The NBA Playoffs are on! I’m so hyped for these playoffs.
I know many of you aren’t NBA fans and I can understand why. There are times when the league annoys me as well. In the past, the league has had crappy play, players who are terrible on and off the court, just a lot of negative stuff.
However, the league has rebounded this year and this has been one of the more entertaining regular seasons in a long time. There are still some negatives like the situation in Seattle, but we’ll save that for another day.
Its time to give out my regular season awards!
We’ll start with some minor ones before getting to the toughest choice maybe ever, the MVP vote:
Surprise Team: New Orleans. I thought these guys could be a borderline playoff team in the West but I didn’t expect Paul to make the leap to an MVP player, Peja to stay healthy, David West and Tyson Chandler to emerge as all-star caliber players and their bench to produce like it has. Good for the league and the city. 2nd: Lakers. Same deal as New Orleans as far as being a borderline playoff team. Kobe has become a better all-around player and Gasol and Bynum’s emergence helped too. Also, people have slept on Lamar Odom but he’s playing the best he’s played since his one season in Miami. 3rd: Portland. These young guys have competed well in a tough conference and get Oden back next season. Watch out for these guys. 4th: Philly. I rank them below Portland even though they made the playoffs, but the East is easier than the West. I had these guys dead in the water before the season and they started out that way. But the second half of the season has been solid, Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams have been good. Andre Miller has emerged as an excellent point guard and Andre Iguodola has emerged as a borderline franchise player. Even as a Knicks fan, I have to respect what’s going on there. 5th: Sacramento. I know that they didn’t finish above .500, but look at that team. The fact that they were even competing for the final playoff spot a month ago is solid. Good job Theus.
Disappointing Team: Denver. Yeah they made the playoffs, but these boys should be better. They need to play better defense and with that team with AI, Carmelo, Kenyon and Camby, these boys need to be contending for the Western Conference title instead of barely making the playoffs. When they lose to the Lakers in the first round, it will be the end of a sad season. 2nd: Dallas. I look at disappointment differently then a lot of other people. They slept walked through the first half of the season and are only now turning it on. I still don’t completely like the Kidd trade for the future. 3rd: New Jersey. How do you have Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson and play like that? Pathetic. 4th: Toronto and Chicago. Both of these teams should have been better. Toronto played terribly in the second half of the season and I think the point guard situation is causing major problems. Chicago, wow, between in-fighting, contract issues with Gordon and Deng, coaching troubles and many other things that my friend Jonathan can tell me about, they had issues.
Embarassment: The New York Knicks. My hometown team makes me sad to be a fan of the NBA. I stopped truly supporting them after the sexual harassment case. Its one thing to be bad on the court, but to be disrespectful to women in that environment is appalling. Until the regime changes truly happens or probably not because you can’t fire owners, I can’t acknowledge them.
Runner-up: Atlanta Hawks. Lets see, instead of their current squad, it can be Chris Paul or Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Andre Inguodola and Luol Deng. My two favorite NBA teams are a joke. Back to some more fun stuff.
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant (Seattle). Played well throughout the season and became a legit go-to player and dare I say clutch. He’s does take too many shots, could still use a few more pounds and leaves some defense to be desired, but he’s 19 years old! He’s going to be a stud. Runner-up: Al Horford (Atlanta). Averaged nearly a double-double and gave some stability to my pathetic Hawks.
Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Garnett (Boston). This guy has been an animal on the defensive end and has inspired the best defense in the NBA. He can guard perimeter guys and post players with the same intensity and effectiveness. Runner-up: Shane Battier (Houston)
Sixth Man of the Year: It should go to Manu Ginobili (San Antonio) but he starts half the time and plays starter minutes. If we go with a truly traditional sixth man, go with Leandro Barbosa (Phoenix).
