Who is your choice for NBA Coach of the Year?

[Saskibaloia2]

Who is your choice for NBA Coach of the Year?

I'll admit that my second favourite NBA team: Milwaukee Bucks have improved immensely thus, I have to say that my "personal" choice is Scott Skiles.

Nobody ever thought that this team would be fighting for the 5th spot in this season's playoffs. Once their main star went down with an injury, many thought that the Bucks would decline instead, their Aussie Big Man, their young rookie and their new acquisition (John Salmons) have stepped up to the plate and are aiming not only to be the 5th seed in the East but also to possible to some heavy damage in the playoffs. What's more Scott Skiles have brought out the best in their former number 1 draft pick especially on the defensive end where Bogut has put up some "eye popping" numbers on the blocks aspect of the game. In addition, he has guided the young rookie in becoming not only a one dimensional scoring machine but also he has showed him how to be a contributor in other areas of the game. Finally, the other tools that he has especially their new acquisition from the Bulls, have all uplifted their game. Salmons has filled in Michael Redd's shoes without the "ball hogging" characteristics that Redd produced rather Salmons has been shooting the ball at a relatively high percentage (for a guard), Delfino - though at times he's been inconsistent, has provided excellent contributions at the 3 spot and Turkey's new big man has demonstrated that he will be a huge asset for the Bucks organisation in years to come.

However, I believe objectively speaking Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks is the more objective choice for this award.

The Thunder are on the bring of not only making the playoffs but possible rising up the seeding positions in the very, very competitive Western Conference.
Furthermore, he has brought out the best in three of his major players: KD, Westbrook and J-Green.
I believe his turn around of this ball club is greater than what Skiles has done because his ball club is competiting with the "Big Boyz" out West.
Finally, his three players are heading towards All Star status on of whom not only is already there but on top of that KD is shaping up to join LBJ, D-Wade and Melo in dominating the NBA in the next decade.

 

[fadzki2]

My Choice would be Eric Spoelstra of Miami or Larry Brown of the Bobcats...

 

[eliooo932]

I voted for Alvin since I'm a huge Suns Fan.
But I think that S.Brooks will be coach of the year this season!

 

[LordOfLeyte2]

Scott Brooks as the annual buzz around the association seems to suggest but we cannot be so sure unless announced and handed off.

 

[sinobball2]

No love for Mike Woodson of the Hawks? Sure he and the players have had some problems, but he glued a group of (young) forwards into one of the best teams in NBA.

BTW: LordOfLeyte, I didn't know you are into Chinese history

 

[viridianus2]

well, any of the mentioned coach could be chosen as the best this year, but i think that the coach who has achieved the most with the weakest (at least on paper) team should get the prize: in this light, my vote goes to Scott Skiles, who has done miracles with a team that has also lost their best player (Redd)...so, respect for Brooks, Gentry,Woodson etc, but i go with Skiles....and we should not neither forget Mc Millan, who has done miracles with a team decimated by injuries.

 

[World of Basketball2]

Probably Scott Brooks, but we will see.
Cheers,

 

[LordOfLeyte2]

BTW: LordOfLeyte, I didn't know you are into Chinese history

My wife is Chinese and that would explain my interest. I am fond of the historical chapters consisting of the Warring States, Han and the Qing Dynastic eras.

Back to the topic:

Had the Memphis Grizzlies flourished instead of the Thunder, Lionel Hollins would have been almost a hands-down pick.

 

[Khalid802]

For me it's Scott Brooks for sure. The transition that OKC had done from last year to this year has been just amazing (Their total wins last season were 23 while so far they already have 48 wins). Brooks has been able to guide a really young team with players that have awesome potential to play well together and mesh into a great team.

 

[sinobball2]

My wife is Chinese and that would explain my interest. I am fond of the historical chapters consisting of the Warring States, Han and the Qing Dynastic eras.

Oh I see. I really like Chinese history myself, perhaps we can chat in the Asian OT section some time.

Back to topic, here's an interesting article:
http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_14824234

For all the accomplishments in his Hall of Fame career, Sloan never has won a Coach of the Year award.

