Tag: coach of the month

After 13-2 March, NBA names Houston’s Ime Udoka as Coach of the Month

After guiding his team to a 13-2 record in March, Ime Udoka is Western Conference Coach of the Month. He’s the first Houston coach with the honor since Mike D’Antoni.

The NBA announced Tuesday that Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was named Western Conference Coach of the Month for March. He is the seventh coach to win the award in franchise history and the first since Mike D’Antoni in February 2020.

While leading Boston in 2021-22, Udoka was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month in February and for the combined months of March and April. He has a career record of 24-5 in March.

In March, Houston went 13-2 despite being without leading scorer and rebounder Alperen Sengun for the final 10 games and playing without its top bench scorer, Cam Whitmore, for nine games.

Houston won 11 straight games from March 8-29, tying for its longest streak since a 17-game span during the 2017-18 season. The Rockets have also won their past seven road games, a dramatic turnaround after winning just five of their first 29 road games this season.

The Rockets outscored opponents by an average of 9.3 points per game in March and won six consecutive games by double digits from March 14-25, tying for the third-longest streak in franchise history.  The Rockets scored at least 125 points in three straight games from March 19-23, marking their longest streak since November 1979.

Houston is 38-36 in 2023-24 after going 22-60 in 2022-23, which already represents the fifth-best improvement (by wins) from one season to the next in franchise history.  The Rockets are outscoring opponents by an average of 1.6 points per game after being outscored by a league-high 8.1 points over the past three seasons combined.

Under Udoka’s guidance, the Rockets rank 10th among all teams in scoring defense, sixth in field-goal percentage defense and second in 3-point defense. Over the past three seasons combined, Houston ranked last No. 30 (last among all NBA teams), No. 28 and No. 26 in those categories, respectively.

Houston is also allowing the fewest fast-break points this season after giving up the most over its past three seasons.

On offense, after committing the NBA’s most turnovers over the past three seasons, the Rockets are on pace to set a franchise record for the fewest turnovers (by average) in a single season.

Houston trails Golden State by 2 games for the Western Conference’s final spot in the play-in tournament for the 2024 playoffs. The Rockets host the Warriors on Thursday, April 4.

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Mark Daigneault nominated for February’s Western Conference Coach of the Month

Mark Daigneault nominated for February’s Western Conference Coach of the Month.

The NBA announced its recipients for February’s Coach of the Month awards, and Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was nominated. This is the fourth straight month he’s been nominated for the award.

The Thunder are 42-18 and in first place in the Western Conference standings. After finishing second in Coach of the Year voting last season, Daigneault continues his ascension as one of the best head coaches in the league.

Daigneault helped lead the Thunder to an 8-3 record in February. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr won the award. Other nominees were Chris Finch, Darvin Ham, Jason Kidd and Michael Malone. The East winner was Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra.

The Thunder had two other nominees for the league’s monthly awards: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for Player of the Month and Chet Holmgren for Rookie of the Month.

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Mark Daigneault nominated for January’s Western Conference Coach of the Month

Mark Daigneault nominated for January’s Western Conference Coach of the Month.

The NBA announced its recipients for January’s Coach of the Month awards, and Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was nominated for it. This is the third straight month (October/November and December) Daigneault has been nominated for the award.

Daigneault helped lead the Thunder through a brutal month in which they played 17 games in 31 days, including five back-to-backs. During that stretch, OKC went a successful 11-6.

The Thunder are 33-15 and in second place in the Western Conference standings. After finishing second in Coach of the Year voting last season, Daigneault continues his ascension as one of the best head coaches in the league.

LA Clippers head coach Ty Lue won the Western Conference honor. Other nominees were Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins and Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel. The East winner was New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.

The Thunder had two other nominees for the league’s monthly awards: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for Player of the Month and Chet Holmgren for Rookie of the Month.

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Mark Daigneault nominated for December’s Western Conference Coach of the Month award

Mark Daigneault nominated for December’s Western Conference Coach of the Month award.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was announced as a nominee for December’s Western Conference Coach of the Month award.

The NBA announced on Thursday that LA Clippers head coach Ty Lue was the winner of the award. The Clippers went 11-2 in December; one of those losses was to OKC.

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Meanwhile, the Thunder went 10-3 in December, with wins over the Denver Nuggets (twice) and Minnesota Timberwolves highlighting the successful month.

The Thunder are 23-10 and in second place in the Western Conference.

Even though Daigneault didn’t win the award, the Thunder collected plenty of accolades on their off day.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won Player of the Month for the first time in his career and was third among West guards in the first release of the 2024 All-Star voting results. Chet Holmgren won Rookie of the Month again and collected the ninth-most votes among West frontcourt players in the first release of the 2024 All-Star voting.

This was the second straight time Daigneault was nominated for the award this season. After finishing second in Coach of the Year voting last season, it’s evident he’s gained the respect of his peers with the job he’s done in OKC.

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Mark Daigneault nominated for October/November Western Conference Coach of the Month

Mark Daigneault nominated for October/November Western Conference Coach of the Month.

A strong 13-6 start to the season has the Oklahoma City Thunder well-represented in the first batch of monthly awards.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was nominated for Western Conference Coach of the Month for October/November. Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch won the award.

This news comes on the same day we learned Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was nominated for Western Conference Player of the Month and Chet Holmgren won Western Conference Rookie of the Month.

