Chicago Bulls’ Tom Thibodeau Coach of the Year selection hardly a surprise

Chicago Bulls' Tom Thibodeau Receives Red Auerbach Trophy

Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was the recipient of this year's NBA Coach of the Year award. He became the seventh first-year coach to be given the honor.

Considering the accomplishments made this year by the Chicago Bulls, Thibodeau's selection, while not unanimous, is hardly surprising. The Bulls raced past title favorites Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat to win the top seed heading into the playoffs. Thibodeau guided franchise player Derrick Rose and company to a 62-20 regular season record, the best in the NBA.

"This is a well-deserved honor," said Gar Forman, the Chicago Bulls' General Manager in a statement today. "He's a terrific teacher, motivator, tactician and communicator. His work ethic, passion for the game and for our players is appreciated."

Thibodeau earned 75 first-place votes for a total of 475 points from a panel of sportswriters across the United States and Canada. The Sixers' Doug Collins and Spurs' Gregg Popovich was second and third in the balloting respectively.

Tom Thibodeau was an assistant to current Celtics coach Doc Rivers prior to joining the Bulls. He was part of the title-winning Boston squad in 2008 and he has brought that winning mentality and the defensive coaching acumen to Chicago this season.

Together with the remarkable progress of superstar guard Derrick Rose, Thibodeau returned the Chicago Bulls back into the discussion as title favorites worthy of the legendary Bulls teams of the Michael Jordan era. Derrick Rose brought his game into new heights this season under the tutelage of Tom Thibodeau and is widely expected to receive the Most Valuable Player award this season.

The defensive schemes instituted by Thibodeau transformed the Chicago Bulls into one of the league's top defensive teams.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday May 02 2011, 6:00 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0