Coach of the Year: Byron Scott (New Orleans). I mentioned everything about the Hornets that needs to be said has been done. 2nd: Doc Rivers (Boston). The most underrated thing to do in coaching is manage egos. Phil Jackson never got enough credit for this in Chicago with the Bulls back in the 90’s. I’m not comparing Rivers with Jackson, but he’s had to keep Pierce, Garnett, Allen and the cast of others in check and that’s hard. 3rd: Phil Jackson (Lakers). He got that team to gel and become the top seed in the West, that’s solid. 4th: Eddie Jordan (Washington). He gets no love from the national media for his efforts in Washington but he has them playing better now without a healthy Arenas and has them, dare I say it, playing some defense. Not Celtics and Spurs good defense, but legendary by their standards. 5th: Rick Adelman (Houston). You can’t lead their team to 22 straight wins and not get a mention even though I still don’t like your team. Respect.
Now for the big one:
MVP: I look at this award as someone who is truly the most valuable player for the fortunes of their team. You don’t have to lead the league in any statistic. You don’t have to be the best overall player in the game (sorry for later, Kobe). I like a balance in my award winner, so defense and rebounding has to at least be acknowledged (sorry, Steve Nash). Here they are:
5th: Dwight Howard (Orlando), Deron Williams/Carlos Boozer (Utah) and Tracy McGrady (Houston). He’s continuing to evolve his game and has become a force on the rebounding side of the ball. Williams and Boozer have teamed up to make Utah a solid team and very dangerous in the playoffs. McGrady gets mention because he led the Rockets to that winning streak.
4th: LeBron James (Cleveland): Almost any other year, he could win this award, but the three guys ahead of him just win out. Cleveland would be nothing without him, literally. He carries that team every night and averages a 30-8-7 as a 24-year-old! Are you kidding me! The only guys I’ve seen come into the league with this combination of skill, intrigue and power is a young Shaq. I was too young to appreciate Jordan in the early years but I’m sure it was the same. He has no parallel physically. The scary part is that he can be the best defender in the league when he feels like it and still has a shaky jump shot. Other then that, he’s ok. I can’t believe he’s fourth.
3rd: Kevin Garnett (Celtics): His defense and rebounding has been excellent, so those are the positives. He still scores well but has deferred to Pierce and Allen, which was smart. His value to the team is incredible. He brings an intensity and focus that has rubbed off the rest of the team. His value is monster. However, his injury hurt his chances.
2nd : Kobe Bryant (Lakers): Sorry, Kobe. You’re second on the list and the best player in the game. I think you should have gotten the award two years ago when you carried that joke of a team to around 45 wins and the playoffs. This year, your supporting cast was better, your overall numbers were down but you may have turned in your best overall season. Defensively, you brought it. I just think that you play with a solid cast and getting Gasol and emergence of Bynum and the resurgence of Odom hurts your case a little. If I need a game-winning shot, its on Kobe and that matters.
1st: Chris Paul (New Orleans): I’ve debated this internally for the past few weeks. I’ve argued with friends about this and in the end, I had to go with Paul. He turned in the best individual season ever for a point guard. He averaged 21 points, 11 assists, close to three steals. He peaked in March and April with a split of 24-13 and 17-13 in the final two months. The team went from around 30 wins to 56 with him.
Now I know that he had an excellent cast with him like Peja, West, Chandler, Wells, Pargo and some others. But who put them in the position to achieve. I can’t count how many lobs he gave to Chandler for dunks, how many dribble-drives he did in the lane to get open threes for Peja, how many excellent pick and rolls and post-ups he organized for West, how many steals he had that led to easy layups for the rest of the team. He was a force this year and plays with a fire I like.
He’s the most talented 6-foot-and-under player ever (Sorry, Isiah, AI and Tiny).
Furthermore, he has embraced New Orleans and made that team matter in the worst of circumstances. I said that the Hornets shouldn’t return to Louisiana because they couldn’t handle having an NBA team because of Katrina. However, the success of that team has made me a believer and Paul is a major reason for that.
He brings it all and is my MVP for this season. I may change my mind in the next few minutes, but this is what I’m sticking with.
