Voting on the top-five for the most valuable player in the NBA this season will be easy compared to figuring out how to pare down to the top three coaches.
In the Western Conference alone there are at least eight great candidates, and three more in the East. Trying to squeeze 11 guys into three spots isn't going to be easy.
But we will go about this unenviable task over the next month and start thinking about it seriously right now. Since the East has only a few contenders, let’s start there with the best one -- Doc Rivers of the Celtics. Rivers is proof positive how much better a coach can be the second time around, and with this team he has been magnificent. Sure, he was handed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen on a silver platter by general manager Danny Ainge, who is a lock to be executive of the year. Ainge even did a brilliant job of filling in the blanks with veterans to augment what Garnett, Allen and incumbent All-Star Paul Pierce do. Let’s not forget the development of youngsters Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe and Glen Davis by the coaching staff either.
But what we couldn’t know is that they would become the best defensive team in the league. Not only do they have the best scoring differential, but they are leading the league in fewest points allowed, lowest field goal percentage and lowest 3-point percentage, while ranking third in offensive field goal percentage and ninth in scoring. That translates into the team sticking to the game plan, rotating and closing out, and most importantly, really playing hard. Some of that comes from the great leadership of Garnett, et al, but Rivers has put it all together. With already 30 more wins than last season, they will shatter the all-time turnaround record.
Stan Van Gundy has coaxed the Orlando Magic to an entirely different level, too. He’s got evolving Superman Dwight Howard to dominate, but he has also pushed Hedo Turkoglu to playing at All-Star status, even if he didn’t get picked, and integrated Rashard Lewis to create the best frontcourt in either conference. They don’t have the goods to go anywhere in the playoffs, but he has managed to have the second best road record in the league and at least stay in shouting distance of the Pistons for the second best record in the conference despite very pedestrian point guard play.
Speaking of the Pistons, we have to mention Flip Saunders attempting to get the Pistons to a record sixth consecutive Eastern Conference final, as he and management have figured out how to develop a bench this season. Too bad they haven’t figured out how not to be so dependent on mercurial Rasheed Wallace to win a playoff series.
Let’s throw kudos to Eddie Jordan for preventing the thin Wizards from falling apart despite not having Gilbert Arenas for virtually the entire season and losing Caron Butler for the bulk of the second half as well. And only a pure cynic would overlook the job Mo Cheeks has done prodding the young Sixers back to not only respectability but into the seventh seed in the East and on their way up.
Cross the Rockies and this coach of the year stuff is much more complicated, with 2.5 games separating the top seven teams, 4.5 the top eight and 6.0 the top nine.
Consequently, we’re start from the top, with the Rockets and Lakers tied. It’s impossible not to be overwhelmed by the job Rick Adelman has done in Houston, coaching the Rockets to an amazing 22-game winning streak in his first season -- reeling off the last 10 without All-Star center Yao Ming. They’ve done it with a great synergy on defense and on the offensive end. It’s hard to know how they’ll respond from Tuesday’s loss to the Celtics and finishing the season with 10 of 15 on the road could cause them to drop like a rock in this tight race. But that doesn’t minimize the second longest streak in the history of the league.
Hanging at or near the top all season have been the Lakers, and the way coach Phil Jackson has kept them together may ultimately make this the best coaching job of his career. He had to compartmentalize the Kobe Bryant trade demand and sit him out of training camp for a while, develop youngsters Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar, re-integrate Derek Fisher into the starting lineup and then take it to another level with the theft of Pau Gasol from Memphis. As if that wasn’t enough, Bynum has been out for months with a knee injury and won’t play until the playoffs and Gasol may not either with a high ankle sprain. Of course, Bryant makes all of this easier … but Jackson makes it all hum.
