Coaching success in the NBA is largely about the situation you find yourself in with few exceptions. Erik Spoelstra cemented himself as one of the game’s top minds (or even the top mind) driving a short handed Heat team to the NBA finals as an 8 seed, but end of the day talent won out and his team was unceremoniously dismissed when the point came creative game planning or grit couldn’t save them.
Joe Mazzulla as a rookie head coach found himself in a situation that would be hard to botch and I would say he performed to expectations or even slightly below with a conference finals exit. John Beilein is infinitely more decorated and experienced than Mazz at this point, but Beilein went into a situation where he was setup to fail and fail he did (in hindsight, one of the weirdest ends to a career ever).
