COY Curse

It truly is a curse, it just raises expectations so high. Seems like everyone who has won the award has been made a total target, and that is probably because of the awards nature. The award is bascially like a "most improved team" type thing, and if you look at all of those coaches, they were on teams that did indeed improve greatly. More than likely they deserve some of the credit for this improvement, the problem comes with maintaining that level through consistency. I have a feeling that when teams start to do really well, than they start to be even more further analyzed. The Thunder are a team that have one of the better players in the game, but over the summer they made few radical changes (Cole Aldrich. Wow.) and while their marquee players have improved, they still of course have that gaping weakness in the front court. They may have lead the NBA in shot blocking, but they really are not a great low post defensive team. But, besides the Thunder, all of these coaches and teams were analyzed to death, and when they took a step back rather than forward, the coaches were usually the ones placed with the blame.

Coaches who are consistently great never tend to win this award, and it is usually given to a coach who might bring something different to the table, but has a hard time remaining consistent. Look at every coach who had won the award since 2005 and you notice something. Out of all of those coaches, only one had a previous head coaching job in the NBA (Byron Scott, New Jersey). Since than, D’Antoni has moved to New York, Avery Johnson to New Jersey and Scott to Cleveland, and I doubt any one of them has a chance of winning coach of the year until they get players to turn their teams around. The Coach of the Year is almost a mix between "Most Improved Team" and "Surprise Team of the Year". Avery Johnson was maybe the one exception, but like most everything in basketball, between how we analyze good coaches and analyze great players comes down to how they do in crunch time. Avery Johnson and Mike D’Antoni have come up short. The other coaches seemingly lost their players at times, having very disappointing years after winning the trophy (Mike Brown had a decent year, but it was definitely disappointing). I think a lot of coaching is catching the right breaks, but I think beyond Jerry Sloan, who has never won coach of the year, there are very few of us who would say someone was a great coach without having won a championship. Poppovich and Jackson have won the award one time each, and Phil had to win 72 damn games to get it, lol. But the Coach of the Year has to feel about as significant as winning executive of the year, it means you had a good year, but you better keep it up. The only free pass a coach or executive has is when you win that ring, it is almost like an immunity idol in Survivor. The Coach of the Year is just as likely to get voted off of as anyone else if they are not pulling their weight. 

It truly is a curse, it just raises expectations so high. Seems like everyone who has won the award has been made a total target, and that is probably because of the awards nature. The award is bascially like a "most improved team" type thing, and if you look at all of those coaches, they were on teams that did indeed improve greatly. More than likely they deserve some of the credit for this improvement, the problem comes with maintaining that level through consistency. I have a feeling that when teams start to do really well, than they start to be even more further analyzed. The Thunder are a team that have one of the better players in the game, but over the summer they made few radical changes (Cole Aldrich. Wow.) and while their marquee players have improved, they still of course have that gaping weakness in the front court. They may have lead the NBA in shot blocking, but they really are not a great low post defensive team. But, besides the Thunder, all of these coaches and teams were analyzed to death, and when they took a step back rather than forward, the coaches were usually the ones placed with the blame.

Coaches who are consistently great never tend to win this award, and it is usually given to a coach who might bring something different to the table, but has a hard time remaining consistent. Look at every coach who had won the award since 2005 and you notice something. Out of all of those coaches, only one had a previous head coaching job in the NBA (Byron Scott, New Jersey). Since than, D’Antoni has moved to New York, Avery Johnson to New Jersey and Scott to Cleveland, and I doubt any one of them has a chance of winning coach of the year until they get players to turn their teams around. The Coach of the Year is almost a mix between "Most Improved Team" and "Surprise Team of the Year". Avery Johnson was maybe the one exception, but like most everything in basketball, between how we analyze good coaches and analyze great players comes down to how they do in crunch time. Avery Johnson and Mike D’Antoni have come up short. The other coaches seemingly lost their players at times, having very disappointing years after winning the trophy (Mike Brown had a decent year, but it was definitely disappointing). I think a lot of coaching is catching the right breaks, but I think beyond Jerry Sloan, who has never won coach of the year, there are very few of us who would say someone was a great coach without having won a championship. Poppovich and Jackson have won the award one time each, and Phil had to win 72 damn games to get it, lol. But the Coach of the Year has to feel about as significant as winning executive of the year, it means you had a good year, but you better keep it up. The only free pass a coach or executive has is when you win that ring, it is almost like an immunity idol in Survivor. The Coach of the Year is just as likely to get voted off of as anyone else if they are not pulling their weight. 

 Not a coincidence that Jerry Sloan has never won it eh?

 Not a coincidence that Jerry Sloan has never won it eh?

Sometimes it has nothing to do with how successful a coach is..Sometimes there is friction between the coach and the GM..That goes unreported,they keep it in house..

Del Negro did an ok job at Chicago taking them to the playoffs..But he didnt get along with the GM..

In his last years in New Jersey many people knew Byron Scott was a lame duck,even though his teams were successful…

The Thunder surprised alot of people last season..Teams now know how to stop them..I hope they give rookie Cole Alrich more playing time ..He’s provided a nice post presence in limited minutes..

Sometimes it has nothing to do with how successful a coach is..Sometimes there is friction between the coach and the GM..That goes unreported,they keep it in house..

Del Negro did an ok job at Chicago taking them to the playoffs..But he didnt get along with the GM..

In his last years in New Jersey many people knew Byron Scott was a lame duck,even though his teams were successful…

The Thunder surprised alot of people last season..Teams now know how to stop them..I hope they give rookie Cole Alrich more playing time ..He’s provided a nice post presence in limited minutes..

Coaches get more credit for overachieving than for actually being a good coach.

I wouldnt want that award or the Madden Cover..

Coaches get more credit for overachieving than for actually being a good coach.

I wouldnt want that award or the Madden Cover..

It’s not a curse, it’s just an award that half the time lends itself for an up and coming coach to have a great year with a squad not expected to do much before the season started.  Having a great season with an overachieving cast is hard to duplicate.  

It didn’t seem to hurt Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown to name a few who won titles after winning COY.

It’s not a curse, it’s just an award that half the time lends itself for an up and coming coach to have a great year with a squad not expected to do much before the season started.  Having a great season with an overachieving cast is hard to duplicate.  

It didn’t seem to hurt Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown to name a few who won titles after winning COY.

 Ill tell you one guy who deserves to win it and wont get fired if he does. Jerry Salon.

 Ill tell you one guy who deserves to win it and wont get fired if he does. Jerry Salon.

"Coaches get more credit for overachieving than for actually being a good coach."

Extremely well-said.

"Coaches get more credit for overachieving than for actually being a good coach."

Extremely well-said.