The postseason honors for the Phoenix Suns continued to pile up on Tuesday, as Mike D'Antoni was officially named the NBA's Coach of the Year. On Sunday, point guard Steve Nash was named the NBA's MVP. D'Antoni guided the Suns to a 33-win turnaround in 2004-05, as the club went from 29 wins a year ago to the league's best record at 62-20 this season. It marked the third-best improvement in NBA history. "It was a joy to coach these guys," a humble D'Antoni said. "We just turned the corner and there were no lows. It just kept getting better." D'Antoni earned 41 first-place votes for a total of 326 points, while Indiana's Rick Carlisle finished second place with 26 first-place votes for a total of 241 points. The only other Suns coach to win the league's top honor was Cotton Fitzsimmons in 1989. He led Phoenix to a 27-win jump from the previous season. D'Antoni has been the head coach of the Suns since December 10, 2003, when he took over for Frank Johnson following an 8-13 start. Phoenix was 21-40 under D'Antoni to end the 2003-04 season and the club signed him to a two-year contract extension last May 12. "I thought I knew it all last year," D'Antoni added. "But you always learn. You coach what you have. It is just how you get your players to respond. We just turned the corner." The Suns made a couple of moves in the off-season, the biggest being the acquisition of Nash to run the up-tempo style preferred by D'Antoni. Phoenix responded by leading the league in scoring average at 110.4 points per game. "When you go after Nash and (Quentin) Richardson there was a chance we would be good. To lead the league with 62 wins, they had to come out every night and play hard. I think the best way to get things out of players is to trust their instincts. You take what you have and get the most out of them." D'Antoni has spent 31 years in professional basketball as a player, coach, front office executive and scout in the NBA, ABA and the Italian League. He joined the Suns' staff on June 25, 2002 as the top assistant coach. This is the second NBA head coaching stint for D'Antoni, who guided the Denver Nuggets during the shortened lockout season in 1999, compiling a 14-36 record. He was the club's director of player personnel in 1997-98. D'Antoni was also on the bench as an assistant for Portland in the 2000-01 season and was hired as a scout for San Antonio during the 1999-00 campaign. As a head coach in Italy, he was twice honored as Coach of the Year. "I went back (Italy) because I wanted to be a head coach. I left a great place. You just keep watching the NBA and it keeps being there and it keeps gnawing at you." Seattle's Nate McMillian finished third in the voting, while Chicago's Scott Skiles was fourth with Denver's George Karl finishing fifth.