Went 30-11 in the second half of the season, just missed the playoffs. MDA has one less opponent for that Coach of the Year award though. Spoelstra shouldn't really get it after missing the playoffs.
Glad they missed the playoffs. Not because I dislike the Heat, Dragic and Whiteside are actually pretty badass and very likable. Because A LOT of people in the media were saying Spoelstra deserved COTY. Bullshit, what MDA did with the Rockets is much more deserving. Hopefully them missing the playoffs guarantees MDA the award.
Popovich is still in the running for COTY. He probably should be winning it every year, though. If they want to give it to somebody else, D'Antoni is really the only option.
I also think Snyder deserves it (imo it should be between MDA and him), the Jazz played really well, they made the playoff easily from being in the lottery the past years, and they had a lot of injuries for all the season.
What I don't understand is, wasn't Spo the same coach who led them to a 11-30 start? He shouldn't be COTY simply for going 30-11 since he was also in charge when they went 11-30. The good finish is negated by the bad start. In any case, they didn't make the playoffs so he won't get it.
Well, McHale got fired 11 games after he got the team to the WCF. Kind of same thing in reverse. You get credit or blame for what you did last.
Yes 100% agree. What if they go 30-11 first and then 11-30 in the remaining games? They still get the same record. Its coach of the year award, not the coach of the second half of the season award. In fact, its Spo's fault for not getting these guys to realise their potential since day 1. Which is what MDA did, turned around rockets season (compared to last year) from the beginning until the end.
Which goes to my point. Coach of the entire year award. 11-30 is a fireable record. He in no way should be coach of the year by going 30-11 in the back half because his terrible coaching led to a 11-30 start.
This reminds me of the 2000 Magic team led by Doc Rivers who was awarded COY. they played consistent .500 ball all season, finished 41-41 and finished 1 game out of the playoffs. it was a nice feel good story for the Heat and for Spo, but the narrative just didn't finish in a way that justifies the award for such high performance in just half of a season, considering the competition.
Props to the Heat for completely turning their season around instead of giving up and tanking. I wish they had made the playoffs and respect them for trying. Nets are trash for what they did but Heat can't complain. They could have won one more game.
