D'Antoni is a very good coach and he did a good job. With that said, this was a bad selection. Scott Skiles was way more than deserving. He won in his first full year at the job and he won with second to first year players. That's hard to do. Skiles was way more deserving. You can make a case Carlisle too. This Coach of the Year selection stinks and I am a huge D'Antoni fan, but we have to be fair. Skiles or Carlisle should have won it.
Carlisle I am going to state my argument for Rick carlisle again. He didnt have a healthy / unsuspended team ALL YEAR. He had anothony Johnson starting the most game he had started since he was a rookie in 1997. He had Austin Chroshere tying a career high in games started. Fred Jones started more than 2 games for the first time in his career. Scot pollard had to start 8 games for only the second time in his career. James Jones minutes were multiplied by four this year. They only had one player start fifty games this year. That is great coaching, having to constantly shuffle his lineup dealing with injured and suspended players and still getting the 6th seed. Between four starters from the beggining of the season, Artest, O'Neal, Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley they missed 142 games. Reggie was the most healthy starter and he missed 16 games!! Sure other coaches faced challenges but they at least had pretty stable lineups to work with. Injuries didnt heat Seattly until later in the season once they were already comfortably in the lead.
