Awards Revisited: The Vote Is In
by Steve Weinman on Apr 16, 2008 2:12 AM EDT
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Some may claim prematurity (by all of 24 hours), but with the final day of the NBA's regular season upon us and playoff previews for the East and West on tap for tomorrow and Friday, the time of reckoning has come.
Nearly three months ago in this space, we (read: I) posted our mid-season awards with the promise -- and threat to self -- that we would be back to evaluate said awards at the season's conclusion. At long last, with all sixteen playoff berths clinched and the top seeds for each conference locked in, judgment day has come at CelticsBlog.
Let's rewrite history. Starting now.
Most Valuable Player
What we said: Chris Paul, New Orleans
What we meant: The other thing we said here, which came in the runners-up section: "It's going to be a great MVP race." I've changed my vote on nearly a daily basis since putting the CP3 pick in writing back in January. Truth be told, I actually considered devoting half of this week to writing a column per day making the case for each of the four big-time candidates, but this was nipped in the bud when the realization struck that a Kobe-for-MVP column embedded in the hollow coding of CelticsBlog had roughly a 108.4 percent chance of causing Roy Hobbs' head to explode.
So since the easy way out isn't an option, we'll let heart show the light of truth. In a year with three top-of-the-line MVP candidates and one more just a half-step behind (the only thing I know for sure is that Bron has dropped to fourth on my ballot), the pick goes to Kevin Garnett. Yeah, yeah, we know: "Best player on the best team isn't necessarily the MVP." Well, no, not necessarily. But here's a novel thought: Sometimes the best team is the best team because of the impact its best player had on the entire organization from top to bottom. With no disrespect to the three-runners up, Garnett has just meant too much to this Celtics team from start to finish. He is the reason why six-time All-Star Paul Pierce is a legitimate candidate for Most Improved Player. He is the primary reason why the Celtics vaulted from sixteenth to first in defensive efficiency this season and a big part of the cause behind the assembly of most of the roster. Hard to imagine that Eddie House, James Posey and Sam Cassell come to town without Garnett's presence leading the way. This guy initiated an overhaul of the basketball culture of an entire town. In the best MVP campaign we've witnessed in a long time, it's admittedly a pleasure to give the Big Ticket the nod. Runners-up: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers; Chris Paul, New Orleans; LeBron James, Cleveland
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Player Who Probably Won't Get Serious MVP Consideration But Still Means a Whole Heck of a Lot to His Team
What we said: Stephen Jackson, Golden State
What we meant: Antawn Jamison, Washington. Caron Butler missed 23 games. Gil Arenas missed 68 games. The Wizards now sit at fifth in the East and are being widely regarded as the conference's dark horse. Meanwhile, this dude was one of four players in all of basketball to average 20 points and 10 boards this season, yet he can't seem to get a word of national pub. Chances are, the way to rectify the fact that no one else is even really close in this category would be for Jamison to have actually gained some serious consideration as a fifth-or-sixth-place MVP candidate. But alas, he takes home the hardware here. Runners-up: (Empty)
Least Valuable Player
What we said: Kirk Hinrich, Chicago
What we meant: Zach Randolph, New York. I've waxed on and on about this already and don't need to spend any more word space on this guy this season, except to say that I can't think of a guy I would less want on my team under any circumstances. Throw out the numbers completely. Z-Bo is an atrocity. Runners-up: Ben Wallace, Cleveland; most of team, New York
Rookie of the Year
What we said: Al Horford, Atlanta
What we meant: For a change, exactly what we said. This is a dude who stepped in right away and averaged 10 points, 9.6 boards and 50 percent shooting in the pivot for a playoff team, albeit a bad one. He gave the Hawks a much-needed injection of winning attitude, class and professionalism and is set to be a big deal in this league for a long time. Runners-up: Kevin Durant, Seattle; Luis Scola, Houston; Joakim Noah, Chicago
Coach of the Year
What we said: Nate McMillan, Portland
What we meant: Eddie Jordan, Washington. For all the injuries his team has suffered and the generally bizarre nature of its cast of characters, that the Wiz are about to go into a series in which they are expected by many to beat nemesis Cleveland is truly amazing. Great work keeping the troops together, Ed. Runners-up: Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia; Rick Adelman, Houston; Doc Rivers, Boston
A note on Doc: Back in January, we gave him his own "Jury still out" distinction. But despite some remaining lingering doubts about Rivers' aptitude as we head to the postseason, the man has clearly earned his props for his role in the team's success this year. The team has largely cruised to 65 wins and has never even had the slightest inkling of a chemistry problem. The fellas love playing for this guy, and they keep coming to work for him every day. While it's been well-documented that I haven't historically been Doc's biggest booster, he can't be omitted from the discussion here, and I couldn't be happier about that.
