I said and think Brown is an excellent coach. But I think POP has accomplished more. Winning 3 NBA titles coming out of the WEST is more impressive to me than making it to 3 NBA finals and winning 1 title. Not to mention POP beat Pistons this year without 100% team.
Brown has made it to back to back finals but he benefited from every opponent he faced having injured star players. THAT IS A FACT! In the last 2 years, every elite playoff opponent Brown faced was less than 100%. The year Brown took the Sixers to the finals, the EASTERN CONFERENCE was a piece of $hit and Lakers smoked the Sixers. The west was loaded and the Sixers might not have even gone past the 1st round in the west that year. I am confident Sixers would not have made it to the finals coming out of the west. So I am sorry if I do not put Brown on a pedestal like the rest of you. Pop has accomplished more and the Spurs were in the East (where Brown coaches) then Pop might have 5 NBA rings now and prob. 7 NBA finals appearances.
A coach is supposed to put his team in situation to win get the most out of his players. There is no doubt in my mind, Pistons would be better off if R. Wallace played in the paint. He doesn't and often drifts out. Whether or not he is listening to Brown, that is a reflection on coaching. Brown is not giving his team the best chance to win IMO with Wallace playing outside the paint. If Brown was an excellent coach he would put his team in best situation to win. Spurs prob. would have lost to Pistons if Wallace attacked basket like Duncan. There is no doubt in my mind Popovich would bench wallace if he did not play the way POP wants him too. Why? Because Pop isn't afraid to yell at his star players and get them to play his way. Look at how he took Parker out in game 7 of finals because Parker took 2 bad shots or something like that. You don't see Duncan hanging around outside the paint repeatedly jacking up shots. If he did that, something tells me Pop would get in his ear! Look at how well Pop coached Ginobili last 3 years and he always had short leash on Ginobili if he got too wild and out of control.
Someone said look at R. Wallace now vs on Blazers. I say, look at his #'s on Blazers and his #'s on Pistons and they are the same and in some cases better. Blazers had ton talent on the team (some years most in the NBA) so Wallace did not have to carry his team most years in Portland. It was not like he was the only guy in Portland. HELL< Blazers had J. Oneal who couldnt play any minutes because they had too many star players ahead of him. R. Wallace said Oneal was stud at practices in Portland but couldn't get playing time. So no way did Wallace have to carry his team in Portland.
The major difference between Wallace in Portland vs Wallace in Detroit is Technical Fouls. That credit goes to Larry Brown and the surrounding players in Detroit.
BTW, Wallace prob. would have an NBA title in Portland if KOBE and Shaq didn't lead that big Laker comeback and Blazers blowing that big 4th q lead.