Daigneault, who is in his fourth season as head coach, is coming off a breakout season last year when he finished No. 2 in Coach of the Year voting. He signed a multiyear extension this offseason.

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Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla named Coach of the Month

The accolades for the month of November (and some of October) continue to roll in for the Boston Celtics.

The accolades for the month of November (and some of October) continue to roll in for the Boston Celtics with the league naming Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla their Eastern Conference Coach of the Month. In an interesting twist given Jayson Tatum and the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker won the East and West Players of the Month awards, the West honors for Coach of the Month went to Suns head coach Monty Williams.

Other head coaches in the mix for the award from the East included J.B. Bickerstaff of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Rick Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers.

Mike Brown of the Sacramento Kings, Willie Green of the New Orleans Pelicans, Will Hardy of the Utah Jazz, Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets were in the running for the West award.

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Boston’s Ime Udoka wins March 2022 Coach of the Month honors from NBA

It is his second such honor this season in that role.

The Boston Celtics announced via press release that Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has been honored as the league’s Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for the combined months of March and April 2022 on Tuesday afternoon, April presumably being abbreviated due to the majority of the month being dedicated to the league’s postseason.

After February of this year, it is the second such honor for Udoka with the Celtics as their head coach. As noted by the team, he finished the team’s final 19 games starting in March with a 5 – 4 record, with a +14 net rating and a 123.4 offensive rating, all league bests for Boston over that period of time.

Udoka is also the first Celtics head coach since Doc Rivers to win the honor two months in a row, according to the team, with the first-year head coach becoming just the third ever to secure a 50-win season in his first campaign at the helm.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Celtics coach Ime Udoka named NBA’s Eastern Conference Coach of the Month of February

It his first such honor, and reportedly the first time a rookie coach has been so honored as well.

The NBA announced on Thursday afternoon that it has named Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka as the Eastern Conference’s Coach of the Month for the month of February, joining Utah Jazz head coach Quinn Snyder as the West honoree for that award.

The first rookie head coach to win such an honor in league history per team reporter Taylor Snow, Udoka was in the mix with J.B. Bickerstaff of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors, and Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat to win the honor, by any measure quite excellent company for the Portland native to find himself in so early in his career.

He was of course honored for coaching the team to its best February record in four decades, the Celtics having gone 9 – 2 over the span for which Udoka was recognized.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Stephen Silas nominated for Western Conference Coach of the Month

Despite trading superstar guard James Harden and suffering through several key injuries, the Rockets had a winning month in January.

Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas was nominated for Western Conference Coach of the Month in January, according to an NBA announcement issued Monday, Feb. 1. The award was ultimately given to Quin Snyder, whose Utah Jazz went 13-3 in the month and had an 11-game winning streak.

As for Silas, the Rockets went 8-7 in January despite some extremely difficult circumstances. They began the month dealing with fallout from James Harden’s offseason trade request before finally trading the superstar guard on Jan. 13. Rotation regulars John Wall, Christian Wood, Victor Oladipo, Eric Gordon, and Danuel House Jr. all missed at least two games due to an assortment of injuries or other issues.

Yet, in his first full month as an NBA head coach, Silas kept the Rockets focused and oversaw significant improvement — with Houston finishing the month on a five-game winning streak. After going 3-6 with Harden on the roster and coming in at No. 22 in net defensive rating, the Rockets went 6-3 after trading the perennial All-Star guard and MVP finalist, with their defense rising to No. 1 in the NBA over that span.

Besides Snyder and Silas, other Coach of the Month finalists in the West were Frank Vogel of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tyronn Lue of the Clippers. Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers won the award for the Eastern Conference, with Cleveland’s J.B. Bickerstaff and Brooklyn’s Steve Nash also nominated for their January performances.

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Mike D’Antoni named West Coach of the Month for February

Since D’Antoni’s hire prior to the 2016-17 season, the Rockets are 212-93 (.695). That’s the highest winning percentage of any NBA team.

The NBA on Monday announced Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni as the Western Conference Coach of the Month for February.

D’Antoni has won the award 10 times in his career, including five times since joining Houston before the 2016-17 season.

The Rockets won their final six games to finish February with a 9-2 mark. Going back to Jan. 22, Houston has the highest winning percentage (.765) in the West, with wins in 13 of the team’s last 17 games.

Houston is 39-20 heading into Monday night’s game at New York (18-42). With a victory, the Rockets will have won 40 games within the first 60 games of a season for the third time in four seasons under D’Antoni. Prior to his hire, the Rockets had done it just six times in franchise history.

Seven of Houston’s nine wins in February were by double digits, with the Rockets outscoring teams by an average of 7.9 points per game. Players listed taller than 6-foot-8 played a total of just 33 minutes for the month amid D’Antoni’s well-chronicled change to a smaller lineup.

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As a team, the Rockets averaged 17.5 made 3-pointers in February, which was 6.2 more per game than their opponents. Houston averaged 10.2 steals per game for the month while forcing 17.8 turnovers, all while committing just 12.8 turnovers of their own.

With Saturday’s win at Boston, D’Antoni tied Mike Fratello for the 20th-most wins in NBA history at 667. Since becoming head coach of the Rockets in 2016-17, Houston is 212-93 (.695) in regular-season games, which represents the NBA’s best winning percentage of any team.

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