Defensive Player of the Year
What we said: Marcus Camby, Denver
What we meant: Kevin Garnett, Boston. While the addition of assistant Tom Thibodeau to the coaching staff certainly played a role, this guy remains the reason the Celts are the league's top defensive unit, which is the biggest reason they are a championship contender right now. Individual statistics can't even come close to quantifying this guy's impact. Runners-up: Shane Battier, Houston; Camby
Most Improved Player
What we said: Dwight Howard, Orlando
What we meant: Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando. In a year littered with excellent candidates for this award, Turk takes it away. He could do it on the numbers alone, which are absolutely outstanding -- six points per game up from last year (five above his season high) at 19.7, clear career highs in 5.8 boards and 5.0 assists -- but as loyal reader Who points out in a great forum thread on this subject, the numbers don't do Turkoglu justice. Since it was his eloquent explanation, let's have Who tell it to you:
"His statline doesn't tell the story. It doesn't tell you how he's gone from being a borderline starter to Orlando's closer. It doesn't tell you how he's 5th in the league in 4th quarter points. It doesn't tell you that Orlando have the worst backcourt of any playoff team in the league and that the reason they can get away with it is Hedo Turkoglu. He's their best playmaker, their best passer, their best penetrator and their best ballhandler. None of these things were remotely true last year. Most Improved Player: Hedo Turkoglu.
There was a previous post that said he benefited greatly from his supporting cast. All players do. The difference is reliance or over-reliance on their performance for your effectiveness. Simply not the case for Hedo. He's their closer. He's the go-to guy down the stretch of games."
Yep, Hedo will take it away. But we're warning you now that our runner-up list is absolutely huge here. Ready, go. Runners-up: Monta Ellis, Golden State (yes, again!); Stephen Jackson, Golden State; Paul Pierce, Boston; Dwight Howard, Orlando; Chris Kaman, LA Clippers; Mike Dunleavy, Indiana; Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix
Most Exciting Player to Watch
What we said: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers
What we meant: Ramon Sessions, Milwaukee. Exactly that. Just a more dynamic individual performer than anybody else. It really is what we said back in January: The completeness of this guy's skill set just never ceases to amaze. He has the stone-cold killer look that Bron is still mastering, and now that he seems to be having fun with this Lakers team, he has only grown more dangerous -- and more compelling. What a complete 180 I've done on this guy from last summer. Runners-up: LeBron James, Cleveland; Chris Paul, New Orleans...and somewhere in our top ten (yes, after multiple requests, this column is coming soon), Monta Ellis, Golden State (yep, reader nazzbo and I unabashedly love this guy)
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The thought of Kobe being ‘awarded’ the MVP on a Celtics site indeed does make me shudder. You did the right thing, Steve.
Nice picks. I can’t say I disagree with any of them. By the way, the last paragraph of your column didn’t show up correctly on my computer, and was completely unreadable. Well, I’ll assume you didn’t say anything blasphemous, and just congratulate you on a job well done.
kg-yes.cp-maybe, kobe-no, lebron-no. lebron is the best player, maybe it’s kobe. lebron’s team would be the knicks without him so he is very valuable and i shudder to have to face him in the playoffs, but the team and lebron frankly are no fun to watch and i don’t like how they move the ball and how the refs give in to lebron. no matter what kobe does, i don’t see mvp with all the preseason balderdash about a trade. there’s also this need in kobe to occasionally take a game over and forget the rest of the team— after all, bb is a team game. the c’s and th hornet teams fit around kg and cp like a glove or a comfy sweater-those are mvp’s. i do love monta ellis and envision him moving up to greatness- he is sort of lost on that goofy team.
Great work Steve.
I am a little suprised Rondo is not even a runner-up for most improved player of the year.
by bringbackcousy on Apr 16, 2008 8:33 AM EDT reply actions
I’m still smacking my head of my desk. How did you choose Al Horford as your Rookie of the Year?
