Samuel Thrash - First Championship Rookie Head Coach
Jun 30, 2015 0:59:04 GMT -6
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Post by New York on Jun 30, 2015 0:59:04 GMT -6
So we are currently in the middle of coach Free Agency and that got me to thinking about the fact that coaches are rarely in the spotlight in ABCA Legends. When something positive happens for a team, we talk about the players and when something negative happens for a team, we talk about the players or at worst the General Manager. Well I want to take this time to spotlight a member of the New York Knicks organization that accomplished just as much as any player this season, Head Coach Samuel Thrash.
NOTE: Any time I refer to rookie head coaches I am ignoring the inaugural ABCA Legends season because everyone would've been a rookie by default. If you choose not to ignore it then that's fine as well.
A complete unknown with no playing or coaching experience on his resume, the rookie head coach was hired by the New York Knicks General Manager last off-season after they decided to part ways with reigning Coach of the Year, Nat Holman. Those are big shoes to fill when you consider the fact that not only was he the reigning Coach of the Year, but he had just come off of the team’s 3rd straight 60+ win season, the team’s first ever Conference Finals appearance, an overall record matched only by champion coaches like Salvador Rabal and Kenneth Brown, and a laundry list of achievements I can’t be bothered to list. But it was clear the Knicks wanted to go in a different direction, here’s what Knicks’ General Manager had to say about the coaching changes:
Similar to what was done with Holman, we decided to take on another first year coach like in Samuel Thrash. In his seven year run we saw Nat Holman improve on the foundation that Red Holzman built and after reaching an agreement on a five year deal, we expect similar growth from Thrash.
As I said Samuel Thrash was an unknown and looking at how he is rated in each category, you wouldn’t expect him to be a stellar Head Coach but one of the biggest factors in him receiving the Knicks job was the fact that he could contribute in every area whether it was Inside offense, shooting, ball handling, perimeter defense or post defense.
But enough about the lead up to Thrash’s hiring, let’s talk about what he was able to do as the coach of the Knicks. One of the things that was expected of him was improvement on what Nat Holman and Red H did and he delivered. The Knicks saw improvement from last season in several categories including PPG where they averaged 129.7 PPG (previous high had been 123.3), APG, SPG, TPG, 3P% to name a few. Behind all of this improvement the Knicks did something that only the Sonics had done before them by having four all-stars and to my knowledge being the first team to have 3 starters on the same All-Star team. But those achievements aren’t the ones that will shine brightest on Samuel Thrash’s resume as he continues his career.
Let me run some facts by you:
*all of these numbers include Samuel Thrash*
*When looking at rookie status I didn’t look at the inaugural season since everyone was a rookie by default*
11 coaches – That’s the number of coaches that have won at least 65 games in a season
3- That’s the number of rookie coaches that have won at least 65 games in a season
3 – The number of coaches to win a championship and coach of the year in the same season
2 – That’s the number of rookie coaches to win Coach of the Year
1 – That’s the number of rookie coaches to win a championship
As I said, these are all achievements that Samuel Thrash now has to his name and the one specific achievement that stands out is him being the first rookie coach to go all the way and win a title. The Knicks have seen with a rookie coach that you should expect growing pains like they did when Nat Holman replaced Red Holzman and won 49 games and was eliminated in round one after Holzman won 59 in his final season. But Thrash was able to improve the team all around and built on the Conference Finals appearance that Nat Holman delivered last season by winning the title after sweeping the London Towers in the finals.
So now with a stellar rookie season in the books, the question becomes can Thrash build on it or was he just a one hit wonder
So now with a stellar rookie season in the books, the question becomes can Thrash build on it or was he just a one hit wonder
Is this the beginning of a Hall of Fame coaching career or has he reached the pinnacle of his success?
Will we see another rookie head coach in the coming years challenge him or is his spot in the record books secure?
Only time will give us the answer to these question but it should be fun to watch.
Will we see another rookie head coach in the coming years challenge him or is his spot in the record books secure?
Only time will give us the answer to these question but it should be fun to watch.