On the other hand, nobody has done a better job than Byron Scott has with the Hornets, which oddly enough seems almost like a secret. They’ve been hanging out near or at the top of the conference and the rugged Southwest Division all season. Budding superstar point guard Chris Paul has had plenty to do with it, as has young All-Star forward David West and rapidly developing center Tyson Chandler. But Scott, like Rivers, is proving that a lot of the criticism from his first job has paid off in the second one, and the Hornets – despite a lack of depth – are legit challengers in the West. Having won two conference titles in the East as coach of the Nets plus his three championship rings playing for Pat Riley on the Lakers make him eminently qualified to compete with anybody.
Always overlooked in the balloting, but constantly in the discussion is Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who now has coached the Jazz 20 seasons, the longest tenure in league history. Their 29-3 home record is the best in the NBA and will be the best in franchise history, built around Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, a second generation Stockton and Malone.
Despite winning just 32 games last season and losing top overall pick Greg Oden for the season to knee surgery before training camp even began, Nate McMillan has develop the Trail Blazers into a legit team above .500 in the West. They won’t make the playoffs, but that’s not the point. After a 5-12 start, they won 18 of 20, including 13 in a row and he has developed youngsters Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Travis Outlaw into explosive young players. They all defend every night and they’ll be scary next year with Oden in the middle of that lineup.
Of course, Gregg Popovich has once again done a stellar job keeping the defending champion Spurs in contention and the same goes for Avery Johnson, despite the exaggerated criticism he gets even with the Mavericks always in the mix. And it’s great to know the howling has stopped around Suns coach Mike D’Antoni now that they’ve won five in a row while assimilating the huge round peg – Shaquille O’Neal – into a quite small square hole in their lineup.
It also would be wrong not to mention how well last season’s darling Warriors have hung on for Don Nelson and the bizarre possibility the Nuggets could win 50 games for George Karl and still not make the playoffs – but the latter two carry asterisks because both teams have the fatal flaw of not playing a lick of defense.
Now that we’ve gone through the exercise, it’s time for the top three, with the caveat that I still have a month to change my mind on the second two – particularly if the Rockets and/or Hornets crash:
Are you working on a blog about how the Celtics aren't really the best team in basketball because they play not only in the weaker conference, but the weakest division in the entire NBA.
The Celtics schedule is softer than Kevin Duckworth.
It is great to hear that you and Doug Collins are friends. He may be a foot taller than you, but I still think it is totally awesome. I miss him and Steve Kerr courtside together :-(
Maybe the Jazz will win out the rest of their games and Sloan will get it? If not, I would say Rivers or Aldeman.
Last edited by Little_Spidey on March 19th at 9:56 AM.
Seems like the award usually goes to the coach who made the biggest turnaround. Celtics, Rockets, New Orleans, Orlando.
I would prefer Pat Riley get the coach of the year award for biggest turnaround, you know, the other way. Kind of a participation award. Go spend some more time with your family Pat.
You should consider the tools each coach is given and the way he employs what he has. If YOU were a red-hot NBA prospect at the end of your 3 year deal with your first team with the opportunity to play anywhere in the league, where would you choose to go? L.A.? Miami? New York maybe?
Utah is a terribly small market with very little to attract young players who are often more interested in playing somewhere with a rich nightlife and less conservative atmosphere. This makes it difficult for the Jazz to keep good young players and even harder to attract seasoned, high-priced veterans. Still, count how many times over Jerry Sloan's tenure that the Jazz have been a lottery team because of a losing record.
Therefore, the answer to the question of who deserves coach of the year is and will remain:
1.) Jerry Sloan
2.) Jerry Sloan
3.) Jerry Sloan
Last edited by Todorojo on March 19th at 12:57 PM.
You're right, leaving Mo Cheeks out of the list was a mistake. Out of respect to your comment - and to what he has accomplished, I will edit his name into the column.
He's driven the Sixers back to respectability and that was no easy task. Thanks for writing.
It's absolutely rediculous that Jerry Sloan isn't at the top of this list and every list.
Jerry Sloan has produced monster teams that everyone fears. He's had one single bad season in his coaching career at Utah and that was when they were rebuilding. Two year later, they win 51 games. He should have won it at least twice already, but no one ever looks at him, because winning over 50 is expected and the coaching award only ever goes to one-time surprises who bomb the next year (See Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies. Where are they again?)
