Coach of the year awards

[jw]

Pick one coach for each of the following 8 categories:

1. Best Overall Coach:
(for a list of all the current NBA coaches see www.nba.com/coaches)

2. Best Xs and Os Coach:


3. Best Motivating Coach:


4. Best Teaching Coach:


5. Best new coach (including only coaches who took over at the beginning of the year, not mid-season):

Paul Silas - Cleveland Cavaliers
Rick Carlisle - Indiana Pacers
Tim Floyd - New Orleans Hornets
Randy Ayers - Philadelphia 76ers
Kevin O'Neill - Toronto Raptors
Eddie Jordan - Washington Wizards
Mike Dunleavy Sr. - Los Angeles Clippers
Larry Brown - Detroit Pistons
Jeff Van Gundy - Houston Rockets
Terry Porter - Milwaukee Bucks
Mike D'Antoni - Phoenix Suns


6. Best of the rookie coaches:

Randy Ayers - Philadelphia 76ers
Mike D'Antoni - Phoenix Suns
Kevin O'Neill - Toronto Raptors
Eddie Jordan - Washington Wizards
Terry Porter - Milwaukee Bucks


7. Least likely to succeed of the interim coaches who took over mid-season:

John Carroll - Boston Celtics
Lawrence Frank - New Jersey Nets
Johnny Davis - Orlando Magic
Scott Skiles - Chicago Bulls
Stan Van Gundy - Miami Heat
Lenny Wilkens - New York Knicks
Mike D'Antoni - Phoenix Suns


8. Next coach most likely to lose his job

[jw]

my picks.

 Pick one coach for each of the following 8 categories:

1. Best Overall Coach: I have to say Jerry Sloan because he took a bunch of average, slightly-above-average players and made them into a bunch of overachievers.

2. Best Xs and Os Coach: I'm going to go with the old standby of Larry Brown


3. Best Motivating Coach: I'm going to give this to Jerry Sloan as well.


4. Best Teaching Coach: I'm going to go with Paul Silas. I give a lot of credit to Silas for the success that Lebron James is having in his first year...he's kept him from being just a one-man wonder on an otherwise horrible team


5. Best new coach (including only coaches who took over at the beginning of the year, not mid-season): Guess I have to give this to Rick Carlisle for his success with a team that floundered for years under Thomas's leadership. But I still think he should teach his players how to make good judgments on the court instead of trying to call every play from the bench.

Paul Silas - Cleveland Cavaliers
Rick Carlisle - Indiana Pacers
Tim Floyd - New Orleans Hornets
Randy Ayers - Philadelphia 76ers
Kevin O'Neill - Toronto Raptors
Eddie Jordan - Washington Wizards
Mike Dunleavy Sr. - Los Angeles Clippers
Larry Brown - Detroit Pistons
Jeff Van Gundy - Houston Rockets
Terry Porter - Milwaukee Bucks
Mike D'Antoni - Phoenix Suns


6. Best of the rookie coaches: Terry Porter

Randy Ayers - Philadelphia 76ers
Mike D'Antoni - Phoenix Suns
Kevin O'Neill - Toronto Raptors
Eddie Jordan - Washington Wizards
Terry Porter - Milwaukee Bucks


7. Least likely to succeed of the interim coaches who took over mid-season: Stan Van Gundy, who was handled an impossible job by his boss and friend, Pat Riley. Riley, you dog!

John Carroll - Boston Celtics
Lawrence Frank - New Jersey Nets
Johnny Davis - Orlando Magic
Scott Skiles - Chicago Bulls
Stan Van Gundy - Miami Heat
Lenny Wilkens - New York Knicks
Mike D'Antoni - Phoenix Suns


8. Next coach most likely to lose his job: Lawrence Frank (I think this guy is really an interim coach)

[jw]

I've changed my mind.

 for #8 I'm going to go with John Carroll of the Celtics

[Guest_WayOutWest]

1. Best Overall Coach:
Jerry Sloan - Motivates, X&O's and doesn't put up with BS.

2. Best Xs and Os Coach:
Jerry Sloan - Name another coach that calls EACH and EVERY set play? Can't do that without knowing your shizzle.

