Most Valuable Player
How do you define "most valuable"? The most talented? The most skillful? The highest scoring? The highest efficiency or PER? The one who is the most valuable to his team? The best player in the best team of the league? Maybe all of the above. Plus, since the award is voted by journalists, please also include the most hyped.
To me, I always take team success as the top priority. Not necessarily the best player in the best team, but I will never pick a player with terrific stat in a lousy team. Let's say the minimum is the top 10 teams in the league. Secondly, the MVP should be one of the best players in the league. For convenience sake, let's just say he must be top-10 in John Hollinger's PER list.
Here is the list of players who meet the above criteria as of today: LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Brandon Roy, Tony Parker, Chris Paul and Dirk Nowitzki. Yes, Dwyane Wade will be missed despite being the league's leading scorer and 2nd in PER, simply because Miami Heat is just a .500 team (42 games as of Sunday, April 12). You can say it is not a fair measurement of individual success but winning is one of the most important factors to define a player's greatness . Otherwise Bill Russelll will never be considered as one of (if not) the greatest player in history. So, sorry, Dwyane.
Next is the qualitative part. First he must be a genuine leader of the team, so Tony Parker is out. Secondly, he must have the ability to put the team on his shoulder and win games when needed. In order words, Tim Duncan (for this season) is out. Also, you should not be a choker, so Dirk Nowitzki is out.
So for the remaining, it's quite obvious who is the winner. Yes, there is still an argument whether Kobe or LBJ is a better player. However, for this season only, LBJ should win it. He is No. 1 in PER, No. 2 in scoring. I had been critical on his shooting and defense in the past, but this season we saw substantial improvement in both departments. The Cavs have the best record in the league, and a whopping 20-game improvement from last year. In case you don't know, LBJ leads the team in PTS, REB, AST, STL and BLK. Simply put, he is literally and figuratively the leader of the team.
While I have never been a big fan of him, I must admit I really appreciate his effort and determination to improve his short coming. Kobe is close, but the difference between his PER and that of LBJ is so large that I really can't make a good case for him.
My pick:
1. LeBron James
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Dwight Howard
Defensive Player of the Year
This is another tough one, because defense excellence could not exactly be reflected in individual stats. Instead, defense is more teamwork. That's why KG won it last season. I will look into team defense stat first. To qualify as a DPOY, your team must be one of the best defense teams in the league. After that, we may take a look at individual stats. Due to limited resources I can access, I would just look into REB, BLK and STL, but these are just for reference only. Lastly, and most importantly, the fear factor. A DPOY should be a player that makes his opponents fear. Some players are good defenders but can't scare their opponents, as opposed to guys like, you know, Ron Artest, Dikembe Mutombo and the Glove.
Based on the above criteria, I would go with the flow and pick Dwight Howard as DPOY. His team ranks 6th in pts allowed and 3rd in FG% allowed. He leads the league in REB and BLK. Most crucial, is that DH12 is a guy that you fear. LBJ, CP3 and Wade may also have terrific stats, but they are not the type of defenders that opponents fear. Yes, DH12 is still not perfect in his pick-n-roll defense, but at least for this year, he is the best defender in the league.
Houston Rockets have terrific defense stat too (although is slightly inferior to the Magic), and I must put Ron Artest and Shane Battier in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The most important difference between these two Rockets and Superman is the fear factor that DH12 imposes on his opponents.
My pick:
1. Dwight Howard
2. Ron Artest
3. Shane Battier
Rookie of the Year
This is easy. I think Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose should win the unanimous vote, if the voters are sane. Rose is playing the toughest position for a rookie in a not-so-harmonized Bulls. They struggled early but had a late run to get back to the playoffs mix, now challenging to take up as high as No. 6 spot in the East. Rose never hit the so-called rookie wall, and has been extremely consistent. Only when he has improved his shooting (underrated actually) and defense, he will soon become one of the top PGs in the league.
Memphis Grizzlies' O. J. Mayo is good but then he plays in a lousy team and at a relatively easy position (swingman). He's no surprise that he posts decent scoring. Ditto for Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon. Mayo clearly is a better shooter than Westbrook and Gordon and therefore should finish No.2 in ROY. New Jersey Nets' Brook Lopez is clearly a solid big man with 13.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 1.8 BPG. However, I have watched him played, and I was not impressed by his low post moves, too robot-like. Anyway, he's the best big man for the Nets since, err, Mutombo in 02-03 season.
