Luhm: Coach of the year? Popovich, without a doubt
By Steve Luhm
The Salt Lake Tribune
If San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich does not win this season’s Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year, blame Jerry Sloan.
During his 23 1/2 seasons with the Jazz, everybody expected Sloan to win.
And he did.
That’s why Sloan was never named coach of the year.
He was a victim of his success: His teams almost always lived up to expectations.
Call it the Sloan Syndrome — a malady infecting coach of the year voters for decades.
It explains why Sloan never won the award, despite a career deemed worthy by the Hall of Fame.
It explains why Phil Jackson has won it once, despite his boatload of championship rings.
It explains why Popovich has won it only once, pending the outcome of this season’s voting.
Popovich was the 2003 Coach of the Year, when he edged Golden State’s Eric Musselman and Sloan for the award.
This year, he should carry all 50 states and the District of Columbia in an Obama-like landslide, despite the presence of other worthy candidates.
Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau, Philadelphia’s Doug Collins, Denver’s George Karl, Portland’s Nate McMillan, Memphis’ Lionel Hollins and Houston’s Rick Adelman have done notable jobs.
None of them, however, has accomplished more than Popovich.
The Spurs have run away from their Western Conference rivals when many in the preseason projected them to finish third — or worse — in the Southwest Division.
Actually, it’s the perfect recipe for a coach of the year candidate.
Unlike Sloan’s best teams, Popovich and the Spurs won 60 games without the usual preseason hype bestowed on a team expected to do so.
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