I know many of you aren’t NBA fans and I can understand why. There are times when the league annoys me as well. In the past, the league has had crappy play, players who are terrible on and off the court, just a lot of negative stuff.
However, the league has rebounded this year and this has been one of the more entertaining regular seasons in a long time. There are still some negatives like the situation in Seattle, but we’ll save that for another day.
Its time to give out my regular season awards!
We’ll start with some minor ones before getting to the toughest choice maybe ever, the MVP vote:
Surprise Team: New Orleans. I thought these guys could be a borderline playoff team in the West but I didn’t expect Paul to make the leap to an MVP player, Peja to stay healthy, David West and Tyson Chandler to emerge as all-star caliber players and their bench to produce like it has. Good for the league and the city. 2nd: Lakers. Same deal as New Orleans as far as being a borderline playoff team. Kobe has become a better all-around player and Gasol and Bynum’s emergence helped too. Also, people have slept on Lamar Odom but he’s playing the best he’s played since his one season in Miami. 3rd: Portland. These young guys have competed well in a tough conference and get Oden back next season. Watch out for these guys. 4th: Philly. I rank them below Portland even though they made the playoffs, but the East is easier than the West. I had these guys dead in the water before the season and they started out that way. But the second half of the season has been solid, Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams have been good. Andre Miller has emerged as an excellent point guard and Andre Iguodola has emerged as a borderline franchise player. Even as a Knicks fan, I have to respect what’s going on there. 5th: Sacramento. I know that they didn’t finish above .500, but look at that team. The fact that they were even competing for the final playoff spot a month ago is solid. Good job Theus.
Disappointing Team: Denver. Yeah they made the playoffs, but these boys should be better. They need to play better defense and with that team with AI, Carmelo, Kenyon and Camby, these boys need to be contending for the Western Conference title instead of barely making the playoffs. When they lose to the Lakers in the first round, it will be the end of a sad season. 2nd: Dallas. I look at disappointment differently then a lot of other people. They slept walked through the first half of the season and are only now turning it on. I still don’t completely like the Kidd trade for the future. 3rd: New Jersey. How do you have Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson and play like that? Pathetic. 4th: Toronto and Chicago. Both of these teams should have been better. Toronto played terribly in the second half of the season and I think the point guard situation is causing major problems. Chicago, wow, between in-fighting, contract issues with Gordon and Deng, coaching troubles and many other things that my friend Jonathan can tell me about, they had issues.
Embarassment: The New York Knicks. My hometown team makes me sad to be a fan of the NBA. I stopped truly supporting them after the sexual harassment case. Its one thing to be bad on the court, but to be disrespectful to women in that environment is appalling. Until the regime changes truly happens or probably not because you can’t fire owners, I can’t acknowledge them.
Runner-up: Atlanta Hawks. Lets see, instead of their current squad, it can be Chris Paul or Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Andre Inguodola and Luol Deng. My two favorite NBA teams are a joke. Back to some more fun stuff.
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant (Seattle). Played well throughout the season and became a legit go-to player and dare I say clutch. He’s does take too many shots, could still use a few more pounds and leaves some defense to be desired, but he’s 19 years old! He’s going to be a stud. Runner-up: Al Horford (Atlanta). Averaged nearly a double-double and gave some stability to my pathetic Hawks.
Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Garnett (Boston). This guy has been an animal on the defensive end and has inspired the best defense in the NBA. He can guard perimeter guys and post players with the same intensity and effectiveness. Runner-up: Shane Battier (Houston)
Sixth Man of the Year: It should go to Manu Ginobili (San Antonio) but he starts half the time and plays starter minutes. If we go with a truly traditional sixth man, go with Leandro Barbosa (Phoenix).
