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Its been quite a turbulent summer for the Atlanta Hawks but one thing they have going in their favor is a quality coaching staff that is led by head coach Mike Budenholzer. CBS Sports' Matt Moore took a shot at ranking all 30 NBA head coaches and Budenholzer finished in a tie for 10th place along with Terry Stotts and Scott Brooks.
Moore used a 10 point scale to rank the coaches. The higher the rating the closer the coach is to winning Coach of the Year. The lower the rating, the closer that coach is to being fired. Budenholzer earned a rating of 6.5 on the 10 point scale. Here is what Moore had to say about him:
While the turmoil in the Hawks organization continues to suffer from the fallout of their racist-comments scandal, it's important if we're looking at this list to remember the job that Mike Budenholzer did last year. The Hawks were the three seed on December 27th when Al Horford went down for the year with a shoulder injury.
They suffered through a huge downturn thanks to brutal West Coast road trips as they tried to figure out how to play without Horford. They figured it out in the final weeks of the season and the result was an impressive run vs. the Pacers in a seven-game loss that showed the Hawks playing five-out and spreading the floor. With Horford back this year and a few minor upgrades, if the locker room can withstand the turmoil in the front office, there's a good chance the Hawks are a top-four seed in the East.
Budenholzer is right out of the Popovich system, and it shows. The Hawks play the right way and the locker room has no outstanding issues internally. Now if they can just survive the circus this season will begin with...
Budenholzer is even more important to the franchise now that he has assumed the day-to-day responsibilities of basketball operations along with his head coaching duties.
Budenholzer's mentor Gregg Popovich tops the list with a perfect 10.0 rating. There is little debate in the Top 5 that also includes Rick Carlisle, Doc Rivers, Erik Spoelstra and Tom Thibodeau. The second tier is led by Charlotte's Steve Clifford and followed by Jeff Hornacek, Frank Vogel, Stan Van Gundy and Budenholzer.
Exit Question: Is Budenholzer a Top 10 head coach? Where would you rank him on the list of current NBA head coaches?