SA210
04-27-2006, 11:00 PM
Popovich deserved Coach of the Year
April 26, 2006
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=86772
Without a doubt, Avery Johnson has done a fine job with the Mavericks. Their 60 wins this season, while cutting their points allowed to 93.1, can be attributed to Johnson's defensive emphasis.
But there are a couple of things that are bothersome about Johnson winning Coach of the Year. First is the fact that the award doesn't seem to have much meaning. The tendency is for voters to reward coaches in new jobs, not necessarily the guy who did the best coaching job that season. Johnson is, technically, a first-year coach, and four of the last nine COYs have been first-year guys. Eight of the last 10 were with their teams just two years.
This seems to be the case with Johnson, who won 60 games at the Mavs' helm this year. Look at the league standings, and you'll see that 60 wins is a good total, obviously. Johnson deserves a tip of the cap for that. But he does not deserve a coach of the year award -- for that, you have to look a little higher in the standings.
Three games higher, in fact, right on up to San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who is by far the league's most underrated coach.
I would need a lot more fingers to count the number of times, throughout the year, that I heard how vulnerable the Spurs were -- from fans, from radio hosts, from other writers and broadcasters. There was evidence to support that sentiment. Tim Duncan's foot has been a problem all year, and he has not been 100 percent at all during this season. He has been a step slow, and though he still grinds out the minutes, he has averaged career lows in points (18.6), shooting percentage (48.4), rebounds (11.0) and blocks (2.0).
Shooting guard Manu Ginobili, who was an All-Star last year and looked like he would break into the league's elite this year after averaging 20.8 points during last year's postseason, has been riddled with injuries to his foot, calf and shin, forcing him to wear protective pads on his thigh, shin and hip. He played just 27.9 minutes per game, started only 56 games and saw his scoring, rebounding and assist numbers shrink.
And that vaunted depth of the Spurs? It disappointed. The new additions played below expectations. Michael Finley averaged 10 points, but he shot just 41.2 percent. Nick Van Exel shot 39.7 percent. Fabricio Oberto brought energy. He also brought a scant 1.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Given all these faults, Popovich had the good sense to let Tony Parker run wild, and Parker did just that, putting in a terrific season in which he averaged a career-high 18.9 points on a ridiculous 54.8 percent shooting.
But to think that Parker's bump up in production was enough to offset the difficulties had by Duncan, Ginobili and the new bench guys is a huge stretch. There was some mighty good coaching going on in San Antonio. Popovich's defensive system is so efficient, and so deeply implanted into his players, that the Spurs---even with Duncan less agile and with Ginobili less psychopathic---were still able rank second in points allowed, and third in field-goal percentage allowed. And that, folks, leads to wins.
One of the more underrated team stats in the NBA is margin of victory. Dallas, to Johnson's credit, is third at 6.07. But San Antonio is first, at 6.81.
Most NBA observers recognize Popovich as a very good coach, but he just does not seem to get credit for how good he really is. Part of that is because of Duncan. Most assume Pop's success is attributed to the fact that he is coaching Duncan and Popovich says little to dissuade them -- in fact, he encourages that notion. Popovich prefers to remain under the radar, acting as though his success in the league must be some kind of happy accident.
Bullflop, I say. His teams are always smart, always well-trained and always efficient at both ends.
This season, out of all of them, with Duncan downsized and Ginobili sidelined, Popovich has done an amazing job. He finished - ahem -- sixth in COY, getting only two first-place votes (I'll let you guess whose ballot one of those votes belonged to), despite leading this team to three more wins than Johnson's Mavericks.
But, then, Popovich has been around for a while, and clearly, voters don't like to give the award to veteran coaches who have been in the same job annually. Look at the five guys who beat out Popovich -- Johnson, Mike D'Antoni, Flip Saunders, Mike Dunleavy and Byron Scott. All, except D'Antoni, are in their first or second years with their teams. D'Antoni has coached the Suns for two-and-a-half years.
Voters, apparently, prefer to vote for new faces than for the most deserving.
