Time to get out the vote

Coach of the Year
It's that time of year again. The ballots are due at the league office this week, so, without further ado, here are one writer's selections for the 2006-07 awards:

1. Sam Mitchell, Toronto. 2. Avery Johnson, Dallas. 3. Jeff Van Gundy, Houston.

For much of the season, I was leaning toward Johnson, if for no other reason than the incredible streak the Mavericks went on after starting the season with four losses. But Toronto's story may be the best in the NBA. Mitchell had all these new faces, a new boss, and was a lame duck, and still managed to do what no one thought possible: win the Hindenburg Division. They may have the second-best record in the East when it's all said and done. Unbelievable. Van Gundy should be recognized for keeping the Rockets afloat despite the injury to Yao Ming and the on-again, off-again back woes of Tracy McGrady. They're going to end up as the fourth-best team in the league -- and the third best in Texas.

1. Brandon Roy, Portland. 2. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto. 3. Adam Morrison, Charlotte.

Roy could be a unanimous pick. He has delivered as advertised for an otherwise bad team (but one that has some promise with guys such as Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge). Bargnani was right there until felled by an appendectomy; he nonetheless won Rookie of the Month honors in January and February and has played a big role in Toronto's turnaround. I would love to have put Walter Herrmann third, but my Charlotte peeps say Morrison has been consistently better. Herrmann didn't even start playing until last month.

1. Monta Ellis, Golden State. 2. Al Jefferson, Boston. 3. Kevin Martin, Sacramento.

This is the hardest award to classify, although the NBA wants you to vote for an up-and-coming player. Ellis and Jefferson, both high school-to-NBA guys from Mississippi, had breakout years. The difference is that Ellis had his for a team that, headed into the final weekend, was still in playoff contention. That has to count for something. (And teammate Andris Biedrins would get more props had the Warriors' late surge come before he was taken out of the starting lineup.) We all know about Big Al. Like last year, we're waiting for next year. Martin might have been the Kings' best everyday player, but Sacramento was not a very good team this season.

1. Marcus Camby, Denver. 2. Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana. 3. Tayshaun Prince, Detroit.

Three guys -- Ben Wallace, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo -- have won 10 of the last 12 DPYs. Wallace has won four of the last five, but he hasn't been what the Bulls hoped he'd be (and that is being charitable, according to some of the things I've read and heard). Camby stayed reasonably healthy (for him) and has been a monster on the glass and in shot-blocking. Ditto for O'Neal, who worked on his body and his game over the summer and is among the shot-blocking leaders. Prince may have lapped Bruce Bowen as the best wing defender in the league, especially with those arms! Reggie Miller can vouch for that.

1. Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix. 2. Jerry Stackhouse, Dallas. 3. Antonio McDyess, Detroit.

Barbosa has been terrific all season and is such a great fit in the Suns' run-and-gun system. He may be one of the quickest guys in the league and can also kill you from outside. Stackhouse has been Dallas's top reserve the last couple of years and appears to have settled into it. McDyess got more time than he may have suspected with injuries and the usual Rasheed Wallace suspensions.

1. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas. 2. Steve Nash, Phoenix. 3. LeBron James, Cleveland. 4. Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers. 5. Chris Bosh, Toronto.

This has been a Dirk/Steve contest all season, and it's hard to decide between them. It came down to the Mavericks' success and Dirk's contribution to it. I know he gets ripped for not showing up in big games, but he shows up in enough of them. And for not-so-big games, to which the Celtics and Knicks can attest. Nash had another great season and he clearly makes the Suns go. But the bar was set pretty high for him, maybe unfairly high. James has to be among the top three. I mean, look at his team! Kobe pretty much has salvaged what's left of the Lakers' once-promising season. And it isn't much. They might be Memphis West if he ever left for a long stretch. Bosh was the main man for the surprising Raptors.

1. Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant.

2. Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas.

3. Marcus Camby, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Tracy McGrady, Chauncey Billups.

Foiled in postseason bid?

These next few days will determine whether the longest active playoff drought for a player will come to an end.

Golden State's Adonal Foyle has logged 639 games in his hardly distinguished NBA career without a playoff appearance. That can happen when you've spent your career playing in Mogadishu by the Bay, which has been Foyle's sorry lot since he went to the Warriors in the 1997 draft.

Foyle leads the pack by a wide margin, especially since our man Milt Palacio (470 games) has been unable to secure steady NBA employment this season for his customarily bad NBA team.

Two members of the Knicks, who came from the Bulls, are also facing another playoff-less spring: Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry. Crawford will have played 455 NBA games without a playoff appearance (assuming he plays in the Knicks' remaining games) while Curry will be at 442.

The big midseason swap between the Warriors and Pacers seemed destined to end the playoff droughts for Troy Murphy (401 games) and Mike Dunleavy (399), since Indiana has been a playoff fixture since 1997. Oops.

And if neither team makes it, then Golden State's Jason Richardson will have logged 438 games without a playoff appearance. Portland's Darius Miles is at 412 games after missing all of this season.

None of the aforementioned lads is close to overtaking Tom Van Arsdale, who was good enough to have appeared in three All-Star Games but labored in 929 games without once making the postseason.

