Mike Dunlap

Mike Dunlap (born May 27, 1957) is the former head coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. He was hired in 2012 to replace Paul Silas after the Bobcats' 2011-2012 season, in which the team had the worst winning percentage in NBA history.^[1] He previously served as the interim head coach and assistant coach at St. John's University, and head coach at Metro State.

He also served as the assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets from 2006 to 2008.^[2]

While at Metro State, Dunlap led his team to NCAA titles in 2000 and 2002. He posted an overall record of 248–50, leading the Roadrunners to nine NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his nine seasons as head coach (1997–2006).

Dunlap also served three seasons in Australia (1994-1996) as head coach of the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League, taking the team to the NBL Grand Final in 1994 against the North Melbourne Giants and the semi-finals in 1995 and 1996. Over his three season in Adelaide Dunlap compiled a 59-36 record before returning to the USA just weeks before the 1997 season following the sudden death of his father, though it was incorrectly reported at the time the move was because of a fallout between Dunlap and 36ers management. Dunlap is credited as the coach who kick-started the NBL career of the 36ers all-time leading home grown player Brett Maher in the 1994 season (Maher had debuted for the 36ers in 1992 and would go on to be the leading point scorer (8,941) and games record holder at the club (526), captaining the team to 3 NBL titles as well as having a distinguished international career for the Australian Boomers before retiring in 2009).^[3]

He also spent five years as head basketball coach at California Lutheran University.

In the 2011–12 NBA season the Charlotte Bobcats record was an NBA worst ever 7–59. In the early part of the 2012–13 season, Dunlap led the Bobcats to a 7–5 record, with Charlotte matching its win total from the previous season. However, at that point, the Bobcats went on an 18-game losing streak from which they never recovered. They ultimately finished 21-61, the second-worst record in the NBA. On April 23, 2013, the Bobcats announced that Dunlap had been fired.^[4] Several team sources told The Charlotte Observer that Dunlap had been ousted in part because his often heavy-handed coaching style rubbed the players the wrong way. Before a February game, Dunlap got into a verbal altercation with Ben Gordon that drew national attention. He was also known to bench players for several games as punishment for poor performance. According to president of basketball operations Rod Higgins, the players' negative reviews of Dunlap in their postseason exit interviews were "part of the process, but not the only indicator" that Dunlap needed to go.^[5] Reportedly, the players complained not only about Dunlap's "snappish" demeanor, but about occasionally conducting practices that lasted for several hours.^[6]

Dunlap's appointment as coach of the Bobcats saw him become the first person to be a head coach in both Australia's NBL and in the NBA.

Dunlap is very well known for his implementation and use of a high pressure 1-1-3 Match-Up Zone.

Coaching record

Basketball Training DVDs by Mike Dunlap

^[7]

• Mike Dunlap: 1-1-3 Man Zone Defense
• Mike Dunlap: Transition Offense – The First 6 Seconds
• Mike Dunlap: Organized Anarchy: Defensive Transition System
• Mike Dunlap: Shell Drill On Steroids: Offensive & Defensive Cutthroat
• Mike Dunlap: 10 Points For Better Coaching

References

External links

• St. John's University profile