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I agree :tu
April 26, 2006
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=86772
Without a doubt, Avery Johnson has done a fine job with the Mavericks. Their 60 wins this season, while cutting their points allowed to 93.1, can be attributed to Johnson's defensive emphasis.
But there are a couple of things that are bothersome about Johnson winning Coach of the Year. First is the fact that the award doesn't seem to have much meaning. The tendency is for voters to reward coaches in new jobs, not necessarily the guy who did the best coaching job that season. Johnson is, technically, a first-year coach, and four of the last nine COYs have been first-year guys. Eight of the last 10 were with their teams just two years.
This seems to be the case with Johnson, who won 60 games at the Mavs' helm this year. Look at the league standings, and you'll see that 60 wins is a good total, obviously. Johnson deserves a tip of the cap for that. But he does not deserve a coach of the year award -- for that, you have to look a little higher in the standings.
Three games higher, in fact, right on up to San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who is by far the league's most underrated coach.
I would need a lot more fingers to count the number of times, throughout the year, that I heard how vulnerable the Spurs were -- from fans, from radio hosts, from other writers and broadcasters. There was evidence to support that sentiment. Tim Duncan's foot has been a problem all year, and he has not been 100 percent at all during this season. He has been a step slow, and though he still grinds out the minutes, he has averaged career lows in points (18.6), shooting percentage (48.4), rebounds (11.0) and blocks (2.0).
Shooting guard Manu Ginobili, who was an All-Star last year and looked like he would break into the league's elite this year after averaging 20.8 points during last year's postseason, has been riddled with injuries to his foot, calf and shin, forcing him to wear protective pads on his thigh, shin and hip. He played just 27.9 minutes per game, started only 56 games and saw his scoring, rebounding and assist numbers shrink.
And that vaunted depth of the Spurs? It disappointed. The new additions played below expectations. Michael Finley averaged 10 points, but he shot just 41.2 percent. Nick Van Exel shot 39.7 percent. Fabricio Oberto brought energy. He also brought a scant 1.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Given all these faults, Popovich had the good sense to let Tony Parker run wild, and Parker did just that, putting in a terrific season in which he averaged a career-high 18.9 points on a ridiculous 54.8 percent shooting.
But to think that Parker's bump up in production was enough to offset the difficulties had by Duncan, Ginobili and the new bench guys is a huge stretch. There was some mighty good coaching going on in San Antonio. Popovich's defensive system is so efficient, and so deeply implanted into his players, that the Spurs---even with Duncan less agile and with Ginobili less psychopathic---were still able rank second in points allowed, and third in field-goal percentage allowed. And that, folks, leads to wins.
One of the more underrated team stats in the NBA is margin of victory. Dallas, to Johnson's credit, is third at 6.07. But San Antonio is first, at 6.81.
Most NBA observers recognize Popovich as a very good coach, but he just does not seem to get credit for how good he really is. Part of that is because of Duncan. Most assume Pop's success is attributed to the fact that he is coaching Duncan and Popovich says little to dissuade them -- in fact, he encourages that notion. Popovich prefers to remain under the radar, acting as though his success in the league must be some kind of happy accident.
Bullflop, I say. His teams are always smart, always well-trained and always efficient at both ends.
This season, out of all of them, with Duncan downsized and Ginobili sidelined, Popovich has done an amazing job. He finished - ahem -- sixth in COY, getting only two first-place votes (I'll let you guess whose ballot one of those votes belonged to), despite leading this team to three more wins than Johnson's Mavericks.
But, then, Popovich has been around for a while, and clearly, voters don't like to give the award to veteran coaches who have been in the same job annually. Look at the five guys who beat out Popovich -- Johnson, Mike D'Antoni, Flip Saunders, Mike Dunleavy and Byron Scott. All, except D'Antoni, are in their first or second years with their teams. D'Antoni has coached the Suns for two-and-a-half years.
Voters, apparently, prefer to vote for new faces than for the most deserving.
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I agree :tu