The fact that Sloan has no awards and Jackson only has one is an atrocity and should be severely looked at by all the voters.
Jerry Sloan???? Are you kidding me??? Granted, he did create one of the best duos in basketball. But come on, if your team can't win on the road, then you're not deserving of anything.
Utah is lucky the way the seedings work cuz in reality, they would be the #6 overall seed in the West.
Last edited by DodgersLakersNiners4Life on March 19th at 1:03 PM.
Don't get me wrong, I adore Sloan and there have been years when he's definitely deserved it. But unless you're considering this award as a "career achievement," he doesn't deserve it this year either.
They're great at home and below average on the road - too inconsistent for a team that can run up a 29-3 home record. And that's why I didn't include him in my top 3. It's ironic, because he is clearly one of the top 10 coaches of all time and deserves at least one of these awards. I guess it just proves the awards don't mean anywhere near as much as the body of work. Thanks for writing.
Hmm! My top three Coaches of the year would be the following:
a) Byron Scott - without a doubt he's done more with less
b) Rick Adelman - 22 game winning streak and half of that was done without Yao Mang, that definitely deserves a vote.
c) Phil Jackson - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know he has Kobe Bryant, but with Kobe always comes with a big ego and Phil has done an excellent job since Andrew Bynum went down.
My top three candidates for MVP?
a) Kobe Bryant - Yeah Yeah Yeah! I know he's a pain in butt off the court, but you can't argue with the way he has altered his game this year. He's playing team basketball! Oh my God, I can't believe it!
b) Lebron James - Give this kid three more years and he just may be un-stoppable.
c) Chris Paul - Playing with less talent than Kobe and Lebron yet his team still could win the West.
My top Executives?
a) Mitch Kupchak - "The Great Memphis Heist." Yep, that's right, they stole Pau Gasole. I wonder were Jerry West was during this great theft?
b) Danny Ainge - Now, I put him second only because his great friend up there in Minnesota gave him a great Christmas present six months before Christmas. Could Danny Ainge done this without the help of an old friend? I don't think so, just take a look at all of his transactions prior 2007.
c) Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas - Ha Ha! Just wanted to give you a great laugh.
byron scott deserves it. he probably wont get it. i think he should have won it before. i dont think the sportswriters like him. anyone have an idea why? because i dont know
I think it will take the full season to decide this one,
I like Doc, but come one he has two hall of fame players, he had BETTER to good. (allen one of the best 3pt shooters in history, and KG,)
I am a fan, but if the rockets stay atop the west (which is nearly impossible without yao) then it is Adelman all the way. The streak, combined with getting the first spot in what has to be the most competitive conference in the history of the NBA would be enough alone. Add in to that the fact it is his first year with a constant underachieving team, who will have played over half the season missing one of the super stars (first T-mac then yao), AND doing it with no name rookies and role players. I was a little upset when they fired VanGundy, but i had always like adelman. Furthermore, he has had to step out of his comfort zone and rework his patented offense to work with the rockets team. AND he had enough sense to keep VanGundy's wicked defense......
The Jazz just beat Boston and Phoenix on their home floors!!! You can't just look at their road record and opinionate off of that. Everyone overlooks their amazing home record because of a mediocre road one. If you do a little research, other than the Jazz horrible December where they played a billion road games and lost most of them, the Jazz have been very consistent. They may have the sixth best record in the west, but just wait, because they are only two games out of first and have a cake schedule coming up!
One more vote for Byron Scott. He never got the credit he deserved in New Jersey and has done more with less this year. Honorble mention to Mo Cheeks for bringing pro basketball back to Philly and Rick Adleman for having the Rockets buy into his system.
I don't think McMillan is getting enough attention here. People keep mentioning "less with more." The fact that he's coached this team to a winning record is astounding. The other coaches being mentioned all have a veteran leader they can lean on - an on-the-court coach (in some cases more than one.) McMillan doesn't have this luxury but has managed to instill the confidence in sophomore Brandon Roy to be the team leader. If the Blazers get back Oden next year and wind up with a top 4 seed, he'll probably get the award then, but the real tough part would have been keeping this team competitive this year in a conference STACKED with good teams. I'm a blazer fan, so probably more than a bit biased, but nobody thought my team would be watchable this year.
