Midseason Awards

[Axel]

Who are your midseason picks? For me, the most interesting award is MIP. I have several people in mind, but I can't even come close to narrowing it down.

MVP: Steve Nash

With the Lakers recent struggles, the team is looking more mortal than before, bumping Kobe down on the totem pole. Similarly, the Wizards have begun to cool down. With Steve Nash absent for the past 3 games, the Suns have struggled, despite all their talent, emphasizing importance for the team. Steve Nash is for now my midseason choice.

MIP: Who knows

Here's a short list of players I find deserving.

Eddy Curry
Deron Williams
Kevin Martin
Monta Ellis
Jason Kapono
(and there's others I just know I'm forgetting about)

DPOY: Not Ben Wallace

so who else could it be? Well, I really am stuck on this one, seeing as nobody seems to play much defense now days. Shawn Marion is leading the league in SPG, and Camby and Jermaine O'Neal are virtually even in blocks. Perhaps Emeka Okafor?

ROY: Brandon Roy

excuse me if there is a thread on this. I looked through the past two pages and didn't see anything.

[mvpshaq32]

MVP:Nash/Kobe. Just can't decide yet.
MIP:David Lee
DPOY:Camby or Tyson Chandler. I haven't seen any Hornets game, but he's been racking up some nice stats.
ROY:Brandon Roy. End of conversation.

Extras
COY:Avery Johnson for now. But I think it will be Mike D'Antoni at the end of the season.
Sixth Man:Ben Gordon/Barbosa

[kinokong]

MVP: Kobe Bryant
MIP: Monta Ellis
DPOY: Jermaine O'Neal
ROY: Brandon Roy

[Indy]

Call me a homer but Jermaine O'Neal deserves DPOY. I don't know the exact stats, but I would bet Jermaine is top 3 in taking charges. Nobody blocks shots and takes charges, but Jermaine is elite at doing both.

Steve Nash is the MVP, no question in my mind.

What an awful year for rookies it is. I guess Brandon Roy is the favorite, but he hasn't really impressed me much, and he was my pre-season pick. I'd love to give the nod to Randy Foye, because I think he'll be the best out of this draft class eventually.

Most improved is interesting, but I have to go with my boy Monta Ellis. I talked to Monta a few days ago and asked him what he thought about possibly winning most improved player, and he wasn't too excited about the prospect. Apparently every time he has a good game (or a good practice for that matter) he gets a pie in the face, clothes/deodorant/luggage stolen etc. He still gets treated like a rookie even though he isn't one. They say its going to last untill he turns 21.

Its hard to go against Eddy Curry though. I think he'll win it as of right now.

Coach of the year is another difficult choice, but it is only between 2 guys for me. Sam Mitchell is the favorite right now, but I think Jerry Sloan is the dark horse.

As for 6th man, Ben Gordon has started 21 games as opposed to Leandro Barbosa's 11, so I give Barbs the nod.

[Matt]

MVP- Nash/Kobe
MIP- Deron Williams.....gets the edge because he's improved w/o significant incr. in mpg
DPOY - Emeka Okafor, Jermaine O'Neal or Tim Duncan, maybe Dwight Howard
ROY- Brandon Roy.....as of recently he has looked fairly comfortable out there, and he plays a big role
COY- based on the regular season, Sam Mitchell, Avery Johnson and Jerry Sloan have the edge. The playoffs will reveal who's this years best coach anyway (Phil Jackson)
6th Man- Barbosa

[Weiland]

MVP = definitely DIRK... kobe??what the hell

ROY = as of now its brandon roy..if bargnani plays more minutes, he might get the award

[Andreas Dahl]

There's still a lot left to be played but here's my picks so far.

