Suns coach Jeff Hornacek places 2nd in Coach of the Year voting

Suns coach Jeff Hornacek placed second in NBA Coach of the Year voting to San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

Hornacek appeared on 103 of the 124 ballots that ask for the league's top three coaches this season. Popovich was on 98 of the ballots but won by receiving 59 first-place votes to Hornacek's 37. Ballot placing is weighted as five points for first, three points for second and one point for third. Popovich finished with 380 points to Hornacek's 339.

As a rookie head coach, Hornacek led the Suns to a 48-34 record that was a 23-win improvement, the largest one-year increase in the league by one game over Charlotte's 22-game bump. The Suns tied for the 11th best record in the NBA this season with Chicago and Toronto and missed the Western Conference playoffs by one game after being predicted unanimously to finish 14th or 15th in the Western Conference.

Drawing from former coaches like his father, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Jerry Sloan, Hornacek showed an immediate acumen for the job with his tactical skills on the sideline and his on- and off-court communication with players. He instilled confidence and chemistry in a made-over roster full of players who were getting the best playing opportunities of their careers and created a system that fit their strengths.

"He brings that quality of the best a player can be," Suns guard Goran Dragic said. "He's such a good guy. He's vocal. He's always calm. He understands the game because he played that game and that makes it even easier for us because he understands us. Sometimes, some players if they're hurt or something, they say, 'OK, I'm not going to play.' But, for Jeff, even if I had one leg, I would play for him. He gives me a lot. He's not only a coach for us but he's a friend too. He talks with us a lot. He communicates with us. He's making jokes. That's what brings players and coaches closer and then you would do anything for the coach."

"He has just got a great feel, a great balance of when to get on us, when to back up, when to let us play, when to kind of tigthen up and run some offense," Suns point guard Ish Smith said of Hornacek. ""He just has a great feel. He's a player's coach. Sometimes, it's something that is hard to explain but I think, not being biased, I think he should be Coach of the Year."

Doc Rivers is the only coach to ever win Coach of the Year without making the playoffs in the award's 52-year history. Rivers was the pick in 2000 for an Orlando team that went 41-41 and missed the playoffs by one game.

Popovich led the Spurs this season to a 62-20 record, which was the league's best. San Antonio's point differential was plus-7.8 points per game and the Spurs had a 19-game winning streak, tied for the fifth longest in NBA history, without any player averaging 30 or more minutes. Popovich's teams have won at least 50 games for 15 consecutive seasons but he posted the second-best record of his career with Tim Duncan at 37 years old (38 on Friday), Manu Ginobili at 36 and Tony Parker at 31 and extended lost injury time for Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Tiago Splitter.

This is Popovich's third Coach of the Year award and his second Red Auerbach Trophy in three years. He joins Don Nelson and Pat Riley as the award's only three-time winners.

Following Popovich and Hornacek in the voting were Chicago's Tom Thibodeau (159 points, 12 first-place votes), Charlotte's Steve Clifford (127 points, eight first-place votes), Toronto's Dwane Casey (70 points, five first-place votes), Portland's Terry Stotts (25 points, two first-place votes), the Los Angeles Clippers' Doc Rivers (13 points, one first-place vote), Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks (one point), Golden State's Mark Jackson (one point) and Brooklyn's Jason Kidd (one point).