Top 10 List: 76ers worst coaches
Should Doug Collins should be NBA Coach of the Year? That question is worthy of debate. One thing about Doug Collins’ body of work thus far is that it rates quite well relative to his predecessors, and prompts us to create a Top 10 List on the subject.
You might think that would mean that we give you the 10 best 76ers coaches of all time. But to truly appreciate Doug Collins’ work this season, we think that a Top 10 list of the WORST 76ers coaches of all time is far more apropos…
10. Gene Shue (1973-77, 157-177)
He still owes us one
9. Jim O’Brien (2004-05, 43-39)
Only winning season since Larry Brown left, but O’Brien managed to alienate everyone from players to front-office staff
8. Randy Ayers (2003-04, 21-31)
It’s not easy following Larry Brown. And it certainly wasn’t easy for Ayers
7. Kevin Loughery (player-coach, 1972-73, 5-26)
Sixers improved with Loughery as player-coach, but still finished 9-73
6. Fred Carter (1992-94, 32-76)
An improvement over Doug Moe, but that’s damning with faint praise
5. John Lucas (1994-96, 42-122)
May have done better job if he wasn’t also GM. Then again, maybe not.
4. Johnny Davis (1996-97, 22-60)
There’s a reason he and the GM who hired him were both “one and done”
3. Eddie Jordan (2009-10, 27-55)
Improvement this season with similar roster highlights how badly Jordan coached
2. Doug Moe (1992-93, 19-37)
Didn’t want the job — and coached like it — but Sixers offered too much money to turn down
1. Roy Rubin (1972-73, 4-47)
.078 winning percentage says it all
PhillyPhanatics.com's Best of Top 10 lists | Philly Phanatics - THE online community for Philly sports fanatics Says:
[...] Top 10 List: Worst 76ers coaches (4/5/11) [...]
Posted on April 13th, 2011 at 10:09 am
Sean Campbell Says:
Gene Shue should not be on this list. If anything, he is one of the 10 best coaches Philadelphia ever had. He took the lowly Sixers to the NBA Finals in ’77. Never forget that!
Posted on July 13th, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Ron Opher Says:
Thanks for the comment, Sean. There have only been 21 head coaches since the Sixers moved to Philadelphia. Shue would therefore just miss the Top 10, too! Fair point about how they kept improving, but a lot of that was due to the Dr. J trade and good draft position. The organization clearly felt that Shue would not bring them to a championship after the loss in the ’77 finals – and we agreed. Keep on visiting and contributing!!
Posted on July 13th, 2011 at 9:50 pm