duncan228
03-05-2008, 08:52 PM
http://my.nba.com/thread.jspa?threadID=300026718
Coach of the Year: First Rankings
by Rob Peterson
When I announced in the office that we'd be starting Coach of the Year rankings, the office skeptic (Let's call him John S. No, wait. Too obvious. Let's call him J. Schuhmann), piped up: "What? No one'll read that."
Stung by the lack of interest from our cubical community, and possibly in cyberspace, I sauntered up to the esteemed Maurice Brooks, author of Race to the MVP, and sarcastically asked: "Excited for the first Coach of the Year rankings?"
"Yeah, man" said Mo in his best Brooks, which is very Hakuna Matata.
"Thanks," I said, not convinced.
"No, seriously. People want those."
Mo then explained to me what people want (not all of it was printable) and Coach of the Year rankings seem to be something in demand.
Buoyed by Mo's energy level reaching six out of 10 for the first time this year (and by the big boss man's insistence we do this), I'm charging full steam ahead with these rankings. Unlike Race or Dave McMenamin's Rookie Rankings, which rank 10 positions, COTY will rank five coaches, five to No. 1. We'll also point out a particular coaching move we found intriguing and we may also pontificate about our pet peeves. We may even combine the intrigue and peeve into one post.
Speaking of which, the game's founder, Dr. James Naismith, had a definite opinion on coaching: "Basketball was never meant to be coached, only played."
Then again, he's the only coach in the history of Kansas University to have a losing record, so maybe he didn't have the requisite talent. Ah, talent. You could be the greatest coach in the world, but if you don't have talent, you're not going to win. It is very simple. While poor coaches can muck up good talent and good coaches get merely sufficient effort out of their talent, great coaches make the most of it.
"You can't come in here and yell at these guys," said a man who has worked both in the college and pro ranks, "they're men."
With that thought, here's this week's humble Tip 'o the Hat Award: New Jersey's Lawrence Frank.
With Jason Kidd now in Dallas, and Devin Harris turning in a whale of a performance in his debut against the Bucks on Feb. 28, Frank has let his team play. Frank now has a team that can move the ball and move up and down the floor. They've averaged 105.4 points per game since the break and improved to 109.8 points per 100 possessions, slightly above the 108.2 league average, but far ahead of their 104.0 PPP heading into this week. All of which leads to our ...
Tip 'o the Week: Open shots are good shots.
This one's simple and it's why we have plays. You want to get the ball to your best player for an open shot. In the last two decades, NBA coaches have forgotten the last half of the equation. With the NBA athlete's supreme ability to make something out of nothing, coaches have relied on players to bail out the offense as the shot clock winds down. (It's also harder to get open shots because those same athletes are as good on defense, but that's another article.)
So instead of adjusting to these athletic defenders and defenses, and the fact that advance scouts share each others plays and sets and that video has captured everything you've done for the past six years, coaches have had to find a way to put their guys into position to get wide-open looks. And if your half-court sets bog you down, the next best way to get open looks is to get down the floor before the defense can set up. You know, a fast break. And let's get rid of the word transition. It sounds too technical, too robotic. Transition is what you do when you're moving from job to job.
Fast break. That's a basketball term. It's fun. It's fast. It's the open floor. You have 94 feet. Use it. Quit limiting yourself to the 47 feet on your half of the floor. Please. I'm begging you.
As you know, these rankings are in no way official. They're just the personal opinion of the author. Here are your inaugural Coach of the Year rankings, from five to one:
No. 5: Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers, 30-28, 10th in the Western Conference
Why he's here: This initial top-five ranking for coach McMillan is a cursory one. If we had started these earlier in the season, McMillan would have been at the top of this list. But injuries to James Jones and now Brandon Roy have stalled the Blazers, who are 4-9 in February. Coach McMillan probably won't be in the top five next week, but we wanted recognize the job he did in the season's first half.
No. 4: Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets, 37-20, seventh in the Western Conference
Why he's here: My pre-season pick for Coach of the Year, Adelman has had the Rockets on a roll, winning 13 in a row. He survived Tracy McGrady missing his annual 17 games, can Adelman survive losing Yao for the rest of the season and the playoffs, if the Rockets get there? If Houston does make it to the postseason without their 7-6 center, Adelman deserves serious consideration for the Red Auerbach trophy.
