NBA: Who Should Be Coach Of The Year?
2. Scott Brooks
Many people were extremely surprised when the Washington Wizards got off to a 7-13 start this season. After all, their Vegas over/under was 42.5 and many predicted they would at least be .500 and make the playoffs.
Well since then (Dec. 6), the Wizards have had a 37-16 record, good for third in the league. How have they done this you may ask? by riding an excellent starting lineup and offense. The Wizards’ starting lineup of John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr., Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat has played the most minutes in the league, and boast a very good net rating of +9.4.
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As a team the Wizards have the fourth best net rating in the league since Dec. 7, as their offense has been sixth in the league and their defense has ranked 11th.
The Wizards have overcome a very bad bench to own the seventh best record in the league, and are on pace to win 50 games in a season for the first time since the 1978-79 season.
When Washington got off to that bad start, it would’ve been easy for them to point blame at each other and just go through the motions of another near .500 season. However, Brooks wouldn’t allow it to happen in his first season in D.C.. Brooks made some changes to stagger minutes more effectively, and his offensive game-plan is much evolved since his days in Oklahoma City.
For those reasons, Brooks should feel pretty good about his chances to win Coach of the Year. However, he’d feel a lot better if there wasn’t a team greatly exceeding expectations this season.