With the NBA season winding down it is about time to assess the various individual bodies of work that have been laid before us and make predictions on the most deserving for season end accolades.
The Association has three major awards that are worth discussing. All three of which are going to be contested right down to the finish. The League MVP, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards promise to provide some drama as the season draws to a close.
With this in mind lets start with the 2013-14 NBA Coach of the Year award. I see three top candidates for the honour this season and all three are highly deserving. First off we have the Toronto Raptors Dwane Casey who has righted the ship in Toronto and has the Raptors atop their division and poised for a third-seed headed into the playoffs.
The Raptors traded away arguably their best player in Rudy Gay and yet they have made a dramatic turnaround. Casey’s patience with a young team and dedication to the youth movement as well as a total team commitment to defense has brought about the success. Pundits and critics will argue that the team is not as talented as the record would indicate given the level of competition in the Eastern Conference; however, a playoff seed and a potential second-round appearance is what it is.
Last season the Raptors were woeful. They had a roster saddled with bad contracts and worse attitudes. With the departure of Gay as well as the former first overall draft pick Andrea Bargnani, the salary cap situation and the locker room dysfunctionality were remedied.
The Raptors have rebounded from a 34 win season in 2012-13 to an impressive 37 wins to date this year. Many people were calling for Casey’s head after last seasons debacle and total team sellout. This year however he must be considered for Coach of the Year as he has his Raptors playing at the top of their game and poised for a Division title.
From the Eastern Conference we now recognize two deserving coaching candidates from the West. First up we have the Los Angeles Clippers and Head Coach Doc Rivers. Rivers came to Los Angeles with the expectation that he could put the pieces together on an already very talented Clippers team.
Rivers certainly hasn’t disappointed. Despite an injury to Chris Paul that robbed the all-star guard of the month of January which cost the Clippers 18 games. In Paul’s absence, Rivers opened up the playbook for Blake Griffin and the team hasn’t looked back since. With Griffin being utilized more in the open court, his confidence as a scorer and team leader has surged.
Now that Paul has returned the Clippers are riding a current ten game winning streak and have a stranglehold on the Pacific Division title. They boast the best inter-conference record in the West and have the best home record in the Conference. In his first season in L.A.; Rivers has the Clippers playing like championship contenders and he must also be considered for Coach of the Year honours.
The final candidate for Coach of the Year as I see it is the Phoenix Suns Jeff Hornacek. At the start of the season the expectations for the Suns were really low. They were considered the weakest team in the Pacific Division and they were not given a chance come playoff discussion.
A strange thing has happened this season in the desert however. Under Hornacek the Suns are playing some inspired basketball predicated on team defense and fast-paced offense. Hornacek has been able to breathe new life in the play of Goran Dragic and has unshackled Eric Bledsoe with the burden of being a playmaker.
While the Suns are currently on the outside looking in at the playoff picture they are a mere game off the pace behind Memphis, two games behind Dallas and three games behind Golden State. We all know that the Western Conference is ultra-competitive; however, no one had any idea that the Suns would be able to keep pace with the pack this late into the season.
All three coaches are very deserving candidates in their own right. Two of them will likely boast of a division title by season’s end and the other will have taken the fourth worst team in the league in 2012-13 to the brink (if not a berth) of a playoff spot. Should the Suns be able to string together some wins here late in the season and procure that eighth spot or better; Hornacek should be the hands down winner of Coach of the Year.
Given that the Suns future is somewhat in doubt, I’m giving the nod to Toronto’s Dwayne Casey. Casey is very deserving of the honour and he deserves the accolades that go along with winning a division title and turning around the Raptors fortunes this season.