No. 3: Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics, 44-12, first in the Eastern Conference
Why he's here: Could he bring the Auerbach trophy back to Boston for the first time since Bill Fitch did it in 1979-80? Rivers, who won the award in 1999-2000 when he was with the Magic, was the front-runner for the award through the first three months of the season. But the Celtics have cooled from their record pace, and the Pistons are within three games of the No. 1 seed in the East.
No. 2: Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers, 41-17, first in the Western Conference
Why he's here: To be the top seed in one of the most brutal conference races in NBA history should get some recognition. Jackson started the season with a petulant Kobe Bryant, a green 20-year-old center in Andrew Bynum and plenty of question marks. Since then, Bryant just played, Bynum emerged and the Lakers thrived. Then Bynum went down. The Lakers managed to stay afloat. Enter Pau Gasol via trade. The Lakers are 13-1 since Gasol's arrival, a testament to Gasol's talent and Jackson's ability to put a new player in a position to succeed. This season may be Jackson's finest in a Hall of Fame career. If the Lakers remain the No. 1 seed in the West, then it'll be difficult to deny Jackson his second COTY award .
No. 1: Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets, 38-18, third in the Western Conference
Why he's here: OK, who, before the season, thought the Hornets would be in the thick of the race for the Western Conference's top seed?
[Crickets]
That's right. While Scott's emergence as the leading Coach of the Year candidate has -- not coincidentally, I may add -- coincided with Chris Paul's MVP-level play, Scott has done an incredible job of keeping the Hornets together. The talent -- Tyson Chandler, David West, Peja Stojakovic -- is there. Making it work together is another story. And the Hornets have been quite a story. Coach Scott shouldn't look back, however. Someone may be gaining on him.
Also receiving "What about them?" consideration: Jerry Sloan, Utah; Gregg Popovich, San Antonio; Stan Van Gundy, Orlando; Flip Saunders, Detroit; Mike D'Antoni, Phoenix
Coach of the Year: First Rankings
by Rob Peterson
When I announced in the office that we'd be starting Coach of the Year rankings, the office skeptic (Let's call him John S. No, wait. Too obvious. Let's call him J. Schuhmann), piped up: "What? No one'll read that."
Stung by the lack of interest from our cubical community, and possibly in cyberspace, I sauntered up to the esteemed Maurice Brooks, author of Race to the MVP, and sarcastically asked: "Excited for the first Coach of the Year rankings?"
"Yeah, man" said Mo in his best Brooks, which is very Hakuna Matata.
"Thanks," I said, not convinced.
"No, seriously. People want those."
Mo then explained to me what people want (not all of it was printable) and Coach of the Year rankings seem to be something in demand.
Buoyed by Mo's energy level reaching six out of 10 for the first time this year (and by the big boss man's insistence we do this), I'm charging full steam ahead with these rankings. Unlike Race or Dave McMenamin's Rookie Rankings, which rank 10 positions, COTY will rank five coaches, five to No. 1. We'll also point out a particular coaching move we found intriguing and we may also pontificate about our pet peeves. We may even combine the intrigue and peeve into one post.
Speaking of which, the game's founder, Dr. James Naismith, had a definite opinion on coaching: "Basketball was never meant to be coached, only played."
Then again, he's the only coach in the history of Kansas University to have a losing record, so maybe he didn't have the requisite talent. Ah, talent. You could be the greatest coach in the world, but if you don't have talent, you're not going to win. It is very simple. While poor coaches can muck up good talent and good coaches get merely sufficient effort out of their talent, great coaches make the most of it.
"You can't come in here and yell at these guys," said a man who has worked both in the college and pro ranks, "they're men."
With that thought, here's this week's humble Tip 'o the Hat Award: New Jersey's Lawrence Frank.
