It presents some hard data to indicate that LB may create winning teams but is not so hot when it comes to producing winning players. Because each case was unique because of some of the variables you mentioned (as well as others) I’m sure the few ILBIT zealots that still exist out there will poke holes in your conclusion and individually, the Brown effect can be debated. But when looked at from the perspective of the big picture you have provided, it’s pretty damning evidence. You also confirmed something for me I mentioned a few days ago; that Brown’s approach to coaching is still college-minded. When he looks at Henderson he doesn’t think “rookie” so much as he thinks “underclassman” or “junior varsity.”

I look forward to the non-game days here at Rufus because you always manage to come up with something that is interesting and also debatable enough to get a discussion up and running. I scrounge the trades and websites myself looking for information but you seem to have a steady supply already in your pocket just waiting for a scheduling lull.

Is there evidence that we should expect coaches to produce stars? I know coaching is important, but the true stars of the league are generally that way because of their abilities, not their coaches. The true stars of today (Paul, Wade, James, Kobe, Dwight) may have been helped by their coaches but aren’t created by their coaches. Outside of Wallace (who still needs a jump shot if we’re honest) LB isn’t really coaching star talent right now. And don’t jump on me about the Wallace comment. I love his game and think he deserves to be an all star this year.

Let’s not forget the draft always has been and always will be a bit of a crap shoot.

A little more elaboration on the coaching thing, now that I’ve read the other posts.

1. It is at the college level (to a lesser extent high school) that most American athletes learn how to hone their raw talents.
2. Even then, it generally takes players several seasons to “learn” how to play the pro game – especially in basketball. As evidence of this, how many basketball players make the AllStar squad in their first season? Second? If they were “born” stars it wouldn’t be news whenever a rookie hit it big – it would be the expectation. It would only be newsworthy if a rookie turned out to be a failure.
3. The exceptions to the things I’m talking about are in sports like tennis, skating, and soccer. In these types of sports, the earlier a good coach can begin working with the athletes the better the chance the player will develop a pro game.

The deeper irony here is that LB coaches like an old school college coach but fails when working with young players. It should be his primary forte. If we attribute the improvements in Felton this year to the influences of Brown, where are the same dramatic improvements in our other players? Do the other dozen odd NBA athletes on our team just not listen? Is our team comprised of players that somehow, despite their “natural” born skills were all NBA unready?

Yes, there are people such as Kobe that have insane skills coming out of the gate, but they are rare. Tommy Heinsohn said that Larry Bird was a rookie, “for about 20 minutes.”
But the truth of it is, NBA coaches teach young players the NBA level plays. They work to refine the existing raw talents of the players coming up. They work with veterans that need new skills (like the earlier mentioned jumpshot absent from Wallace’s repertoire).

A player receiving a college hoops scholarship gets it because of the presence of talent and (most of the time) the genetic disposition toward bumping his head on doorframes.

A player drafted into the NBA at (most years) the 5 pick or lower comes into the league with known flaws and absences in their overall game that the coaching staff is responsible for correcting.

Larry Brown does not do these things and David, your chart illustrates that.

I haven’t done any research into it but I’d just like to say I like Larry Brown as a coach I think he generally always gets the most out of the players available and creates a winning team, seriously the only team brown has ever coached that he didn’t get to .500 was the knicks and as D’Antoni is finding out now the problem there was not Brown.

Yes it might be true that he doesn’t give his rookies minutes but I’d say if the rookie has potential he gets 20mins a game (see Okur, Frye, Lee, Hughes and Ariza above). However it should also be mentioned that MacCulloch and Mohammed played behind better players in Coleman or Mutombo.

However all you need to do is look at LB’s record and you realise regardless of what he plays rookies he turns teams into winners and in most cases he leaves the franchise in a relatively good standing when he leaves (with a few exceptions which might be better explained by the coach that took his position). So stop Brown bashing and just support the Bobcats and know that if we get the talent here Brown IS a coach that can take them to a championship, few other coaches genuinely can claim that.