Award Tour

Don't blame me for this, it's just that time of year.  Sadly, the Celtics are still in cruise control and I have to do something to fill the void between now and Saturday.  So, for lack of anything better to write about, I suppose I'll put my two bits in about the various award races going on in the NBA.  If I eventually tail off and stop writing mid-sentence, it's because I'm just as bored with the subject as you'll be (actually, if you stick with it longer than I do, I'll be impressed!).  And I suppose it is the popular question du-jour, so let's get down to it.

For this season, I think that the best way to determine the winner of the MVP is to put four names (Garnett, Kobe, Chris Paul, and LeBron) into a hat and just pick one.  I think that one could make an equally strong case for any of those four players for a variety of different and deserving reasons.  Absent drawing one at random, I'm leaning slightly towards Chris Paul, though I expect Kobe to win it and I understand why.  

Kobe has been playing excellent ball this year on both ends of the floor, and considering the rocky off season punctuated by trade demands and uncertainty it's downright amazing that the Lakers have meshed so well and are playing at such a high level.  Though it hasn't been his best statistical season, the Mamba is now playing better team ball and his dominance is reflected in the standings.  The Lakers are currently sitting atop the toughest Western Conference in a long, long time, and Kobe is the source of it all. That fact is as impressive as his individual game, and it makes him a worthy candidate for NBA MVP.

As for Chris Paul, you could argue (I can?) that Paul is having a better statistical season than Kobe (he's way more efficient) and that CP3 is the class of Western Conference point guards, beating out some incredibly elite competition.  Chris Paul's averages speak for themselves (but that's no reason why I can't speak for them!), as Paul is posting 21 points on 49% from the field (as well as 36.5% from behind the arc and 85% from the charity stripe), 11.5 assissts, 2.7 steals and only 2.5 turnovers per contest.  For my fellow humanities majors, that's an assist to tuenover ratio of 4.6:1, not bad compared to Kobe's 1.7:1 average. One more anecdote, CP3 will be the first player since Tim Hardaway in 1991-93 to average more than 20 points and 10 assissts per game in a season. 

Paul makes his team go and has turned good players into great ones, finding a way to bring out the best in all of his teammates.  David West is a great player now because of Chris Paul, and he benefits so much from the things Paul does for him on the floor.  You could say the same thing for Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojokovic, Morris Peterson and every other Hornet (even Byron Scott!).  Paul creates every opportunity and every play, and he's carried his team to its highest level in the history of the franchise.  Also, his supporting cast is thinner than Kobe's, and CP3 and the Hornets have managed to win the toughest division in the Association (next to the Atlantic, ha ha!).  If none of that makes you the MVP, I have no idea what does.

While LeBron James is having the best statistical season of any NBA player this season, I can't really advocate for him because of the record of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  I know that he's got nobody to play with and that the Cavs are completely incapable of winning without him, the Cavs play in the cupcake conference of the East and should be doing better than they are right now.  The last player to win an NBA MVP award on a mediocre team was Moses Malone (26 years ago), and while LeBron is special and arguably one of the best players in the game today, he's not the top candidate this year.

Lastly, there is Kevin Garnett.  Though Garnett's statistics are not as eye popping as any of the other candidates, he has lead the Boston Celtics to the greatest single season turnaround in NBA history.  In the words of Paul Pierce, KG "changed the whole culture" of the Boston Celtics with his intesity, mentality and dedication to teamwork and selfless basketball.  Garnett has also been one of the most efficient players in the league and is the crucial link in the Celtics system that  makes them work the way they do.  He's incredibly valuable to the team, and without him, who knows where the Celtics would be this year (nowhere close to 60 wins, that's for sure).  Ultimately, I think Garnett's chances suffer because he has two other All Stars and a strong supporting cast to work with, which cheapens some of his achievements and detracts from any assertion that he is the most valuable player in the league.  IT's unfortunate, but something tells me that there's more hardware awaiting Garnett (and hopefully the rest of the Celtics) to validate his incredible season. 

Speaking of other hardware, I think that Kevin Garnett should be named the NBA's defensive player of the year.  Not only has Garnett played incredible individual defense and tackled some of the toughest covers in the league, but he's responsible for turning the Celtics into a lock-down defensive team that is the best in the Association.  The Celtics are first in almost every pertinant defensive category, and it all starts and ends with KG's intensity and mentality.  This one should be a lock, I honestly can't think of a better candidate than Garnett for this award.

Speaking of no-brainers, the NBA's most improved player this season is Hedo Turkoglu of the Orlando Magic.  Not even my home town bias will allow me to make the case for Rajon Rondo (though he's definitely made great strides this season with and surpassed every expectation of him).  Hedo is Orlando's best passer and playmaker, and he's playing with confidence and passion like never before.  The Magic wouldn't be anywhere near where they are right now if Turkoglu hadn't been playing so well all year, and he's elevated his own personal statistics in an equally impressive fashion.

The race for coach of the year, on the other hand, is far more wide open.  You could argue for Doc Rivers, though I think he'll suffer in the voting due to the talent available to him and the Celtics position in the weakest division of the weakest conference.  Though it isn't always easy to manage the egos and personalities of so many superstar players, and I do think that Doc Rivers deserves adulation and respect for the accomplishments of the Celtics and his role with the team, I'd have to give the award to Byron Scott this year.

The Hornets won the toughest division in the NBA this year, beating out the Mavs, Rockets and Spurs (don't forget about the Grizzlies!) to win the Southwest division.  That's impressive, especially when you consider that Scott is doing this with some talented but untested and previously wildly inconsistent pieces.  Basketball matters again in New Orleans, and I think Scott deserves some credit for that ( I apologize, Jerry Sloan, but there's not much I can do to get you your first this year). 

I also think that Nate McMillan and Mo Cheeks deserve a look as well for taking less talented teams and maximizing their potential (Cheeks in particular for taking a team as weak as the 76ers and turning them into a dangerous match up in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs).  Both are worthy candidates, but I think that either Byron Scott or Doc Rivers deserves the award just a bit more (again, Rivers may have an award coming later to vindicate him).

Well, that about does it for awards given to commemorate the NBA regular season, except for Executive of the Year.  My vote for that award is a split between Chris Wallace of the Grizzlies and Kevin McHale of the Timberwolves for their respective fire sale deals that have pushed the Lakers and Celtics respectively into title contention this season.  Kupchak and Ainge couldn't have done it without you, guys.  The lottery ping pong balls are your reward, we'll see you next year for more tiny market, mediocre/bad ball next fall.  The only times you'll hear your names between now and then (or ever again, for that matter) will be in stories about the rejuvination of the Lakers and Celtics.

Ouch.