There are a ton of candidates this season. There isn't a clear cut favorite. Here are the candidates in my opinion.
Jerry Sloan - Utah was the 8th seed last season. This season, they're competing for the 2nd seed and playing just as well as anybody in the league.
Alvin Gentry - Not only are the Suns playing great offense, they're actually defending... Which is something they never did under D'Antoni.
Nate McMillian - Even with over 300 games lost due to injury, the Blazers have still won 50 games. Everybody own their roster has missed games, even him.
Scott Skiles - The Bucks have 45 wins and are in the playoffs. I don't think anybody on the planet predicted this.
Scott Brooks - They ended up with the 8th seed after a late season slump, but they're one win away from 50 on the season. Not too many people had them making the playoffs at the beginning of the season. He's got these young guys playing defense.
Mike Woodson - The Hawks have improved each season. They went from being a young team, to a young playoff team... To an elite team. They've jumped the Celtics as the third best team in the East.
Larry Brown - The addittion of Stephen Jackson and Tyrus Thomas was major, but you have to give him credit for the Bobcats achieving their first playoff birth.
Rick Adelman - They're going to fall 7-8 games short of the playoffs, but nobody expected them to be this competitive without Yao and T-Mac.
Who should be the COY?