As of yesterday, the NBA regular season has officially come to a close. With that comes two things: the playoffs and the handing out of awards. I’m going to post a playoff preview with my picks for the first round sometime in the next 24 hours, so this post is going to be dedicated solely to the regular season awards. Let’s get right into it.
Comeback Player of the Year: Elton Brand, Philadelphia 76ers - Just a few seasons ago, Brand was a 20-10 machine and one of the best power forwards in the NBA. Then, injuries and poor play the last couple of years made Brand an afterthought and highly overpaid. He seems to have bounced back from last year’s 13 and 6 to a solid 15 and 8 while helping to lead the upstart 76ers to a surprise seventh seed in the East. He is once again relevant as a player and deserves some kind of recognition for coming back from the dead and contributing to playoff basketball in Philly.
Most Improved Player: LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trailblazers - Kevin Love is most likely going to win this award due to the fact he was a double double machine this season, but when you get down to it his improvement seems natural given the facts that A) He is only in his third season, so he should continue to improve, B) His production was in line per minute with his stats previously; he just received adequate minutes this year, and C) Plays for Minnesota and someone there has to score and rebound for them. Aldridge is in his fifth season and has shown a marked improvement in two areas in which he was lacking in his prior four seasons: rebounding and interior scoring. He averaged four points more than his career PPG and one more rebound per game. He also doubled his career average by getting 1.2 blocks per game. Plus, he played nearly every game and carried an injury depleted Trailblazers squad to a sixth seed in the Western Conference. He got snubbed for the All-Star Team and is going to miss out on an All-NBA Team appearance, so the least he could get is the MIP Trophy.
Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers - Was this one even in doubt? Blake has easily been the best first year player in the NBA this season, averaging a beastly 22.5 and 12.1 a game. Blake Superior has probably been one of the five best players at the power forward position all year and has made the Los Angeles Clippers something other than a joke for ESPN to report on. To boot, Blake has probably been one of the three most exciting players to watch this year. I can’t wait until he leaves the Clips in a few years and goes to a real team.
Sixth Man of the Year: Glen Davis, Boston Celtics - Odds are Jason Terry or Lamar Odom wins this award, but I think Davis deserves it more despite having less impressive stats. Odom started nearly half the games this season, making him ineligible in my book. Jason Terry has played well, but all he really does is score (mostly just in the fourth quarter since someone other than Dirk has to shoot it from time to time). Davis has had a career year and does all the little things that don’t show up in the stats. He relieves both Garnett and whatever the Celtics throw up at center, plays most of the fourth quarter, hits clutch shots, hustles harder than any man in the league, and led the NBA in charges taken. He does all this while being drastically outsized in the height department. If you take Odom and Terry off of their respective teams, both the Lakers and Mavericks still make the playoffs. I don’t know that the Celtics do without Davis.
Coach of the Year: George Karl, Denver Nuggets - I was torn on this one between three men: Doug Collins in Philadelphia, Tom Thibodeau in Chicago, and Karl. It was really a toss-up between those three, and even Popovich in San Antonio is a deserving candidate. If any of those four men won this honor, I wouldn’t be surprised or upset. In the end, I went with Karl. He kept the Nuggets in the playoff race while all the drama swirled around Carmelo Anthony, and he has them playing even better without ‘Melo. Since the All-Star break, Denver has had one of the best records in the NBA and has been one of the most fun teams to watch. They have the potential to give several of the teams in the West a good scare in the playoffs. All this after missing most of last year with cancer. That being said, I had a really hard time not going with Collins or Thibs. I didn’t think Collins had what it took to coach anymore, but he has a starless Philadelphia playing much better than anyone expected. If not for the Lou Williams injury, they could have played spoiler to Miami or Boston. And Thibs has remade Chicago into a defensive juggernaut and managed to get the Bulls to the best record in the NBA despite Boozer and Noah missing significant amounts of time. In the end, I went with Karl because of his success despite the aforementioned drama and cancer.
Defensive Player of the Year: Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns - Dwight Howard is going to win this easily for the third straight season and it isn’t entirely undeserved. He is the only player to defend on an Orlando squad that can’t play a lick of D. But, Howard is still interested in stats and highlight reel blocks more than winning defense. He doesn’t have to swat the ball into the twentieth row. He could just block it to one of his teammates and start a fast break. This play was essentially Bill Russell’s entire career. I instead chose to give my nod for this award to Grant Hill, who has been the best individual defender in the NBA this year even though that stats don’t show it. Hill is about 130 years old, but night in and night out has taken it upon himself to guard the opposing team’s best player without regards to size and age. He’s matched up against everyone from Derrick Rose to Blake Griffin and has performed admirably. And he does this on a Phoenix team that plays even less defense than the rest of Orlando. Hill has had a late career renaissance and this commitment to defense has been very impressive.
Most Valuable Player: Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls - I touched on this the other day, but Rose is absolutely the MVP of this season. He has done everything he said he would, from improving his shooting range and committing to playing tougher defense. His advanced stats don’t make him look as impressive as LeBron or Howard, but Rose is the only guy on his team that can create his own shot. Of course LeBron would be more efficient; he plays next to two other All-Stars, making his life a lot easier. Howard is a center and if you’re his size, there is a problem if you are not efficient. Rose has been the best fourth quarter player this season and has pushed the Bulls to the best record in the NBA. He’s been a leader and kept the Bulls going, thriving even, while Boozer and Noah missed significant chunks of time. Rose has taken it upon himself time and again this season to make sure the Bulls don’t lose and constantly puts the pressure on himself to make them better every game. I don’t think you can honestly say that about LeBron or Howard. Plus, he averages 25 and 8 every night so its not like he isn’t putting up great numbers.
Stay tuned for playoff predictions in the near future.
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