If we finish 42-40, it would also mean that we were 16-5 in the last quarter of the season, and 9-1 in our last 10! That's gotta count for something.
This is NBA.com's take on the coach of the year race.http://www.nba.com/features/coach_070411.html Van Gundy is 1, then it's Avery Johnson, Sam Mitchell, Jerry Sloan, and Scott Skiles. Other considerations are Don Nelson, Flip Saunders, Gregg Popovich, Byron Scott, and Mike D'Antoni. Lots of arguments for all of these coaches.
So what does this mean? To get recognition you have to suck the year before or have a chip on your shoulder? I think all this is mostly tied to the general management anyway. I mean just look at player movement and you could probably see that some players work better under coaches than others. Look at Don Nelson having AH and Sjax instead of Dunmurphy (If this was Nelson's move great, but it's probably Mullin's), the Raptors being without that lame GM they had before CoAngelo + new players that didn't whine and want out, and also Pistons + Houston rockets + Jazz are getting too much love. Pistons were never bad even without Ben Wallace because they still had their finals MVP, the league's best 6'7 midrange shooter, some decent vet bigs and defense. The Rockets only lost McGrady for 11 games, what's the problem compared to last year when he missed even more? Plus, guys like Shane Battier are going to deliver as a healthy, super role player and they don't have to rely on guys like Jim Jackson or Bobby Sura who are either hurt or too old to role play. Plus, when Rafer Alston gets 79 games playing healthy compared to 63 games last year... I guess we can say it's all tied to injuries to players and the bench depth to replace those injured players. If the coach can take a guy that isn't that good and play to his strengths, I guess that's a bonus, but then it could be argued that it is tied to the GM's move, not the coach's. It's the difference in getting a guy like Shane Battier to backup Rashard Lewis or Calbert Cheaney to back up Rashard Lewis. Coach just gotta play the cards somebody else was given. I think maybe Don Nelson should get it because IMO he's had more horrible cards than anyone else. Maybe Byron Scott should also get it too because outside of Chris Paul, I don't see any real bonafide stars on the Hornets, but they sure play well together. The Utah Jazz walso were the same way with injuries just like the Rockets. They were pretty good before with Ak47, Boozer, Harpring, and Okur frontline, they just needed Deron Williams to get some burn and the impact inside players to stay healthy. Maybe it's all political, but dang I think some coaches are getting either robbed or getting overrated. The guys voting for COY have to look at which teams don't really have stars or have that much healthy bodies, but still play above expectations. Not compare things to slow starts or last season when the moves could have been different.
I would think Sam Mitchell would be at the top of the list because of the kind of season they are having. They are actually finishing the season very very strong as are the Warriors. Nelson should still be a top candidate IMO.
