Philadelphia 76ers’ Doug Collins and
Dallas Mavericks’ Rick Carlisle awarded coaches of the month
Doug Collins and Rick Carlisle were named coaches of NBA for the month February on 1 March. Collins is the interim coach of Philadelphia 76ers, a team of the Eastern Conference. On the other hand Carlisle coaches the Dallas Mavericks of the Western Conference.
The Sixers played with great determination the previous month and showed a lot of improvement in their games. They recorded a 9-3 win/lose in February. Through strong defence and offence they even held a 77-71 victory against the league’s best team of the
season, San Antonio Spurs and defeated them cold-bloodedly. The Spurs are holding best record of the season, 49-10.
The team had a marvellous shooting under the excellent coaching of the former four-times NBA All-Star and the retired basketball player who wore the No. 20 jersey. They recorded a .750 per cent shooting, thanks to Collins. When the Sixers held the Spurs
to a 77-71 loss at Philadelphia, there was no limit to the team and coach’s joy. Jrue Holiday scooped 27 points in the win and the highest a Spur scored were 16, by Tim Duncan. The 59-year-old was quoted as saying, "What a marvellous win for our team. For
us to beat the best team in the league, our guys are very, very happy."
Out of nine, five of the wins they secured were in double digits and the coach led them to an 8.3 point per game win over the teams they confronted.
Philadelphia won four straight games to seal the month with. This was the longest winning streak they had this season.
Let us take a look at Western Conference’s coach of the month now. The team Mavericks saw an 11-1 win-lose record under the interim coaching of Carlisle. The 51-year-old head coach took the team to new heights of winning and held them at the top record for
any team that played this month. The "Mavs" won 16 out of 17 games they played in February.
12 of the total 17 games they played were on the road. They even took a 101-97 victory over the Boston Celtics on 4 February at the TD Garden. The coach was very pleased with his team and said, "I loved the way our guys battled. It comes down to a make or
miss here or there, that's how close it was. Fortunately we were able to hang in and make plays. Kidd's shot was huge and we got the stops we needed."
Toronto Raptors were the last ones to face the Mavericks on 27 February and were pushed down to a 101-93 loss.
Tom Thibodeau of the Chicago Bulls, Frank Vogel of Indiana Pacers, Eric Spoelstra of Miami Heat and Gregg Popovich of San Antonio Spurs were also nominated for the same award.