The Durant complaints that have been floating around the media all season long are idiotic.
He’s the fourth rookie in the last decade to average 20 points game. The other three are Elton Brand, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
He shot 42% from the floor which incidently is the exact same that Carmelo shot as a rookie. And an inch or so higher than LeBron shot as a rookie.
He was the only legit offensive weapon Seattle has. He has the single most inept supporting cast in the league. He’s the only player in the entire league that doesn’t have a teammate that scores 14ppg. Every night the opposing team sicks their best perimeter defender on him. Every night the opposing team collapses and cheats off Durant’s teammates to double and triple team him. It’s not like he has a quality point guard helping him out, getting him easy shots. Everything is contested. Everything is created by him.
They call him a turnover machine yet he averages less turnovers than Melo did as a rook or Bron did as rook. He averages a shade over one turnover more than Al Horford does and he only has the ball in his hands about 300-400% more than Al Horford.
It’s shouldn’t even be a discussion. There’s only one credible candidate for Rookie of the Year and that’s Kevin Durant.
What, Roy, not a Ramon Sessions fan?
In all seriousness — and out of curiosity on my part — while I know you’re not a fan of his on a personal level and that you wouldn’t vote him for MVP, do you have a major qualm with Kobe so far as that ‘most exciting to watch’ title is concerned? If I recall previous discussions correctly, I remember getting the impression that for all your personal distaste for him, you were certainly understanding of this guy’s ability level. Is it a case where you think somebody is better qualified for the distinction I gave him here…or just that you could do without seeing his name in any sort of ‘award’ capacity? Either would certainly be understandable :)
Thanks as always for the kind words, and I’m glad you enjoyed the column.
-sw
P.S. If you had to rank the top four MVP candidates in order, how would you do it?
bringbackcousy,
Glad to see you enjoyed the column.
Re: Rondo…although I was trying to keep the runners-up here from getting pages long, I probably just should have put him on the list as well. It’s been a pleasure to watch him grow and develop this season. I think that the improvements made by certain other players were so drastic that he isn’t necessarily a top-level candidate, but I hear you on this and probably should have gotten Raj up there. Good call.
That said, as you may have seen, Rondo probably only comes in second in my vote for Most Improved Celtic to Pierce. Any thoughts on that?
-sw
nazzbo,
No dispute here about Cleveland. I’ve written before about how the Cavs really should interest me more than they do — they have LeBron, for crying out loud! — but I have a very hard time watching them, a reality that has only sharpened since the trade at the deadline.
As for Kobe, I think I’ve really tried to limit my judgment of him to the 2007-08 season. We all know how he acted this summer, but for those who think he came in mailing it in, it’s worth remembering that on the season’s opening night, he played an absolutely terrible game by his standards — and scored 45 and was the only reason the Lakers even hung in against what turned out to be a very good Houston team. With the possible exception of the second half of Game 7 in 2006 against Phoenix (the "I’m not gonna shoot so as to embarrass Smush and Kwame act), Bryant’s staple has been that he shows up to play every single day, and most of the time he does it better on an individual level than anybody else.
Furthermore, as KCOU Radio host Dan Trivinos pointed out yesterday, the team achievement comes because his attitude changed this season. This team doesn’t go out and get Pau Gasol if it isn’t already clear that Kobe had changed his feeling about this team and no longer wanted out of time. While there is a chicken-and-egg debate to be had about Kobe’s ‘tude and the Lakers’ winning ways, by and large, I think it changed very early in the season, and long before Gasol arrived, he was leading this team to an excellent season, quite possibly playing the best team basketball of his career.
Monta! Gotta love him. You’ve been on board since day one…too bad we’ll be without him until next season.
-sw
Who,
You’re right that I probably should have found a way to give Durant more credit than I did — and I’ve been one of the many guilty in overlooking how well he has come on over the latter portion of the season. I knew about the rarity of a rook scoring 20 a game, and there’s definitely something to be said for the obstacles Durant has faced this year.
That said, I thought Horford earned the award for this season because of his steady play all year and the fact that it seems safe to say that his all-around game is more developed than Durant’s is at this point. Horford had a very nice year and contributed to some team success as well, and I think the overall package that he put together merited his receiving the top spot. That isn’t to suggest that he’ll be the better of the two long-term (although he’ll be no slouch), but over the breadth of the season, Horford’s solid performance all year gave him my nod.
