NBA Awards Watch: Gauging The Races Through December

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Dec 15, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-92. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Coach of the Year

Probably the award that goes mostly by gut feeling and watching which coach is getting the most from the least and which coach is doing the best job.

There’s been sort of a trend in recent years to default the trophy to the coach of the team with the best record (i.e, Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors last season, Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs in 2011-12 and 2013-14 come immediately to mind), but there are three coaches out there this season that have stood out as exemplary over the first two months.

In the conversation: Jason Kidd, Milwaukee Bucks; Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors; Tyronn Lue, Cleveland Cavaliers.

3. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs

Gregg Popovich has the San Antonio Spurs at 27-6 heading into the New Year, second-best in the NBA, despite having to make some major transitions this season.

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The biggest of those was dealing with not having the team’s unquestioned leader, Tim Duncan, for the first time since 1997.

Another has been adapting to the diminishing skills of former NBA Finals MVP Tony Parker, once the heartbeat of the club on the floor, but now a 34-year-old who has appeared in just 24 of the team’s 33 games and is averaging 10.5 points and 4.4 assists a night.

Reserve point guard Patty Mills is actually outscoring Parker at 10.8 points per game despite less playing time (22.6 minutes to Parker’s 25.5 per game).

The sometimes less-than-smooth pairing of incumbent big man LaMarcus Aldridge with free-agent addition Pau Gasol has been another challenge for Pop.

But his steady hand–and the excellence of Kawhi Leonard–has kept San Antonio rolling right along.

2. David Fizdale, Memphis Grizzlies

This was the season the Memphis Grizzlies‘ run in the top tier of the Western Conference was supposed to end.

David Fizdale was getting his first NBA head-coaching opportunity after 13 seasons as an assistant, including the last eight with the Miami Heat, but was inheriting a Grizzlies team that was too old and too thin to remain competitive.

Despite losing point guard Mike Conley for 12 games with a back injury, Zach Randolph (now a sixth man) for seven so the power forward could attend to the death of his mother and only having free-agent pickup Chandler Parsons available for 11 games so far, Fizdale has Memphis right in the thick of things.

The formula looks familiar–the Grizzlies are 22nd in offensive efficiency and lead the NBA with a defensive rating of 103.4 points per 100 possessions. It’s a new spin on the old Grit ‘n’ Grind.

Only, he’s unleased center Marc Gasol from three-point range. In his first eight NBA seasons, Gasol attempted 66 three balls and made 12, a less-than-stellar 18.2 percent rate. This season, Gasol is hitting 41.5 percent, an astonishing 49-for-118 already, and is averaging what would be a career-best 19.5 points per game.

That may be the biggest difference from 2015-16. Memphis attempted 18.5 three-pointers per game, 25th in the NBA, last season and hit 33.1 percent (second-worst in the league). This season, they are taking 25.5 a night (11th-most in the Association) and hitting 34.6 percent (21st).

But Fizdale has the Grizzlies where few thought they’d be–in the hunt for yet another playoff berth out West.

1. Mike D’Antoni, Houston Rockets

Mike D’Antoni is now 12 years removed from his last run as an NBA coaching genius, when he was named Coach of the Year after taking the Phoenix Suns to a 62-20 record in 2004-05 by introducing the Seven Seconds or Less offense.

Less-than-successful stops in New York and Los Angeles damaged his reputation and by last season, he was sitting next to Brett Brown as an assistant for the woeful Philadelphia 76ers.

Until Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, stunned the NBA by hiring D’Antoni last offseason to take over the head-coaching reins.

There was no shortage of skeptics regarding D’Antoni’s fit in Houston.

But after turning James Harden loose at the point guard spot and taking a roster that few thought could do much of anything (Eric Gordon? Ryan Anderson? The remnants of Nene Hilario? Clint Capela starting at center? Seriously?), D’Antoni has the Rockets flying high at 26-9, third in the Western Conference.

Even with Capela out with a fractured fibula, Houston has rolled right along, getting solid minutes from Nene and Montrezl Harrell in his stead.

Sam Dekker has emerged as a solid rotation player in his second season, Gordon is thriving as a sixth man and Anderson is adapting as a starter at the 4.

And they are not shy about taking threes. The Rockets average 39.7 attempts per game–only a smidgen more than the current NBA record of 32.7 attempts per game set by the 2014-15 Rockets (and by “smidgen” I mean seven freaking attempts a night!).