Coach of the Year: Byron Scott (New Orleans). I mentioned everything about the Hornets that needs to be said has been done. 2nd: Doc Rivers (Boston). The most underrated thing to do in coaching is manage egos. Phil Jackson never got enough credit for this in Chicago with the Bulls back in the 90’s. I’m not comparing Rivers with Jackson, but he’s had to keep Pierce, Garnett, Allen and the cast of others in check and that’s hard. 3rd: Phil Jackson (Lakers). He got that team to gel and become the top seed in the West, that’s solid. 4th: Eddie Jordan (Washington). He gets no love from the national media for his efforts in Washington but he has them playing better now without a healthy Arenas and has them, dare I say it, playing some defense. Not Celtics and Spurs good defense, but legendary by their standards. 5th: Rick Adelman (Houston). You can’t lead their team to 22 straight wins and not get a mention even though I still don’t like your team. Respect.
Now for the big one:
MVP: I look at this award as someone who is truly the most valuable player for the fortunes of their team. You don’t have to lead the league in any statistic. You don’t have to be the best overall player in the game (sorry for later, Kobe). I like a balance in my award winner, so defense and rebounding has to at least be acknowledged (sorry, Steve Nash). Here they are:
5th: Dwight Howard (Orlando), Deron Williams/Carlos Boozer (Utah) and Tracy McGrady (Houston). He’s continuing to evolve his game and has become a force on the rebounding side of the ball. Williams and Boozer have teamed up to make Utah a solid team and very dangerous in the playoffs. McGrady gets mention because he led the Rockets to that winning streak.
4th: LeBron James (Cleveland): Almost any other year, he could win this award, but the three guys ahead of him just win out. Cleveland would be nothing without him, literally. He carries that team every night and averages a 30-8-7 as a 24-year-old! Are you kidding me! The only guys I’ve seen come into the league with this combination of skill, intrigue and power is a young Shaq. I was too young to appreciate Jordan in the early years but I’m sure it was the same. He has no parallel physically. The scary part is that he can be the best defender in the league when he feels like it and still has a shaky jump shot. Other then that, he’s ok. I can’t believe he’s fourth.
3rd: Kevin Garnett (Celtics): His defense and rebounding has been excellent, so those are the positives. He still scores well but has deferred to Pierce and Allen, which was smart. His value to the team is incredible. He brings an intensity and focus that has rubbed off the rest of the team. His value is monster. However, his injury hurt his chances.
2nd : Kobe Bryant (Lakers): Sorry, Kobe. You’re second on the list and the best player in the game. I think you should have gotten the award two years ago when you carried that joke of a team to around 45 wins and the playoffs. This year, your supporting cast was better, your overall numbers were down but you may have turned in your best overall season. Defensively, you brought it. I just think that you play with a solid cast and getting Gasol and emergence of Bynum and the resurgence of Odom hurts your case a little. If I need a game-winning shot, its on Kobe and that matters.
1st: Chris Paul (New Orleans): I’ve debated this internally for the past few weeks. I’ve argued with friends about this and in the end, I had to go with Paul. He turned in the best individual season ever for a point guard. He averaged 21 points, 11 assists, close to three steals. He peaked in March and April with a split of 24-13 and 17-13 in the final two months. The team went from around 30 wins to 56 with him.
Now I know that he had an excellent cast with him like Peja, West, Chandler, Wells, Pargo and some others. But who put them in the position to achieve. I can’t count how many lobs he gave to Chandler for dunks, how many dribble-drives he did in the lane to get open threes for Peja, how many excellent pick and rolls and post-ups he organized for West, how many steals he had that led to easy layups for the rest of the team. He was a force this year and plays with a fire I like.
He’s the most talented 6-foot-and-under player ever (Sorry, Isiah, AI and Tiny).
Furthermore, he has embraced New Orleans and made that team matter in the worst of circumstances. I said that the Hornets shouldn’t return to Louisiana because they couldn’t handle having an NBA team because of Katrina. However, the success of that team has made me a believer and Paul is a major reason for that.
He brings it all and is my MVP for this season. I may change my mind in the next few minutes, but this is what I’m sticking with.
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