NBA Playoffs 2017: 5 keys to Clippers vs. Jazz matchup
By Connor Learn
2. Which coach will make better adjustments?
Quin Snyder is an ascending NBA coach after helping lead a winner in Utah. A former Duke captain, he learned from Coach K before getting the Missouri job in 1999. Snyder had success in Missouri before resigning midway through the 2005-2006 season and stating that he was giving up on coaching. He didn’t stay out long and rose the ranks of the NBA. Snyder coached the Austin Toros in the D-League then worked as an assistant for the 76ers, Lakers, CSKA Moscow, and the Hawks. He was given the Jazz job in 2014 and they have improved during each of his seasons at the helm.
Whereas Snyder is a rising coach, Doc Rivers is comfortably near the top. He has coached 50-win teams during seven of the past ten seasons, including the Celtics 2008 championship. Rivers is one of the best leaders amongst the league’s coaches and will have this Clippers team inspired to make a strong playoff run. He knows that these Clippers have something to prove and they will set out to do that.
This series will be a matchup between an established coach and a rising one just as it is an established roster versus an ascending one. Snyder will have a deeper bench at his disposal to make adjustments with and will seek to prove himself in the playoffs. Rivers is looking to unite his Clippers team for another run towards a title, knowing the possible consequences of failure. There could be seven games of adjustments and counters between the coaches: they will be battling as well.