 

[marsm2]

Tough one this - but I think I'll go with Sloan - the guys been a great coach for years, and given that he has to make do with Boozer, he has done a great job.

 

[mvblair2]

Scott Skiles for me. He turned a flashy rookie into a good defender with Brandon Jennings, used Bogut very well in pick-and-rolls, and also proved that Europeans, in fact, can play stopper defense. He had balanced offensive production all year, with 6 players scoring 10+ points, not including Hakim Warrick and Michael Redd.

Scott Brooks has also been great, but I honestly can't imagine them having a lot of success in the play-offs. They are much better than they were last year, but that still isn't saying much.

 

[Saskibaloia2]

Scott Skiles for me. He turned a flashy rookie into a good defender.

That is one amazing thing that Coach Skiles was able to do because prior to the start of the season I was saying to all my basketball mates that the Bucks could have a fair bit of internal conflict in the locker room because Andrew Bogut, who is considered a veteran within the team, is your typical old school/ fundamental/ non flashy type player (a mix of Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol style) and then you have Brandon Jennings with a history of being a "typical" high school/ flashy/ streetball style point guard. But amazingly it worked out. Maybe the European influence filtered into Jennings to focus on team play rather than to try and become a "Allen Iverson" type player. Him and Bogut are going to be one hell of a combo for the next 5 or so years.

FEAR THE DEER!

 

[mvblair2]

That is one amazing thing that Coach Skiles was able to do because prior to the start of the season I was saying to all my basketball mates that the Bucks could have a fair bit of internal conflict in the locker room because Andrew Bogut, who is considered a veteran within the team, is your typical old school/ fundamental/ non flashy type player (a mix of Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol style) and then you have Brandon Jennings with a history of being a "typical" high school/ flashy/ streetball style point guard. But amazingly it worked out. Maybe the European influence filtered into Jennings to focus on team play rather than to try and become a "Allen Iverson" type player. Him and Bogut are going to be one hell of a combo for the next 5 or so years.

Yeah. I am, Bogut too has his chemistry problems. For example, he doesn't flinch when he criticizes "NBA culture." There was that gaff about Jennings owning a fancy car or something at the start of the year. I guess Bogut, Jennings, Skiles, and the rest of the team all seemed to be on the same page, though. I give Jennings as a kid a lot of credit for that, too.

 

[Saskibaloia2]

Yeah. I am, Bogut too has his chemistry problems. For example, he doesn't flinch when he criticizes "NBA culture." There was that gaff about Jennings owning a fancy car or something at the start of the year. I guess Bogut, Jennings, Skiles, and the rest of the team all seemed to be on the same page, though. I give Jennings as a kid a lot of credit for that, too.

Show's the kid's humility to come into an organisation AND show respect to a former number 1 draft pick how previously was always considered inconsistent, to listen to a coach who was criticised to being too strict and having a system that only works on the defensive end and to become the floor general of a team that was always considered "easy beats".

His humility is a key on his successful rookie season. I think that going to a Euroleague club where there were so many veterans, different culture, basketball styles ... etc helped Jennings become a man very quickly. Could you imagine if he went straight out of his "Superstar" high school career straight to the Bucks, my gosh, I'm sure that he would definitely have clashed with Bogut and Coach Skiles.

 

[durden_tyler2]

Skiles for me. He really instilled a defensive mindset on the young and raw Bucks squad--- a difficult task in itself.

 

[sinobball2]

Brooks wins COY. Not to take anything away from him, but some of his plays at the end of last game vs. Lakers were a little questionable. Of course you may argue without him the Thunder won't stand a chance in the first place.

 

[rikhardur2]

Turnaround garners Brooks award

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Back when the Thunder were 3-29 last season, the notion of the playoffs coming to Oklahoma City any time soon was unimaginable.

But it was that same miserable stretch that made general manager Sam Presti confident that coach Scott Brooks was the right man to lead his team into the future.

While Oklahoma City struggled to the worst start in the NBA, Presti was impressed by the way Brooks stayed the course and never tried to force immediate changes in hopes of making the Thunder better. He now has taken the youngest roster in the league and turned the team into a 50-game winner and a playoff team just one season after the horrendous start.

