From Deseret News archives:
Sloan 2nd in Coach of Year balloting
Toronto's Sam Mitchell garners Red Auerbach Trophy
Many had thought after Utah finished the 2006-07 NBA regular season with 51 wins that this might be Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's best shot at finally winning Coach of the Year honors from the league, but according to media-balloting results officially released Tuesday morning he did not.
As multiple newspapers in Canada previously reported would happen, Toronto's Sam Mitchell won the Red Auerbach Trophy.
Mitchell won with 394 points, including 49 first-place votes and 43 second-place votes from a panel of 128 writers and broadcasters working throughout North America.
Sloan wound up second with 301 points on a 5-3-1 points system, including 39 first-place and 28 second-place votes.
Last year's winner, Avery Johnson of regular-season league-leader Dallas, finished third with 268 points and received 28 first-place votes.
Sloan's counterpart in the Jazz's ongoing first-round NBA playoff series, Houston's Jeff Van Gundy, placed fourth with 134 points. He garnered 10 first-place votes.
Mitchell is the sixth coach in the Raptors' history. He guided Toronto to an NBA-best 20-game improvement (27-55) over the 2005-06 season. Toronto trails New Jersey 1-0 in a first-round playoff series.
During a 13-year playing career that ended in 2002, Mitchell was held in high regard around the league as a student of the game. Following two seasons as an assistant, he was hired as the Raptors' coach on June 29, 2004.
"He's done a great job with the ball club," forward Morris Peterson said Monday. "He's really grown a lot over his first couple of years coaching. If anybody in the NBA deserves it, it's him. He's proved a lot of people wrong."
Houston is up 2-0 on Sloan's Jazz in their best-of-seven series, which resumes Thursday night in Utah.
Contributing: Associated Press
Comments
- Homicide charge filed in child's death 1:58 p.m.
- Late credit card payments drop in Q3 1:36 p.m.
- Study says basketball refs biased 1:13 p.m.
- Sanford faces 37 ethics charges 1:03 p.m.
- Woman killed in fall identified 1:00 p.m.
- October sales gains lift hopes 12:58 p.m.
- Home and garden news and notes 12:58 p.m.
- Ungrateful teen in your house? 12:54 p.m.
- Every Mon. Matters: Be neighborly 12:52 p.m.
- New offerings from past winners 12:50 p.m.
- Buttars wants to limit gay rights laws
212 - Glenn Beck to enter politics?
206 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
181 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
178 - BYU records with win
132 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
129 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
103 - BYU cuts Women's Research Inst.
102 - Jazz finally win in San Antonio
99 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
94
It's already established that Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is a big San...
I could tell BYU was ready to play Saturday afternoon even before the...
I thought the Utes played very well against SDSU on Saturday in all...
To summerize all the soccer hater comments "Blah, Blah, Blah, My life stinks"
Okay, I think its ridiculous how people get on these comment blogs and say...
when the chips are down to try raising the food tax but come up with excuses...
My purse is no more nasty and filthy and full of objectionable and disgusting...
BON JOVI!
Dude, it's "bowl" games, not "bowel" games. A "bowl" is a round object...
12:29 p.m You make it sound like I mis-represented what happend at the GL...
If you didnt see this show, you missed out! Some of the sickest fights I have...
BYU players have NO PASSION for winning and it all starts with their head...
Following Graduation in 1980 the USA was in the largest depression since the...

You can be the first to comment on this story.