Stan Van Gundy mentioned Reggie Theus as a Coach of the Year candidate; I considered it a friendly platitude towards a colleague. But then ESPN's John Hollinger agreed in his Tuesday chat.

Kelly Dwyer added his own endorsement this morning, going against his opposition to giving the award to coaches who take bad teams to mediocreland.

He'll never win it — Doc Rivers will likely get some Kevin Garnet runoff, Nate McMillan's my early choice — but it's good to see others notice the incredible effort the team's (largely) put up.