Five bold predictions for Igor Kokoskov in his first year

Los Angeles, CA – December 5, 2016: Coach Igor Kokoskov of the Utah Jazz looks on during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 5, 2016 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California USA. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images)

Kokoskov will finish in the top-three for the Coach of the Year award

Recognition for head coaches in sports is directly attributed to the talent on the court. Some head coaches might be very good at strategy, X’s and O’s, and at coaching players up. But if the talent is sub par overall, ultimately there isn’t a whole lot they can do with it.

On the other hand, some head coaches are not quite as good at those coaching skills, but are dealt a deck of talented cards that carry the head coach and make him appear to be better than he truly is.

I would submit that Jay Triano is a better coach than the Phoenix Suns’ record showed last season, but the talent on the court was so poor that there was nothing he could really do about it.

At the same time, I have long believed that Tyronn Lue is a poor head coach, but when he is “coaching” LeBron James, he is going to look better than he truly is.

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The truth will come out about Lue very quickly now that James is in L.A.

So if I were to come right out and say that Igor Kokoskov is going to win the Coach of the Year award with the Phoenix Suns this season, it is wholly dependent upon the talent on the roster and how they were able to overcome more talented teams around the league, in particular the hellishly talented Pacific Division.

Yes, he can coach them up and probably make his players a little bit better than they truly are on both ends of the court. But the fact of the matter is, a healthy and regularly playing Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton is going to make him look like a better coach, regardless of the overall X’s and O’s.

That said, Kokoskov really does stand a great chance at winning the Coach of the Year award this season, depending on how many games the team wins.

If they are healthy and never drop back into the mode of tanking for lottery position, then they are bound to win probably at least 30 games minimum, likely without being blown out more than once or twice the entire year.

I would think that that would put Kokoskov in the top-three candidates for Coach of the Year for sure.

If Phoenix wins 35 games, and they actually do defeat the Golden State Warriors at least once (especially if that once is near the end of the season when that kind of an upset would be noticed), then he will easily find himself in the top-two.

But if the Phoenix Suns win up to 40 games and are in the hunt for the playoffs right until at least the final few weeks, if they defeat both Golden State and the Lakers at least once, and if they pull off another upset somewhere else on the schedule (against Boston, Toronto, or Houston, for instance), then there is a better than great chance that no matter what other teams surprise the league by winning more than expected, Kokoskov coaching in the Pacific Division will up his credibility in the race for that award.

It wouldn’t hurt his chances too if Deandre Ayton is also a candidate – if not the run-away favorite – to win the Rookie of the Year award as well.