11 NBA Coaches Who Need Some Valentine's Day TLC

Two NBA head coaches have been fired already this season, and the way things are going around the league, they won't be the only two guys out of the job. In the first month of the season, the Sacramento Kings got rid of Paul Westphal and the Washington Wizards dumped Flip Saunders.

Those two guys are now sitting at home while, of the 30 guys currently employed as head coaches in the NBA, I'd estimate that fewer than a dozen of them are actually happy.

Some coaches like Byron Scott and Lionel Hollins are dealing with replacing guys lost to injury, while others like Nate McMillan and Kevin McHale are trying to get the most out of their guys.

However, there are a handful of coaches out there who have had such a bad time this season that I've decided they deserve a little love this Valentine's Day, so I decided to get each one a little present. It's nothing big—just something to help them out as the season goes along and they face coaching in terrible situations or the threat of losing their job.

Let's take a look at 11 coaches out there who are having a rough start, a hard working environment or just facing the threat of unemployment.

11. Mike Brown: Certainty on His Team

It must be tough being Mike Brown. He's had to deal with two of the most ball-dominant non-point guards in recent history while being expected to run an offense at the same time.

Sure, the man can put together a tough defensive scheme, but when it comes to offense he's pretty much stuck when Kobe gets the ball, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.

Besides that, Brown has no clue whether this will be the team he's coaching in late March, as there's still a chance that the Los Angeles Lakers could end up with Dwight Howard.

So what I want to get Brown this Valentine's Day is a little piece of mind, just for him to know, for sure, whether Howard will be coming over or not; that way he can plan for the future a little better.

10. Lawrence Frank: A New General Manager

It's hard to be the head coach of a rebuilding team, but there's a situation in the NBA as a head coach that's even harder than that.

Right now, Lawrence Frank is the head coach of a team that has one foot in rebuilding mode and one foot planted firmly in the past just waiting for one of them to win out. However, nothing is going to happen by holding onto the past while preventing the future from coming sooner.

So, for Frank, I want to get him either a new general manager or to get Joe Dumars a new state of mind so they can get the future coming now.

9. Scott Skiles: An Injury to His Best Scorer

It seems to be counterintuitive, but Stephen Jackson, while the best option to score with the ball in his hands on the Milwaukee Bucks, seems to be hurting the team more than helping it.

His incredible inconsistency and his inability to realize that he's having a bad night more than counteracts the good he does on the court. That, coupled with a rash of injuries and personal problems for his players, has left Scott Skiles in a tough situation.

So for Valentine's Day, all I want is a little nagging injury for S-Jax; that way he's not too hurt to derail what's left of his career, but just enough to keep him out of games so the Bucks can play more team-oriented basketball.

8. Avery Johnson: Brook Lopez

Avery Johnson was brought into New Jersey with the thinking that he would be the team's head coach when they move into Brooklyn. However, with the team struggling and him seemingly unable to get much out of the team outside of three or four guys, it's looking bleak.

That's why I'm getting Johnson back his center for the remainder of the year; at least that way he'll have somebody down low to pair with Deron Williams besides Kris Humphries.

7. Mark Jackson: A New Weight Room

There are those times in life where people can be overly optimistic, and I think coming into this season, Mark Jackson had one of those times.

Jackson proclaimed that his Warriors team, the one that hasn't played defense since Chris Mullin rocked the flattop, would be focusing more on defense this season.

Well, they tried for a bit, but the team is back to being one of the worst defensive teams in the league, giving up the 29th-most points per game.

All I want to get Jackson is a new weight room for his team, just to get them all to bulk up a bit.

6. Randy Wittman: A Real Job

At this point in his career, Randy Wittman's only job as a head coach has been to take over teams that were in no situation to win now. The early 2000s Cleveland Cavaliers, the post-Kevin Garnett Minnesota Timberwolves and the current Washington Wizards aren't exactly set up to win.

