Gregg Popovich wins Coach of the Year

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Gregg Popovich, who guided the San Antonio Spurs to the best record in the Western Conference, has been voted the NBA’s Coach of the Year, the league announced Tuesday.

It is the second Red Auerbach trophy for Popovich, who also won in 2003. He received 77 first-place votes and 467 points from a 119-member media panel, easily outdistancing Tom Thibodeau of the Chicago Bulls, who won last year.

Despite a compressed schedule shortened to 66 games by the lockout, the Spurs went 50-16 to reach 50 wins for the 13th consecutive season – all under Popovich – to set an NBA record.

They did so despite playing without injured star guard Manu Ginobili for extended stretches and resting fellow veterans stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker throughout the season.

San Antonio had three winning streaks of at least 10 games. Once a dominant defensive team, the Spurs were second in offense (103.7 ppg) and point differential (7.2).

Popovich relied heavily on his younger role players such as DeJuan Blair, Tiago Splitter, Gary Neal, Danny Green and rookie Kawhi Leonard. He was named Western Conference Coach of the Month in February and March.

Thibodeau received 27 first-place votes and 315 points, directing the Bulls to a 50-16 mark despite playing 27 games without reigning MVP Derrick Rose.

Frank Vogel of the Indiana Pacers was third with seven firsts and 161 points, followed by Lionel Hollins of the memphis Grizzlies with six firsts and 50 points and Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics with one first and 26 points.

Ten other coaches received at least one second- or third-place vote. Here are the vote totals. (This site cast its vote for Thibodeau).

2011-12 NBA COACH OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Coach, Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
Gregg Popovich, San Antonio 77 24 10 467
Tom Thibodeau, Chicago 27 53 21 315
Frank Vogel, Indiana 7 27 45 161
Lionel Hollins, Memphis 6 3 11 50
Doc Rivers, Boston 1 4 9 26
Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City 0 2 3 9
Tyrone Corbin, Utah 0 1 6 9
George Karl, Denver 1 0 2 7
Mike Brown, L.A. Lakers 0 1 1 4
Stan Van Gundy, Orlando 0 1 1 4
Larry Drew, Atlanta 0 0 3 3
Monty Williams, New Orleans 0 1 0 3
Vinny Del Negro, L.A. Clippers 0 0 2 2
Kevin McHale, Houston 0 0 2 2
Alvin Gentry, Phoenix 0 0 1 1

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As expected, Rondo suspended for one game

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One bump begat another.

As expected, Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics has been suspended one game without pay for making contact with a game official, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive vice president of basketball operations.

The incident occurred with 0:41 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ 83-74 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on April 29.

Rondo will serve his suspension tomorrow when the Celtics play the Hawks in Game 2 of their opening round series in Atlanta.

To view the play, click on the following link:

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/originals/2012/04/30/rondo_042912.nba


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Silas out as coach of the Bobcats; Ewing the replacement?

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If the Charlotte Bobcats are going to break the record for consecutive losses — 26 by the Cleveland Cavaliers set last season — they won’t be doing it under the guidance of Paul Silas.

Charlotte president of basketball operations Rod Higgins announced today that Silas will not return as head coach, and a search for his successor will begin immediately.

“I would like to personally thank Paul for everything he has done for this team under some pretty unique circumstances,” Higgins said. “His basketball experience as a coach and a player speak for themselves. We have been fortunate to have someone of his character associated with this franchise and we hope he will continue to be a valuable resource to us in the future.”

Silas, 68, recently completed his first full season with the Bobcats after being named interim Head Coach on December 22, 2010, and then having the interim title removed on February 16, 2011.  He led the team to a 25-29 record (.463) over the remainder of the 2010-11 season, then went 7-59 this season to break the record for lowest winning percentage in a single season (.106).

The Bobcats lost their final 23 games.

In 11 seasons as an NBA head coach, Silas has a career record of 377-531 with the Clippers (1980-83), Hornets (1999-2003), Cavaliers (2003-05) and Bobcats.

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reported that potential replacement candidates could include former Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan and former New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni.

Another possibility could be Orlando Magic assistant coach Patrick Ewing, who has close ties to Bobcats owner Michael Jordan. Ewing, among the best centers in NBA history, played on the original Dream Team with Jordan. As players, they both were represented by agent David Falk.

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Welcome to the playoffs, C.J. Watson, John Lucas III, Keyon Dooling

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The Chicago Bulls played 27 games without Derrick Rose during the regular season, and they won two-thirds of them. They were without Richard Hamilton for more than half of the season. They lost Luol Deng for a long stretch.

So if there’s any team prepared to deal with the calamity that was the season-ending injury to Derrick Rose, it is them.

C.J. Watson will take over the starting point guard duties for the Bulls as they resume their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, and John Lucas III will be the backup. Is that enough to get the Bulls out of the Eastern Conference and into the NBA Finals, where they’d have homecourt advantage. Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com discusses with CineSport’s Noah Coslov in the above video.

In the Boston-Atlanta series, the Celtics are certain to be without Rajon Rondo for Game 2 after he bumped a referee in the final minute of his team’s Game 1 loss. Can Keyon Dooling stick with Jeff Teague? Will Ray Allen be available after a sore ankle forced him to miss Game 1?

And finally, what about the Memphis Grizzlies? Can they rebound — especially mentally — from the epic collapse of Game 1 in which they blew a 24-point fourth-quarter lead? Or was this the type of series that was decided, for all intents and purposes in Game 1? (There’s one every year).

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Team USA draws Argentina, France in opening round of Olympics

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Team USA will play against France and Argentina in the opening round of the 2012 Olympics.

FIBA held its Olympic draw today, and the Americans (who have lost Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and Chauncey Billups from their original preliminary roster) were also grouped with Tunisian and the top two teams from the play-in tournament to be held in Venezuela in early June.

There are six teams in each group, and the top four classified teams from each group will then move on to the quarterfinals of the Olympics, which begin July 28 and run through August 12.

The other group is comprised of Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Spain and the third-place qualifier from the play-in tournament.

The teams in the 12-team FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament taking place in Caracas, Venezuela, June 2-8 are Angola, the Dominican Republic, Macedonia, Greece, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Russia and
Venezuela.

“The 2008 Men’s Final between the USA and Spain was one of the greatest Olympic moments. It showed the huge strides international basketball had made in becoming more and more competitive. I expect this year’s Olympic Basketball Tournaments will be a great and memorable spectacle for all,” FIBA Secretary Patrick Baumann said.

For more information, visit http://london2012.fiba.com.

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