Should Kenny atkinson be a COY candidate?

[Prokorov]

Kenny has quietly had an outstanding season as head coach. I think he really gets over-criticized and not given nearly enough credit. When you break it down, it is really quite remarkable what he has done this season:

[*]Led the Nets to a 22-23 record despite losing his best player after just 14 games and seeing missed games from injury to several starters and rotational players. In addition to Levert, Crabbe has now missed double digit games. RHJ has missed 11 games. Demarre Carroll who has been an integral part of this win streak has missed 11 games. Dudley has missed a handful of games and is currently out, Graham missed most of the season. Napier is out with a hamstring. Despite that, the Nets have exceeded expectations and are currently the hottest team in the NBA.

it is EXTREMELY understated that Kenny lost his best player, yet has achieved a winning record since Caris went down (16-15) and has this team playing the best basketball in the east right now, maybe the NBA.

[*]We start 3 players 22 and under... Russell, Kurucs (a second round rookie) and Allen a second year 19 year old. That in itself is pretty remarkable. Obviously Russell is talented, but Kurucs and Allen are playing like 10 year veterans... and not just in spurts. night in and night out those guys contribute. both picked late... whcih credit to marks... but taking late 1st and second round rookies into the starting lineup as key contirbutors isnt easy... especially in Kurucs case where its also his first time in the country. Integrating very young, late round picks into the rotation/starting lineup while winning is something most coaches struggle to do... even ones with lottery picks.

[*]Development. With the exception of players battling injuries (Crabbe, RHJ, Graham) EVERY. SINGLE. NET has shown drastic improvement this year under kenny. Russell is having a breakout year playing at all-star level. Dinwiddie is having a breakout year playing at near allstar level and is one of the front runners for 6MOY. Levert was having a bust out into an allstar year... Jarrett Allen has made big steps forward giving us 12/8/2 in just his second year. Kurucs has been unreal for any rookie let alone a second rounder giving us 11/4/1/1 on 60TS% as a starter. Ed Davis is having one of his best seasons. Napier has had some huge outbursts.

A coach would get credit for just 1 guy having a breakout year or just 1 late round/pick rookie busting out... kenny hss 3 guys having break out years and 2 young guys showing out.

[*]Zone Defense. This gets brushed aside the most... most teams cant even play it for a few possessions. The league has so many shooters now, zone is extremely tough to get away with. The nets not only play it for a few possesions, they play it for huge portions of entire games. And there is only 1 way to do that -- all 5 guys need to be on the same page, know all the rotaitons, be 100% disciplined and not help outside their responsibility, go 110% on close outs while havign the control to recover and rotate, and to challenge shots at the rim. Nets do it as good as anyone ive seen play zone since they put the defensive 3 second rule into effect. You just dont see alot of zone... and when you do its usually either picked apart or just for a few possessions. Nets have gone to it very extensively, and outside of the milwaukee game, its been very successful... thats great coaching.

[*]Next man up. Atkinson has this team roling along with a "do your job" "next man up" attitude. guys are always ready for when their opportunity might come and are ready for the challenge. 1 through 15 every guy expects to be ready and when called on expects to do their job well. its a new england (barf) patriots/spurs like chemistry, continuity, and culture. thats extremely tough to achieve. guys have bought in... they would all kill for kenny. they are in it with him 110%. they have bought into the team concept.

Russell doesnt complain when he is benched late/to close out games
Dinwiddie doesnt complain when he is benched late/to close out games
Russell doenst complain when he gets pulled after taking a bad shot
dinwiddie doesnt complain when he is pulled after arguing non-fould calls
Allen doesnt complain when he barely plays a 4th quarter
Faried doesnt complain getting DNPs
RHJ didnt complain when dudley got the starting job. dudley didnt complain when he lost it
Carroll isnt complaining about not starting
Crabbe didnt complain when he lost his starting spot to Harris
Not a single players complains about shots or minutes

it seems small and simple. its hard to achieve and harder to sustain.

[*]Misfortune. The nets have gotten 4 apologies from the league this year on critical late calls that likely cost them games. We blew a couple crazy games (pelicans we were up 3 with under 10 seconds left and threw the ball out of bounds with no pressure). We got beat on 3 buzzer beaters, including a step-back jimmy butler 30 foot contested three. Despite all that we are a .500 team. flip 1/3 of those losses and we might be closing in on the celtics for that 5 seed.

