NBA Coach of the Year
The NBA coach of the year voting has concluded and a winner has been named.... Mike Budenholzer of the Atlanta Hawks.
Now, I can't disrespect the decision as Budenholzer did have a very impressive season, leading the Hawks to a 60-22 record in only his second season. The most wins the team has ever had, plus they secured the number 1 seed in the east along time ago. For the first time in forever, the Hawks are relevant.
Coach of the year is voted on by a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters, who follow the game closely. I respect the voting panel and can not say a bad thing about the choice they made. Budenholzer received 67 first place votes.
But my choice for coach of the year is Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors finished with a league best 67 win season. And honestly they could have won 70, had they not been so far ahead of everyone else and Kerr made an excellent decision to rest his starters down the stretch.
In his first season, Kerr was tremendous. Kerr was able to smoothly transition from being a former champion on the court, turned excellent TV analyst, to leading the best team in the NBA regular season. The improvement on both sides of the ball that the Warriors displayed, can be directly attributed to Steve Kerr's impact.
The success rate of former players turned coaches, in the past has shown us that it is not an easy task at all for them to be leaders of basketball teams off the court. Especially teams with talent. Kerr was able to cultivate relationships with his players that brought the best out of them on the court, night in and night out.
One of the most difficult things to do is coach great talent. Especially when you are coming into a situation where the team has had some level of success with the previous coach. The Warriors players loved Mark Jackson, and they were all hurt when he was fired last year.
For Kerr to come into that situation and not disrupt the chemistry, but only add to it and make it better than before, is a major credit to his coaching style.
Again, I understand and respect the selection of Mike Budenholzer as coach of the year by the voters, but for my choice, Steve Kerr deserved the honor a bit more
Now, I can't disrespect the decision as Budenholzer did have a very impressive season, leading the Hawks to a 60-22 record in only his second season. The most wins the team has ever had, plus they secured the number 1 seed in the east along time ago. For the first time in forever, the Hawks are relevant.
Coach of the year is voted on by a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters, who follow the game closely. I respect the voting panel and can not say a bad thing about the choice they made. Budenholzer received 67 first place votes.
But my choice for coach of the year is Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors finished with a league best 67 win season. And honestly they could have won 70, had they not been so far ahead of everyone else and Kerr made an excellent decision to rest his starters down the stretch.
In his first season, Kerr was tremendous. Kerr was able to smoothly transition from being a former champion on the court, turned excellent TV analyst, to leading the best team in the NBA regular season. The improvement on both sides of the ball that the Warriors displayed, can be directly attributed to Steve Kerr's impact.
The success rate of former players turned coaches, in the past has shown us that it is not an easy task at all for them to be leaders of basketball teams off the court. Especially teams with talent. Kerr was able to cultivate relationships with his players that brought the best out of them on the court, night in and night out.
One of the most difficult things to do is coach great talent. Especially when you are coming into a situation where the team has had some level of success with the previous coach. The Warriors players loved Mark Jackson, and they were all hurt when he was fired last year.
For Kerr to come into that situation and not disrupt the chemistry, but only add to it and make it better than before, is a major credit to his coaching style.
Again, I understand and respect the selection of Mike Budenholzer as coach of the year by the voters, but for my choice, Steve Kerr deserved the honor a bit more
