Phx-Suns.Net

R.C. Buford has been named the 13-14 NBA Executive of the Year.

Buford is the longtime general manager of the San Antonio Spurs, who had never won the award despite their consistent high level of success.

1. Buford (SAS)
2. Ryan McDonough (PHX)

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... f-The-Year

I don't know what I'm more surprised at, McDonough not winning the award or the fact Buford has never won it before.

The fact that he won it over Ryan is pretty ridiculous IMO. The Spurs basically have the same team as last yr...It's suppose to be a yearly award, but this seems like a multi-year pick

I guess I don't understand this. What did Buford do to improve his team this year?

Apparently winning matters a ton for these purposes. In all honesty I don't really care, but I'd dare to say that not making the playoffs took the award away from McD.

Of course, a meaningless accolade, not a real indication for future success or something that prevents GMs from screwing it up later, etc, etc.

I hope this is setting the Suns up for an even bigger prize, winning the draft lottery.

In2ition wrote:I hope this is setting the Suns up for an even bigger prize, winning the draft lottery.

Nah - if anything, Silver might even find a way to to swap our pick with Toronto.

What fucking bullshit - Hornacek & McDonough earned COY & EOY, respectively, yet they both go to the Spurs for standing pat (and nearly getting beaten by #8 Dallas).

I'm at a loss.....

It's nearly getting beaten when you blow the team out of the water in the deciding game. And that isn't even worth mentioning in a discussion about regular season awards.

Did you really expect a lottery team to receive the EOY, COY, 6MOY, MIP? The Cinderella actually made it to the party.

Ring_Wanted wrote:Did you really expect a lottery team to receive the EOY, COY, 6MOY, MIP?

That's a very good point. It would have been unprecedented for a non-playoff team to be awarded so much. If that happened, and it was any other team besides the Suns, many a poster would be crying foul.

Still, I don't get Buford winning it except for a misguided attempt to remedy never giving it to him before.

I like Hornacek for COY, but Poppovich was a reasonable choice seeing how no team has ever won 60+ games without having one player average 30+ mpg.

I actually don't like Dragic for MIP. My choice probably would have been Green. But maybe that was a make-up for his All-Star omission, though even that was justifiable.

Bufford was a somewhat weird selection. He had his merits, but if they wanted to reward winning, Morey could have been a good candidate.

Pops was a prefect selection for COY. He manages his roster like it's a videogame and he has it at the top. Flawless choice, in my opinion.

I consider the MIP award actually nailed too. Goran IMPROVED. It wasn't a mere increase in minutes like often happens. He played like never before after years in the league, whereas Green, as impressive as he was, replicated to some extent what he did with the Nets and in his second year with the Celtics. He even said the main difference from past years was having a coach who gave him the green light . Under that principle I think Kieff would have been a better MIP than Green.

I want to see if missing the playoffs removes Goran from the 2nd or 3rd NBA teams.

except for a misguided attempt to remedy never giving it to him before

I think that's it. They wanted to give him one before the run is over. He really didn't do anything of note to add to the team this year.

Kind of like the Oscars when they don't pick the young guy who deserves it because they feel like he'll be around for a while to win it (Pacino, Newman) but give it to him later for a lesser role as a make up.

It's hard not to make a case for McD with Bledsoe, Plumlee, Green, and even hiring Hornacek.

Maybe the committee is merely pissed that we didn't live up to the nearly unanimous #29 out of 30 predictions this season? A little butthurt by a league-leading 23 game improvement?

And this barring awards for non-playoff teams bullshit needs to stop - we ended up better than all but 3 teams in the east (3-way tie between us, Toronto & Chicago) and a full 10 games better than the east's #8 seed, yet all that apparently counts for absolutely nothing.

There sure as fuck needs some changes made.....

Top 16 teams make the playoffs.

Ring_Wanted wrote: I consider the MIP award actually nailed too. Goran IMPROVED. It wasn't a mere increase in minutes like often happens. He played like never before after years in the league, whereas Green, as impressive as he was, replicated to some extent what he did with the Nets and in his second year with the Celtics. He even said the main difference from past years was having a coach who gave him the green light

Green was implying that he has always been a good player; that's why he said what he said. His Jersey stats were comparable, but Green single-handedly won games for a 49 win team. And in New Jersey, he just wasn't the impact player he has been in Phoenix. It wasn't just the green light; he gave Hornacek a reason to trust him.

ShelC wrote:except for a misguided attempt to remedy never giving it to him before

I think that's it. They wanted to give him one before the run is over. He really didn't do anything of note to add to the team this year.

Kind of like the Oscars when they don't pick the young guy who deserves it because they feel like he'll be around for a while to win it (Pacino, Newman) but give it to him later for a lesser role as a make up.

It's hard not to make a case for McD with Bledsoe, Plumlee, Green, and even hiring Hornacek.

I get it - the NBA's version of Affirmative Action.

McD got hosed, really nothing else to add here.

ShelC wrote: It's hard not to make a case for McD with Bledsoe, Plumlee, Green, and even hiring Hornacek.

I get the feeling that those in and around the league wanted to see the suns make a move at the deadline to make a push for the playoffs. That may have hurt McDonough as well.

INFORMER wrote:

ShelC wrote: It's hard not to make a case for McD with Bledsoe, Plumlee, Green, and even hiring Hornacek.

I get the feeling that those in and around the league wanted to see the suns make a move at the deadline to make a push for the playoffs. That may have hurt McDonough as well.

I think in our case and situation, the best move was to not make a move. They should give McDonough credit that he didn't mortgage the future for a chance to maybe make the second round of the playoffs.

INFORMER wrote:

Ring_Wanted wrote: I consider the MIP award actually nailed too. Goran IMPROVED. It wasn't a mere increase in minutes like often happens. He played like never before after years in the league, whereas Green, as impressive as he was, replicated to some extent what he did with the Nets and in his second year with the Celtics. He even said the main difference from past years was having a coach who gave him the green light

Green was implying that he has always been a good player; that's why he said what he said. His Jersey stats were comparable, but Green single-handedly won games for a 49 win team. And in New Jersey, he just wasn't the impact player he has been in Phoenix. It wasn't just the green light; he gave Hornacek a reason to trust him.

All perfectly true, but I believe Goran made an even bigger leap.

wpmiller42 wrote:

INFORMER wrote:

ShelC wrote: It's hard not to make a case for McD with Bledsoe, Plumlee, Green, and even hiring Hornacek.

I get the feeling that those in and around the league wanted to see the suns make a move at the deadline to make a push for the playoffs. That may have hurt McDonough as well.

I think in our case and situation, the best move was to not make a move. They should give McDonough credit that he didn't mortgage the future for a chance to maybe make the second round of the playoffs.

I didn't have a problem with McDonough standing pat at the deadline. But when it comes to these awards, they don't award you for what you don't do.