3. Best Motivating Coach:
Phil Jackson - His resume of getting players over the hump speaks for itself.

4. Best Teaching Coach:
Larry Brown - Amazing and insightfull coach who's only knock is not sticking around very long and not being able to win it all.

5. Best new coach (including only coaches who took over at the beginning of the year, not mid-season):
Mike Dunleavy Sr. - "Clippers", nuff said.

6. Best of the rookie coaches:
Mike D'Antoni - He's just flat out better than the other journeymen.

7. Least likely to succeed of the interim coaches who took over mid-season:
Johnny Davis - Orlando Magic don't have anything other than T-Mac to work with. They will fail miserably, axing Doc was a mistake.

8. Next coach most likely to lose his job
John Carroll - Ainge can't move guys fast enough, it's not going to stop with Carroll.

[Guest]

Pick one coach for each of the following 8 categories:

1. Best Overall Coach:
    Jerry Sloan -- although I would I really like Carlisle.  Carlisle has certainly quieted all his critics who wanted to give the credit in Detroit to others.  He has done a phenomenal job with both teams but Jerry Sloan has done so much with so little that he has to get this honor hands down.

2. Best Xs and Os Coach:
    Jerry Sloan -- he has managed to keep his system in spite of the fact that he doesn't have any superstars (and some would question the talent of his role players).  

3. Best Motivating Coach:
    PJ - he has always been able to get the most from players.  Look how good that he made players look in the past -- Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, etc., etc., etc.  Then they get huge contracts to go somewhere else and they flat disappear.  I don't think that anyone could get Slava Medvendenko to record a double-double besides PJ.  Hmm, would anyone take Slava?   :unsure:

4. Best Teaching Coach:
    I will say Larry Brown -- I think there are others but Larry Brown is the best of the lot.  Hubey Brown is this type of a coach as well.  I wonder if this is the reason that Larry moves on after a few years -- is it that he doesn't feel that he has any more to teach?  Is it that he doesn't feel players are still listening?  Whatever the reason, I think it's tied up in the fact that he is a teaching coach.


5. Best new coach (including only coaches who took over at the beginning of the year, not mid-season):

Rick Carlisle - Indiana Pacers is the best coach of this group hands down.  Randy


6. Best of the rookie coaches:

Terry Porter - Milwaukee Bucks has done a very good job with the Bucks who gave away too much last year to get GP and the fact that the Big 3 were dumped without getting proper talent back.  Porter has also paid his dues and has always been a class act -- something we need more in the NBA today.  

Kevin O'Neill has done a pretty good job with the Raptors too considering all their injury problems.  Their last trade was a good one and could get Toronto to the playoffs if they can stay healthy.


7. Least likely to succeed of the interim coaches who took over mid-season:

This one is hard to choose between the two:
John Carroll - Boston Celtics -- somebody is going to continue to be the scapegoat in Boston and it's not going to be Ainge.  I think Ainge is going to make this look like a coaching problem and sign a top coach to "solve the problem."  And I feel sorry for whatever coach takes the job.
Lawrence Frank - New Jersey Nets -- How can this guy hope to succeed?  Scott took this team to the NBA Finals two years in a row and got canned for it -- there is no way that I see the Nets in the Finals this year (Indy has my vote at this point but Brown will have Detroit in the battle as well) and that means that he hasn't done his job.  I think expectations are too big in NJ and I don't see Frank making the cut.


8. Next coach most likely to lose his job
     I think Carroll and Frank are both gone -- I also think that Ayers isn't going to stay very long in Philly based on the way this team is going.  They are too talented to be playing under .500 ball in the weaker EC, IMO.  
     Surprise canning?  I think it won't be long before something happens in Chicago.  I don't think it will be this year but it will happen next year mid-season if something doesn't change.  I, actually, think that the problem isn't Skiles but it could be Paxson.  I like Paxson but he has failed to make the moves that will allow Skiles to do something with this team.  He made Toronto a better team and he has failed to do anything that shows that he knows what he is doing as a GM.

[Randy]

Sorry, that was my post above -- now that I am "registered" my name will appear in the future.