D'Antoni selected coach of the year

PHOENIX -- After directing the Phoenix Suns to a 33-win turnaround and installing a fast-paced style praised throughout the league, Mike D'Antoni was rewarded as the NBA's coach of the year on Tuesday.

D'Antoni, in his first full season as Suns coach, molded the squad that transformed a 29-win team a year ago into one that led the NBA with a 62-30 record.

The Suns coach, who spent 20 years in Italy as a star point guard, then highly successful coach, received 41 first-place votes and 326 points overall from sports writers and broadcasters from the United States and Canada.

Rick Carlisle of Indiana was second with 26 first-place votes and 241 points. Nate McMillan of Seattle was a close third with 234 points and 30 first-place ballots.

After Phoenix acquired Steve Nash and guard Quentin Richardson, D'Antoni decided to go with a small, speedy lineup that plays a freewheeling style highlighted by the inside dominance of Amare Stoudemire, the outside-inside game of Shawn Marion and the outside threat of Joe Johnson and Richardson.

Nash ran the show, sharing D'Antoni's philosophy of how the game should be played. Nash was named the league's most valuable player on Monday.

The Suns shot out to a 31-4 record en route to the third-biggest turnaround in NBA history.

-- AP