If everyone else can give out awards why not I? Here’s just a few.
MVP’s
East: Kevin Garnett (runner-up: Dwight Howard)
-This is very hot debate in my eyes. Dwight is playing at another level, essentially taking the torch from Shaq before he had a chance to think about passing it. But I’ve always taken the MVP literally which is why a few years back I always thought it should be Iverson with the Sixers or T-Mac with the Magic and Rockets. Because they were the most valuable to their team. If you take KG away from the Celtics I believe they fall apart. Pierce and Allen have had their off nights as had KG…but he brings it in so many ways. He energizes everyone and he also makes them play out of their mind. Do you think anyone other than KG could get a bench like the C’s have to keep busting their ass on defense? No. He’s the biggest reason for the Boston turnaround becuase of his insane mindset.
West: Chris Paul (runner-up: Kobe Bryant)
-Curveball? It really shouldn’t be when you realize that the New Orleans Hornets are tied for the third best record in the Western Conference. And it certainly isn’t because of the addition of MoPete or the out of this world coaching by Byron Scott. As Charles Barkley would say the kid is ballin. Right now he’s averaging 21 points, 10 assists and 3 steals. He’s 20th in the league in scoring (10th in the West), 3rd in assists (2nd in the West behind Nash) and leads the league in steals. He has settled the Williams vs. Paul debate for now. Kobe’s helped the Lakers turn-around but his temper tantrum at the beginning cost him. Duncan is Duncan, Nash is Nash, it gets boring talking about how great they are. This man right here is emerging.
Best Coach
East: Stan Van Gundy (runner-up: Doc Rivers, Eddie Jordan)
-How could I give it to SVG? Easy. As much as I’ve given Doc credit for having the perfect team for him to coach…when you have a guy like KG with his attitude, work ethic and intensity you don’t have to do much coaching. It takes care of itself. Not to mention he has two more veteran superstars in Pierce and Allen, but he has to get his credit. Also Flip Saunders got disqualified for being…well…Flip Saunders. Hows Eddie Jordan up there? You have to give him some credit for keeping that Wizard teams afloat minus Agent Zero. Granted they still have Caron and Jamison but other than that the cupboard is pretty bare, give him props for getting it done with Antonio Daniels and Darius Songalia as key pieces. But back to SVG he almost didn’t get it because of their horrible 7-8 record at home. To put that in perspective they have as many home wins as the Knicks. But the Magic are 15-5 on the road, including an impressive 4-1 on a West Coast road swing earlier this year. How many road wins did the Magic have last year? 15.
West: Nate McMillan (runner-up: Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich)
-Duh. This was supposed to be a season of doom (as outsiders proclaimed) or a free season (as we proclaimed). Either way the expectations were about as low as going to a $2 strip club. We’re a 1/2 game out of the Northwest Division lead. I believe that would be the definition of ‘enough said’. Phil’s finally got everyone healthy and finally has everyone playing on the same page. Seems like the guys have gotten used to Kobe slash wanted to prove him wrong for telling them they suck. And Popovich is Popovich, have to give him credit for holding the fort as each of the Big 3 have fallen to injury so far.
Worst Coach
East: Isiah Thomas (runner-up: Isiah Thomas, Mike Brown)
-I can’t decide what he is the worst at: coaching, announcing or being a GM/president.
West: Randy Wittman (runner-up: PJ Carliesmo)
-He has no plan or direction for Minnesota at all. Some games he goes youth movement, others he decides ‘hey I want to win’ and throws Antoine Walker out there. Instead of developing Corey Brewer by playing him he has him playing 30 minutes one night then 7 the next. With almost every team in the NBA you know they are going for a youth movement or they are clearly rebuilding. With Minnesota it feels like they are just trying to lose. Also he started Marko Jaric AND Sebastian Telfair together in their last game. Yeah.
Rookie Of The Year
Kevin Durant (runner-up: Al Horford)
-As badly as I want to be able to make an argument about how Durant isn’t the ROY…no one else is stepping up. Yi has flashes, Horford is inconsistent and Navarro alternates between deadly and decent on an nightly basis. That leaves Durant as the guy right now. I mean the man is averaging 10 more points than any other rookie right now you have to give it to him. Forget that all he pretty much does is shoot, I’m not sure a lot of rookies could handle what is being put on his plate right now.
Sixth Man
East: Ben Gordon (runner-up: Jason Maxiell)
West: Manu Ginobili (runner-up: Jason Terry)
-Giving it to BG even though he just became a sixth man again recently….the man has been balling out of his mind since going back to the bench. Out West, Ginobili wins by default because he really isnt even a sixth man at all and everyone knows it.
Biggest Disappointment
East: Chicago Bulls (runner-up: Miami Heat)
-This was supposed to be the Bulls year. They were one of those teams that people threw out there during the ‘is Boston any good’ argument. Everyone saw them as a Top 3 in the East. How could they not, they had virtually the same core returning..they have to be better right? Wrong. no one saw a 3-10 November coming which eventually led to Scott Skiles being fired. Nobody. They may not have taken care of their low-post scoring issue but this was a team that damn near won 50 games last year and now they are struggling to even smell the playoffs. Major disappointment especially after they had exercised their first round demons the year before. They beat out Miami for the award because the Heat had one of the most horrendous off-seasons in history that didn’t even come close to covering the giant gaping wound opened by the Bulls in the last year’s playoffs. The Ricky Davis trade was a quick band-aid but that has obviously fallen off and the Heat are gushing blood all over.
West: Houston Rockets (runner-up: Memphis Grizzlies)
-People forget the Rockets won 52 games last year. At this point last year they were 21-12. This year was supposed to be their year to make the leap. They finally had an offensive minded coach with a system that has worked almost everywhere he has gone (people forget his horrible two years with the Warriors). Add in all the weapons like Bonzi Wells, Luther Head, Steve Francis, Mike James to help T-Mac and Yao score and it was all gravy. Well it was when they were 6-1. Then they lost 6 in a row (including losses to the Lakers, Spurs, Mavs and Suns) and have never been the same since. T-Mac has already missed 7 games this year (and will miss six more at least). The Rockets are 2-5 without him in the lineup. Also shockingly they are averaging LESS points per game this year under Adelman than last year under JVG. 97.0 in 06-07 and 94.8 so far in 07-08. Last year they had 5 guys averaging double digit points (T-Mac, Yao, Battier, Head, Alston) this year they have four (T-Mac, Yao, Alston, Wells) with Mike James, Luther Head and Steve Francis all producing next to nothing. The Grizzlies are up there because they are 9-23 with Pau this year.