My pick:
1. Derrick Rose
2. O. J. Mayo
3. Brook Lopez
Sixth Man of the Year
This season, with leading candidate Manu Ginobili being slowed by injury and playing sparingly, it has come to only three legitimate candidates: Mavericks' Jason Terry, Suns' Leandro Barbosa and Nuggets' J.R. Smith. Had Andrew Bynum not been out that many games thereby forcing Lamar Odom to start 32 games, Odom would have been another candidate.
I think JT is clearly the winner here. With Josh Howard sitting out for a long stretch, the Mavericks would never have a chance to crack the playoffs without JT's tremendous effort. He also has the ability to win games on his own and hit the clutch shots. And I haven't mentioned his 19.5 PPG.
J.R. Smith kept on hitting his 3s to help the Nuggets to take the No. 2 spot in the West, while Barbosa, as always, provided much needed bench scoring for the Suns, whose bench is as thin as ever. But they are no match to Terry. As for Nate Robinson aka Krpto-Nate, please. Yeah, he scores a lot, but we all know players' stats and values are always inflated under D'Antoni (and his SSOL system). He's nothing but a showcase.
My pick:
1. Jason Terry
2. J.R. Smith
3. Leandro Barbosa
Most Improved Player
Another tough one. First, we need to look at the improvement in the players' stats. Then we will discount those improvement due to, e.g., increasing PT, promotion from bench to starting due to injuries of teammates etc. While normally this award will give to those players who rise from mediocre to stardom, I believe it is not fair to ignore those who are already stars but have advanced to become a superstar.
Anyway, the consensus goes to Devin Harris and I have no problem with that. Not only his stats, his role in the team has also changed substantially. Coach Lawrence Frank has given him the green light to take the lead in offense this season. He took up such role with confidence, and other than sitting out due to injury, he has been consistent. Yes, the Nets did not play well but this is a lousy team anyway. Harris is now a bona fide star.
Kevin Durant should also be given much consideration. His most improvement is not his scoring (from 20.3 to 25.5), but his shot selection. His FG% improved from .430 to 476, while his 3PT% saw a big leap from .288 to .422. Plus, he has assumed the leading role in the young OKC team. Rajon Rondo is another MIP candidate. Following his solid performance in last year's playoffs, Rondo has risen his game, in particular in scoring, and contributed a lot to the team's success when KG went down with injury. You just can't imagine the surmountable pressure he has, playing along with three future hall-of-famers and in a city where championship is expected.
I would not consider Danny Granger a legit candidate. For sure he's an all-star, but he was already very good last season, while his improvement this season is not that substantial, relatively speaking. And his injury has really hurt his case. Also, I will not put much consideration on Paul Millsap, whose stats improved mainly due to increased PT when playing in place of the injured Carlos Boozer.
My pick:
1. Devin Harris
2. Kevin Durant
3. Rajon Rondo
Coach of the Year
Now the most contraversial award. Should you award the most tactical coach in the league (in that case it should be either Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich or Jerry Sloan)? Or should you award the coach of the best team (Mike Brown)? What about the best teacher who managed to turn around a losing team (Larry Brown)? Or the coach that helped the team to make the most leap from mediocre to one of the best in the league (Stan Van Gundy)?
In the end, I decided to put my vote on McMillan. It's a no easy task to coach such a young team. On top of basketball, I bet he have put considerable time to manage his players' egos. Of course, the fact that the Blazers managed to stand at No. 4 in the competitive West counts.
SVG is also good in a way that he was able to take the team to another level, with basically the same squad (minus Jameer Nelson). But I can't deny the fact that I am irritated by his comments. He speaks too much, in particular about Shaq's flop, which makes me sick. Mike Brown should also get credits for the 20-game improvement of the Cavs. The thing I appreciate the most is that he was able to admit his limit and hired an assistant coach to improve the offense. The result is immediate. Also, it's no easy task to insert newcomers like Mo Williams into the system. The bad thing is, the presence of LBJ really hurts Brown's chance for COY. Also, I still believe he is not yet a resourceful coach, as in those could excels in X's and O's and make necessary in-game adjustments to win games.
My pick:
1. Nate McMillan
2. Stan Van Gundy
3. Mike Brown
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