The latest rumor has Tubby Smith of the University of Kentucky replacing Bernie Bickerstaff at the end of this season as head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats and Bernie Bickerstaff moving upstairs to focus solely on his General Manager duties.
The positives of this are, we would get Bernie out of the head coaching position. We all know that Bickerstaff is certainly not the guy to coach this team for the long haul , theres no record of him ever elevating his players and making them play above the level of their talent which is what the truly great coaches are able to do. This is also the offseason that the Bobcats may actually make a significant move in the free agent pool. Adding a quality free agent along with a high draft choice that could possibly be an Adam Morrison or a Rudy Gay , will increase our overall talent level tremendously. Because of that we’d be much better off with a coach that is “more suited” for a team with a higher talent level.
The negatives of this is really just one. Tubby Smith is a college coach. Hes a very talented National Cahmpionship winning college coach, but the fact remains He IS a college coach. The list of superstar college coaches that have entered the NBA and failed is a long one. The NBA graveyard is littered with “great” college coaches like the Rick Pitinos and John Caliparis of the world that were supposed to come into the NBA and tear the league up. We’ll have to wait and see what the Bobcats decide to do, but In my opinion I would take a seasoned NBA assistant over a college coach any and every day of the week.
