Feature Presentation: 2015-16 BDL Coaching Change of the Year

We at Ball Don’t Lie enjoy healthy debate about basketball and its strange cast of characters, from Oscar Robertson’s “get off my lawn” diatribe on Stephen Curry to D’Angelo Russell’s sting operation on a self-dubbed dude named Swaggy P and his Australian hip-hop artist fianceé. (Yup, those things happened.) It’s NBA with a twist here at the BDL, so we wanted to stir the pot and shake up the league’s annual awards.

BDL COACHING CHANGE OF THE YEAR

Generally, the NBA’s Coach of the Year honor goes to the most dominant or improved team. In other words, the coach whose team sailed smoothly — usually with an MVP or a couple All-Stars to steer the ship — over the course of the season. Install the system, run the system and set on cruise control.

But what fun is that?

Chaos is where it’s at, and boy was the NBA chaotic in 2015-16. Two of the final four teams left standing last season canned their coaches, and three more colleagues joined them in the unemployment line, including 2013-14 Coach of the Year runner-up Jeff Hornacek. As both players and front offices quit on a handful of coaches, four interim replacements and Tyronn Lue were left picking up the pieces.

If not for the Warriors, the fact one-sixth of the league changed course midstream — after six more teams swapped coaches during the offseason and several others probably should’ve done the same during the year (sorry, Byron) — might have been the season’s biggest storyline. Which raises this question: Who best restored order following the mutiny and righted the ship to avoid a full-blown tanking expedition?

AND THE WINNER IS: Tony Brown for Lionel Hollins, Brooklyn Nets.

Let’s face it, after manning the sidelines for more than a full season on a Nets team with no stars, no draft picks and no direction, Hollins was no longer having any fun, if he had any to begin with, in Brooklyn.

And Hollins’ joylessness manifested itself in more ways than his visible frustration with Andrea Bargnani’s ineptitude. The Nets ranked as the third-worst offensive team in the league under Hollins, scoring 97.7 points per 100 possessions while operating at a middling pace (97.36). It’s a wonder he didn’t fall asleep.

And maybe he should have, just to avoid watching a defense that also ranked among the NBA’s 10 worst, despite a plodding style designed to bore opponents to death. Or maybe he did fall asleep at the wheel.

“When your coach is not panicking and he’s staying positive and he’s continued to motivate us, it’s huge for us as far as an energy standpoint,” Nets forward Thaddeus Young — one of few legitimate talents on the roster — told the New York Post after Brown took over the reins. “It makes us want to continue to go out there and continue to play, and it doesn’t keep us thinking about what’s happening before as much.”

On the surface, the Nets are no better — and possibly worse — under Brown, playing at a slower pace (97.27) and dropping to the league’s worst defense (111.6 points allowed per 100 possessions), which may be his downfall when the coaching position is re-reevaluated by new GM Sean Marks this summer.

But consider Jarrett Jack tore his ACL a week before Brown took over, and since then the Nets released Joe Johnson and shut down Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the season. The man has been forced to roll out a starting lineup of Shane Larkin, Bojan Bogdanovic, Wayne Ellington, Chris McCullough and Thomas Robinson the past couple nights. I mean, they might give some D-League teams a game.

How Brown elevated that group to the middle of the pack offensively (103.6 points per 100 possessions) is a testament to his coaching prowess. The Nets move the ball better, despite the absence of a legit point guard, and turned mid-range jumpers into 3-point attempts, transforming an unwatchable team into a mildly entertaining one. Hey, they beat the Thunder at home and the Cavaliers in Cleveland. It’s a start.

In a year when none of the league’s five newest coaches made much of an impact, Brown manufactured the most out of the least. And as our own Kelly Dwyer noted, we also just love the fact that his hardened coaching croak of a voice sounds exactly like former bench-mates Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau.

AND THE NOMINEES WERE …

AND NOW A WORD FROM THE ACADEMY …

We understand some of the fun comes with picking apart the voting panel and publicly shaming their misfires, so we’ll do our best to explain ourselves before you folks let us have it in the comment section.

J.B. Bickerstaff for Kevin McHale, Houston Rockets

DAN DEVINE: Count me among those unsure McHale deserved to be fired — or that Bickerstaff has provided much of a solution for the slow starts, chemistry issues and defensive indifference that have been Houston’s major problems this year — but, um, at least they’re above .500 with him?

KELLY DWYER: If only because he reminded us that it’s always the players’ fault.

ERIC FREEMAN: I do not know if he is doing a good job, but he deserves credit for spending an entire season in charge of that group. Plus, I’m not sure many coaches would hide stickum for their players.

BEN ROHRBACH: I’ll never get why any organization would fire a coach 11 games into a season, less than a year after signing him to a three-year extension and months after a conference finals appearance, but maybe genius(?) GM Daryl Morey just felt Bickerstaff was better suited to save his robot roster. He’s come close, hovering around .500 with a bunch of personalities McHale probably doesn’t miss too much.

Tyronn Lue for David Blatt, Cleveland Cavaliers

DAN DEVINE: Ibid, with the names swapped. I’m just here so I don’t get subtweeted.

BEN ROHRBACH: You mean LeBron James for David Blatt?

Earl Watson for Jeff Hornacek, Phoenix Suns

ERIC FREEMAN: Honestly, I just like Earl Watson. Go Bruins!

Kurt Rambis for Derek Fisher, New York Knicks

KELLY DWYER: If only.

(For the record, Eric Freeman had Rambis as the 372nd-best new coach this season … out of five.)

CUE THE AUDIENCE REACTION …

2015-16 BDL AWARDS

IN THEATERS NOW: Bench of the Year • Coach(ing Change) of the Year

COMING SOON: Defensive Unit of the Year • (Non-Lottery) Rookie of the Year • Executive (Decision) of the Year • (2nd) Most Valuable Player • Most (Random) Improved Player • Comeback Player of the Year • All-Potential Team • All-Defensive* Team • All-BDL Team

WE REALLY, REALLY LIKE YOU

First and foremost, we’d like to thank Yahoo Sports Photos and Multimedia Manager Amber Matsumoto for her tireless work on graphics. None of this would’ve been possible without her. And special thanks to Basketball Reference and NBA.com/stats for statistics, The Brooklyn Game for the Lionel Hollins GIF and ProProfs Poll Maker for the poll. Oh, and thank you to former Nets GM Billy King for the #NetsPick thread.

– – – – – – –

Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach