NBA

NBA Mid-Season Awards: Amar’e Stoudemire Or Derrick Rose Will Be Your MVP

There’s nothing like supercilious awards to bring joy to a web logger, and since we’re coming up on February’s All-Star event in Los Angeles, we figured we’d get a jump start on designating the NBA’s best. So we’re handing out our own mid-season awards, which are strictly for the first half of the season and have no bearing on what will happen as we head into Spring. To the hardware!

6th Man of the Year

This is a tricky one since Jamal Crawford has looked really good for the Hawks lately. Also, with Andrew Bynum coming back to the Lakers, and Odom and his Kardashian luck, Lamar should cruise to the award come April.  That being said, it’s not April yet, and these are midseason awards, not predictions for year-end awards.  Glen Davis is the pick at the half way point, since we need a Celtic somewhere on this list because they’re (casually) cruising to a 1 or 2 seed in the East. Davis has got that 15 foot jumper down, and he’s surprisingly crafty around the block for such a short front court player. Plus, we know he takes a lot of grief from his older teammates, and the 6^th man of the year award will be even more fodder in the locker room.  Sorta like his sartorial choices.

Pic Via ncayanan

Pick: Glen “I’m still calling him Big Baby” Davis

Others Worth Mentioning: Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom, Jason Terry (if he wasn’t so streaky he might win it).

Most Improved Player

Not since the original “straight from high school pro” Mumbling Moses Malone has a player notched 30 points and 30 rebounds in a single NBA game.  That was so long enough ago that none of the editors of this site were even a twinkle in their mother’s eye.

Love’s body looks strange compared to most of the other leaders in rebounds, but his strong lower body and torso means when he gets position (something he does faster and better than anyone since Dennis Rodman) you can’t move him.  Along with is league leading 15.6 rebounds a game, he’s averaging 21.6 points. The only downside?  The lowly Timberwolves aren’t exactly a powerhouse (11-36 at the time of this writing).

Kevin Love is the blueprint for every “good ol’ boy” in Indiana that dreams of becoming an NBA star.  Except he’s from LA, and he’s related to a Beach Boy.  That being said, he’s surprisingly humble and a consummate professional, as evidenced by his deferential approach to coach Kurt Rambis’ decision to limit his minutes earlier in the year.  His numbers alone should get him an all-star birth.

Pic Via tedi31

Pick: Kevin Love

Others Worth Mentioning: LaMarcus Aldridge, Eric Gordon, Raymond Felton, Luis Scola,

Defensive Player of the Year

I really wanted to give this to Andrew Bogut or Chris Paul, but Dwight Howard is averaging over 2 blocks PLUS more than 1 steal a game, which is impressive for a big man and reminds me of my beloved Bill Russell. Orlando made a big move earlier this season, but Howard has remained his dominating self in the paint on the defensive end. Stan Van Gundy’s verbal badgering still hasn’t give him the toughness you would expect from your defensive enforcer. It’s the paucity of toughness in Howard’s demeanor that will prevent them from winning a title this year (and almost made me go with Paul), but he’s still hard to shoot over at the rim, and no one else jumps out this year.

Pic Via chicagobullslove

Pick: Dwight Howard

Others Worth Mentioning: Chris Paul, Andrew Bogut (if the Bucks were even above .500 I could make an actual case for him),

Coach of the Year

Here’s what I wrote about San Antonio in October: “you should never bet against Pops and Duncan. Even now. They have another year in them, and they’ll surprise at least one team in the playoffs.” Since San Antonio doesn’t have any bona fide superstars anymore, they are forced to play as a team. Boston plays in a similar vein, but you know Gregg Popovich is the main reason behind San Antonio’s first half dominance whereas Boston is led primarily by their veteran team. If the greatest team player of all time, Bill Russell, played today, the only team I could see him on would be coached by Pops. Red Auerbach only watches San Antonio and Boston in heaven.

