Van Gundy got some support among users

For everyone who wrote in to complain that Flip Saunders was not on the list and how could we nominate Lenny Wilkens or George Karl, you weren't reading the directions. It's not coach of the year, but best coach, and since Wilkens has the most wins of all-time and is a Hall of Famer as player and coach, and Karl and Rudy T have had a good amount of success in the past, we feel justified. We're sorry, Timberwolves fans, but we still don't think Flip or Paul Silas are among the top 12 coaches in the game. Maybe next year we'll feel differently.

Here is the poll from last week and some of the better comments below.

Pat is the best. He still wins the Atlantic Division with Alonzo Mourning taking shots out of his range, P.J. Brown not having a shot, Thunder Dan missing a lot of shots, and the rest of the team just throwing up shots from anywhere. That takes coaching.

Linda
Warner Robins, Ga.

Larry Brown is the best coach in the NBA. His coaching stats are already known, but to put life into two of the league's dying franchises (Philly & Clippers) is phenomenal. The fact that he moves so often is a blessing for the league in the fact of all the resurrections.

Theodore Coleman
Victoria, Va.

Doc Rivers should unquestionably get the nod over Phil Jackson. Rivers simply did more with less. With all that talent on the Lakers, they should be expected to win. But, with what was predicted of the Magic before the season -- a team that was custom-built to lose -- for them to end up one game shy of the NBA playoffs is an amazing accomplishment.

Chris Lopez
Trevose, Pa.

Hmmmmmm. Tough question ... if you've never even heard of the NBA. If on the other hand you've been on this planet the past year then you'd know that Phil Jackson turned a talented group of individual players into a TEAM. That's what a great coach does. As for Doc ... nice work, buddy, but we don't hand out awards to lottery teams. Unless of course you count those little ping pong balls as awards. Why are you guys even asking this question? In the future please try to waste my time with something that makes me think.

Jason White
Shanghai, China

I don't agree with the people who think Phil Jackson is the best coach in the NBA. The Lakers had every position filled with proven players except for a true power forward. The difference this year as appose to last is that Shaq is willing to play defense. That to me is the real difference from last year to this.

I feel Doc Rivers should be coach of the year this year. He may not be the overall best but, this year he did the most with the least.

Wesley Orrell
Jackson, Mo.

Clearly Jerry Sloan has proven that he can successfully coach. The Jazz have made it to the playoffs every year he has coached the team. There is something to be said about consistency. Sure he has had Stockton and Malone the whole time, but other than those two, the entire team has changed several times and the level of play has remained constant. Sloan has proved that "old fashioned" basketball can still win games. He emphasizes solid defense, rebounding, hustling for loose balls, etc. The pick and roll still works. If Sloan had a title, he would clearly be the choice as best coach.

Greg Hamblin
Salt Lake City, Utah

Being a coach means more than setting strategy and simply winning games. Sure, Phil Jackson has a great system and when he has quality players in that system he wins games; but he isn't coach of the year.

Look at Doc Rivers. He has nothing to work with and no solid system since he's a first year coach. Just look at the effort that his players put out. On many occasions his players, grown men, cry at the conclusion of the game! They cry because they leave it all on the court every single night. Every single drop of it. No other coach in the league is able to bring his players to that point. No other coach is able to motivate his players to play -that- hard. Nobody. Hands down, Doc Rivers is coach of the year.

Erik Schmidt
Gainesville, Fla.

I think to best describe Van Gundy's accomplishments one must note the venerable coaches he has defeated in the previous few seasons during the playoffs; which include Wilkens, Riley and Bird, although I'm not sure Bird is up there with the other coaches.

Andrew Kaye
New York, N.Y.

I think Terry Porter said it best: "I'd like to see how that Zen stuff works in Vancouver or Dallas". Jerry Sloan consistently takes teams that have been written off as being too old and turns them into division champions and championship contenders. This isn't a fluke. Coach Sloan is the best coach in the league by far.

Miles Funk
Orem, Utah

I'm really not a big fan of Larry Brown, because of the fact that he has never won anything. (Danny Manning won that NCAA championship by himself). However, the job he has done in transforming the Sixers over the last two years (along with the help of GM Billy King) has to be applauded.

Jason
Philadelphia, Pa.

How in the world can you leave Flip Saunders off this list? Lenny Wilkens? His team is 26-52! He is one of the great coaches of all time, but not anymore. George Karl? He has a ton of talent to work with and barely managed to make the playoffs. Is this a poll of the best coach throughout his career or this year? Flip Saunders has taken a team that lost two All-Stars last year and made them into one of the best teams in the league.

Tom Holmlund
Hendricks, Minn.

If I had a team of veterans not living up to their potential I'd want Phil Jackson. But if I've got a dog team that I want to see win, Larry Brown is the guy. No other coach in creation could have gotten the Clippers to the playoffs.

Rick Collarini
New Orleans, La.