MVP - Steve Nash/Dirk Nowitzki
MIP - Kevin Martin
DPOY - Emeka Okafor
ROY- Brandon Roy
COY- Avery Johnson
6th Man- Gordon (or maybe Barbosa, or even Miller again)

[Tupik]

MVP - Dirk Nowitzki/Kobe - I don't think Nash deserves a 3rd trophy, he is in a team with very good players, so I don't think it's (only) because of him that the Suns are playing that good(that's only my opinion)
MIP - Kevin Martin
DPOY - Camby
ROY- Brandon Roy
COY- Sloan/Avery Johnson
6th Man- Barbosa/Gordon, but I prefer Barbosa

[cyanide]

These are my hopefuls.

MVP: Steve Nash
MIP: Kevin Martin/Deron Williams
DPOY: Emeka Okafor
ROY: Andrea Bargnani
COY: Jerry Sloan
6th Man: Leondra Barbosa

[Doobie]

MVP - Nash

MIP- This is a tough one, but I'd go with Monta or Deron for this one. Considerations for David Lee as well.

6th man - David Lee. He is overlooked but damn, only guy averaging a double double off the bench. Call this a homer pick but oh well. Barbosa would be my 2nd choice.

ROY- Brandon Roy

COY- Jerry Sloan

DPOY- I agree with Indy, Jermaine has a huge shot. Emeka Okafor is up there to.

[Patr1ck]

MVP - Down the list - Dirk Nowitzki - Steve Nash - Kobe Bryant - Gilbert Arenas

MIP - Deron Williams because his team is winning and he is putting up 17/9 a game on a first place team. Monta Ellis or David Lee could also be considered.

6th man - Ben Gordon. This guy is leading his team in points per game. David Lee, double-double off the bench.

ROY - His name is "Roy", can you imagine how that would look if he didn't win?

COY - Jerry Sloan, Avery Johnson, Phil Jackson. I have to give it to Phil, though. He has done a hell of a job with the young Lakers, despite the injuries that the Lakers have had.

[emi_b7]

MVP: Nash
MIP: Deron Williams
DPOY: Camby
ROY: Roy
6th man: Barbosa
COY: i don't know. i hope D'antoni, but probbly not... Maybe Sloan

[mvpshaq32]

MVP = definitely DIRK... kobe??what the hell

Why the hell not?

[Lamrock]

MVP: Steve Nash (Runner up: Dirk)
MIP: Deron Williams (Runner up: Curry)
6th Man: Barbosa (Runner up: Gordon)
DPOY: Camby (Runner up: Okafor)
ROY: Roy (Runner up: Bargnani)
COY: Sam Mitchell (Runner up: Sloan)

[Axel]

Forgot about 6th Man, and Coach.

6th Man I'd give to Barbosa. Ben Gordon isn't exactly a 6th man. He's started 22 games this year.

There's several coaches who probably won't get it due to record, but who I think have shown remarkable improvement including Isaiah, Byron Scott, and Nate McMillan. Isaiah has really suprassed my expectations for him, and Byron Scott helped keep the Hornets pieced together through all the injuries, and now the team is playing extremely well. Nate McMillan has turned around the situation in Portland, and he's doing well with a team of rookies and sophomores, in a tough conference.

I think it's high time Jerry Sloan was voted Coach of the Year, and the results this year prove it. His team plays extremely hard night in and night out, and they win.

[Nick]

My picks:

MVP: It's gonna be wierd seeing Steve Nash with his third MVP, but he actually fully deserves it this year as opposed to the other two years where it was a lot more debatable. Wade is close.

MIP: Kevin Martin. He is carrying the kings this year, their leading scorer. Toss up between him and Monta Ellis (Is ellis following Arenas's foot steps?)

ROY: Brandony Roy

COTY: i can't decide between Avery Johnson, Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan.

6th man: If Gordon is eledgable, then Gordon it is. Otherwise Barbosa will get it.

DPOY: Stats-wise, Wade could get it. He's averaging 2.1 steals and 1.3 blocks.

What about NBA teams?

