Avery Johnson Named Coach of the Year

If I were in charge of handing out this awards I would have given this award to Byron Scott but it’s hard to raise too big of a stink about this because the Little General getting the nod as he convinced the Mavericks to commit to playing defense. Before Johnson took over the Mavericks they were one of the worst defensive teams in the league and he’s been able to sell the team on the concept of playing hard on defense. The teams improved focus on the defensive end this season helped Dallas tie a franchise record for wins this season with 60.

"I think I'm gifted to do what I'm doing, that this is what I'm here for," Johnson told the Associated Press. "I felt like a coach when I was a player. ... In a lot of ways, I know some things are still new to me. But in other ways, I just feel like I've been doing this a lot of time, and a lot of it just comes naturally."

While kudos go out for the job the Johnson did in Dallas this season if I had a vote it would have gone to Byron Scott. While many felt that Dallas was a playoff team last fall, many writers and fans pegged the Hornets to be the worst in the League. Instead of crumbling into the bottom of the NBA pile this season while playing games in Oklahoma and dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Scott was able to rally his players and the team over achieved all season and almost made the playoffs.

I think these awards are all subjective and writers personal favourites come into play. Like in the MVP voting the best player instead of the most valuable wins the award, sometimes the most successful coach in terms of wins rather than the coach that does the best job. I think if writers were looking at the coach who did the most with his players this season the decision to name Scott coach of the year would have been an easy one to make.

Date
Tue 04/25/06, 6:23 pm EST

Source

 * HoopsAddict.com