With Jason Kidd now in Dallas, and Devin Harris turning in a whale of a performance in his debut against the Bucks on Feb. 28, Frank has let his team play. Frank now has a team that can move the ball and move up and down the floor. They've averaged 105.4 points per game since the break and improved to 109.8 points per 100 possessions, slightly above the 108.2 league average, but far ahead of their 104.0 PPP heading into this week. All of which leads to our ...
Tip 'o the Week: Open shots are good shots.
This one's simple and it's why we have plays. You want to get the ball to your best player for an open shot. In the last two decades, NBA coaches have forgotten the last half of the equation. With the NBA athlete's supreme ability to make something out of nothing, coaches have relied on players to bail out the offense as the shot clock winds down. (It's also harder to get open shots because those same athletes are as good on defense, but that's another article.)
So instead of adjusting to these athletic defenders and defenses, and the fact that advance scouts share each others plays and sets and that video has captured everything you've done for the past six years, coaches have had to find a way to put their guys into position to get wide-open looks. And if your half-court sets bog you down, the next best way to get open looks is to get down the floor before the defense can set up. You know, a fast break. And let's get rid of the word transition. It sounds too technical, too robotic. Transition is what you do when you're moving from job to job.
Fast break. That's a basketball term. It's fun. It's fast. It's the open floor. You have 94 feet. Use it. Quit limiting yourself to the 47 feet on your half of the floor. Please. I'm begging you.
As you know, these rankings are in no way official. They're just the personal opinion of the author. Here are your inaugural Coach of the Year rankings, from five to one:
No. 5: Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers, 30-28, 10th in the Western Conference
Why he's here: This initial top-five ranking for coach McMillan is a cursory one. If we had started these earlier in the season, McMillan would have been at the top of this list. But injuries to James Jones and now Brandon Roy have stalled the Blazers, who are 4-9 in February. Coach McMillan probably won't be in the top five next week, but we wanted recognize the job he did in the season's first half.
No. 4: Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets, 37-20, seventh in the Western Conference
Why he's here: My pre-season pick for Coach of the Year, Adelman has had the Rockets on a roll, winning 13 in a row. He survived Tracy McGrady missing his annual 17 games, can Adelman survive losing Yao for the rest of the season and the playoffs, if the Rockets get there? If Houston does make it to the postseason without their 7-6 center, Adelman deserves serious consideration for the Red Auerbach trophy.
No. 3: Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics, 44-12, first in the Eastern Conference
Why he's here: Could he bring the Auerbach trophy back to Boston for the first time since Bill Fitch did it in 1979-80? Rivers, who won the award in 1999-2000 when he was with the Magic, was the front-runner for the award through the first three months of the season. But the Celtics have cooled from their record pace, and the Pistons are within three games of the No. 1 seed in the East.
No. 2: Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers, 41-17, first in the Western Conference
Why he's here: To be the top seed in one of the most brutal conference races in NBA history should get some recognition. Jackson started the season with a petulant Kobe Bryant, a green 20-year-old center in Andrew Bynum and plenty of question marks. Since then, Bryant just played, Bynum emerged and the Lakers thrived. Then Bynum went down. The Lakers managed to stay afloat. Enter Pau Gasol via trade. The Lakers are 13-1 since Gasol's arrival, a testament to Gasol's talent and Jackson's ability to put a new player in a position to succeed. This season may be Jackson's finest in a Hall of Fame career. If the Lakers remain the No. 1 seed in the West, then it'll be difficult to deny Jackson his second COTY award .
No. 1: Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets, 38-18, third in the Western Conference
Why he's here: OK, who, before the season, thought the Hornets would be in the thick of the race for the Western Conference's top seed?
[Crickets]
That's right. While Scott's emergence as the leading Coach of the Year candidate has -- not coincidentally, I may add -- coincided with Chris Paul's MVP-level play, Scott has done an incredible job of keeping the Hornets together. The talent -- Tyson Chandler, David West, Peja Stojakovic -- is there. Making it work together is another story. And the Hornets have been quite a story. Coach Scott shouldn't look back, however. Someone may be gaining on him.
Also receiving "What about them?" consideration: Jerry Sloan, Utah; Gregg Popovich, San Antonio; Stan Van Gundy, Orlando; Flip Saunders, Detroit; Mike D'Antoni, Phoenix