'2007-2008' Season Awards!

…Without Further Ado…

The NBA’s been pretty sick in 2007-08; this season’s brought us its fair share of surprises, busts, big trades, big injuries, incredible performances and the most exciting playoff race ever. There’s been plenty to celebrate like Kool and clown like Krusty, so let’s get right into it with Christian’s Basketball Rants’ NBA Postseason Awards:

6^th Man of the Year

AJ: Manu Ginobili – San Antonio Spurs

The textbook definition of a “spark off the bench” Ginobili contributed heavy doses of scoring, energy and irritating defense for the Spurs, so much so that some (not myself) would argue he was their best player this year. He graciously accepted coming off the bench for a third-place squad, putting himself behind the team he could easily log 40/game for; the ultimate sixth man.

Regards to: Ben Gordon, Travis Outlaw, Leandro Barbosa

Christian: Manu Ginobili – San Antonio Spurs

Manu started 26 games this year, but I guess he is still a 6^th man (but not at heart). He is without a doubt, the best player to come off the bench and his impact on the court reflects that. Called on to score mid-season while Tony and Mr.Duncan were missing games, the league saw what Manu was capable of - torchin the Cavs for 46. In my mind, this is a no-brainer.

Props to: Leandro and Leandro alone.

Rookie of the Year

AJ: Al Horford – Atlanta Hawks

What was seemingly Kevin Durant’s award to lose should go to Horford, who gave the Hawks the legit presence they badly needed inside, putting up a double-double as an undersized center. Durant may have dropped 20/game, by all means a fine season, but making valuable contributions that help your squad to the playoffs impresses more than being a one-dimensional scorer with atrocious shot selection on a shitty team.

Regards to: Kevin Durant, Luis Scola, Al Thornton

Christian: Kevin Durant – Seattle Supersonics

Owfff this was a hard one. In my mind, Kevin Durant did what he was supposed to do; average 20 points for a rebuilding team. Despite shooting woes and more L’s than Mr.Cheeks, Durant also gave you a little look at the more complete player he might one day be (1bpg, 1spg). Meanwhile Al “The definition of NBA-ready” Horford made major contributions to a “playoff team”. Averaging the double double is nice, but this league is about scoring…isn’t it? It’s funny, Elton was even more impressive in 2000, with averages of 20 and 10, but he still had to settle for half this award.

Props to: Al Horford, Scola, Jamario
Slept on: Nick Young, Sean Williams
Most likely to be picked ahead of his 2008-9 fantasy ranking: Al Thorton

Defensive Player of the Year

AJ: Marcus Camby – Denver Nuggets

It’s understandable why the rest of the Nuggets take such a lax approach to defense knowing they have a guy who pulls down 13 boards and blocks almost four shots a game lurking behind them; Camby was their only serious defensive presence. He stayed healthy this year, giving Denver 78 games of dirty work that allowed guys like AI, Melo and (especially) JR to focus all their efforts on scoring.

Regards to: Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Josh Smith

Christian: Marcus Camby – Denver Nuggets

He had a great year so he’s likely to he should be going back to back. Played more games that normal and gave consistent effort. This award has a serious pedigree, only seven players over the last 15 years have won it. If Marcus cops the hardware, he’ll be leavin the Glove and Ron-Ron behind as the only one-time winners in that span.

Props to: Dwight, KG, Chris Paul, J$mooth
So good we take it for granted: Kobe

Most Improved Player

AJ: Rudy Gay – Memphis Grizzlies

Now the Grizzlies’ go-to guy, Gay blew up in his sophomore year, doubling his scoring average to 20/game while upping his numbers across the board and connecting on 46% from the field. It’ll take a lot more for him to develop into the type of franchise player Memphis needs to dig them out of the hole they’re in, but Gay looks to be on the right track to stardom.

Regards to: Monta Ellis, Rajon Rondo, Hedo Turkoglu

Christian: Hedo Turkoglu – Orlando Magic

Rudy had a great year and was instrumental in winning me my fantasy pool (I'm not the government, but I'm the fuckin man -Belly). That said, I'm giving Hedo this award because he should have been an all-star. Apologies to the Sheed fans out there…if there are any left ;) Career high’s in points, rebounds, assists, FG %, while playing every game this year for a team with 52 wins don’t hurt either. He’s the one the Magic call on for a big shot, not that dude who they shipped $110 million last summer.

Props to: Danny Granger, Rudy Gay (2^nd worst selling jersey in the league…Chris Quinn is first…seriously)

Coach of the Year

AJ: Phil Jackson – Los Angeles Lakers

So many legit candidates; this was a big year for teams overcoming injury and distraction to have successful seasons (despite the state of the Bulls and Knicks). Ultimately, the man gunning for Red’s ring record did the best job of keeping his team on the same page through more than their fair share of both, steering them to a top seed in the West.

Regards to: Maurice Cheeks, Byron Scott, Rick Adelman

Christian: The Zen Master –Los Angeles Lakers

Couldn’t have said it much better myself. I think if the Hornets had nabbed the 1^st seed, I’d have Byron in this spot, but that didn’t happen. The Lakers were in relative turmoil at the end of last season and Phil guided the ship from rocky waters to home court advantage in the West..clutch. Oh and by the way, we didn’t know Kwame had trade value either.