First team:
C- Yao
F - Dirk
F - Garnett
G - Wade
G - Nash

Second team:
C - Duncan
F - Anthony
F - LeBron
G - Arenas
G - Kobe

Third team:
C - Stoudemire
F - Boozer
F - Bosh
G - Iverson
G - McGrady

I'm pretty sure my team 1 and team 2 are spot on. But my third team i wasn't so sure about. So honourable mentions to Dwight Howard, Pierce, Jermaine, Boozer, Brand, Marion, Paul and Billups.

[Axel]

Deron Williams in place of McGrady for 3rd team guard.

[Nick]

Call me a homer but Jermaine O'Neal deserves DPOY. I don't know the exact stats, but I would bet Jermaine is top 3 in taking charges. Nobody blocks shots and takes charges, but Jermaine is elite at doing both.

I was browsing 82games.com and found the exact stats for this actually.

As of feburary 4th, the top 10 taking charges leaders were:

1 CLE Varejao 58
2 MIL Bogut 55
3 CHI Nocioni 46
4 DAL Harris 41
5 PHO Bell 41
6 PHO Nash 37
7 IND O'Neal 36
8 HOU Battier 32
9 NJN Collins 28
10 NOK Mason 28

http://82games.com/charge0607.htm

So Jermaine comes in at 7th. So even though your prediction of top 3 wasn't correct, that is still pretty amazing. Because you're right, no players really ever block shots AND take charges. It's either one or the other, unless they're REALLY alert defensively.

A notable fact is Ben Wallace came in at 16th on that chart by the way, with 23 fouls drawn. Gerald Wallace came had 23 fouls drawn also.

[Laxation]

MVP - Nash/Dirk

MIP - Monta Ellis

DPOY - Jermaine Oneal (If Wade wins this, I will never watch NBA again ... until I have sent several very FUCKING ANGRY LETTERS to the NBA)

ROY - Brandon Roy

COY - Jerry Sloan

6th - Barbosa

[DoubleD]

MVP - Nash...the recent games without Nash shows just how valuable he is to his team. It is most VALUABLE player afterall, and should also go to one of the top teams (So while Pierce is actually probably the most valuable of any player, his team is so bad even with him on the court).

When it comes to Dirk, the one game he has missed this year was at Denver (No Melo, but with A.I.). The Mavs won. Dirk also has two games with under 20 minutes played, a blowout win against Toronto and a win at Seattle. In games that Dirk has scored 20 or less points per game, the Mavs 14-1 (Including the three games mentioned above). I'm not saying that Dirk isn't valuable, but the Mavs are great even when he doesn't produce.

MIP - Deron Williams. The homer in me wants to pick David Lee, but he put up similiar per-48 minute stats last year, it's just that he's getting more minutes. Kevin Martin showed he was good at the end of last year, he just got sporadic playing time. So both him and Lee haven't actually IMPROVED this year, they just got more playing time.

I pick Williams over Ellis because of just how good the Jazz are. He's running one of the best teams in the league. My opinion would probably be different if Williams played a different position, but the PG position runs the team, and he's running one of the best teams in the NBA.

DPOY - I'd pick Jermaine Oneal, but just to throw another name out there, what about Josh Smith? 2.7 BLKs from from SF is great, the only other SF with over 2 blocks is Kirilenko with 2.1. And his 1.5 STL leads all players with averaging 1.5 BLKs or better. He does average pretty low rebounds (8.1) but he's also a SF.

ROY - Tossup between Roy and Millsap on this one for me. Roy has overall better stats, but he also gets more playing time. The Blazers are also slightly better without Roy (39% win percent in games he's played, 42% when he was injured). And if you look at Millsap's numbers since Boozer went down, they are very impressive. 12 PPG with a 53% FG percent, and 9.1 REB, 1.2 BLK and 1.0 STL. 1.5 AST to 2.3 TO hurts, but most of those TO's came ine one horrific 8 TO game.