Yes, their sub-par road record this year can only be attributed to their youth. The fact of the matter is that every single player who plays for Sloan overachieves - they put out effort they'de never put out for people like Isaiah Thomas or even for past coach-of-the-year winners. Matt Harpring? Mehmet Okur? Bryon Russel? Kyle Korver? Truth is, Sloan gets everything possible out of his guys.
Their road record reflects where they're at in terms of experience. They lose some games on the road they should be winning, but then they always get up for the games that matter, which means a trouncing of Boston, Phoenix, etc.
As far as Coach of the Year goes, I just always look at the coach who gets his guys to win. And to me, a one-season set of 50 wins doesn't mean anything. Put Doc Rivers on the Jazz and they win 7 less games at least. Put Sloan on the Celtics, and I truly believe they would have a shot at at a 70 win season, instead of what happened: the Jazz officially ending any possibility of that by handing them their 13th loss.
The Coach of the Year is the best coach in 2007/2008 with results to match. Sloan and Jackson should be 1 and 2.
if there should be one coach of the year, then it should be Nate McMillan because no one expected the Blazers to have the year that they had. If Greg Oden was healthy I expected them to make the playoffs without question and possibly first place in the West.
Byron Scott is also another candidate, he took a team that was in last place to a contender.
Phil Jackson also because, I honestly didn't expect them to be this good.
Mo Cheeks, Mike D'Antoni, DOn Nelson and Eddie Jordan are also candidates.
Rick Adelman also is another candidate because besides obviously the 22 game winning streak and they might actually make it past the first round, FINALLY
Should Not Win
Doc Rivers is not a coach, he's just lucky to have players like Ray Allen and Garnett on that team, otherwise he would have had a terrible year like he did last season. I remeber when the fans were chanting for him to get fired.
Avery Johnson just inherited a team that Don Neslon left behind, because if He was on another team I'm sure he would result in another Larry Brown.
For Executive of the year without question goes to Danny Ainge. Also candidates are Mitch Kupchak, and Blazers GM
Last edited by metsthegreatest on March 19th at 2:22 PM.
Wait a minute now!! Before the season started wasn't Utah a trendy pick to go to the Finals?? The Lakers didn't make any changes to this woeful team of rejects(BG)before Gasol!!
1:Phil Jackson
2:Bryon Scott
3A:Rick Adelman
3B:Nate Mcmillian
3C:Mo Cheeks
I'm sorry all these JAZZ fans want a lifetime time achievement award for Mr. Sloan!!
Coach of the Year should go to the coach who wins the most with the least (the reason Mike Brown deserves more credit than LeBron right now, and why LBJ shouldn't get the MVP, but I digress).
1. Byron Scott. Yes he's got 4 guys in the starting line-up that can play, but then what? Nothing, no bench.
2. Jerry Sloan. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Boozer the oldest guy on that team?
3. Mike Brown. LeBron and what? Don't even say Ben Wallace
Honorable mentions: Phil in LA. He has had to adjust to so many injuries, major ones too, on top of the what everyone THOUGHT was going to be chemistry issues over the summer, and the Lakers are still in first (tied w/Houston), with the 3rd best record in Basketball (tied w/Houston). Rick Adelman. He has had to adjust to one big injury, and he had the streak, but I'm not comfortable giving him a top three because I just know the deepest they go in the playoffs is 2nd round, maximum. Also, I have to throw Stan Van a bone here. He's a good coach (Miami was good with Stan too, but Shaq had personal problems with him so Riley inserted himself), and he turned the Orlando Underachievers into players. Another bone goes to McMillan, he's kept that high school team (not a crack at their ability, but at their experience) together, they'll be a playoff team next year and not just barely.
Last edited by mattm5150 on March 19th at 3:14 PM.
