It seems hard to believe that it’s already the halfway point of the NBA season. It seems like just yesterday that Derrick Rose was dropping 25 points a night in the preseason and Michael Carter-Williams was making the 76ers look like a possible playoff team. How things change.
Now that every team has passed the midway point of the season, and with the All-Star Break quickly approaching, let’s hand out some (very premature) awards. In the spirit of awards season, let’s try to keep the acceptance speeches short, please.
MVP: Kevin Durant F – Oklahoma City
Lebron James has won this award four out of the last five years, including the last two, and, in my mind, he’s still the best player in the world. What Durant has done in the absence of running mate Russell Westbrook, however, has been downright fantastic and has vaulted him into the lead, as of right now.
The Slim Reaper (finally a nickname better than ‘Durantula’) has been Jordanesque (yes I said it) since Westbrook went down on Christmas, averaging a gasp-inducing 36.5 points per game in his last 17 games and somehow shooting a hyper-efficient 55 percent in those games even as he carries his team each night. That stretch has included five 40-point games and has kept OKC at the top of the Western Conference. For that, the scoring machine gets the nod as our midseason Most Valuable Player.
In the Hunt: LeBron James, Miami; Paul George, Indiana; LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland
Most Improved Player: Anthony Davis F – New Orleans
The Brow has flown a little under the radar because his team isn’t a title contender like fellow MIP candidate Lance Stephenson. Many polls are giving this award to Stephenson right now and that’s a fine pick, as he’s become a star on both ends of the court. Davis, however, has become an all-star caliber player even as his team struggles.
After a passable rookie year in which he averaged 13 points, eight rebounds and just under two blocks per game, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist has averaged a 20-11 this year with three blocks per contest. His shooting percentage has remained an efficient 51 percent (almost exactly the same as last year), despite the fact that he’s averaging almost five more shots per game as his team’s primary scorer. The fact that he’s still only 20 is absolutely scary.
In the Hunt: Lance Stephenson, Indiana; Paul George, Indiana; Eric Bledsoe, Phoenix
Rookie of the Year: Michael Carter-Williams G – Philadelphia
Thanks to an incredibly weak draft and some massively underperforming top picks (looking at you Anthony Bennett and your 2.4 points per game), the field for ROY this year is really only three players deep (the only three rookies that average more than 30 minutes per game). Michael Carter-Williams, Victor Oladipo and Trey Burke have all given their teams’ fans bases hope for the future, but Carter-Williams has had the most impact at both ends of the court and has the best stats, so he gets the nod.
The former Syracuse star has stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, seven assists, and six rebounds a night. Furthermore, his team is 13-18 with him in the lineup and is 1-10 in games he’s missed. The point guard’s shooting numbers aren’t great-just 40 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range-but he’s shown he can be every bit the playmaker he was in the Big East.
In the Hunt: Victor Oladipo, Orlando; Trey Burke, Utah
Coach of the Year: Jeff Hornacek – Phoenix
There have been a number of tremendous coaching jobs this season, and many will rush to give this award to Portland’s Terry Stotts who has the surprising Blazers in third place in the West. Hornacek has my vote at the season’s halfway point, however, thanks to the masterful job he’s done in keeping the Suns in the postseason hunt in a loaded conference.
Phoenix currently sits at 27-18 and would make the playoffs if the season ended today. That’s a remarkable feat for a team that many believed had put together a tank-tastic roster in the offseason. Thanks in large part to Hornacek’s up-tempo system, the Suns have jumped to eighth in the league’s offensive efficiency ratings with 106.4 points per 100 possessions, up from 29th a season ago. The former Phoenix shooting guard has done a solid job of developing free agent signee Eric Bledsoe and turning Miles Plumlee and Gerald Green into rotation-level players. If a sixth-place standing in the conference doesn’t excite you, give Hornacek time; it’s still his first season as an NBA head coach.
In the Hunt: Terry Stotts, Portland; Frank Vogel, Indiana
Best Performance: Carmelo Anthony F – Knicks
62 points against Charlotte on Jan. 24
Less than a week ago this award was up for grabs. After Anthony’s evisceration of the Bobcats, however, he’s the runaway leader. ‘Melo’s game was impressive not only because he dropped an eye-popping 62 points to set both Madison Square Garden and Knicks records, but also because he didn’t have to hog the ball to do it.
Anthony didn’t seem like he was gunning for any kind of record, he just was playing at an impossibly high level. The former Syracuse shot 23-for-35 from the field (66 percent) and 6-for-11 from 3-point range (55 percent). If Mike Woodson hadn’t pulled Anthony with over seven minutes left in the game, the seven-time all-star may well have gone for 70 points. In retrospect, it’s a bit disappointing that Woodson didn’t allow Anthony to finish the game as getting to 70 would have made him only the sixth player to do so. Regardless, no matter how many times Durant or Steph Curry have been unconscious this year, none of their performances can match Anthony’s for shear entertainment and basketball brilliance.
In the Hunt: Kevin Durant, OKC (54 points Jan. 17 vs. Warriors); Terrence Ross, Toronto (51 points Jan. 25 vs. Clippers)
Funniest Moment: ShoelaceGate
J.R. Smith has made a run at first half LVP in the league, averaging just 12 points on 37 percent shooting, but it was his bid to gain a competitive advantage in an early-January game that lands him on this list. During a game against the Dallas Mavericks, Smith lined up next to Shawn Marion for a free throw attempt. Just before the shot, the New York guard bent down and untied Marion’s shoe, forcing the Maverick into the difficult decision of choosing whether to finish the play with untied laces or to put his team at a disadvantage on defense.
The first time Smith pulled the stunt, it could have been construed as a wily veteran play, but, after he tried it on the Pistons’ Greg Monroe later the same week, the move entered the comedy zone. The NBA wasn’t laughing, as they fined the 28-year old Smith $50,000 for “recurring instances of unsportsmanlike conduct.” That pretty much sums up the Knicks’ season.
In the Hunt: This epic dance-off at a Pistons game, LeBron airballs layup,
Best Interview: Gregg Popovich vs. Jeff Van Gundy
Popovich, the longtime head coach of the Spurs, is notoriously stingy with his words, especially during in-game interviews with sideline reporters. Clearly, Pop thinks the interviews are a waste of time, and has given countless one-word answers to Craig Sager over the years. In a game against the Mavericks on Jan. 8, former Knicks and Rockets coach and current ESPN analyst Van Gundy decided to try his luck at interviewing Popovich. This is what ensued:
Proof once again that Popovich is like your favorite old uncle-curmudgeonly but with a soft side.
In the Hunt: None, this blows everything else away.
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
