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The All Star break is always a good time to start reviewing and analyzing the current season, as we are starting to acquire large enough of a sample size to begin to make decent judgments. With the season over 60 percent complete, the Coach of the Year (COTY) race is starting to take shape, with two coaches in particular rising above the rest of the pack: Atlanta’s Mike Woodson and Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks. However, this season there are a decent number of qualified coaches so we’ll break down the other hopefuls and also examine the COTY’s recent (and in some ways dubious) history to get a full picture of this season’s race.

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The Case for Brooks

Even those who predicted the Thunder would improve this season from last season’s record of 23-59 never could have guessed the huge strides they’ve made so far this season, especially on the defensive end. Of course, you have to acknowledge the role of the surprisingly quick development of budding-superstar Kevin Durant in OKC’s improvement this season. However, that is only part of the story with Scott Brooks and his coaching staff being the other major factor that contributed to the Thunder’s improvement this season.

Contrary to the case for Woody, Brooks’ case for COTY is based entirely on the Thunder’s performance this season. The Thunder currently own the third best defense in the entire Association and an impressive record of 30-21 at the All-Star break, which is good for the fifth best record in the ultra-competitive Western Conference and a playoff berth for the first time since the franchise moved to Oklahoma.