Vickerman was rolling until the Webster thing disrupted them and they temporarily lost their way. Bevo is very much liked at the Hawks. But yes, top four teams are fairly stacked.

I think Adelaide finished about where I expected, probably better-than based on their initial roster.

After one of Townsville's early games, I expected them to lose every game by 20+ and drop out of the competition mid-season due to failing crowds and funds. Dennis did really well - good pick regardless of their finishing position IMO.

The thing you can't overlook is the incremental improvement in Townsville through the course of the season. A coach is meant to unite a group and get them improving as a cohesive unit. Their offence was an absolute rabble early on, some of the worst I've seen in the NBL in years. And the only reason they would keep teams below 100 is because other teams switched off for large portions of the game and the Crocs played at such a slow pace. They also found themselves down double digits in the first quarter in eight or nine of their first 10 games, which is pretty ridiculous.

Dennis is deserving because you saw the great improvements before your eyes, and the chemistry up there is amazing. Jett and Samhan have both already told media that they want to be back next season

What is the method of voting for this award? If this applied to the MVP, then Randle would have won it (no disrespect to Lisch).

I'm not suggesting SD hasn't done a great job with the roster but team success has to play a fairly big role in the award, and that's why I think it should go to Demos.

Imagine the outrage in the NBA if the Milwaukee coach got COTY because they cracked the Warriors unbeaten start to the season.

By Round 1 United were favourites to win the comp, but what's overlooked is the number of new faces in Melbourne. Demopoulos did a great job getting that team to jel. They flat out blew up that roster in the off-season.

Also, not that I know the behind-the-scenes personalities of anyone on the team, but generally when there are a bunch of stars they all want their slice of the pie and some can get disgruntled when they don't get that. Especially a guy straight out of college looking to make his mark. For that, I applaud Stephen Holt. He seems super mature. Great job by DD to manage his men.

I'm not unhappy with the pick. Unusual to see the coach of a bad team get it, but SD did pretty well with the "talent" at his disposal.
There was no obvious pick for COTY in my mind.

Dennis was my pick. Great effort with such a young team, especially in the second half of the season to keep winning instead of running out of steam.

Bevo and Demopoulos did well with new rosters or in DD's case, in a new league. Wright also did well. So they would have all been in the mix too.

Note when I say winning, I mean "Not losing almost every game" which is what I expected them to do!

Tough one, Bevo maybe taking Hawks form bottom to 3rd.

I like Dennis but when all is said and done he took a team from 8th to 7th and that probably said more about Sydney then Townsville.

Having said that Townsville were really good to watch this year.

Without starting new Topic, anyone know where Peter Crawford (Townsville boy) is these days?

No one did a great coaching job this year, but you can't give coach of the year to a guy who has shown no year-on-year improvement at the helm of a team that has finished last or second last in each of his seasons in charge. His teams consistently rank near the bottom of both offensive and defensive efficiency. His coaching was much better this year after his first few in Tsv were absolutely incompetent (despite rave reviews from hoops fans everywhere for god knows why).

That is not coach of the year material.

The problem is there are few actual basketball fans following the Crocs any more so he just gets a good wrap from the "we have to support our team" homer crowd who dont really know the game.

Mick, I'm reminded of that old saying about horses and jockeys.

Doesn't matter if you're Damian Oliver or Michelle Payne or Glen Boss or whatever, if you're riding a donkey then you're not going to win the Melbourne Cup.

Given the roster Dennis had at his disposal, 11 wins is a great result. Demopoulos or Bevo would've had to notch at least 21 wins to get near Dennis IMO.

bowtie, I think PC is still here in Adelaide. A few months ago I saw him walking out of a car park in the city and people have said he's been helping out with coaching the Lightning this season. Not sure if he's still here though.

I was actually hoping Shawn Dennis would win COTY but thought they would give it to Bevo instead. For what he had to work with and how hard they played Dennis deserved it. That roster should've been lucky to win 3-5 games and they won 11 games. I just hope this wasn't their last season but if so a good way to go out really.

LV you said it yourself, if you are riding a Donkey you don't win.

Having some good ones doesn't make you coach of the year, the team was not a donkey (Sydney were) they had some talent but not as good hence position.

Congrats great job finishing 7th. ???? Surely team selection is part of that process ??

Cheer up, Mick!

Given the Crocs player budget, SD did a remarkable job putting a team that was consistently so competitive on the court.

Good choice IMO,great job with a low budget team. Making playoffs shouldn't be the reason you get coach of the year.


Personally think all the award winners this year was pretty spot on.

I am reminded of this saying:

'Are your players afraid to lose or are they inspired to win?'

Coaching at any level one can ask him or herself this question and if the answer affords you the compliment that your players are out there playing to win and you as a coach can inspire them rather than always berate them, then you are more than half way to being a decent coach...

Considering the ups and downs and how close the season was, also how many upsets we had this season it isn't an easy choice.

I am happy with it, however a couple of standouts could count themselves unlucky this season.

Close call for coach of the year, one I wouldn't have liked to make, but as I have said I don't mind this choice...

The way Joey carried on against NZ in relation to Larkin, a DP player who hasn't seen any previous minutes, was pretty pathetic in my book.

I think that was a small but important detail to acknowledge when being critical of the season.