Props to: Byron Scott, Mo Cheeks, Doc Rivers

MVP

AJ: Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers

Tough call either way. Chris Paul made a huge run down the stretch, but Kobe’s still gotta take it. Coming into the season hewas being dangled by a middle-of-the-pack squad he repeatedly put on blast over the summer, but adjusted his attitude and hisgame, playing incredible two-way basketball, improving his teammates’ games for the first time in his career and staying cold-blooded in the clutch. He continued reigning though a hampering mid-season injury to offset the losses of other key players, and because of him the Lakers are on top of the best conference ever. The magnitude of the turnaround that Bryant’s helped lead in LA cannot be ignored; best non-MVP ever no more.

Props to: Byron Scott, Mo Cheeks, Doc Rivers and reluctantly, Rock

Regards to: Chris Paul, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett

Christian: Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers

After following the MVP race intently for the last several seasons, I can’t remember one coming down to the finals games like this. I am of the opinion that whosever team finished better should get the award because it’s just that arguable. Kobe was great all year, through all setbacks and a truly remarkable conference of teams. Yes, the Lakers had an improved winning % with Pau, but that doesn’t take away from what Kobe did. He always had the stats, just never the record to be in serious contention for the award. Now he wins the west..so crown em’.

Regards to: Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, Dwight Howard

All-NBA First Team

G- Chris Paul
G- Kobe Bryant
F- Lebron James
F- Kevin Garnett
C- Amare Stoudemire

All-NBA Second Team

G- Steve Nash
G- Tracy McGrady
F- Carmelo Anthony
F- Carlos Boozer
C- Dwight Howard

All-NBA Third Team

G- Allen Iverson
G- Baron Davis
F- Paul Pierce
F- Tim Duncan
C- Marcus Camby

Defensive First Team

G- Kobe Bryant
G- Raja Bell
F- Josh Smith
F- Kevin Garnett
C- Marcus Camby

Defensive Second Team

G- Chris Paul
G- Bruce Bowen
F- Shane Battier
F- Tim Duncan
C- Dwight Howard

…and now for a few awards the league office doesn’t hand out but should nonetheless go to those who’ve earned them:

Best Acquisition: The player with the greatest positive impact on his new team.

Kevin Garnett – Boston Celtics

Probably not even worth mentioning this award since he turned Boston into the league’s best team, leading the greatest single-season improvement in league history. Since I didn’t give him MVP or DPOY, I figured it was only right to recognize what KG’s accomplished.

Regards to: Pau Gasol, Shaquille O’Neal, Ray Allen

The Magic Johnson Award: The “I’m startin to think dude ain’t that sick” Award

Larry Hughes – Cleveland Cavaliers / Chicago Bulls

In this day and age, the word “cancer” is thrown around so much nowadays that it’s starting to lose its meaning. That said, Larry Hughes was an abnormality in the genetic material of the Cavs. They were paying this guy like a star, and he was a damn plug. Good luck in the Windy City…I hope you never make the playoffs again.

The Canabis Award: The player with talent and opportunity who was primed for a big season and never really blew up.

Andrea Bargnani – Toronto Raptors

Bargs was a bust this year, failing to give the Raps an outside stroke and rebounding presence they were lacking when Jorge Garbajosa went down for the season. He seemed to regress from his promising rookie year; his passive defence and penchant for forcing stupid jumpers left him stuck in neutral in Sam Mitchell’s rotation.

Regards to: Luol Deng, Andrew Bogut, Rashard Lewis

"I play the front court" -A.B.

Ham of the Year: The player who has, through on and off-court incompetence, failed to meet any/all expectations.

Steve Francis – Houston Rockets

When Houston claimed the once-revered point guard off waivers few people made note of how they had, while giving up nothing, retrieved the player they gave up for T-Mac just three years ago. In that short span, Francis has tumbled from All-Star to irrelevant locker-room prop who averaged 5 points and 3 assists in an underwhelming ten games this year, while cashing paycheques from two teams.

Regards to: Kwame Brown, Stephon Marbury, David Harrison

The Simmons BeautyRest Award: The player whose career year was most slept on.

Baron Davis – Golden State Warriors

Brandon Roy had a remarkable season for a team that made more progress than anyone would’ve imagined, but he had no business in the All-Star game at the expense of Davis; a superior defender who put up much stronger numbers on a better team, and should still have been included on principle after what he did to Dallas last spring.

Regards to: Al and Richard Jefferson, Rafer Alston

Offensive P.O.Y.: The opposite of Defensive Player of the Year.

Chris Paul – New Orleans Hornets, Lebron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

This would be the closest race going if this award existed. Paul ranked #2 in PER (player efficiency rating) while assisting or scoring half his team’s field goals to the tune of 21 and 11.6/game. James led the league in fourth quarter and per game scoring, the only guy to beat Paul in PER also dropped over 7 dimes a game, no doubt many more if Sideshow Varejao wasn’t the offensive liability he is.

Apologies to: Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Allen Iverson

The Shawn Kemp Memorial Award: The player who made the most grown men cry this season.

Josh Smith – Atlanta Hawks

The former dunk champ with crazy hops and a raw, erratic game became one of the league’s better all-around players this year, but remained every bit as nasty. He led the league by a wide margin in blocks unnecessarily sent into the seventh row and put more than his fair share of highlight-reel crams on bigger, stronger defenders.

Regards to: Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Jason Maxiell

The Kevin Willis Memorial Award: The ‘Why the fuck don’t you just retire?’ Award

Darrell Armstrong – New Jersey Nets

I tried to give this to Dikembe, but he rejected me ;) In all seriousness, Darrell just call it a career. You’re clearly aching out there, you’ve lost a step and you’re not even on a playoff team! What is more, the whole small guy with nice handles thing is so Earl Boykins. Frankly – I’m not feeling ya anymore. Be gone.