wow. this could be a tight one this year.. i doubt carlisle or brown will get any recognition.. same with phil jackson, adelman, pop, flip.. and so forth, the usuals.. but let's look at stan van gundy, paul silas, terry porter, hubie, bzdelik.. i would mention lenny wilkens.. but their success is all isiah more so than lenny. i actually had the cavs as the #8 seed in the playoffs this year, knowing that lebron would be great.. because of the early comparisons to magic johnson, and we all know how well he did in his first season.. (or we should ALL KNOW). but the heat?.. the nuggets?.. the cavs?.. the dredful grizzlies?.. even the bucks? who isn't impressed? the best part is.. these teams have tons of talent.. and they're using it! they're not waiting to develop.. they're coming out right away.. which i love! if i had to pick one now.. i'm going with paul silas.. on the assumption that they do get into the playoffs. never should've gotten fired from the hornets.. but who knows.. basketball has it's politics. so who is your pick 50+ games into the season?
Seems like all the talk has disappeared for Jerry Sloan lately. I haven't heard his name the last month or so, but I'd still go with Sloan. The Jazz are still only three games under .500 with one of their top 2 guys missing the last 20+ games, with an already thin lineup. If the Jazz can keep it up and stay around .500, I'd give it to Sloan. As for my mid-season coach its gotta be him.
yeah early on he had a lot of consideration from me.. but now, the jazz are in last in their division.
Why not Hubie? 33-22 record in west is just amazing, he'll put the Grizz on 6 or 7th seed playing a 10 man rotation, for me theres no question whos the better coach
Id have to say Sloan/Hubie. The Grizz are doing a hell of alot better than last year. and as for the Jazz well anyteam that has such a mediocore lineup with their record the coach has to be good.
I go with Jeff Bzdelik. He's really helped with the turnaround of that team. Though the assembling credit goes mostly to their GM for going and getting Andre Miller and drafting Carmelo Anthony, he's really helped get the pieces fit together.
see.. everyone has a different selection so far. it might actually have some importance this year than just giving it to the guy w/ the most dominant team. it's going to be interesting in the next 6 weeks. i want to see if all these teams can hold on.
I like Hubie Brown...he, along with JErry West, have turned around the franchise...they've made the GRIZZILES a winner....his unorthodox rotation is working, and he's winning without a true superstar....
there are four that stand out: bzdelik, silas, sloan, and porter... i'd say terry porter, it's because the team doesn't have the definite go-to guy although it has Michael Redd... anyone can be counted on to make big plays during crunch and he's really responsible in making the team gel together...
I'm a Cavs fan, and I wouldn't even put Silas in my top five for this year. He's doing a better job as of late, but his player rotations for the vast majority of the year have been questionable to say the least. Also, the Cavs inability to close out games and execute in the final minutes also has to fall back partly on the coach. I'd have to go with Hubie Brown. Sloan has perhaps done the best job, but its hard to give a Coach of the Year award to a team that is under .500. I know they were forecasted to win 20 if they were lucky, but you have to give it up to the guys whose surprise teams are making noise in the playoff picture. Hubie has done an excellent turning the Grizz from a laughingstock into a Western power. His ability as a 70+ year old man to communicate with the likes of Jayson Williams and Bonzi Wells is a remarkable achievement.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting okaforever:</div><div class="quote_post">yeah early on he had a lot of consideration from me.. but now, the jazz are in last in their division.</div> But that's the Midwest Division, the second worst team in that division is Denver. All but the Jazz are in the top 8 in the Western Conference from the Midwest division, and Utah are 10th. As for COY, it's a flip between Sloan and Porter. Both are leading their teams, who were predicted to be last or their abouts by so called "experts". Hubie and Bzdelik have done good jobs in turning franchises around, but they had the lineup capable of leading them to that kind of record. Both the Bucks and Jazz have lineups far worse than teams with worse records, and the coaches are the reason. Jerry Sloan brings the most out of anyone, with his no nonsense coaching, and he's perfect for a team like the Jazz, and is why Matt Harpring who's a big hustler thrives under his system.
You can make a case for any of the coaches mentioned above. I'll throw another name into the hat, even though I can't stand the guy, Greg Popovich. He won last year and I thinks he's doing a great job with a less talented squad this season. The Spurs have the best defensive team in the league, and despite a slow start they are still in the race for the number one seed in the West. I also like Rick Carlisle for Mid Season Coach of the Year because of the discipline he's brought to the Pacers. They have challenged every Western team and they have dominated the East. They have the best record in the NBA as of today, that has to count for something.
well the pacers have been on the same road for a few years now.. always a great record and such during the regular season. carlisle doesnt need another coty award.. yet.