Wittman has the Wizards at 4-7 so far, so he's not doing nearly as bad as Flip Saunders was, but he still has to deal with JaVale McGee losing his focus on offense and the rest of the team doing things that Wizards fans have grown used to.

So really, all I want to get for Wittman is for someone to have a tad more confidence in him as more than just a guy to take over a terrible team. Somebody either get this man a real head coaching job or leave him as the Wizards head coach for more than a few measly seasons.

5. Paul Silas: Another Year

Paul Silas took over the Charlotte Bobcats coaching job midway through last season and was doomed from the start. Charlotte traded away their best player, Gerald Wallace, in the lead-in to a rebuilding that started with last year's draft.

They ended up with two new, exciting yet incredibly raw talents in Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo, so this year was a wash already, which means Silas only had about 15 to 20 games last season where he was coaching a team with any hope of moderate success.

Silas has been a decent coach in his time in the league; he just never had the time to work out a good situation out of a bad one, except for perhaps his time with the New Orleans Hornets.

So, for Silas I'm going to give him the patience of the organization he works for and another year of a job, which may show the team enough improvement to keep him around even longer.

4. Monty Williams: A Healthy Eric Gordon

Monty Williams stepped into a nice, yet risky situation when he took over the New Orleans Hornets back before the 2011 season, leading them to a near first-round upset over the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs.

However, going into this season there was little hope that he would have similar results. Chris Paul was shipped to the Lakers, then he was returned to the Hornets and then away to the Los Angeles Clippers as the Hornets began their blowing-up and rebuilding process.

Then, as his new players showed up the prize of the lot, Eric Gordon, came up with a bum knee two games into the season. Now it seems he'll be going under the knife for a bit of surgery, according to ESPN.

Poor Monty has looked like a good coach, but there's just no player on the Hornets to center each game around, so a healthy Gordon is all I wish for.

3. Mike D'Antoni: A Chemistry Set

What you see right there is Mike D'Antoni's "Well, it looks like I'll keep my job for another week" face. Jeremy Lin has saved the New York Knicks for the moment, setting them on a five-game winning streak ever since he became the Knicks starting point guard.

So, now that D'Antoni's offensive plan is back in shape with a run-and-gun action and Carmelo Anthony out for the time being, all I'm getting for him is a little continuity.

With this chemistry set, D'Antoni can make sure that once Carmelo and Amar'e Stoudemire come back they play like the team has been playing for five games and at least the offense stays potent.

2. Vinny Del Negro: A Creative Offensive Coordinator

Vinny Del Negro is this year's Eric Spoelstra except for one main difference: Spo was being compared to Pat Riley as a head coach and was called a bad coach in comparison; Del Negro is being compared to nobody and he seems to be worse than Spo by leaps and bounds.

Sure, the Los Angeles Clippers are at the top of their division, but the offense has gone stagnant at times and they definitely aren't playing up to their potential. 

His play-calling is repetitive, as once something works he beats it into the ground; plus these plays tend to be unimaginative, leading to a stagnant offense.

They've got a few assistant coaches, but it seems what they need is a legitimate offensive coordinator with a creative mind, because what's happening in Los Angeles could be so much better.

1. Stan Van Gundy: A Big Lunch

There is nary a coach in the land that is in a worse situation than Stan Van Gundy.

First, he's running a team that realizes what's happening every day with the Dwight Howard situation; they're aware that if he's not gone by the trade deadline that he'll probably be gone before next season starts. With futures that much in flux right now, there's no way Van Gundy can get the most out of his players every night.

Because of that lethargy, Orlando has nights where it absolutely falls apart and gets blown out of the water, which has left the team at 17-11.

Worse yet, every now and then you hear a shouted whisper that maybe getting rid of Van Gundy might fix the situation a bit, which is crazy. At this point, after Howard, Van Gundy is the most important person in that organization.

For that reason, I think I'll just buy Van Gundy a nice big lunch, because nothing will make up Howard's mind before the end of the season, it seems, so I'll just get Van Gundy something nice now.

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