Popovich deserved Coach of the Year

Popovich deserved Coach of the Year
April 26, 2006

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn...ic.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

Aggiehoopsfan is gonna hate this article.

Obviously this guy is a popsucker....

Damn straight.

The interesting thing for me is that Pop has grown enormously as a coach during his tenure. He made some awful decisions in difficult situations from 2000-2 (although of course his players also let him down on occasion), but really came of age in 2003 and has gotten better ever since. That final 3 ball play for Barry the other night was beautiful.

Maybe the league should take a hint from this - find a good coach who manages the fundamentals well and STICK WITH HIM! Give him time to mature! It certainly has reaped dividends with Pop.

On an unrelated note, will a female ever coach an NBA team? I say, unlikely given the ego-driven nature of the players.

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Originally Posted by RuffnReadyOzStyle

Damn straight.

The interesting thing for me is that Pop has grown enormously as a coach during his tenure. He made some awful decisions in difficult situations from 2000-2 (although of course his players also let him down on occasion), but really came of age in 2003 and has gotten better ever since. That final 3 ball play for Barry the other night was beautiful.

Maybe the league should take a hint from this - find a good coach who manages the fundamentals well and STICK WITH HIM! Give him time to mature! It certainly has reaped dividends with Pop.

On an unrelated note, will a female ever coach an NBA team? I say, unlikely given the ego-driven nature of the players.

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I agree. Pop used to make really bad decisions. It's cool to have been able to see him grow as he did. I still get upset sometimes with him definitely, but I would rather have noone else coach our team.

Pop is a great coach, I love it when he get pissed off. He shouldnt change anything. He is doing good in letting the guys play and work things out on their own

Pop is probably the best coach in the NBA, but Avery Johnson more than deserved the COY this season.

Pop is the coach of the year, if not him then Flip Saunders is, Avery is a fukkin tool.

They seriously just need to give COTY to whoever wins the finals. Writers are such stupid faggots, they hardly ever pick anyone who deserved it. Though Flip Saunders didn't deserve it either. Stupid coaches inheriting good teams and then the writers getting a hard on about how awesome they are.

Sequ, you realise you just called the Little General, the man who hit the winning jumper from the corner to give us our first championship, a "fukkin tool"?

Shame on you sir, shame on you!

our winning margin wouldve been higher if we kept on playin when we had 20pt leads and shit, but its no point when its a win anyway.....

Pop Is The Coach Of The Year...i Just Dont Understand Why Aj?

Or Maybe Flip

Probably my favourite Pop moment this year was when he absolutely stole that inbounds play the Bucks used to get a win against us, and used it against the Grizz back in San Antonio. That was great I thought.

As far as coach of the year goes, Phil Jackson has only won the award once, so I think that's all you need to know about the relevance of that award...

as much as i hate phil jackson and the lakers for owning us every year phil has got to be coach of the year. aj are you fucking kidding me? with the talent the lakers have there is no way in the world they should be in the playoffs and giving the suns this much trouble. he took them from 34 wins last year to 45 wins this year and in my opinion they had more talent last year with caron butler and chucky atkins. any coach who can get kwame brown to play well has got to be the best freaking coach in the NBA. not pop not AJ and not flip. simple as that.

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Originally Posted by Winnipeg_Spur

As far as coach of the year goes, Phil Jackson has only won the award once, so I think that's all you need to know about the relevance of that award...

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yup i agree 100%. actually i think the only awards this year that make any sense are most improved and rookie of the year.

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Originally Posted by RON ARTEST

as much as i hate phil jackson and the lakers for owning us every year phil has got to be coach of the year. aj are you fucking kidding me? with the talent the lakers have there is no way in the world they should be in the playoffs and giving the suns this much trouble. he took them from 34 wins last year to 45 wins this year and in my opinion they had more talent last year with caron butler and chucky atkins. any coach who can get kwame brown to play well has got to be the best freaking coach in the NBA. not pop not AJ and not flip. simple as that.

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look at the teams that didn't make the playoffs... what kind of an accomplishment is beating those horrible teams. Wow, they beat out golden state and houston!! and portland! and seattle!! that's it, give him the award now!! now if phil coached the lakers past the bobcats then...

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Originally Posted by Blobit

look at the teams that didn't make the playoffs... what kind of an accomplishment is beating those horrible teams. Wow, they beat out golden state and houston!! and portland! and seattle!! that's it, give him the award now!! now if phil coached the lakers past the bobcats then...

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The Jazz and the Hornets were both pretty decent and it can't be overstated what a bad group of players he's got in LA. I mean, look at their playoff rotation, aside from Kobe and Odom the players that played in game 2 are:

Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Luke Walton, Devean George, Sasha Vujacic, Brian Cook and a washed up Jim Jackson.

He got a win with that trash!

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Originally Posted by Blobit

look at the teams that didn't make the playoffs... what kind of an accomplishment is beating those horrible teams. Wow, they beat out golden state and houston!! and portland! and seattle!! that's it, give him the award now!! now if phil coached the lakers past the bobcats then...

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thats not the fucking point. my point is he is getting these horrible players to play at a higher level then they ever have. and are you really a bobcats fan? :lol

While the writer makes damn good points, I still have to disagree.

Avery came in and made a mind-set change amongst a team that was used to dropping 125 on you and allowing 124. They were all about running and gunning your ass until you were too tired to continue.

There was a point in last night's Memphis game where the Mavs held the Grizzlies scoreless for about five minutes and without a FG in about nine.

Name me the last time a Nellie-coached Mavericks team did that. In a playoff game.

Avery brought defense into the Mavericks philosophy and has made them into a stronger title contender than they've ever been.

I agree Pop is probably the best coach, but the Mavs suck and Avery Johnson willed them to 55. If Don Nelson is still the coach subtract 10. Flip Saunders won 64 games, but that Pistons team is stacked. They would have won 60 with Manny at the helm.

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Originally Posted by SA210

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.

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I didn't realize the Spurs overtook the Pistons. Wow.

42-10 against the west is amazing in itself.

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Originally Posted by RuffnReadyOzStyle

...
Maybe the league should take a hint from this - find a good coach who manages the fundamentals well and STICK WITH HIM! Give him time to mature! It certainly has reaped dividends with Pop.

...

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The one thing most professional organizations lack is time. If you can't win for me immediately, then forget it. You see that in college sports as well.

AJ is not a tool. Look at Dallas' record since he took over at the midpoint of last season and compare it to their last few yrs with Dirk. I think they are somewhere in or around 75% winning percentage.

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Originally Posted by Jimcs50

AJ is not a tool.

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Who said he was?

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Originally Posted by IX_Equilibrium

Who said he was?

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Sequ....who else? Read back.

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Originally Posted by Jimcs50

Sequ....who else?

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Do you take anything that dipshit says seriously?

I would rather say, MIKE D´ANTONI, he got the second position again without big players and without a supertar as amare stoudarmire is.

Does anyone doubt that the Spurs would have won several more games with a healthy Manu and Duncan? I say the Spurs would've beat out the Pistons for best record in the league.