Many NBA pundits are quick to tell you it’s a player’s league, and in many respects that’s true. Without a game-changing talent like LeBron James or Kevin Durant, it’s hard to compete with the league’s upper echelon.
Ignoring the impact of a good coach would be foolish, however, as we see from year to year the impact that an upgrade on the bench can bring to a team. Unless your team is one of the top seeds, coaches usually receive too much blame for failure and not enough credit in periods of success.
Last year’s Coach of the Year winner, George Karl, is the perfect example of the intense scrutiny NBA coaches face. His Denver Nuggets team defied expectations with a no-stars lineup and won 57 games in the always brutal Western Conference. Karl was rewarded for this performance by being handed his walking papers less than a month later.
It’s a cruel, stressful environment, so let’s take the time to show love to some deserving candidates for the NBA’s top coaching honor this season.
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10. Doc Rivers – Los Angeles Clippers
Brought in to implement the defensive concepts that made his Boston Celtics teams successful, Rivers’ first year in Los Angeles has been highlighted by a surging Clippers offense. The Clippers are scoring more than four more points per game under Doc, jumping from 101.1 last year to a scintillating 105.9 so far this year.
Part of the reason the Clippers are scoring more is due to an uptick in pace from previous years. Despite their reputation as a fast-breaking, high-wire act, the Clippers actually ranked 19th in pace last season, atypical of a team with Chris Paul at the helm. Recognizing the unique athletic talents of the roster, Rivers has the Clips pushing the tempo more, with the team using almost five more possessions per game.
Rivers has done all this while maintaining the team’s offensive efficiency, despite losing key players like Chris Paul and J.J. Redick for prolonged stretches of time. He may have a ton of talent on hand, but he’s doing a solid job at playing to their strengths.
9. Brett Brown – Philadelphia 76ers
That’s right: a coach at the helm of a 13-25 team deserves some credit for his team’s performance. After trading away All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday, many expected the Sixers to be one of the worst teams in the history of the league. Vegas odds makers set the over/under on their win total at 16.5, a full five games behind the next closest team. The Sixers are within range of that number a month before the All-Star break.
Brown’s emphasis on the three-point shot has brought the best out of Spencer Hawes and Thad Young, who are in the midst of career years after being freed from Doug Collins‘ shackles. While the win totals are actually a concern for a team gunning for the top pick, it’s possible the Sixers found their long-term coach in a year prefaced by doom and gloom. That’s no small feat.
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8. Mark Jackson – Golden State Warriors
Turnovers are typically a death sentence for defenses around the NBA. And yet somehow, the Warriors are ninth in points allowed in game, despite giving the ball away an average of 16.7 times, trailing only Philadelphia.
How is this possible? Having defensive stalwarts in Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala doesn’t hurt, but having pieces in place is half the battle. Last season, Mark Jackson revealed that he redesigned the team’s defensive scheme with input from Bogut, the team’s anchor on that end. The results are finally coming in Oakland – the Warriors are allowing just 99 points per game, the first time the franchise has been below triple digits since 2006.
Any team with Stephen Curry, aka The Human Torch, is a threat to go deep in the playoffs. But it’s their coach’s willingness to adapt based on his personnel that has the Dubs looming as a dark horse contender.
7. Rick Carlisle – Dallas Mavericks
Perhaps it’s because his team is lingering on the fringe of the playoff picture, but it feels like Rick Carlisle doesn’t get enough credit for his coaching prowess. Show of hands: how many of you thought before the season that Monta-freaking-Ellis would lead the Mavericks in assists? Playing on a team with Jose Calderon, one of the league’s craftiest passers, it’s hard to comprehend.
But no one thought the Mavericks had a chance to take down the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals either. Carlisle consistently gets the best out of the talent at his disposal, and has managed to keep his time afloat despite a roster filled with defensive sieves. It’s the small details that separate Carlisle from the pack – the designed sets out of timeouts and his on-the-fly scheme adjustments are a visual treat for hoops fans.
6. Dwane Casey – Toronto Raptors
Close to being on the chopping block after his team’s rough start, Dwane Casey’s Toronto Raptors have become one of the Eastern Conference’s surprise teams. While we often hear about players rising to the occasion during a contract year, Casey’s stewarding of the Raptors in the final year of his contract is worthy of some kudos.
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After shedding Rudy Gay‘s dead weight – err, trading him to Sacramento – the Raptors have ramped up their defense in a major way, giving up a stingy 93.5 points per game in the 15 games since, three points better than their season average. Surrounded by talk that claimed Gay’s departure signaled a transition into tank mode for Toronto, Casey’s team buckled down and took the reigns in the Atlantic Division.
With a new GM at the helm, there’s a possibility Casey is a sitting duck no matter where his team finishes, but he’s making a hell of a case for future employment.
5. Tom Thibodeau – Chicago Bulls
The hits haven’t stopped coming for the Chicago Bulls. It was bad enough losing superstar Derrick Rose to another knee injury, but trading Luol Deng to Cleveland was like watching Mola Ram rip the hearts out of innocent victims in Temple of Doom. It would have been easy for Thibodeau and co. to pack it in and say, “better luck next season.”
