NBA AWARDS

April 21st is the start of the NBA playoffs and it couldn't come any sooner. Teams are resting their stars for the playoffs and others are resting every serviceable player for a better chance in the lottery. In fact Avery Johnson recently said if Dirk or Stackhouse are on the plane to Minnesota tonight he will fine them.

So without further ado, my end of season awards

MVP:
I've always been one to pick the MVP from a good team. I can't remember it not going that way in basketball, but I was against A-rod winning it from last place Rangers.
The contenders:
Dirk-24.7, 9.1, 3.4
Nash- 18.9, 11.5, 3.5
Duncan- 20.1, 10.6, 3.4
Kobe- 31.2, 5.6, 5.5
LBJ- 27.5, 6.8, 6

I would consider these the top 5 contenders. I will begin by saying if you remove each one of these players from their respective teams they would fall into this order... Mavs, Suns, Spurs, Lakers, Cavs Probably the same order they are in in the current standings. Based on that, I would have a hard time voting for Kobe or LBJ. You could say yeah well if you remove those two, their teams fall into the bottom half of the lottery not just a worse seed in the playoffs. I agree, but I want my MVP taking a good team to elite levels.

So now we're down to the top 3. In the past 25 games, the Spurs have a better record then both the Suns and Mavs. Duncan is of course at the forefront of all this. Maybe it's because he's not on tv all the time, maybe it's because we have grown accustomed to his averages, but he's the 3rd dog in a 3 horse race. When I watch the other two, they change everything about the game. Nash and Dirk force teams to play different defenses then you would against any other team in basketball. Dirk posts up around the foul line where he's hard to double team and shoots that lofty fade away jump shot, virtually unblockable. We all know what Nash does. Following in the shoes of my boy Jason Kidd, he makes everyone around him so much better.

I'm going with Dirk this year. I think Amare, Marion, Barbosa are legit NBA stars in their own right and Nash is that key piece that gets them to play together. I'm not sold on Dirk's surrounding talent, and I believe he alone makes that team elite. Howard is good, Terry is solid, Stackhouse solid but these guy's don't touch the talent of the Suns. Dirk had the Mavs on a 70 win pace most of the season, he was as durable as anyone, and is primed for a big playoff run.

Coach of the Year:
Contenders:
Jerry Sloan 48-29
Jeff Van Gundy 49-29
Sam Mitchell 45-33

It's amazing to me that Jerry Sloan has never won the coach of the year award, and unfortunately this is not his year either. He has guided the Jazz to a surprising 4/5 seed in the deep west and done so with a 2nd year point guard, and often injured forwards Kirlenko and Boozer. We think of stability when we think of the Jazz and then steady success doesn't always get you the recognition you deserve.

The Rockets have battled injuries to Yao and T-Mac all season. Yet Battier, and the rest of the supporting cast have held this unit together and are neck and neck with the Jazz for homecourt. No one has ever denied the talent of T-Mac and Yao, but getting them on the same page, both playing defense as Van Gundy loves to preach has been another thing. This team has been a sleeper pick for years, and Van Gundy has them primed to reach that elusive second round.

But our winner is Mr. Mitchell. As much credit is probably owed to Colangelo for putting this team together but outside of Bosh, this is a team of no names. Ford is good, and Bargani had a nice rookie season but the 3 seed in the East??? That is something no one could have predicted. I usually go with the coach who exceeded the most expectations and that has to be Mitchell. They could lose in the first round, but this is a regular season award and the Raps have been winning on a pace usually reserved for the Western Conference Elite.

Rookie of the Year:
Your winner Brandon Roy
16.7, 4.4, 4.0

He has no competition here so I won't waste your time arguing the point.

Bargani would have given him a run for his money had it not been for the appendectomy which ended his season prematurely.

Most Improved:

David Lee

Knicks were heading for the post season before Lee was hit with his injuries. Mr. Double Double himself played his way into the hearts of Knick fans. His relentless energy and rebounding gives us some hope for next season and him and Curry figure to be a playoff front line for years to come.

If I wasn't blinded by Knicks blue and orange I would probably go with the Brazilian Blue, Barbosa. There is no one in the league that can stay in front of him and he is averaging over 18ppg and shoots over 40% from three.


Other Notes:

It's an A-Bomb for A-Rod! 6 homeruns in his first 9 games... quieting the fans at least for now

Two strong starts in a row for Pavano and Pettite... it's nice to see that ship righted.

Congrats to blogger Katzo on taking out blogger Neal in week 1 of fantasy baseball

NHL playoffs starts tonight.. .anyone else think the Rangers are taking out the Thrasher in round 1?


Sangyina (Neal look alike) did great last night



Love what Commissioner Goodell did. These athletes for the most part are able to buy their justice. Well when the league takes a stance like this and courtrooms decision aren't the bottom line, it is a huge step. Pacman is a great talent with a knack for getting in trouble. This may hurt the Titans but in the long run will hopeuflly help Pacman get back on track