The stretch drive of the NBA playoffs is underway, as sportsbook enthusiasts are in search of the best odds for all of the remaining teams. With back-to-back sweeps, the San Antonio Spurs appear to be the odds on favorite to win the NBA title. All 13 players to make up the Spurs roster have bought into coach Greg Popovich’s system. Thus, it got us thinking how much of an impact does good coaching have on a sports betting NBA Championship?

Often times the NBA is heavily criticized by fans of other sports as being a six-team race to the finals. While 16 teams make the playoffs every year, you can usually interchange six teams to be in the mix every year. The reason for this is a combination of good to excellent players, and good coaching. For instance, despite being the coach of the Miami Heat, Erik Spolstra is never put in the same category as Phil Jackson, or Greg Popovich. Meaning to say, the belief that a good team doesn’t necessarily need a good NBA level coach to get them to the final, is misleading at best.

Looking at the aforementioned Greg Popovich, we are seeing, that good coaches often impact their team’s capability to win the NBA title. Popovich has won four Championships, with the trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker. However, Popovich has shown, that it isn’t just about satisfying his three stars, as no player is bigger then the team. Entering the Western Conference Finals winning their first eight games of the playoffs indicates that it isn’t the big three that are contributing, but rather the entire roster. With Popovich having everyone buy into his system, the Spurs are directly feeling the successful impact of a very good coach.