Top 5 coaches in NBA's Western Conference right now
NBA head coaches have a tireless job preparing their teams for every second of NBA basketball. They watch, observe, teach and challenge. The challenge is to motivate their players to execute efficiently so they'll be prepared for the next big moment. In the Western Conference, a few NBA teams are rolling early and despite the Eastern Conference growing in strength, coaches out West are putting their teams in position to win an NBA championship this season.
Let's check out the top 5 Western Conference coaches as of 11/27/21.
The partnership between Luka Doncic and Jason Kidd is only going to get better each day 💯 https://t.co/dmrBhRYRyU
#5 Jason Kidd
From up-and-coming reporter Landon Buford -- who covers the Dallas Mavericks:
"After a slow start, the Dallas Mavericks are buying into Jason Kidd's philosophy and coaching scheme of trusting your teammates. It's allowed both Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic to feed off each other as of late!"
When Jason Kidd was hired to coach the Dallas Mavericks - the team he won NBA Co-Rookie of the Year (Grant Hill) and eventually the NBA championship with Dirk Nowitzki leading the charge - Luka Doncic was the focus. Kidd was a defensive triple-double dynamo throughout his career and pairing him with Doncic in a mentorship role will only augment and speed up the phenom's NBA development on both ends. Kristaps Porzingis is no longer a decoy and his string of 20 point games was exactly what the Mavs needed to keep the pressure off Doncic. The Unicorn looks much more free under Kidd early.
The Mavs are currently 5th overall in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9), and while their only other appearance in the top 10 of anything advanced statistically is 8th in defensive rebound percentage (74.6), the 10-8 record is where they should be early in the year. If the Dallas Mavericks are to win against the NBA elite, a focus on defense must be attained or another early playoff exit is on the horizon.
#4 Ty Lue, the most underrated coach in the NBA
When Kawhi Leonard unexpectedly went down with a knee injury that has kept him out of all games early in the season, the onus was on Ty Lue to keep the Los Angeles Clippers together, especially as their rivals the Los Angeles Lakers are dealing with injury issues of their own. A 2015 NBA world championship coach would be a great candidate to restore credibility to the Clippers and Ty Lue has done exactly that. He has alternated lineups and sometimes plays 2 big men at the same time to offset small ball by the opposition.
After a rough start, the Los Angeles Clippers sit at 11-8 which is tied for 3rd out West. LA is 2nd behind the Golden State Warriors with a 103.39 defensive rating, and 7th with a 3.04 net rating. Until Kawhi returns to the bench, defense will be the name of the game that Ty Lue will stamp his personality onto in spades. He is the king of adjustments and as the season wears on, Ty Lue will only make the Los Angeles Clippers as good as they come.
Elbow entry right into empty side hand off action for PG. Zu sold this so well by running into that elbow entry from strong to weak.
Empty side PnR stuff is always tough to defend. Good stuff here from Ty Lue. https://t.co/8BiVm1pWCY