-sw
Kobe Bryant should be the MVP
Tim Duncan should be the DpoY.
Eddie Jordan shouldn’t even sniff consideration for coach of the year. The only reason their best defender and only interior presence has played minutes this season is because of Etan Thomas’ heart surgery. Haywood hasn’t shown any significant improvement in the last four years of his career, the only reason he hasn’t done this before has been Eddie Jordan. He kept messing him about and yanking his minutes all over the shop killing his consistency and confidence every year, it was like clockwork. Their bench has underperformed all season long despite having several interesting-to-extrememly talented young players like Nick Young, Andray Blatche, Dominic McGuire, Pecherov to go alongside solid vets Songaila and Roger Mason.
This whole thing about his team over-performing without Gilbert Arenas is complete and utter garbage. You give any GM in the league two 20 point all-star caliber forwards, a solid starting defensive centre, a solid veteran point guard, and a very good defensive two guard with a solid offensive game and they’ll expect a playoff team. That’s five veteran starters who’ve all played together in the past and complement each other. Not to mention a respectable bench. Not to mention plenty of experience, playoff experience, together over the past 2-3 years. This team without Gilbert Arenas is more talented than Atlanta, Philadelphia, Indiana, New Jersey, Chicago, Charlotte or any other pretender the East has to offer as a playoff squd.
Talk about middle of the road achievement. Rotten choice. It’s not like the CoY is ever devoid of worthy candidates. Give it to Nate McMillan. Jerry Sloan. Rick Adelman. Doc Rivers. Stan Van Gundy. Mike D’Antoni (he’s done an unbelievable job integrating Shaq). Popovich. Reggie Theus. Byron Scott. Phil Jackson. Jim O Brien. Eddie Jordan isn’t even a second tier candidate for the award.
That said, I thought Horford earned the award for this season because of his steady play all year and the fact that it seems safe to say that his all-around game is more developed than Durant’s is at this point. Horford had a very nice year and contributed to some team success as well, and I think the overall package that he put together merited his receiving the top spot. That isn’t to suggest that he’ll be the better of the two long-term (although he’ll be no slouch), but over the breadth of the season, Horford’s solid performance all year gave him my nod.
What overall package?
He’s at best a mediocre defender. He can’t defend the post. He consistently gives up post position to better players. He’s not a shot blocker, heck he averages the same number as Durant. He doesn’t invade the passing the lanes.
He barely needs to be guarded on the high post. He’s barely a functional passer. He has limited range (about 15 feet) and limited accuracy (under 40% on jumpers, most of which are wide open). He doesn’t create his own shot. He’s shown limited effectiveness on the low post.
He gets out of the way and he attacks the glass. That’s his season in one sentence. That could be DeSanga Diop or Josh Boone down there in Atlanta and they’d be just as good of a team. He’s been nothing more than a garbage man as a rookie.
He’s been on the same as Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Josh Childress. Every single one of those players is better than Durant’s best teammate.
Such a shame, it seems all but certain the MVP will be delivered to a petulant Bryant as career achievement award (a near total misappropriation). How embarrassing for the media that Bryant is hardly been as crush worthy this year as they’d have us believe â€" beginning with off-season trade demands and his public dismissal of up and comer Bynum, followed by three weeks of head-down, sub-par performances, and topped off with a 2-6 record vs. the other MVP candidates. Also, “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain…†whether it’s the hall of fame coach, the three all-star caliber front court players, or one of the league’s deepest benches:
Bryant : 2-6, 2-2 vs Hornets, 0-2 vs Cavaliers, 0-2 vs Celtics
Paul: 5-3, 2-2 vs Lakers, 2-0 vs Cavaliers, 1-1 vs Celtics
James: 4-3, 2-0 vs Lakers, 0-2 vs Hornets, 2-1 vs Celtics
Garnett: 5-2 cough, cough, 1-1 vs Hornets, 2-0 vs Lakers, 2-1 vs Cavaliers
Paul and James have had less help, while Garnett has the better record, and more class by a factor of 10.
Oh and great to see Jamison get some well-deserved recognition.
by The Walker Wiggle on Apr 16, 2008 4:12 PM EDT reply actions
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