Unsurprisingly, the Bulls and their coach refused to cave in the face of adversity. Thibodeau took heat over the last few years for overusing his top players, and that’s a legitimate gripe given the injuries that have ravaged their title hopes in recent years. But there’s something to be said for a coach who can get players to buy into playing to the point of exhaustion. How many guys do you think could convince someone to play 60 minutes in a single game, as Jimmy Butler did against the Orlando Magic Jan. 15?
They say a team takes on the identity of their best player, but their best player has been missing in action for the last two seasons. No matter who has been the on-court leader, from Rose to Deng to Joakim Noah, they have played stout defense. That’s still true this year – the Bulls are giving up just 92.8 points per game. Trust in Thibs.
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4. Gregg Popovich – San Antonio Spurs
Ho-hum – the sky is blue, water is wet, and the Spurs are good for what seems like the millionth straight season. This storyline seems pretty boring to casual basketball fans, and praising Gregg Popovich has almost jumped the shark.
But any list of Coach of the Year candidates would be incomplete without the gruff leader of the Spurs. While his halftime interviews are an obvious highlight, his extraction of the very best out of marginal players is uncanny. Look no further than Marco Belinelli for this year’s Popovich project – the 27-year-old Italian is shooting over 50 percent from the field and from downtown. Although Belinelli has always been an above-average shooter, he’s another player in a long line of Spurs who have flourished under Pop’s watchful eye.
With his top assistants flourishing as head coaches in Atlanta and Philadelphia, it seems as though everything he touches turns to gold. The Spurs sit atop the West yet again despite strict minute regulation for Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. At this point, we know better – that’s no accident.
3. Jeff Hornacek – Phoenix Suns
Remember all the nice things we said about Brett Brown exceeding expectations? They go double for Jeff Hornacek. Odds makers were pessimistic enough to predict 21.5 wins for his Suns this season, and all they did was win 22… by Jan. 15.
The most amazing thing about the Suns is many of the players driving their success were seen as major reclamation projects entering the year. The same Gerald Green who was viewed as nothing more than a dunker is shooting 36.6 percent from downtown on almost double his career attempt average. Miles Plumlee, last seen rotting away behind Roy Hibbert in Indiana, has been an athletic force for the Suns, swatting shots and finishing fast breaks with emphatic dunks.
Perhaps most importantly, Hornacek has rejuvenated Goran Dragic, who is thriving in a dual point guard offense next to import Eric Bledsoe. Similar to Green, Dragic’s numbers from beyond the arc are seeing a big uptick this season, jumping to 37.5 percent after shooting just 31.9 percent last year.
Think having a coach who shot 40 percent from deep as a player is helping? It sure seems like it.
2. Terry Stotts – Portland Trail Blazers
Prior to this season, the dominant stories surrounding the Portland Trail Blazers centered around potential trade destinations for LaMarcus Aldridge, rather than what he could do for Portland. Rumors surrounding the best Blazers player got so bad GM Neil Olshey told reporters to, “get over it.” You’d be hard pressed to say that’s an atmosphere conducive to success.
Don’t tell that to Terry Stotts. Portland’s second-year coach is engineering an offense that stands alone at the top of the league with a whopping 109.1 points per game, just a year removed from averaging 97.5 in 2013. How is such an enormous jump possible with a team that is largely the same as last season?
Embracing technology helps. The Blazers are using Apple iPads on the bench this season, using the tablet devices to watch footage with the aim of making in-game adjustments. In a league where players like Rudy Gay are attempting to ban box scores from the locker room, it’s insane to believe a forward-thinking group like the Blazers can exist in the same space.
That type of attitude starts with the head honcho. Stotts has as good a case for the award as anyone in the league.
1. Frank Vogel – Indiana Pacers
No coach embodies his team quite like Frank Vogel. The Pacers roster is filled with players who proved doubters wrong. Roy Hibbert, once a lumbering behemoth, transformed into a premier paint defender. Lance Stephenson, an afterthought that gained more publicity for directing choke signs at LeBron than for play on the court, is now at the forefront of this summer’s free agent class. Even Paul George, taken 10th overall in 2010, faced major questions about his middling production at Fresno State.
Vogel, who rose from video coordinator to head coach, provided an example of hard work paying off for his players before they became the team they are now. He instilled a belief in his players that they can play with anyone, evident in the Pacers clash with the Heat in the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals. Still progressing as a unit, they took the NBA’s eventual champion to the brink.
Not letting them be content after tasting success, Vogel has led the Pacers to the East’s best record by improving last year’s elite defense. The Pacers are giving up just 88.1 points per game, a two-point improvement and the very best league-wide.
There are plenty of great coaching stories this season, but Vogel deserves recognition for turning players no one else wanted into a championship contender. If he gets his way, this won’t be the only hardware Indiana finishes the season with.
Who do you think deserves COY?
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