As we head through the NBA’s dog days before the All-Star break, it can be challenging for coaches to keep their teams focused and on track.  The games during this stretch of the season just don’t seem to hold the same meaning as the ones after February 20th.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich continues to reside at our number one ranking for Coach of the Year as he still has his Spurs looking at a possible 70-win season and sometimes it seems like the rest of the league is just watching him walk away with this award.

We took a break last week from updating our COY rankings but return as teams enter the sixteenth week of the NBA schedule.  (Last week’s win-loss record below is from two weeks ago.)

#1 Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs 42-8, Pace-to-win 69, last year: 50-32
(Last week #1, 38-7)

It doesn’t seem to matter when we look at how the Spurs are performing this season as nothing changes.  The Spurs are once again on an 8-2 pace over their past 10 games and for them that’s as bad as it gets.

Popovich will have has hands full maintaining his team’s current pace as the Spurs are in the midst of a nine-game road trip that started off with a loss to Portland.  Not to worry, the Spurs then beat the Lakers and the Kings on a back-to-back before heading out for a potentially softer six games against Eastern Conference teams.

Popovich’s special season continues.

#2 Monty Williams, New Orleans Hornets 32-20, Pace-to-win 50, last year: 37-45, (Bryon Scott/ Jeff Bower)
(Last week #2, 30-16)

Rookie head coach Monty Williams continues to impress by getting more out of the Hornets than anyone expected before this season started.

Unfortunately his team’s 10-game winning streak is now solidly in the rear view mirror and the Hornets have gone 1-3 in February without their center Emeka Okafor.  Okafor will miss 1-3 weeks with an oblique strain and without him the Hornets are a much smaller and less effective defensive unit.

The Hornets continue to be the surprise team of this season.  Williams has done an excellent job handing all of the distractions in New Orleans.

#3 Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics 38-12, Pace-to-win 62, last year: 50-32
(Last week #3, 33-10)

Head coach Doc Rivers has brought the Celtics through a period of significant injuries that just will not go away completely and has kept his team on a pace to win over 60 games.

Still in first-place in the East, Rivers is building a regular season record not expected from a team clearly focused on the postseason.

#4 Tom Thibodeau, Chicago Bulls 34-16, Pace-to-win 56, last year: 41-41, (Vinny Del Negro)
(Last week: #4, 31-14)

Rookie Head Coach Tom Thibodeau continues to pile up the wins and has built a 12-game lead in the Central division over Indiana.  (Shouldn’t that be Milwaukee?)

The Bulls had just won five in a row at home before heading out on a five-game western road trip where they have dropped two of three against competition they should be able to beat.  It is easy to forget the Bulls are relying on a rookie coach and a very young point guard in Derrick Rose, and when the Golden State Warriors threw something different at them, it resulted in a loss.

There are no complaints about how this rookie head coach has performed this season however, and he still has time to move up in our rankings.  Thibodeau has earned his way into the COY discussion.

#5 Erik Spoelstra, Miami HEAT 37-14, Pace-to-win 59, last year: 47-35
(Last week: #5, 31-13)

The HEAT have put together a nice six-game winning streak with two more winnable games this week before Sunday’s showdown in Boston.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra has turned this All-Star team’s fortunes around after a rough start, but that was not really much of a surprise.  The concern has been the HEAT’s record against elite teams, Boston in particular.  The HEAT is 0-2 against the Celtics and while Sunday’s game probably will not determine who takes first in the East, it will impact everyone’s perception of who is the better team.

Spoelstra has done a good job of slowly turning three star players into a team, but expectations for the HEAT were very high at the start of the season and it is unlikely that he can exceed them.

Honorable Mentions:

Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks 31-15, Pace-to-win 57, last year: 55-27
(Last week: Honorable Mention, 28-15)

A health(ier) Dirk Nowitzki and Head Coach Rick Carlisle suddenly can’t lose.  No one should have been surprised the Mavericks were not the same team without one of the best players in the world.

After Nowitzki found his game legs again, Dallas has looked almost unbeatable and has rolled to a 9-0 record with wins over the Hawks, Knicks, and Celtics along the way.  When Nowitzki jammed his wrist in Monday’s game against the Cavaliers, the Mavericks were probably holding their collective breath, but he returned to finish the game.

Two weeks ago, the steam was out of head coach Rick Carlisle’s bid for COY.  Now we need to keep watching to see if Carlisle’s defense can take advantage of Nowitzki’s offense and challenge for top spot in the West again.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Mike D’Antoni, New York Knicks 26-24, Pace-to-win 43, last year: 29-53
(Last week: Honorable Mention, 23-21)

All the news coming out of New York is revolving around the potential of adding Denver’s Carmelo Anthony before the trade deadline.  In the meantime, New York has gone 5-10 and the Philadelphia 76ers have crept to within three games of the sixth-place Knicks.

New York’s slide could have more to do with Amar’e Stoudemire’s sore knee than anything D’Antoni is doing; unfortunately how a coach survives periods of adversity does impact on his COY fortunes.

George Karl, Denver Nuggets 30-21, Pace-to-win 48, last year: 53-29
(Last week: Honorable Mention, 25-18)

If not for the Carmelo Anthony situation, there would be little reason to follow head coach George Karl in this year’s COY race.

Karl deserves a lot of credit for his team’s performance under these circumstances.  

Some Coaches to Watch

There are some coaches who continue to get our attention and could move up if things improve.

Doug Collins, Philadelphia 76ers, 23-27, Pace-to-win 38 (last week: 19-25), last year: 27-55
Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder 33-17, Pace-to-win 54 (last week: 28-16), last year: 50-32
Phil Jackson, LA Lakers 35-16, Pace-to-win 56 (last week: 32-13), last year: 57-25
Larry Drew, Atlanta Hawks 33-18, Pace-to-win 53 (last week: 29-16) last year: 53-29

Notes:

The NBA Coach of the Year (COY) is selected at the end of the regular season by a media panel whose members each cast votes for their first, second and third place choices.  

HOOPSWORLD is ranking the COY race based on how the coach’s team is performing against last year’s record, this year’s preseason expectations, and on how they are handling adversity during the season.  A strong winning record is almost mandatory, but merely meeting already high expectations will not be enough.  There is only a slight chance of a lottery bound coach winning this award.

Did we miss someone?  Let us know in the comments section below or contact us during HOOPSWORLD’s daily NBA chats.

You can send me comments or questions about COY, the Toronto Raptors, or anything else in the NBA to my weekly chat  and check back on Thursday at noon ET for a response.