Bird as coach

[jmc@ptc.com (Jonathan McIntyre)]

Dennis Mercon said:
> Bird has done an excellent job with the Pacers.  I personally did not think he
> would be successful as a coach for all the reasons that have been discussed on
> this list.  I think he will be even more successful with younger players than
> he has been with the veterans.  The rookies should be more coachable than the
> vets.

I also thought Bird might have trouble as a coach, and it was for the same 
reasons that Magic Johnson did, which was that he'd get frustrated that the 
players wouldn't listen to him or respect what he had to say.  But that 
hasn't happened with Bird.  

The article on Bird in the Sunday NY Times explained the reasons best.  
(Forgive me if I repeat anything that's been said in the last few days; 
I haven't had time to keep up with everything posted to this list.)

One reason is that Bird has the ability to say a lot in a few words. 

Another is that he doesn't get overly critical of every mistake, like many 
coaches do.  He's low key, not in-your-face, and that lets the players have 
fun.  Low key doesn't always work, as we saw with ML Carr, but the
problem with Carr is that he was too loose, and had no structure and
rules to guide the players, or at least none that he enforced.  The NY
Times article explained how Larry enforces rules with an iron fist.  2
players who were late for a flight and who missed Larry's 4pm cutoff
time by one minute were left at the airport even though everyone could
see them speeding to the plane just outside, and begged Larry to open
the door and let them in.

Another is that he has veteran players on his team who respect what he has 
to teach them.  Mullin said something like "we learned from him when we 
played against him, so it makes sense that we'll learn alot playing for him".
Only the veteran players who played against him would have this kind of 
respect, which is why I disagree with your conclusion about Larry having 
more success with younger players.  I think he'd have more frustration with 
younger players, at least until he earns a reputation as a great coach, 
which he's beginning to do.  

Another thing that I think of is that Larry has had such a god-like status 
to the people of Indiana since he was in high school that if they players 
show disrespect for Larry, the fans will probably disrespect those players. 

I think Larry would have had a much more difficult time coaching in Boston 
than he has in Indiana. 

Jon Mc