Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan will get a healthy number of votes from staunch supporters who feel his accomplishments have been overlooked, but don't expect him to win the NBA's Coach of the Year award.

In a Deseret News survey of 52 voters for the annual award, Sloan received just five definite votes. Two other voters indicated they were leaning toward casting their ballots for him.That's not quite as bad as it sounds, however. That total put Sloan in third place in the News poll, behind Portland coach Mike Dunleavy, with 13, and Philadelphia coach Larry Brown, with six.

Unlike the MVP survey conducted by the News, there was a lot more uncertainty among voters heading into the final week of the season regarding their coaching choice. Thirteen voters said they were still undecided, while seven more said they were only leaning toward a candidate.

If the Jazz defeat San Antonio today and appear headed toward the best

record in the league, many of those undecideds could swing toward Sloan.

Sloan finished second in Coach of the Year balloting last year, and won The Sporting News' Coach of the Year award, as voted by his peers.

Regardless of what happens with the vote, it was obvious that Sloan's supporters are big fans.

"Jerry gets that team to play consistently at a high level, which is all a coach can do," said Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune. "Everybody on that team is flawed in some way. (John) Stockton is much slower. Some of their starters couldn't play for other teams, other than off the bench. Jerry's just been overlooked too much, much too long. He deserves the recognition."

"He does a tremendous job season in and season out," said Matt Pinto, a broadcaster for KLIF in Dallas. "Their consistency is amazing. You'd think they'd hit a blip on the screen but they never do, and that's incredible."

"He runs that team the way a team should be run," said Jesse Barkin of the San Jose Mercury News.

"I like his values," Steve Aschburner of the Minneapolis Star Tribune said of Sloan. "I like the way he keeps his team in line. He doesn't let them get away with stuff."

That last factor is exactly the reason Dunleavy appears destined to win the award this year. He's kept together a Trail Blazers team that has had so many on- and off-court problems in the past it has been known around the league as the Jail Blazers. And he's done it while giving significant minutes to 10 players, all of whom probably believe they should be starting.

"There's a lot of egos on that team, and he's somehow gotten them to play together," said John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News.

In Brown's case, voters were impressed by the fact he's steered a team that has been mired in the lottery in recent years into playoff contention. The Sixers will post their first winning record since the 1990-91 season.

"He took a franchise that was dead, and they're going to have a winning year," said Jeffrey Denberg of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He turned Allen Iverson from a freak show into a basketball player."

Dave Krieger pointed out that after Iverson, the Sixers don't have much.

"You could make an argument that the Nuggets and Celtics are more talented, and they can't win," he noted.

"He's done more with less, and with guys that weren't even starters with other teams," Dennis Deitch of the Delaware County Daily Times said of Brown.

Many voters said they thought earlier in the season they might vote for Orlando's Chuck Daly (four votes) but lost their enthusiasm as the team stumbled in recent weeks. Still, some felt he still was deserving.

"In a year when teams are thrown together and it's not working, his is one of the ones that has worked," said Glenn Nelson of the Seattle Times.

Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times thought Daly should win for a variety of reasons.

"Chuck hasn't won yet, Chuck has a couple of rings, and Chuck has done a great renovation job in Orlando," he said.

Though Paul Silas only coached part of the season in Charlotte after Dave Cowens' unexpected resignation, some voters felt the job he's done there warranted credit.

"The guy took a hopeless situation and turned it around in a big hurry," the Denver Post's Mike Monroe pointed out.

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"Silas squeezed blood from a turnip," Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram summed up.

Pat Riley got some support for his effort with the Miami Heat this year, as voters credited him with winning in the face of adversity.

"All those guys were injured, and people were saying they weren't even going to make the playoffs, and they have the best record in the East," sad Jackie MacMullan of Sports Illustrated.

Deseret News sports correspondent Eric Bresee contributed to this story.

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