Interesting that everyone seems to love playing for Joey given the way he seems to carry on sometimes.

Yeah but the problem is if you give Dennis an all star roster of vets they will all end up hating him and won't win many games. 7th or 8th is his ceiling regardless of what roster he coaches. He has proven that in his time in Townsville. He is the Scott Skiles of the NBL. He'll get a young team to overperform and a veteran team to underperform. Why should a guy with a winning record so far below .500 (both this season and his career) even be in the conversation?

Mick, how can you possibly say that Dennis would finish 7th no matter what?

We're talking about coach of the *year* not coach of the century or coach of the decade.

If we use your logic, well Trevor Gleeson stunk it up in his one year in Melbourne. Everyone hated him and he left after one unsuccessful season. Did that mean he should never win COTY? Of course not.

Dennis did more with what he had than any other NBL coach this season. That’s why we’re all saying he was a deserving winner. That’s all it comes down to.

Mick, persistently slamming people isn't a healthy way to live!

Provide us with facts if you want to peddle such irregular opinion. Don't just be a contrarian troll, man!

Guess Oscar Wilde was right when he said, "man kills the thing he loves". You're a Crocs fan, don't be so critical of your squad, bro.

Trevor Gleeson was a proven winner over many seasons in Townsville. Dennis has never won in this league as a head coach. Apples and oranges.

Congrats great job finishing 7th. ???? Surely team selection is part of that process ??

On a budget with the odour of a dying franchise around you. They lost probably their brightest light. Then their MVP had a shoddy start to the season.

They got nothing out of Schenscher. Jett took a while to get going. How many Taipans discards did they take on?

Finished one win behind Cairns who added Wortho and kept a pretty solid roster from last year besides one import.

Love that quote Bear!

I'm honestly not sure what part of "Coach of the Year" is difficult to understand.

Best coach- the guy who got the most out of his players

This year- Season 2015/16

And of course, Mick, Gleeson was a winner in Townsville. That was my whole point! Coaches can have good years and bad years. Gleeson may have had a bad year in Melbourne, just like Dennis might have had a bad year last year.

You can't just say "Dennis has never had a winning season: therefore he should never win coach of the year". The point is this: It's possible to coach really well and your team to have a losing record. If you don't have the players, you don't have the players. No one tipped Townsville to get 11 wins, did they? Now, I wonder why that might be?

That was over 15 years ago.

Gotta be honest, whilst I think he did an ok job with what he had, I don't think the award goes to the coach of the team that finished 2nd last.

If I had to pick, I would give it to Bevo. Considering where the Hawks have come from, he's done a marvellous job. People discount his achievement because of the achievements of his players, but it goes both ways, he has definitely brought out the best in those players.

So if Bevo takes the Hawks all the way to a championship, that means he's a SHIT coach because he had a team of champions?
ON that basis we should give coach of the year to Connelly because his players were shit!

At the start of this season, Ogilvy was a bum who spent more time on his back than a hooker, and people were saying Lisch wasn't worth an import spot. Yet by the halfway mark both ere in contention for MVP and DPoTY.
Dennis started the season with the league's MVP, and by the same time he was nothing but an elbow throwing crab. They were given a lifeline after the Martin hit, but instead of getting Conklin to pull his head in, Dennis let him continue.

Don't get me wrong, had Dennis taken the Crocs to the finals with the same squad, I would have applauded. But you can't say that because they were shit, that means the players were shit, and therefore the coach must be wonderful.

So if Bevo takes the Hawks all the way to a championship, that means he's a SHIT coach because he had a team of champions?

No, and nobody's saying that.

ON that basis we should give coach of the year to Connelly because his players were shit!

Sydney were almost unanimously tipped to make the playoffs this year, some tipping them as high as top spot. They won six games.

At the start of this season, Ogilvy was a bum who spent more time on his back than a hooker, and people were saying Lisch wasn't worth an import spot.

Are you...are you serious? Ogilvy was the consensus MVP at the start of the season. I don't recall a single negative thing being said about either of those players. If there was any criticism at all it was of Kirk Penney, and that stopped after the second or third game.

Would it really hurt you to operate in the real world for a change?

Dennis started the season with the league's MVP

And absolutely nothing else. All up, a roster tipped to win two or three games. They won eleven. They beat every team bar Illawarra, and had an overtime loss to the Hawks. They beat Perth and Melbourne on the road and came within millimetres of doing the same thing to Illawarra and New Zealand.

They won more games against the top two teams than most people thought they would win against the entire league.

They were given a lifeline after the Martin hit, but instead of getting Conklin to pull his head in, Dennis let him continue.

You have NFI what Dennis did.

Don't get me wrong, had Dennis taken the Crocs to the finals with the same squad, I would have applauded. But you can't say that because they were shit, that means the players were shit, and therefore the coach must be wonderful.

But they, as a team, weren't shit. They won 11 games. Last season that was good enough for sixth spot.

They did this despite losing Todd Blanchfield and Steven Markovic, who were pretty big pieces for them.

I had Bevo as COTY (due to Ellis, White and Weeks, in that order, and not due to the team's record), but I can't argue with the Dennis pick. Those are the two candidates. Nobody's saying Bevo is a bad coach, except maybe in this alternate universe you live in where Townsville won five games and AJ Ogilvy had a bad start to the season.