Jihforce

I'm going with Sloan. That team has only one rising star and a bunch of scrubs and unproven players.

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zenbooty

Sloan should get it on the basis of his body of work alone. This guy has kept his team in the playoffs for what, 20 years straight now? And in all that time he has yet to receive any coaching awards or other accolades. He's deserved it for years now. The NBA should make it up to him this year.

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whitak24

i agree zen and jihforce, i think sloan deserves it.

the work that hubie brown has done in memphis over the past couple years is amazing. but he has taken some very good players (gasol, battier, j.williams) and molded them into a consistent, hard-working team. this is no small accomplishment, particularly with the culture of losing that had existed since the formation of the franchise.

still, look at sloan. he loses two hall-of-famers, both of whom are possibly the best ever to play their position, adds NO talented players to replace them, loses his leading scorer for the season with an injury, and still has the team in the position to go to the playoffs in the Western Conference. if the Jazz were playing in the atlantic division, they'd be fighting with NJ for the division title.

Showtime

Wait a minute. No mention of Phil? A decimated Laker squad playing for 1st place gets no props?

-jel

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Jihforce

Anyone that has to deal with Greg Ostertag should win COY by default.

zenbooty

Please...

ray

Terry Porter of the Milwaukee Bucks

baggio248

I agree with this one.

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Freelance Superhero

hmm... my first instinct was to say hubie brown, but after reading your responses, i think i agree with you all. but come on, AK-47's pretty damn cool.

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attgig

it's easier to coach scrubs than it is to coach "rising stars" with attitude.

it's easier to apply a winning method from one team to another team than it is to apply a whole new method to a team that's never seen it work in their lifetime.

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zenbooty

Maybe less headaches to coach, but certainly not easier to coach to victory.

You know not of what you speak.

Jihforce

What? Give me examples of each please.

attgig

sloan vs hubbie

attgig

scrubs vs attitude:
i kinda see it as college coaches trying to become nba coaches...
they have their method...proven to win basketball games, like Rick Pitino.

the coach comes to the nba with players that have bigger attitudes. can't function.


new players into a given system vs new system onto given players:
new players into a system is seen in any huge free agency acquisition (eg GP&malone into Phil's system).
then contrast that to (elder) Van Gundy's stay in Houston. He had his system of doing this which was shown to work in NY. but dealing with Franchise, and trying to apply that system to houston....just didn't work out.

whitak24

i agree that terry porter has done a great, and underrated, job with the bucks. i don't think anybody thought (at the beginning of the season) that the team would be contending for homecourt in the playoffs.

however, i think he's had to do less of a rebuilding job, and the jazz still have a better record despite playing in the much tougher western conference. so i think sloan still has the edge

whitak24

it may be easier to coach scrubs. but that doesn't mean that it's easier to put those scrubs in the position to execute and win at the NBA level. sure, utah had a winning culture and has been running the same system for some time. but they were running that system with two first-ballot hall-of-famers on the court. now, they've got a bunch of people with virtually no experience.

ray

As much as I think that Porter deserves it, you make the point that he has been way under the radar all season long, and I think that is why he won't win.

bachviet

If Phil could coach the Grizzlies bunches to 1st place, then he deserves it.

I would say Hubie Brown since it's not easy to coach a team like the Grizzlies to 5th place in the West.

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DaFunkyUnit

I would say Jerry Sloan since it's not easy to coach a team like the Jazz to 8th place in the West.

Showtime

If its easier to coach scrubs than Phil outright wins it for the last 5 years. No scrubs on the Lakeshow.

-jel

Jihforce

You're gonna have to dig deeper than that.

Jihforce

Explain Doc Rivers and the Orlando Magic then.
Here we have team that went 42-40 in 2002 and took the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. This year, they added Juwan Howard who was one of the more sought after free agents in the league last year and they choke themselves into last place this year. Now the Magic were sucking way before Doc got fired so you can't exactly tell me that the coaching change caused this collapse.

Next, Detroit and Indiana. Two new systems introducted to practically unchanged teams. And they still win.

The more i think about it, the more I think your Houston comparison isn't exactly holding up. Houston is currently 1 win away from tying last years win total. They are on a losing streak, but it seems to me they are pretty much the same team as last year, even with a new coach.

brainsmile

Dunleavy and the Clippers

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bachviet

Hey, leave my Clippers alone.

slaus

Sloan should win it because he finds ways year after year to do it. No one gave them a chance to even be decent this year. Seriously, does Andre Kirilenko really scare you that much?

kei2

I'd go with Hubie, because the Grizzlies could legitimately beat the western powerhouse teams. They don't have any superstar players, just overachieving good players. Jason Williams was a joke of a point guard a few years ago, committing tons of turnovers and launching three pointers on breakaways... Hubie Brown has done a heck of a job with his squad. That's not to take anything away from Sloan, who's also guided an overachieving team headlined by a defensive presence. You're right, everybody figured the Jazz would be among the league's worst when they lost Stockton and Malone (and then Harpring to injury), but is that better than what Brown has done? Maybe, but I'm not so sure. I really don't think you can count what's happened in previous years, because it's Coach of the Year, not Coach of the Past Few Years. If he was overlooked in the past, that should have no bearing on this year. The question is simply who did a better job this year. This year.

attgig

the Magic lost their point guard....Juwan is a decent PF (nobody would call him great)....but without a real PG (tyronne??? please), they're not doing anything. (arroyo has been playing very well and easily a better PG than Lue).

Both Detroit and Indiana are great teams before and after. It would be hard to coach them into a 5th+ place finish in the east. and I like Carlisle and hope he kicks pistons a$$ for getting fired after leading the pistons to a great season last year.

As for Houston, there's been so much crap reported in Houston. If Francis had bought into the system from day one and followed Van Gundy unquestionably, do you think they'd ahve the same record? the fact that they still ahve a similar record is a testemant to Van Gundy's coaching.

Showtime

Lue helped us get a ring....

-jel

whitak24

carlisle got fired because he was coaching too predictable of an offense. when you're division champs two years in a row but then lose four straight playoff games two years in a row (in 2002, they lost for to boston after winning game 1 of the conference semis and last year they got killed by the nets in the conference finals), it calls into question your coaching methods.

i didn't think firing carlisle was a great idea, but it wasn't without reason. not to mention that he's ended up in a great place -- he's working with his old friend larry bird in indiana and coaching one of the best, and most talented, teams in the league. not too shabby.

civicdidex

if memphis beats min on april 14th, i give my vote to hubie. then they will be .500 or higher when playin the top 4 teams in the nba...

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