[*]Modern Basketball. Nets have necome one of the models in the NBA for their style of play. We lead the NBA in points off of drives and drives per game. We take and make the 5th most threes in the league. We allow the fewest 3PT attempts in the NBA and the 3rd fewest points from roll men in pick and rolls. we force the 4th most long two point attempts (16-22 feet). i dont have the official stat but on a YES broadcast last month it said the nets averaged the most passes per possession in the league

[*]Rotations. He gets criticized for it so much... most of it knee jerk hindsight/overreaction cause we are losing... for his rotations. but he has done an elite job here. it isnt easy to find minutes for 13 guys in an NBA rotation. we typically run in 11 guys a night and as many as 12-13. No one complains about minutes and he gets the most of every player without having to rely on garbage time only to get guys minutes. D

Kenny might not win or be top 5 in coach of the year, but honestly, he deserves to be in the running. the guy has been an excellent coach this year... and he has done it in ALL aspects of coaching:

-developing players
-coaching the team to wins
-managing egos
-getting guys to buy in
-getting the team playing modern basketball
-fitting 11-13 guys into a rotation
-improving as the year goes on

[BudenFerry]

Candidate? Of course

Winner. No way

Love me some Kenny A

[Prokorov]

Candidate? Of course

Winner. No way

Love me some Kenny A

Devil's Advocate:
-Who has been better and why?
-Who has done more with less?
-Who has done more relative to their talent?

[The_Hater]

He’s definitely a good coach, but I wouldn’t say he’s been top 3-4 this season for COY at this point.

The Bucks have been so good all season people have forgotten they were a 44 win team who couldn’t get out of the first round last April. Bud’s still your clear favourite.

[DeadHorse]

Candidate? Of course

Winner. No way

Love me some Kenny A

Devil's Advocate:
-Who has been better and why?
-Who has done more with less?
-Who has done more relative to their talent?

COTY is not about doing more with less though. If it was, then Brad Stevens would have at least one COTY under his belt.

It's about doing the most, period. Bud is running away with the COTY this season, as he's completely changed Milwaukee's culture much like Kerr did in 2015.

[dorkestra]

I've been suggesting him as COY

[BudenFerry]

Candidate? Of course

Winner. No way

Love me some Kenny A

Devil's Advocate:
-Who has been better and why?
-Who has done more with less?
-Who has done more relative to their talent?

It's as simple as I believe a team should be well above .500 for their coach to win COY. It's like a player winning the MVP with a mediocre record. Just doesn't feel right.

[Prokorov]

He’s definitely a good coach, but I wouldn’t say he’s been top 3-4 this season for COY at this point.

The Bucks have been so good all season people have forgotten they were a 44 win team who couldn’t get out of the first round last April. Bud’s still your clear favourite.

fair enough. who are the other 3 guys you are putting in over Kenny?

[Prokorov]

Candidate? Of course

Winner. No way

Love me some Kenny A

Devil's Advocate:
-Who has been better and why?
-Who has done more with less?
-Who has done more relative to their talent?

It's as simple as I believe a team should be well above .500 for their coach to win COY. It's like a player winning the MVP with a mediocre record. Just doesn't feel right.

shouldnt talent/improvment matter? not all coaches are dealt the same cards

is there not more to coaching then W/l record?

[BudenFerry]

Devil's Advocate:
-Who has been better and why?
-Who has done more with less?
-Who has done more relative to their talent?

It's as simple as I believe a team should be well above .500 for their coach to win COY. It's like a player winning the MVP with a mediocre record. Just doesn't feel right.

shouldnt talent/improvment matter? not all coaches are dealt the same cards

is there not more to coaching then W/l record?

Talent/improvement does matter and that's what gains him consideration, while the w/l keeps him from actually winning.

Not all players are dealt the same cards either. W/L will always be tied in to awards like COY and MVP.

[The_Hater]

.

[The_Hater]

He’s definitely a good coach, but I wouldn’t say he’s been top 3-4 this season for COY at this point.

The Bucks have been so good all season people have forgotten they were a 44 win team who couldn’t get out of the first round last April. Bud’s still your clear favourite.

fair enough. who are the other 3 guys you are putting in over Kenny?

Dave Joerger. I had the Nets finishing ahead of the Kings this season. I also had the Kings finishing dead last in the west.

Nate McMillan. They’re on pace for 55 wins which seems remarkable to me with their roster.

Doc Rivers. Nobody had the Clips making the playoffs in the brutal WC yet they’ve been in the top 6 all season.

If the Nets continue their current pace, I could bump KA up as high as 2nd depending on how everyone finishes.