PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- It was only natural that Mike Dunleavy accepted the NBA Coach of the Year award today with a little awkwardness. All season long, his job was to persuade the talented Portland Trail Blazers that they had to put aside their own goals and egos to win. ``It's a little embarrassing to me,'' Dunleavy said as he accepted the Red Auerbach Trophy at the Rose Garden. ``I just hope our players understand that this is really a team award, and that I'm really proud of them,'' Dunleavy said, his voice wavering slightly and his eyes getting misty. ``I look at it as an award for being the most improved team.'' Dunleavy received 48 of a possible 118 votes from a panel of NBA sports writers and broadcasters. Philadelphia's Larry Brown was second with 23 votes, followed by Utah's Jerry Sloan (15). In his second season with the Blazers, Dunleavy faced a challenge that most coaches envied: how to integrate the deepest, most athletic roster in the league. Emerging stars like Damon Stoudamire, Brian Grant and Rasheed Wallace were coaxed into making room for role players like Stacey Augmon and Walt Williams. The free agent signings of veterans Jim Jackson and Greg Anthony made the Blazers even stronger, but opened the door for unrest over playing time. With only a few incidents of grousing, the team held together, and won their first Pacific Division title since the 1991-92 season. The Blazers' 35-15 record was the third-best in the league, behind San Antonio and Utah, which were both 37-13. ``We decided that if we were up front with these guys from the very start and not try and sugar-coat the minutes they would get or the role that they would play on our team, and if they were still willing to commit to it, then we had a chance to make it work,'' Dunleavy said. ``I think early in the year, it ruffled some feathers; some egos got bumped a little bit, but ultimately, as we went through a stretch where it happened to all our players, I think everybody realized it's nothing personal. ``Winning has its ways. Winning soothes a lot of pain.'' Portland has continued to win in the playoffs. The Blazers swept the Suns in the first round, and Friday's award was presented a little more than 12 hours after they defeated the Jazz 84-81 in Salt Lake City to even their best-of-7 conference semifinals 1-1. ``We're a different team than we had last year,'' Grant said. ``We're the same players, with the exception of about three. But we've got a different mindset, and he's got to be commended for that. It wasn't something that we just did on our own. We had to be pushed in some areas, and we had to have some guidance, and I think he provided that guidance.'' This was the first time in Dunleavy's eight-year coaching career -- two with the Los Angeles Lakers and four with Milwaukee before Portland -- that he received the award. Dunleavy said this season still hasn't lived up to 1990-91, when the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals and lost to the Chicago Bulls for the first of Michael Jordan's six titles. ``I love the award, but you can have the award back if you give me that ring,'' Dunleavy said. -=-=- 