Tom Thibodeau should be credited with keeping an often injured Chicago Bulls team in the top seed hunt within the east and for implementing some of the best defensive schemes this side of Chuck Daly. Until Chicago is fully healthy, we don’t know how good they really are, and whether Thibodeau could lead them to a #1 seed in a much improved East. Until then, the vote is for Pops and his over-achieving Spurs team.

Pic Via fuckyeahthespurs

Pick: Gregg Popovich

Others Worth Mentioning: Tom Thibodeau, Doc Rivers, George Karl (simply for overcoming so much—and not letting the ‘Melo saga overwhelm his motley group in Denver), Nate McMillan, and Monty Williams (because holy crap they’re 30-16!).

Worst Lowest-Hyped or Talked About Player of the Year

Since this is a ridiculous thing to comment on, we’re just going to the Power Grid, and taking the last person, which isn’t a comment on Larry Sanders’ game since as a rookie he’s averaging 4.2 pts, 3.0 rebs, and .2 assts a game in only around 15 minutes of action this year with the Milwaukee Bucks.  No, we’re simply lumping him in here because the power grid has him last.  No offense Larry, but you’ll be out of that spot in no time.

Pic Via therookiewall

Pick: Larry Sanders

Others Worth Mentioning:Lazar Hayward, Luke Babbitt, Kevin Seraphin–he’s an angel!

Rookie of the Year

NBA insiders and casual fans alike haven’t been this hyped on a rookie since King Villain James burst onto the scene for those poor Cavs fans back in 2003. Seemingly every night there’s another highlight of Blake Griffin throwing the ball down on some poor bastard that didn’t get back on defense fast enough.  Sometimes they’ve gotten back on defense plenty fast and are helpless to stop the flight of Griffin, who really needs a nickname at this point.

Clippers fans are a practical bunch and with great severity watch the Blake show with their stomach in their throats because of a possible injury. We can only hope his cavalier style of sprinting from the half-court line and pointing towards the rim continues and he survives the year and many many more.

John Wall might have given him a run for his money if he had kept healthy, but Griffin is playing so well, he might be in consideration for the MVP if he can get the lowly Clips into the playoffs (not likely—they’re 18-28 as of this writing). Plus, he’s made Baron happy which should get him some hardware regardless of their record.

Pic Via thoughtsofahiphopjunkie

Pick: Blake Griffin

Others Worth Mentioning: John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Landry Fields, Gary Neal

MVP

There’s a certain segment of the basketball watching public that simply adores Derrick Rose, and his feisty Chicago Bulls.  They’ve watched him mature from this past summer’s shooting woes into a legitimate MVP candidate.

I don’t live on Lake Michigan; I live in Brooklyn and don’t trust Russian oil oligarchs,* so I’m taking the Jew in New York.  If you’ve ever wandered by 32^nd and 7^th on the isle of Manhattan for a Wednesday night this winter, you’ll see a marked change in the scalpers’ demeanor. Mainly, there aren’t many of them out there. This used to only be the case when ‘Bron was in town or Kobe, but Amar‘e has revitalized the greatest basketball city in America.

You have to live through it to understand.  If you think this is a homer pick, that’s exactly right, but he’s still the most valuable player to any city with an NBA team.  This just happens to be THE city.

Aside from the geographical reasons for the pick, and my insider status as a resident here, everyone can agree that Amar[']e’s  18 foot jump shot is nearly flawless, and seems to go in every single time. That’s just a superficial attribute since he’s the best in the league at catching the pick and roll pass. In a league that derives its primary offensive production from the two man game, with shooters around the arc, and a big man down low, you have to like your odds when Amar‘e sets that high screen.

Pic Via NBA Offseason

Pick: Amar’e Stoudemire

Others Worth Mentioning-Dirk Nowitzki, Derrick Rose, Lebron James, Kevin Durant

*Note: I actually love Russians—mainly because of Red Heat.