(A quick dive into hockey assists: Although the stat has been around hockey forever, it seems to have seeped into basketball culture around 2000. Former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade once said his college coach at Marquette, Tom Crean, valued them more than regular assists. In 2007, Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said the NBA needed to adopt the hockey assist as an official stat because it promoted ball movement. By then, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown was instructing his staff to chart hockey assists.
(Spurs star Tim Duncan summed up the hockey assist in 2014, as only he can. “It’s just about making the right decision at the right time,” he said. “And it’s not always about making the right decision that gets the shot, but the right decision that makes the play happen.”
(Around the same time, the NBA introduced “secondary assists,” which is similar to the hockey assist. Last season, Booker led the league along with Golden State’s Stephen Curry with 1.4 per game. This season, his 1.4 ranks third behind Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Denver’s Jamal Murray, both at 1.5. OK, back to Sunday night’s win.)
Jordan Ott is the clear cut favorite for Coach of the Year with what he’s done with this squad.
I think the Pistons and OKC and Celtics and a few other teams will have a strong case for CotY, too. Only if the Suns miraculously got, like, 3rd in the West would we have a chance at it IMO. But Ott has been spectacular. I really doubted him due to the Michigan connections, but he has been absolutely exceptional for us.
Jordan Ott is the clear cut favorite for Coach of the Year with what he’s done with this squad.
I think the Pistons and OKC and Celtics and a few other teams will have a strong case for CotY, too. Only if the Suns miraculously got, like, 3rd in the West would we have a chance at it IMO. But Ott has been spectacular. I really doubted him due to the Michigan connections, but he has been absolutely exceptional for us.
If the Suns win 50 games he'll certainly have support for the award, but Detroit is on a pace to win around 60 and Bickerstaff would be deserving as much as Ott. Also, Mitch Johnson has the Spurs on pace to win about 55, which is further along than most people though they'd be at this point.
Author of The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts
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COY can be a kiss of death for coaches so he may not want to win it.
Good point. You can even win a championship, get COY, and be out the next year. I hope Ott is here for a long, long time a la MacLeod (14) and Fitzsimmons (8).
We saw what a difference just having Nick Richards made last year in terms of verticality and rim pressure so having Williams now is a pick-your-poison for defenses.
