Coach of the Year: Is Rob Paternostro YOUR pick?

The British Basketball League today announced the winner of the BBL Coach of the Year award, as voted for by the Basketball Journalists Association.

Leicester Riders coach, Rob Paternostro, picked up the honours thanks to his side’s BBL Cup and Championship double, along with the 30-3 league record and trip to the BBL Trophy Final. Paternostro’s Riders made the John Sandford Sports Centre into a fortress as they remained unbeaten at home during their league campaign and lost only once at home all season – a 68-66 defeat in the Trophy semi-final to the Worcester Wolves. In fact, the Riders were on the losing end only five times in all competitions all season, with the heaviest defeat contested by a full-strength Riders side being by seven points and the average margin being by just 3.75 points.*

An overlooked aspect of the job Paternostro did, is that all of the 2012/13 achievements were reached without the services of John Fraley, a player who began his first season in the BBL by averaging 17.4ppg and 12.4rpg before being ruled out for the season through injury.

Second place on the Coach of the Year ballot was the Sheffield Sharks’ Atiba Lyons for his efforts in obliterating their early season 2-10 form. Lyons helped turn his team around 180 degrees to finish their league campaign on an 8-1 run, beating five play-off sides along the way. Lyons also guided his side to the Trophy Final and despite being desperately unfancied, the Sharks pulled off the upset by beating the Leicester Riders 71-69.

Third place in the Coach of the Year voting was the Surrey Heat’s Creon Raftopoulos for his team’s unexpectedly strong start to the season, their resilience when Martelle McLemore went down with an injury, their recovery from a mid-season wobble and solid finish to the season. Coach Raftopoulos crafted his team at the very end of the off-season but was able to get the maximum out of his roster and guide them to a solid fourth-place finish.

Do you agree with the coaches in the top three for Coach of the Year?

Here are some of the reasons why it isn’t as cut-and-dry as you think. Cast your votes Sports Fans on who YOU would have chosen in the polls below:

Fab Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles) – Impossible expectations. Check. Improving opposition. Check. Injury-plagued campaign. Check. Fab Flournoy was always going to be coaching against the odds this season and although his Newcastle Eagles side haven’t matched last season’s clean sweep of trophies, his team still made it to a Cup final, still finished second in the league AND they won more games than they did in 2011/12 (the title-winning year) with a winning percentage of 75.7% compared to last year’s 76.6%.

Sterling Davis (Glasgow Rocks) – A third place finish in the league, their joint-highest finish in over six years and a seven-game league win streak in the middle of the season that saw them rise up from sixth place and a 9-8 record to third place and a 16-8 record.

Paul James (Worcester Wolves) – After an inconsistent start to the season (7-8), Coach James guided his team to the second-best finish in franchise history which was aided by an imposing 13-3 run which began in December and finished in mid-March. Worcester were the only team to beat the Leicester Riders at the John Sandford Sports Centre and Coach James didn’t have starting point guard, Sherrad Prezzie-Blue, for most of 2012.

Gavin Love (Plymouth Raiders) – Expectations were great heading into the season thanks to the star-studded seven-man roster assembled on the South Coast. But a Jekyll and Hyde season saw Coach Love forced into fielding twice as many players as he originally intended, due to their top scorer returning to America after only 14 games and a dizzying amount of changes at the centre position. Somehow, Coach Gavin Love managed to hold tight onto the reins of the Plymouth Raiders throughout their bumpy ride and guide them to a respectable 19-14 league finish, with a legitimate shot at a third-place finish only being dashed due to an 0-4 finish to the season. Arguably the most remarkable achievement of the Raiders’ season was the BBL Cup semi-final second leg against the Newcastle Eagles where the Raiders almost overturned a previously-thought-of-as-insurmountable 17 point first leg deficit, only to bow out in overtime.

Vince Macaulay (London Lions) – Starting the season 1-5 and then having a period from December 16th to February 16th where only two games were won is not the perfect recipe for a COY nod. But despite those down periods, Vince Macaulay guided the new-look London Lions (technically a new franchise in the BBL) into the play-offs with an all-British roster. That’s an achievement that can’t go unnoticed.

Jeff Jones (Manchester Giants) – Another all-British roster who exceeded expectations, the Giants pushed for a play-off place in their first season back in the BBL, only to miss out on eighth spot on a last-gasp buzzer beater by rivals, the London Lions. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Giants but speaks volumes about the the expectations generated in Manchester after a solid season. A season series win over the Surrey Heat showed the potential the Giants have.

Dave Elderkin (Durham Wildcats) – Tripling the winning percentage from their first season in the BBL, Coach Elderkin guided his team through a tough second season that saw him introduce over half his roster to the BBL and to the brink of the play-offs. Wins over three play-off sides (Lions, Raiders and Wolves) were highlights in the season.

Matt Lloyd (Cheshire Phoenix) – With the rollercoaster ride in Chester loop-de-looping, James Hamilton coming in then resigning, his assistant Matt Lloyd stepped in to the hot-seat and with off-the-court dramas threatening to derail the Nix’s 2012/13 season, he did a sterling job in keeping his players focused and fighting for a final play-off spot into the final four weeks of the season. Stand-out wins over the Eagles, Heat and Sharks showed that the Nix could compete with the best in the league on their day and it’s a credit to Lloyd that he helped drag his team to a respectable 10-23 record considering all circumstances. Certainly a big learning curve and experience for the rookie BBL coach.

Tony Walsh (Mersey Tigers) – He kept his team motivated and believing that they could secure their first win of the season despite all indications that they wouldn’t break their losing streak. But for a few heartbreaking decisions that were out of his control, Walsh may well have ended the season with a couple of victories which would have been well deserved for the effort both he and his players put in over the season. It was a baptism of fire for Coach Walsh but credit where credit is due – he never once buckled under pressure and remained eternally upbeat.

* The 28-point loss to Worcester came with the Riders fielding a reserve line-up and was therefore not included in the ‘full-strength’ numbers.

– Please vote in each poll, for first, second and third respectively. If you choose for example Atiba Lyons as #1, please do not vote him in picks 2 or 3. Thanks! –

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