For that best-in-the-NBA turnaround, Brooks was recognized Wednesday as the NBA's coach of the year. He received 71 of 123 first-place votes and 480 points to finish ahead of Milwaukee's Scott Skiles (26 first-place votes, 313 points) and Portland's Nate McMillan (9, 107).

"He's someone that I think is incredibly consistent as a person. He is unaffected through adversities and also through successes, and I think that's an important quality we want to have as we move forward," Presti said.

Even as he was receiving a statue of Red Auerbach, Brooks faced another daunting turnaround: an 0-2 deficit in the Thunder's best-of-seven series against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant and coach Phil Jackson.

Game 3 is Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

"This is the first-time playoff experience for a lot of us, including myself, and you're playing against one of the best coaches of all sports, one of the best players ever and a team that has 1,000 [games of] playoff experience to ours," Brooks said. "But you learn from playing against the best players and the best teams, and we're going to keep fighting and figuring out ways to beat them."

While the Thunder didn't immediately start winning after Brooks took over for the fired P.J. Carlesimo, there were signs of progress. His decision to move Kevin Durant from shooting guard to small forward increased his production, and the additions of Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic plus defensive-minded assistant Ron Adams started to pay dividends, too.

"We were improved once he took over as the coach. We still lost some games that were tough but we were learning and we were getting better each day in practice," said Durant, who developed into the NBA's youngest scoring champion this season.

"I knew if we continued to do that and not come in and just say, 'Our season's done. Ain't no need to practice. Ain't no need to work hard.' We still came in and worked every day, and he made sure he brought it every day as a coach."

Brooks can sound like a broken record at times, harping on Oklahoma City's need to constantly improve every day, but it's exactly the tune Presti wants to hear. It's why he gave Brooks a multiyear contract at the end of last season even though the Thunder had gone only 22-47 under his leadership.

Of the eight NBA interim coaches with losing records over the past three seasons, only Brooks and Toronto's Jay Triano got a chance to come back for another try. That patience paid off with a 27-win turnaround that brought the franchise its first playoff appearance since 2004-05 in Seattle.

Making the improvement even more unbelievable is that it came without a significant free-agent signing. Instead, it's primarily the same group of players as last season plus rookies James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Eric Maynor.

"They're coachable. I've been around young, talented, non-coachable players. I've been around veteran, talented, non-coachable players," Brooks said. "No matter what you do, sooner or later -- even if a coach comes in that's able to connect with them -- if that's who they are, they're going to go back to it."

Forward Nick Collison, who has been with the franchise longer than any other current player, said Brooks' strength is that he's "not a guy that likes to just hear himself speak."

"The thing that sticks out with me is he's got a really good pulse what's going on with the team," Collison said. "He can sense when we're slipping a little bit and kind of light a fire under us or get on us. Or he can sense when maybe we need a little confidence and not push so hard and try to pick us up a little bit."

Brooks played 11 seasons in the NBA and was a reserve on Houston's 1994 NBA championship team. He got his coaching start in the ABA before George Karl hired him as an NBA assistant in 2003. Presti gave him an interview for the SuperSonics' head coaching position in 2007 and then asked Carlesimo to bring him in as an assistant.

"I think the things that shaped him into the type of player he was in the NBA are similar to the type of things that made him a successful coach, and that is consistency, passion for the game and an appreciation for hard work and humility," Presti said. "Those are the kind of attributes that we want to continue to try to bring into our organization."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5123092

 

[Levenspiel2]

Brooks wins COY. Not to take anything away from him, but some of his plays at the end of last game vs. Lakers were a little questionable. Of course you may argue without him the Thunder won't stand a chance in the first place.

the last a few games of the regular season was lost in a bad way too, but mostly due to inexperienced player mistakes... they all will grow up together i think...

I cannot remember exactly, but there was a statistics related to COY award winners, and it wasn't boding well at all. i guess their following years in general were horrible...

 

[sinobball2]

I cannot remember exactly, but there was a statistics related to COY award winners, and it wasn't boding well at all. i guess their following years in general were horrible...

You are thinking of Avery Johnson, Sam Mitchell, and Byron Scott... so yeah...