This remindes me of Caroll Dawson with the Rockets. A lot of fans thought he was crap during the last few years of Rudy-T's reign. Van Gundy comes in, the Rockets start winning, and suddenly CD is a genius. CD was never a bad GM. The coach was the problem.
Here is an excerpt from yesterday's Chronicle which highlights the affect a coach can have on personnel:
The coaches, not Casserly, were responsible for botching the Foley call. Casserly did his job in working with the coaches. But when the coaches don't even know how to work with or identify the talent they have, it makes it hard for the GM to do his job.