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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 Woody

The case for Coach Woodson really needs to include a longer-term perspective to really understand what a remarkable job he has done with the Hawks over the past five-and-a-half seasons in Atlanta. Before Woodson took the head coaching reins, the Hawks went 28-54 in the 2003-04 season under coach Terry Strotts and missed the playoffs. Before taking over, Coach Woodson learned the ropes of coaching under Coach Larry Brown after playing college ball under the legendary Bob Knight at Indiana University. So he has certainly benefited from learning from some of the best coaches in the games’ history.

When Woody took over, the Hawks were in the middle of a playoff drought that ultimately would span eight seasons. Mike’s Hawks broke the streak in 2007-08 when Atlanta pushed the eventual NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics, to seven games in a memorable first round playoff series. The following season, the Hawks advanced to the second round before eventually being swept by Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. This season, the Hawks are currently third in the Eastern Conference, below only the Cleveland Cavaliers (.792) and the Orlando Magic (.679) with the League’s fourth best offense and an above-average defense. If you believe their postseason play to be a trend, we may see the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals this postseason.