Coaching talent is more difficult than coaching a group of hard workers. As much as Doc Rivers has done in Orlando, Dunleavy in Portland has had to coach a bevy of talented players, including three stars in Stoudamire, Wallace and Pippen. However, having such a deep team obviates the repercussions of a few players having an off night, so I give the nod to Jackson. On the Lakers, he has to have his two superstars mesh, and Shaq and Kobe have a history of being at odds with one another. Getting the best player in the league and arguably the best two-guard to give up their considerable egos for the team, not to mention Glen Rice, shows a skill and rapport with the players that other coaches lack. Moreover, Jackson told Shaq, who was already among the best, to lose weight and change his game, and Shaq listened. Nobody else could make Shaq listen the way Jackson does. For all these reasons, Phil Jackson is the best coach in the league.

Marty Flaherty
Pittsburgh, Pa.

While my first inclination would to be to vote for my favorite team, the Blazers' coach Mike Dunleavy, the numbers don't lie. This is why I choose the Blazers rival Lakers coach Phil Jackson as the best coach in the NBA. After all, I had my doubts too about Jackson's coaching abilities being surrounded with arguably the greatest player to ever play the game in No. 23 while in Chicago, but his expertise has guided the last year's stagnant and sometimes lackluster Lakers to this year's best record in the NBA, and what some think, a sure lock for the title. I can only hope that Dunleavy pulls a few tricks of his own from his bag with the deep and talented Blazers team to lead them past the surging Lakers and coach Jackson.

Jason Hopkins
Gresham, Ore.

Hey, what about Paul Silas?! I agree that he probably isn't the "Best" coach in the NBA, but he should definitely be on this list -- especially since Doc Rivers is. Why isn't he being put up as a candidate for COTY? Just look at the storm that the Bugs have weathered this year with him at the helm. This team is playing their best basketball all season and playing like the preseason expectations that were put on them. And no ones deserves the credit more than Paul. But, to answer the question of who is the best? It's got to be Phil. How many other coaches had a shot to do what he has done with the same players? Phil is one heck of a motivator; so why does he have to be a builder? And here's a question for you stats guys: How many "builders" have stuck with the team to win a championship anyway?

Keith Driscoll
Guangdong, China

You can call me a "homer", but Jerry Sloan has driven the Jazz to yet another division title. The fact that Jazz was picked by all of the experts to place somewhere near the lottery says it all. The other coaches you've got up for honors have simply met preseason expectations. That's my simplified reason. Jerry Sloan is the hardest working coach in the NBA. He was the hardest working guard in the NBA during his career. Nothing has changed about the man since he became a coach except the grey hair. The Jazz haven't had a decent draft pick in 14 years. They have made more out of less longer than any other team in the league. Jerry Sloan (and his assistants) should be given credit for molding this team of mostly castoffs into contenders. Considering the small market in SLC, I was surprised at the strength of character demonstrated by including Jerry Sloan amongst the other candidates for coach of the year.

George M. Edgar
Salt Lake City, Utah

Tim Floyd is a magnificent coach. Yes, the same Tim Floyd who has coached the Bulls to their two worst seasons in succession. Floyd basically has two NBA caliber players -- both of whom are rookies. His team plays tough defense every night, and has been in a lot of games until the end this year. He has never once complained of his situation, or been hostile towards the fans or the media, he just coaches. Next year when the Bulls have some talent and make a run for the playoffs, everyone will be praising him. I am doing so now.

Kevin Silverman
Evanston, Ill.

It's hard to measure Jerry Sloan's achievements. He has spent his entire career with a team in one of the smallest markets in America. For the most part he has limited talent due to managements fiscal management and a difficulty in attracting players to Utah. His teams invariably play hard and he has had excellent success every year of hit tenure.

Phil Jackson is the best coach in the NBA, period. At first I thought otherwise, because he had the greatest player ever when he won those six championship rings and when he led his team to the best record ever. But when I read about this article of how he approaches his new team, especially the stars (Shaq and Kobe), I saw how great a strategist and motivator he is. Other coaches have handled the Bulls with Jordan before. Other coaches have handled Shaq also. But no one given the results that he have produced. You think it's luck? No it's not! It's the coaching! Wanna try? Give him the current Clippers team now with Odom, Taylor, Anderson and Olowokandi and their lottery pick. I bet he'll make them a better team! But of course that's just wishful thinking for the Clippers fans.

Anthony Uy
Quezon City, Philippines

I think Jeff Van Gundy is the best coach in the NBA. If you think back to last year in the last week of the regular season, the Knicks were being picked to be swept in the first round. Jeff pulled his club together without a true starting center and took them to the NBA Finals. That shows me that he is the best coach in the NBA.

David
Cato, N.Y.

Pat Riley is clearly the best coach in the NBA. Three different teams, three title contenders. He changes his style to fit his players. Unlike Phil Jackson who now has the Lakers running the same triangle offense that the Bulls ran when Jordan was king. And what happened to the Bulls when Jordan took a year off? The Bulls were horrible. What happened to Jackson's coaching abilities that year? Riley's a proven winner, regardless of players or cities.

Sam Amrhein
Tokyo, Japan

Van Gundy is the best coach in the NBA. He took unwanted and underachieving players (LJ, Camby) and an aging center (Ewing), and molded them with a shooting guard with little confidence (Houston) and another with a rap sheet (Spree). Don't be surprised to see this gang in the finals again this season.

Brock Mislan
Belle Mead, N.J.