do i remember last year? yes.
competent coaching, a healthy cade, an out of his mind malik beasley, and jumps from young players combined to take the pistons from horrifically bad to slightly above average.
that's a wonderful thing. i love it. i am not discounting it.
but i'm also not discounting the coaching job it takes to come within 2 games of setting the league record for wins in a season and having the highest scoring difference in nba history. that's amazing.
perhaps it comes down to the fact that i find the criteria of "coach whose team wasnt regarded highly enough" wins coach of the year to be faulty. i'd rather reward excellence. or perhaps some folks just really pay attention to their own team and not the rest of the league, and consequently overrate them. im guilty of that all the time.
i would put JB third. that's awesome.