As the 2009-2010 NBA regular season comes to and end I have decided to share my selections for some year-end awards:
Most disappointing team: Philadelphia 76ers: After an early exit from the playoffs in 09, this team, with the addition of highly-touted rookie Jrue Holiday and healthy Elton Brand, was supposed to make a splash in the shallow East. They belly flopped.
MVP: Lebron James: Arguments for Dwight or Durant provide good bar fodder, but Ms. Cleo isn’t needed to predict the winner in this year’s MVP race. Lebron will take home his second straight by posting 29,8,7 per.
Most surprising team: Oklahoma City Thunder: The potential was there, and so was the potential star, but a 27-game improvement from last year’s campaign, capped by a scoring titl
e for Durant and a secured playoff spot for the 50-game winning franchise? Wow. Too bad they couldn’t avoid a first round matchup with L.A.
Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard: Since the MVP is already Lebron’s, the DPOY can go to Dwight, who lead the League in blocks and boards while serving as Orlando’s defensive anchor all year long.
Coach of the year: Scott Brooks: Turned a 23 win team into a 50 win franchise in one season while coaching the League’s youngest team and is quickly turning the Thunder intro a true title contender.
6th Man of the year: Lamar Odom: The team was noticeably better with L.O. on the court , and although injuries forced him to start almost half of the season’s games, he anchored a suddenly shallow second unit with his versatility.
Anti- Coach of the year: Eddie Jordan: Swallowed the team’s potential with 
poor play-calling and schizophrenic substitutions. Eddie could have been released midseason, but will now be heading to the unemployment line as the Sixers are headed to the lottery.
Most Improved Player: George Hill: George demonstrated that he is a starter in this League by steadying the Spurs during Tony Parker’s extended absence, while increasing his scoring and assist numbers by seven and one, respectively.
Under-the-radar Rookie of the Year: DeJuan Blair: Tyreke, Brandon, and Steph all had spectacular seasons, and a compelling case can be made for all three as rookie of the year candidates. This award does not go to the best rookie necessarily, but rather the one who did his business while flying sl
ightly below the radar. After slipping all the way down to the second round, DeJuan began the season with something to prove and he certainly made the most of his minutes, putting up 7 and 6 grabs in a paltry 18-per. He has the confidence of his coach and should be a fixture in the Spurs playoff rotation, as well as in the future.
Least Valuable Player: Gilbert Arenas: Imploded a much-hyped return by bringing guns into the locker room and further proliferated the NBA’s perceived image problem. Agent zero for sure.
Assassin of the Year: Kobe Bryant: It wouldn’t be right to have an awards list without mentioning Kobe, as his consistent late game heroics this season have cemented him as the League’s most deadly player with the game on the line.
1 comments:
I agree with almost everything. Oklahoma City is a good surprise team but the Bobcats deserve some love, they're in the playoffs and don't have an MVP candidate like the Thunder do. Also most casual fans couldn't name more than 2 starters for Charlotte.
But Odom for 6th man??.. There isn't a voter in the country who doesnt already have their mind made up on penciling in Jamal Crawford for that award. Odom started 38 games and averaged 11 points, Crawford started 0 games and dropped 18 per.
- DNP
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