Vinny Del Negro interested in team progress; not worried about ‘Coach of the Year’ award: NBA Update
This season has been one h**l of a ride for Los Angeles Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro. Nearly a month ago, there were people in Los Angeles, who were calling for his head after the Clippers slumped in one game after another. The
Clippers had lost 12 of their 19 games and their chances for the postseason run had started to look grim. A vote of confidence by team owner Donald Sterling was required to give Del Negro some security and today LAC are 39-24 and have nearly secured the 4th
spot in Western Conference.
The Clippers have had a sensational April. They were on a 5 game winning streak, and had won 13 in the last 15, entering the game against Phoenix Suns this Thursday, one which they lost by a whisker, 93-90. But his efforts to gel
a new group of players into a team through the season and finally get them to deliver results was not good enough to bring him in the pool of the most successful coaches of the season. Del Negro however was not concerned one bit;
"I don't even think about it, because those things are out of your control," Del Negro said. "My focus is for the guys and the team to continue to build this thing the right way. And if we continue to have some success and win
some games and do something on a consistent basis, then all of that stuff will take care of itself."
The front runner for the yearly award is without any doubt Tom Thibodeau, the Chicago Bulls coach who recently became the fastest coach to win 100 games, a feat which he accomplished in just 130 games. Thibodeau also won the award
last year after leading the Bulls to the best record in the league and after doing it again this time and that too without the services of Derrick Rose in 24 of the games; he is the hot favourite to repeat.
Other coaches in the running are Boston Celtics Doc Rivers, Pacers Frank Vogel and San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich.
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