Lot of great candidates all are really deserving, but I'll take Byron Scott,who thought the Hornets would have chance at the#1 seed in the BRUTAL WEST. And MAYBE Rick Adleman 2nd a coach who's been to the finals with the Blazers in 1990 and should have gone with the Kings in 2002.
Mets, if Danny Ainge gets Exec of the Year, he has to split it with McHale. There's no way that KG trade happens without the Celtics of the 80's. Toronto probably wins that division if the Allen trade is the only deal they make. Plus, renting two guys in PJ Brown and Cassell, for the remainder of the year, that wanted to go there, does not make him a great GM.
Last edited by mattm5150 on March 19th at 3:54 PM.
So for my money, the Exec award comes down to Kupchak. He had the balls to keep that team together when everyone, not just Kobe, everyone (myself included) was killing him. It turned out pretty good not giving up too much to get Kidd or JO, or even Garnett. Because as a fan of the Lakers I'm happy to see Bynum developing into a player for a decade or more, instead of KG's 2 or 3 years before retirement. And if you look at the team Mitch has built, Kobe and Fish are the oldest guys on that team, and most of the guys are under contract for awhile AND have already played together for a couple years. He's built the team and they will be good for a while. Throw the deal for Gasol on top of all that. And even the Ariza deal, he got hurt, but fit right in when he got there and was playing. Mitch for Exec of the Year, my god I never thought I'd say that. He trusted himself and he was right and everyone else was wrong, he should get credit for that.
Pritchard in Portland didn't do a whole lot to build the team, except draft Oden who hasn't played yet. The guy that deserves the credit for the Blazers is Whitsett, the last GM (well, two GM's ago), who made all those trades during the '06 draft for all the young guys and draft picks, that everyone thought he was crazy for making. It turned out that those guys are playing well together and will only grow better together every year.
DodgersLakersNiners4Life, you can say the same with the MVP award. How many times should Jordan and Shaq have won it in their primes. They got tired of Jordan winning it, so they started awarding it to other players like Malone and Barkley. (Jordan's Bulls beat both of them in the Finals the year they won it.)
Conspiracy may be too strong a word, but McHale DID NOT even come close to doing what was best for his current team. He did what was best for his former team. If he's not in the Boston front office after being fired (or resigning from) the Wolves in the next year or two, I'll be shocked because that's where he wants to be and that's who he actually wants to win.
Last edited by mattm5150 on March 19th at 3:32 PM.
I think the main thing going against Byron Scott is that he has an MVP-caliber point guard leading his team; if he didn't have Chris Paul, but still had almost as good a record, then I would give it to him, hands down. But, it is either CP or Scott getting the award, not both. Someone has to receive the majority of the credit, because splitting it 50-50 does not get either of them an award.
Doc Rivers did not do anything. All he had to do was listen to KG, Allen, and Pierce when they told him they were tired, and when they were ready to go back in. He really does not know how to preserve his stars, shown by the fact that he left KG in the game WAY too long last night. The announcers even thought he should have gone out sooner to preserve his health.
Mike D'Antoni is nothing without Steve Nash. Neither is Stoudamire. Both of their careers are intertwined with Nash'. Having said that, the whole ship is going to sink next year. Shaq's contract weighs almost as much as he does.
Phil Jackson didn't really do much; if you had an assistant like Tex Winter and you throw Kobe and Pau into said assistant's gameplan (triangle), you would win too. But I think he deserves credit for the development of the young guys, plus the integration of Fisher and Ariza. Not quite coach of the year material, but he is a good coach.
Jerry Sloan is consistantly overlooked because he is great every year. This award seems to be more of a comeback team of the Year award rather than the coach of the year. So many of the arguements seem to focus on the improvement from the year before. So since Sloan has only had one bad year and will not have another bad year, his chance are slim to none and that is a tragedy.
The Lakers were rated no.10 during the preseason and some so called experts(like Mike Khan) predicted the Lakers will not make the playoffs. Where are they now? Tied with Houston for West's first place.
