Coach of the Year: Who Wins?

  

Written by Taylor Odenat

With the 2014-2015 NBA Season coming to a close in a week or so, it’s about that time for media representatives to make their choice for the NBA end of season Awards. There is of course the popularized Most Valuable Player Award, slightly less notable but still valuable Rookie of the Year Award, and the semi under the radar Awards being the Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Executive of the Year. Then there is ,arguably, one of the more competitive awards to win when it comes to end of season NBA honors: The Coach of the Year Award. There is always a plethora of options to pick from with the NBA having a strong pool of talented coaches in the league pushing their teams to be the best they can be. This current NBA Season was no different and will leave the media stumped when it comes to deciding who best deserves the NBA Coach of the Year Award.

This years field of coaches in consideration include first year coaches and veterans.  Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs is always in consideration for the Coach of the Year Award, but this year he shouldn't receive the trophy. Although he is leading the Spurs to a predictable late season rise, coaching his team from the bench to the second seed in the Western Conference; he shouldn't win for the second consecutive year. However, like Lebron James with the MVP Award, just because he is arguably the best coach in the NBA doesn't automatically send Coach Pop home with the award. There were several franchises that surprised NBA fans with their breakout seasons and the coaches of those teams deserve to be recognized as well. 

This NBA Season saw Steve Kerr turn down Phil Jackson’s offer to coach the New York Knicks and instead take the coaching position in Oakland for the Golden State Warriors. His decision would prove to be an excellent one, as the Golden State Warriors are 66-15 and have clinched a playoff berth. It may seem unconventional to give this Award to a first year coach who has the honor of coaching superstar point guard Steph Curry and All Star guard Klay Thompson. However, Kerr must be doing something correct in Oakland because the Warriors are a well oiled machine on the court and Kerr has seemed to be able to manage egos and maintain team chemistry if there ever was strife among the team. If he is not the winner of this Award, he should atleast be a strong candidate because wins don’t lie, and Kerr’s Warriors lead the NBA in that category as well as other statistical categories.

Mike Budenholzer, former assistant coach of Gregg Popovich, has instilled a system in to the Atlanta Hawks and it has surely worked. Along with Kerr, Budenholzer is a first year coach, but that shouldn't be held against him. Kerr and Budenholzer also share similarities in that both their teams are number one seeds in their respective conferences. By the way the Atlanta Hawks play, you can tell Popovich has had an influence on Budenholzer’s approach to coaching this team. The Hawks love to shoot threes and shoot them at an efficient rate, they share the ball and have effective ball movement, and surprisingly they are able to accomplish this without a defined superstar. Every player gets touches on this Hawks team, there is no defined superstar who will takeover that NBA teams can go in focusing on. Any given night Kyle Korver could explode for 5 threes or Jeff Teague could slash and dish for twenty points eight assists, that’s what makes them such a tough team to play against. Mike Budenholzer has pushed this squad to define itself as a ball movement oriented,three point shooting team which has worked all season bringing them to a current record of 60-21.

One of least talked about coaches Kevin McHale should also be in strong consideration to be the victor of the Coach of the Year Award. He has done a stupendous job of managing this Houston Rockets team who were without star center Dwight Howard for a significant amount of time. Without their big man, the Rockets stayed afloat and made their way to a top three seed in the Western Conference behind MVP candidate James Harden. Their recent loss to San Antonio that dropped their seeding to 6 may not assist in making McHale’s case for COY, but he should still be in the running. McHale and his Rockets had to accommodate their play style due to multiple injuries and were/are able to stay atop the Western Conference powerhouses.At this point of the season, the Rockets are fifth in the league in points per game at 103.8, and have a top ten defensive rating at 103.7. They play the second fastest pace in the league and if shooting guard James Harden winds up being voted MVP, then McHale is bound to receive some votes for Coach of the Year.

With all that being said, Steve Kerr should walk away the 2014-2015 NBA Coach of the Year. The NBA should reward winning, and although Kerr is a first year coach, his team has been doing a ton of winning. Kerr’s Warriors average the most points per game in the league at 109.7, play the fastest pace in the league at 98.2, have the second highest offensive rating in the league at 111.4, and have recorded the most wins in the NBA at 66. The Warriors are an offensive juggernaut, they take a make a ton of threes, they have terrific spacing, and they play polished and flowing basketball. However, with all their offensive explosion they don't forget about the other side of the ball. Possible Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green, leads the solid defensive squad who sit at first in the NBA in defensive rating (101.2) Kerr should be acknowledged as this year’s Coach of the Year, manning the sidelines of the NBA’s best team, and if everything goes right for the Warriors; the 2014-2015 NBA Champions. 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/2015.html, http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2015.html,