Posted at 6:17 a.m., Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Raptors' Mitchell named NBA coach of the year
Associated Press
TORONTO — Sam Mitchell was honored as the NBA coach of the year today after leading the Toronto Raptors to a franchise-record-tying 47 victories and their first Atlantic Division title.He won the Red Auerbach Trophy in a decisive vote over Utah's Jerry Sloan. Mitchell picked up 49 first-place votes for a total of 394 points in balloting by 128 basketball writers and broadcasters. Sloan had 301 points followed by Dallas' Avery Johnson with 268.
Mitchell is the sixth coach in the team's history. He guided the Raptors 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."
Guard T.J. Ford said Mitchell puts his faith in the players.
"He's going to give us the structure offensively and defensively, but it's up to us to go out there execute," he said. "He puts it in our hands and lets us control it. He's been great in that aspect."
