boards

本页内容为未名空间相应帖子的节选和存档,一周内的贴子最多显示50字,超过一周显示500字 访问原贴
Basketball版 - Hawks' Budenholzer claims NBA's Coach of Year honors
相关主题
数数NBA的好教练吧
老鹰的Mike Budenholzer最佳教练
Fred Hoiberg正式成为公牛教练
danny ferry也是牛人
OKC大事不妙
今天来一发波波的毒奶
Hawks Pacers Jazz 三隊交易
Curry很聪明,很聪明
其实可以学popovich
杜铁在往邓肯的路上走
相关话题的讨论汇总
话题: he话题: hawks话题: nba话题: team
进入Basketball版参与讨论
1 (共1页)
o*o
发帖数: 5155
1
ATLANTA (AP) — Mike Budenholzer was right where he didn't want to be: the c
enter of attention.
There was no avoiding it. Not after leading the Atlanta Hawks to the top of
the Eastern Conference.
Budenholzer was honored as the NBA coach of the year on Tuesday, an award th
at moved him to tears as he spoke about the people who meant so much to his
career.
His players. His father. Danny Ferry. And, of course, Gregg Popovich.
"Winning this award evokes a lot of emotions," Budenholzer said, choking up
several times.
He is clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight, rarely opening up about anythi
ng more than the next game. So it didn't sound like polite modesty when he s
aid he would have preferred for Golden State's Steve Kerr to win the award.
Kerr, whose team finished an NBA-best 67-15 in his first season with the War
riors, was second in the balloting, the only other candidate to receive seri
ous consideration.
"I don't want to sound like I'm not appreciative of it," Budenholzer said af
ter a ceremony at Philips Arena. "But in a perfect world, I'd be somewhere e
lse."
A longtime assistant under Popovich at San Antonio, Budenholzer won the Red
Auerbach Trophy for guiding the Hawks to a 60-22 mark during the regular sea
son, the best in franchise history.
"He's a wonderful person, a heck of a coach," Popovich said in Los Angeles,
where the Spurs were playing the Clippers in the Western Conference playoffs
. "It's great that people noticed and understood what a good job he did. I'm
sure he doesn't even know which way to turn, but he's a happy camper, for s
ure."
The Hawks had a 19-game winning streak, became the first NBA team to go 17-0
during a calendar month, and cruised to their first division title since 19
94, which also was the last time they held a No. 1 seed.
"He deserves it," said Jeff Teague, the Hawks' All-Star point guard. "He's m
ade me a better player. He's made our team better."
Budenholzer received 67 first-place votes and 513 points overall in ballotin
g by sports writers and broadcasters. Kerr received 56 first-place votes and
471 points. Milwaukee's Jason Kidd was a distant third.
"I'm actually really glad Mike won," Kerr said. "I just got into this gig. I
t would've felt really weird to win that award when this team has had so muc
h success and was already really good last year before I got here."
Indeed, while the Warriors put together one of the great seasons in NBA hist
ory, they did go 51-31 under former coach Mark Jackson. Atlanta went 38-44 d
uring Budenholzer's injury-filled debut season with the Hawks, a result that
was not unexpected given the team's almost total makeover the past couple o
f years.
"Mike has transformed that team," said Kerr, whose team is up 2-0 in its pla
yoff series against New Orleans.
The Hawks' turnaround is even more impressive given their troubled offseason
. Emails emerged showing owner Bruce Levenson made racially charged comments
about the fan base, prompting him to put the team up for sale.
Not long after, it was revealed that Ferry -- the team's general manager, ar
chitect of the roster overhaul, and the one who hired Budenholzer -- made ra
cially insensitive comments during a conference call to discuss the potentia
l signing of free agent Luol Deng. Ferry was forced to take an indefinite le
ave that lasted all season.
The 45-year-old Budenholzer, with help from assistant GM Wes Wilcox, took co
ntrol of player personnel matters as well as his coaching duties. He molded
a tight-knit unit that has been willing to sacrifice individual stats for th
e good of the team.
"It's been a tough year," said Budenholzer, the first coach of the year from
Atlanta since Lenny Wilkens in 1994. "But hopefully everybody has handled i
t to the best of all of our abilities."
After a sluggish start, the Hawks finished seven games ahead of the overwhel
ming East favorites, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Atlanta had s
ix players average in double figures, with the five starters finishing betwe
en 12.1 and 16.7 points a game.
In January, all five starters were honored as NBA players of the month, the
first time the league has given the award to an entire unit.
"The job he's done in the second year to turn that team into what he wants i
t to be, be on top of the East, best record, is a great accomplishment," Spu
rs center Tim Duncan said.
Budenholzer teared up as he talked about his father, a retired high school c
oach who "gave me my love for the game." He also got emotional when thanking
Ferry, whose future with the team will apparently remain in limbo until new
ownership takes over."I would not be here today without Danny Ferry's faith
in me," said Budenholzer, whose team leads Brooklyn in the opening round of
the playoffs heading into Game 2 Wednesday night.
In a fitting touch, the Hawks arranged for Popovich to make the call to Bude
nholzer telling him he was coach of the year.
It was Popovich who gave Budenholzer his start in coaching as a lowly film c
oordinator.
"This award has a permanent spot on his desk in San Antonio," Budenholzer sa
id, his eye moist as he looked at the trophy. "He just shares it around the
league every couple of years."
1 (共1页)
进入Basketball版参与讨论
相关主题
杜铁在往邓肯的路上走
谁是最佳菜鸟教练?
老马刺开始放水了
尼玛最佳教练也酒驾
曝马刺今夏或放弃法国胖子 他的懒散激怒波波
Re: 周五看看这支LAL怎么和SAC打
ZZ(HC)“面包屑”克劳斯:嘲讽声中力助乔丹踏入名人堂
ZZ(HC) 他们用自己的方式统治了那个时代
ZZ(HC) 传奇“拉里”拯救NBA
ZZ(HC) 终生凯蜜的开始
相关话题的讨论汇总
话题: he话题: hawks话题: nba话题: team