In the end, there was no lost cause

How often does a coach oversee a team losing 18 straight games and live to tell about it? It certainly appears that Doc Rivers is going to be the third in NBA history, because the Celtics seem intent on bringing him back.

The 2006-07 Celtics became the 10th team in NBA history to have a losing streak of 18 games. In the nine previous cases, the coach was fired in-season on four occasions, including Rivers by the Magic, who lost 19 straight early in 2003-04. (Doc was gone after losing 10 straight.)

The others were Gene Shue (1988-89 Clippers), Roy Rubin (1972-73 Sixers), and Tom Nissalke (1981-82 Jazz, although the 18-game losing streak came later that season, under his replacement, Frank Layden).

Three other teams allowed their coach to finish the season and then replaced him with a new one for the following season. Denver didn't bring back Bill Hanzlik after the Nuggets dropped 23 straight in the 1997-98 season; Dallas didn't bring back Quinn Buckner after the 1993-94 Mavericks lost 20 straight; and Cleveland didn't bring back Bill Musselman after the 1981-82 Cavaliers dropped their last 19.

The two coaches who survived to coach the same team the next season are Paul Silas, whose San Diego Clippers dropped 19 straight (1981-82), and Brian Winters, whose expansion Vancouver Grizzlies lost 23 straight (1995-96).

Silas made it through the 1982-83 season before being replaced by Jim Lynam. Winters lasted 43 games into the 1996-97 season before he was removed after winning just eight games (giving him an overall record of 23-102.)

Rivers is the only NBA coach who has been a part of two teams that registered 18-game losing streaks.

Etc.

Brotherly concern
Allan Ray had more than a passing interest in the recent Don Imus controversy. His younger sister, Brittany, was a reserve freshman guard on the Rutgers women's basketball team. "She's a little upset about it," Ray said. "I called her and tried to lift her spirits." Brittany Ray appeared in all 36 games for the Scarlet Knights this past season, starting six of them, and averaging almost 20 minutes a game. Like her older brother, she likes to fire away from the outside, and she scored the final basket (a 3-pointer) in Rutgers's 59-35 romp over LSU in the NCAA semifinals. Ray isn't the only Celtic with a sister playing college ball. Freshman Wendy Szczerbiak appeared in 17 games this past season for Lehigh.

Seeds of discontent
The battle for second place in the Eastern Conference between Chicago and Cleveland promises to go down to the bitter end. At stake is a first-round matchup with New Jersey/Orlando or a first-round matchup with Miami. Wasn't the new seeding supposed to prevent something like this? "It respects the division [winner]. It isn't intended on punishing anybody," commissioner David Stern said. "And I guess there's no plan to change that." The problem this year is that the teams with the three best records in the East could all come from the Central Division -- and no division winner can be seeded lower than fourth. Chicago has the tiebreaker over the Cavs, but Cleveland has the easier schedule. It could well come down to the last night, when the Bulls are at New Jersey and Cleveland is home against the Bucks. Both teams will have the home-court advantage in the first round, meaning a division winner will open on the road for the second straight year. Last year it was Denver. This year it will be Miami.

Losers keepers
The Eastern Conference could have three sub-.500 teams in the postseason -- and that hasn't happened in either conference in a decade. In 1996-97, the Timberwolves, Clippers, and Suns all slipped into the playoffs with losing records and all were eliminated in the first round (although the Suns took the second-seeded Sonics to the maximum five games). This year in the East, the No. 8 seed will have a losing record, and the No. 7 team may as well. Then there's Washington, which more than once this season was 10 games over .500 and as recently as March 6 was nine games over .500. If the Wizards lose their last three games (Chicago, Orlando, Indiana) they will finish 40-42. And with all three of those teams still fighting for something, the injury-ravaged Wizards won't have any gimmes.

The Hornets are going back to New Orleans next season. What about the good folks of Oklahoma City who, unlike the people of New Orleans, actually, you know, supported the Hornets? There were sellouts , a first-class arena, and two Marriotts within walking distance of the building. What else is needed? Stern said the reception given the Hornets in Oklahoma "could not have been better. It exceeded our expectation at every level." Well, given that the principal owner of the Sonics is an Oklahoma City guy, and given the arena situation in Seattle, doesn't it make some sense to move that team to Oklahoma City? "I don't have a team and I can't tell you a date," Stern said, "but it's my expectation that the NBA has not played its last game in Oklahoma City." The Hornets, meanwhile, are only the third team in NBA history to go 7-0 in overtime games in a season, getting win No. 7 Tuesday night against the Clippers. The 2002-03 Pistons and the 1961-62 Lakers also had 7-0 overtime records, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Red Sox have joined a lengthy list -- and it goes back well into the 1980s -- of those misspelling the last name of a certain Hall of Famer who played for the Celtics in the 1980s and '90s. Yup, when the Celtics showed up at Fenway Thursday, as the Sox were honoring Red Auerbach, The Chief was listed on the release as "Robert Parrish."

In HD veritas? Last Wednesday night, a channel-surfing sports fan came upon the Celtics-Sixers game on his HD set, Channel 881, and saw some basketball being played. He clicked the "info" button on his remote and here's what popped up: "7:30-10:30 NBA Basketball. Exhibition: Philadelphia at Boston."

Peter May's e-mail address is p_may@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.