But Roy's numbers are still very impressive. And really that's what ROY is about. It's not about how valuable the rookie is or how good the team is, it's about the numbers they put up.

6th man - OK now's my homer pick. David Lee's double double off the bench gives him the award. Ben Gordon is starting again and probably won't be able to meet the requirements at the end of the year.

Barbosa does average more points, but David Lee has better numbers across the board. And like ROY, 6th man is more about stats than value to the team and team's record. But I do feel that those two do play more of a role in 6th man than ROY.

Although Lee does have more value than Barbosa. Lee has a larger Roland rating (8.0 to 2.6), and also plays on a worse team. Barbosa is able to put up the numbers he does because he's on a great team that has a style of play that allows him to put up the points he does.

But there's no denying the Suns are a hell of a lot better than the Knicks, haha.

COTY - It's hard for me to pick Sloan because of just how long he's been around, and he's already proven he's a great coach.

So I'll go with Sam Mitchell of Toronto. People have been making a big deal of NY already matching their win total of last year, but Toronto wasn't much better and they've also already surpassed theirs. They're 29-24 and on a tear.

[YoG!]

DoubleD..! what would he lakers do without Kobe?

[DoubleD]

The lakers are 5-2 when Kobe has played less than 30 minutes, which includes being 3-1 when kobe piled up DNPs (Which includes wins against Phoenix and at Golden State).

I'd still rank him above Dirk and have him be the runner up. But the recent losing streak without Nash shows just how valuable he really is.

If you look at their 4 recent games without Nash -

Game 1: Barely winning at Portland, with the game going to OT. Portland's win%: 40.7.

Game 2: A loss against Atlanta by a rather large margin (9). Atlanta's win%: 40.4.

Game 3: A blowout loss against Chicago, being the first time in over 50 games (I think it was 52?) that Phoenix lost by more than 10 points. Chicago's win%: 53.7.

Game 4: A COMPLETELY and utter embarrasment against Seattle, losing by 24. Seattle's win%: 38.5!

And then if you compare that to Kobe's DNP's:

Game 1: An 8 point win against Pheonix. Their win%: 75.

Game 2: A 12 point win at Golden State. Their win%: 46.3.

Game 3: An 11 point win against Atlanta. A team which Pheonix lost to without Nash. Their Win%: 40.4.

Game 4: The drama suspension game at NY in which the Lakers lost by 5.

However, the Knicks than came to LA and beat the Lakers in which Kobe was playing.

Their Win%: 43.4.

Kobe's deffinatly valuable, no doubting that. But Nash is what makes the Suns, well, the Suns.

[Jugs]

(Is ellis following Arenas's foot steps?)

I never thought of Ellis in that way before. It'd be pretty funny seeing him being signed by an Eastern team and pwning it up in 08/09

[air gordon]

i've always believed that if you're going to win one of these awards, with the exception of MIP, your team has to be one of the stronger teams in their respective conference. you can't be a player of the year in something if your team is around .500. c'mon...

MVP- Dirk
DPOY- Shane Battier. about time he gets his due
MIP- Kevin Martin. i like Eliis as well but Martin has been the King's best player up until Artest just recently started playing well
ROY- Roy though i think Gay will make it a good race down the stretch
6th Man- Barbosa. This was Gordon's to win but now he's starting. Lee is deserving here also
Coach- Avery Johnson

[Dan's Brain]

MVP - Dirk
DPOY - Camby with apologies to Okafor and Jermaine (they wont hear me apologise, but whatever. i'm trying to make amends)
MIP - David Lee. Martin, Ellis, Deng and Boozer runners up.
ROY - <-----
6th Man - I'd like Lee to get the double, but the annual Phoenix awards-fest forbids that.
Coach - Jeff Van Gundy keeping the Rockets well above water despite the team looking like extras from ER

GM - Colangelo. Most improved team, and bringing the Euros has been a work of genius.