<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Gregg Popovich wins NBA Coach of the Year award. Jeff Hornacek second, Tom Thibodeau third. Thought Pop was clear choice, but I'm surprised.</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/458614652482494466">April 22, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Well deserved. Grats to Pops and Co. What he did this year was simply nothing short of amazing. Tied the Franchise win record, tied the Franchise win streak, while going through a myriad of injuries and coming off a heartbreaking loss in last year's Finals is impressive. That he did it while playing NOBODY more than 30 minutes per game is beyond belief. I'm not sure there's a single coach in the NBA today that could have done what he did this year with the Spurs. I still hope we clobber the Spurs in the 2nd round, but if we don't I would really like to see the Spurs win the title. It would be a fitting curtain call for one of the best Head Coaches to ever grace the NBA.
Well earned, well deserved. I hate the Spurs but respect Pops (even though he is an enemy in my eyes). Congrats Pops! Even though my allegiance rules that I do not like you, I would have been pissed if you didn't receive the honors with a year such as this one.
4 rings, 5 times to the Finals. 8 times to the WCF. Popovich's overall record is rather mind boggling. 17/18 winning seasons 16/18 50+ win seasons 15 consecutive 50+ win seasons. The 2 seasons that they didn't put up 50+ wins, one was a lockout season where they put up 37-13 (.740) and finished with the #1 seed. The only losing season of 20-62 was Gregg Popovich's first season. 11x winner of the division title. 6 seasons finishing 2nd in the division. 7 seasons finishing as the #1 seed. 3 seasons finishing as the #2 seed. 4 seasons finishing as the #3 seed. And now the ONLY head coach in the history of the NBA to not play a single player more than 30 mpg since the ABA/NBA merger. Arguably the best coach in NBA history.
Coach | Team | 1st Place Votes (5 points) | 2nd Place Votes (3 points) | 3rd Place Votes (1 point) | Total Points Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs 59 23 16 380 Jeff Hornacek, Phoenix Suns 37 44 22 339 Tom Thibodeau, Chicago Bulls 12 22 33 159 Steve Clifford, Charlotte Bobcats 8 21 24 127 Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors 5 9 18 70 Terry Stotts, Portland Trail Blazers 2 3 6 25 Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers 1 2 2 13 Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder 0 0 1 1 Mark Jackson, Golden State Warriors 0 0 1 1 Jason Kidd, Brooklyn Nets 0 0 1 1
Saying.....this.....while....clenching....hands!!! Congrats Poppy.... Spoiler Frickin Spurs!!... ....... ....... .......
Well deserved! Joins Riley and Nellie as the only 3-time winners, and Pop is the only coach ever to win it three times with the same team. The ridiculous stuff he has pulled with his team's minutes budgeting this year is truly groundbreaking.
Honestly, I thought the Spurs were going to break up after their narrow defeat to Miami. Pops deserves a lot of credit for bringing them this far, although I must admit I am pleased that we swept them in the regular season.
Not sure I'd consider it a snub when most analysts consider McHale average. Even a lot of CF forum posters consider McHale average. 54 wins is really nice, but the team had 45 wins last year. Morey stated that his analysis indicated that teams as young as ours would be reasonably expected to pick up 5 more wins just from additional experience (50 wins). And we picked up Dwight Howard so really 54 wins is pretty much an expected level of improvement. Now, if we'd put up 57-60 wins, then I think he should definitely be in the conversation. However, it's not like he outperformed expectations by my measures. If I was listing my top 3 candidates, it would be Pops, Hornacek and Thibs. McHale doesn't even make my ballot so really it's not surprising at all.
