Top 5 NBA coaches to look out for this season

Gregg Popovich with his assistant coachesCoaches are often underrated from our point of view because we don't get the opportunity to witness their magic. Leadership is a key factor for every team's success, and most of it comes from the coach. The ability to work with different personalities and different playing styles, and of knowing who can help your team when and where, is what essentially makes or breaks a team.Here's a look at give coaches who seem like to give us a good show this season.

#5 Billy Donovan

Replacing Scott Brooks as Head Coach, Billy Donovan will enter the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. Since the Seattle Supersonics evolved into the OKC, this will be the first change in coaching for the team.

For those who don’t know who Donovan is, let’s dig deeper. Donovan is a veteran NCAA basketball coach from Florida; under him the Florida Gators won the championship twice. He’s been a basketball coach for 26 years and was formerly approached by Orlando Magic in 2007 to become their Head Coach.

Moving to the present with the Thunder, Donovan brings a sense of hope to the organization where everything seems right but they aren’t able to become true contenders. With Durant’s contract ending this year, Oklahoma need to show a sense of urgency to change things up and improve.

Donovan has shown great promise so far in the pre-season, remaining undefeated in the few games that they’ve played. He is focusing on guarding the perimeter better and helping Westbrook take his offense to the next level by developing a post-up game.

The best thing about Donovan is that he’s open to suggestions and is flexible. He has already admitted that NCAA (college basketball) and NBA are going to need different approaches. That knowledge and attitude could help him take Oklahoma City to great heights.

#4 David Blatt

Experienced coach David Blatt would certainly be looking forward to his sophomore year in the NBA. Blatt made some pretty serious errors in his debut year with the Cavs; no argument there. What the team must be hoping though is that he’s taken his time to learn how things work in the NBA, and is primed to show us that he’s earned his place as the coach of one of the best players the game has ever seen.

Coaching LeBron James can be a blessing and a curse. James was pretty dominant throughout last season but it also seemed at times like he disrespected Blatt. We can’t say it’s only James' fault, since Blatt probably didn’t do enough to gain his respect anyway. If nothing else, he made a few rookie errors that were magnified.

But thankfully, James is also the kind of player that can play every position and assume every role. That comes in handy when you have a long list of injured players on your roster come playoff time.

Things with James are getting better for sure. We have a chance to see a renewed Blatt this season, one who will be smarter and more confident in his abilities. Blatt was a great Euroleague coach and there’s a reason he’s been hired to coach the Cavaliers.

Even though they were overshadowed by James' greatness, Blatt made pretty good decisions on the floor to get the Cavs just two games away from a Championship win. His major drawback was lack of NBA experience, but that shouldn’t be an issue now since he's got more than a year’s worth in a single season.

It’ll be interesting to see where Blatt takes Cleveland in his second seaso.

#3 Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers has been a celebrated coach over the years. He’s infamous for being whiny about certain calls from the officials and certain fouls that he thinks weren’t called, but the truth is that he’s a very emotional person. That spreads to his team too – like when we see Jordan just shaking the rim in rage or Griffin chasing down his opponents after a turnover to block them.

Rivers along with his team has had enough of being close to the championship and not getting it. Keeping his finances in check, Rivers has brought in some experience to the bench this off-season. The players know that the Western Conference is tough, and to win here, they’ll have to fight even harder than last season.

Since stamina almost brought them down last time (they were exhausted after facing off against the Spurs and the Rockets back-to-back), they are focusing on improving the bench performance this season. Being a seasoned coach, Rivers knows what to do and how to do it. The players just have to ensure their defense is water-tight because as far as offense goes, they’re killing it.

Newly acquired Lance Stephenson lacks in offensive execution but more than makes up for it in defense. Ironically, it is said that “You got to be an emotional team to play good defense”. The Clippers faithful would be hoping that Rivers' emotions will translate into hardcore defense this season.

#2 Gregg Popovich

On his way to the NBA Hall of Fame, Gregg Popovich has entered his 20^th season with the Spurs, filled with optimism and title hopes. With the new additions of LaMarcus Aldridge and David West, he’s pretty much coaching an All-Star team.

Having managed only one team throughout his career, Pop has formed a bond and developed a chemistry with his team like no one else. With an exhaustive and traditional work ethic, he’s been hard on all his players in order to sharpen them and enable them to play the best games they can.

Pop has earned a whole lot of respect over the years from his players, from other team's players, other coaches – everyone. And that’s going to be a key factor heading into this season, because no matter how big or how great his roster is, the chain of command is going to be extremely clear; he’s the clear Alpha male in the team, and that will help all his stars to function perfectly without any power hassles.

Gregg Popovich will likely make the most out of a near-flawless roster in order to get his 6^th Championship.

#1 Steve Kerr

The reigning champions’ head coach Steve Kerr has shown great promise and instant results in his first year coaching an NBA team. His biggest strength is that he’s humble, detailed and curious about the game. He’s a fair leader who often asks for and considers inputs from his players.

Although Kerr is calm under pressure, he’s fiercely competitive too; you can tell that easily when you see that his team won the championship and finished the season with 67 wins. Kerr also mastered amazing plays in this one year, like his ‘Weave play’ that opens up multiple shooters on the perimeter. Where would the Warriors be without that?

“What makes Steve so great, he doesn’t get caught up in trying to do everything like Phil Jackson or like Pop [the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich]. He sees the big picture on how he wants things done, and uses things from them and incorporates it in his drills and movement and spacing.”

- Luke Walton, Assistant Coach (Golden State Warriors)

Unfortunately, Kerr is out of action at the moment. He’s suffering from a spinal fluid leak which is a result of his disk surgery back in July. He underwent an additional surgery to resolve the issue but hasn’t recovered fully yet, and there is no assurance about when exactly he will be either.

However, Neel Anand, the Director of Spine Trauma at the hospital that Kerr is admitted to in LA, says that he’ll make a full recovery and be back to normal soon. Kerr won’t be able to be back in time for Golden State’s season debut against the Pelicans on October 27^th though, and his top assistant coach Luke Walton will fill his shoes until he recovers.

Hope he’s back soon, so that we can witness another one of his intriguing attempts at winning the title.

Edited by Staff Editor