NEW YORK CITY, NY -- Sam Mitchell of the Toronto Raptors has been
named winner of the N-B-A's Coach of the Year award. He received
389 points in voting from a nationwide panel of sportscasters and
writers while Utah's Jerry Sloan got 301 and Avery Johnson of
Dallas 268.

Mitchell led the Raptors to their first-ever Atlantic Division
championship with a franchise-record-tying 47 victories. Mitchell,
who is in his third season of coaching the Raptors, led the team to
an N-B-A best 20-game improvement over last years record of
27-and-55.