse Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 6:57 am
Baron is actually in great shape this year. I have no idea what games you’ve been watching, if any at all. He’s perfectly capable of running this year.
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Kevin Arnovitz Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Here’s a fact:
The Clippers are 8th in the league in percentage of possessions used in transition.
Take that however you will.
I suspect had they gotten more defensive stops and had perimeter players who (a) rebounded (b) could run the break, that number would’ve been even higher.
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Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
oh my lord i just read the isiah rumors dear jesus for the sake of all that is sane please let that just be a dirty rumor…
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jgroove Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 1:39 am
It’s false. People believe it’s Isiah and his peeps starting stuff. God knows why…I’m more worried about them trading Camby. I really don’t want to see him go. I think the entire team will give up if they trade him for nothing and we’ll be looking at a 31 win season at best. I’d love to get as close to .500 as possible.
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fluke Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 3:59 am
Camby is an overrated idiot. He acts like he is an offensive player when he should not even be allowed to shoot EVER. Good riddance. We don’t need two post whimps. Look at Craig Smith. He is shooting a solid percentage because he doesn’t shoot gay fades and weird fallaways like Kaman and he certainly doesn’t do asinine contorted layups like Camby does.
We need a power forward, not a 7 foot shooting guard.
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tb Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 9:06 am
Fluke, you are the idiot.
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MGC Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 10:15 am
He also rebounds, blocks shots,passes and hustles more than any other clipper.
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Cpt1021 Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
So his career is a fluke??…what an idot
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Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Good points DJ. I agree that Dunleavy isn’t necessarily a bad coach. I think KA put it best in his ESPN article when he described Dunleavy as a “structuralist.” Dunleavy had a way of doing things, which he sincerely believed in and staunchly defended. When he had the right guys to carry out his system and who believed in his system, it was effective.
Unfortunately, Dunleavy’s failings as a coach can largely be attributed to his inability to adjust to his players. He demanded that his players conform to his system, and the last two seasons were a result of his efforts to stuff a square peg into a circle.
Good coaches either adjust their styles to maximize their personnel (like Riley going from Showtime in LA to thug-ball in NY) or implement systems that don’t require specific types of players (like Phil Jackson’s triangle). Dun clearly wasn’t able to do that, which is probably why his success as a head coach has been limited and he tends to wear out his welcome.
Dun did a lot of good things here and I don’t think he’s a bad coach. It’s just WELL PAST the time for someone new to run things.
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brad Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
well said! We have a lot to be thankful before because of dunleavy, mostly cap space and a solid young nucleus. Dunleavy was never a good coach unless he had the right pieces, he can be the man behind the scenes though ala jerry west.
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Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 1:45 am
The Isiah rumors remind me of when everyone was certain that Dunleavy Sr. was going to acquire Dunleavy Jr. It’s just a nasty rumor that’s just not going to happen. Dunleavy might be a smart x’s and o’s guy, but he’s way to stubborn and cynical to actually inspire a good work ethic with most teams.
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Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 2:10 am
Just cause you yell ” RUN”RUN” RUN” doenst mean anything unless you practice the fast breaks….The showtime Lakers actually practiced their running…There is more to a running game then a idiot yelling RUN….
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Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Dunleavy shouldn’t have gotten a job as Clippers head coach to begin with. He had a horrible history before the Clippers as well.
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craig Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
That’s a good point. Hiring Dunleavy was almost a last resort.
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Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
You can’t teach energy, you either have it or you don’t. I hope people are right by dunleavy being some force that zaps energy or something cuz if not I expect to see more laziness. The game tonight against the spurs will be interesting, they always play tough and we gotta beat them into submission if we wanna win.
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Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
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