Buddies' Ballot

With my beloved Tribesmen looking less than stellar in their first series against the potent Rangers, it looks like the perfect time to send in my ballot for NBA regular season awards (I know the NBA has been pretty anxious to hear my picks...I like to keep 'em waiting).

The thing about the NBA awards is that they are annoyingly and most likely purposefully vague. If you ever watch ESPN's broadcasts of NBA games, you often hear Mark Jackson berating Jeff Van Gundy about not following the rules when making picks. Mike Breen will ask for a sleeper in the West, Van Gundy says, "Well Mike, I have three." Classic. Things like having a shared Rookie of the Year has actually happened in the past (Steve Francis/Elton Brand in '99-'00, Jason Kidd/Grant Hill in '94-'95, and Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie in '70-'71). One huge point of these awards, as far as the NBA or anyone in the media is concerned, is to generate conversations, heated ones in fact, about what "Most Valuable" means or what counts as a "6th man." It's all in good fun (by the way, if you were impressed by my knowledge of the history of the Rookie of the Year Award, forward all positive comments to Wikipedia's "Rookie of the Year" page).

So what I'll try to do is to define what the award means to me as I make my picks. Sound fair?

From what I gather, the "real" ballots include a top five for the MVP and a top three for most other things so that is what I'll be using...so here we go!!

Most Improved Player

3. Allen Iverson, Detroit Pistons

Haha! Gotcha!!!!

(I actually had a running disagreement with this person's dad about the merits of the Iverson deal from the Piston's side of things. Once Iverson literally quit the team...I think it's time for me to give it up.)

But seriously folks...

This award has become offensive to some people because Hedo Turkoglu will say something like, "Oh man, I've been good the whole time! The Magic just gave me a chance to shine!" Where I'm coming from is I'm basically looking for a rookie of the year who is not technically a rookie. Like, for example, if Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies to the playoffs or something because he went from an aimless leaper to a team leader (I think you probably know where I'm going with this), I would vote him the MIP. Let's get to the picks.

3. Devin Harris, NJ Nets
This young fella might be higher on some lists, but to me, it's a real life Turkoglu situation. Devin is actually shooting well below his career shooting percentage which is worrying for a potential MIP candidate, but the fact that he is the "main guy" on a team that...well I guess they're not very good. The point is, this is a young guy who surprised people by leading his team to wherever it is that they seem to be going (that really is a bad team).

(Do you see why this is hard? I feel like I made absolutely no case for that guy.)

2. Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz
Just from a fan's perspective, this guy went from a solid bench player, to a guy that is not EASY to stop. He's also being considered as a REPLACEMENT for The Booz and, oh yeah, he gets paid close to the league minimum. Can there be an award for "Most Underpaid Player?"

1. Kevin Durant, OKC Thunder
Because we can't give 'im the Rookie of the Year twice!

Durant sort of did the same thing that Rudy Gay did in that fictional story I made up to described what Durant did (sort of). The thing about Durant is that he could win this award next year too. He seems to be on his way for a "top ten player" spot in the league, if he's not there already (Durant and Brandon Roy are the top candidates to replace Kobe in the top five when "outgrows" that position). He'd probably be in the MVP race if the Thunder didn't have 57 losses.

6th Man of the Year

As the ESPN crew knows, this one can get tricky. Do 6th men who start sometimes count? Does it count if your 6th man is your best player (GINOBILI!!!!!)?

I would say that yes, if your 6th man is your best player it still counts, and if you are only starting because of injuries, you count. That last part is basically so I could squeeze this first guy in.

3. Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz

Hey wait, I think I know this guy!

This guy has started most of the year, I just can't put J.R. Smith, Jason Terry, Nate Robinson, or Leandro Barbosa on this list. They are all glorified Eddie Houses and do we endorse that sort of behavior on Buddies' Bullshit? I'm fairly certain that we do not.

2. Stephon Marbury, Boston Celtics

WOO!! This is too fun.

2. Travis Outlaw, Portland Trailblazers

Travis Outlaw has the longest arms. LAP.

1. Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers
The three guys on the Cavs who have an almost unblemished attendance record (knock on wood) and really the main three players Cleveland goes to in the clutch are LeBron James, Mo Williams, and yes, Anderson Varejao. Yes, he has started a TON of games for the Cavs this season and will probably start in the playoffs, but he has started for Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace when they both were hurt and played so well in those games (Cleveland was 30-9 in those games, 17-3 subbing for Wallace) he is now the likely starter in the playoffs. He's also a fringe candidate for MIP.

Defensive Player of the Year

Defensive Player of the year is the guy who, when he's on the court, makes me worried about how or if my team is going to score any points in this game.

3. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Something tells me we'll be hearing from this guy again later in this post.

If I were a real columnist, I would get so many emails from people saying, "Just because he gets those chase down highlight blocks doesn't make him a great defensive player!!!" And then they'd probably say something about how Kobe is a lock down defender.

That fake emailer is partially right. Highlight blocks don't make you DPotY (do you see Josh Smith...or even D-Wade in here?) But players have an imaginary sphere or cylinder (or whatever shape) around them that represents where they can get on the floor and LeBron's might be the biggest in the league. He can, and does, get to so many balls that nobody else can get to and it changes the game. Not to mention, he runs one of the top defensive teams that starts Mo Williams at Point Guard, Zydrunas Ilgauskas at Center, the 6 foot 3 Delonte West at Shooting Guard and has Boobie Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak as valuable bench players.

2. Shon Bartestier, Houston Rockets
Pronounced: "Shawn Bar-TEST-ee-ay"

I'm pulling a Van Gundy, mainly because Shon Bartestier sounds so awesome (the "Shon" link goes to Artest and "Bartestier" goes to Battier).

The Rockets, mainly because of their defense, are the least fun team to play...and let's just say it's not because of Yao...or Von Wafer.

1. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
I desperately wanted to not have him here. To put it bluntly, his mental girth cannot match his physical. He really isn't as imposing as he should be. With that said, Dwight is physically unbelievable (and mentally serviceable). His mere presence allows a team with Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis at the forwards (and a rookie starting at the 2) to be a pretty great defensive team. Nobody really has to guard anybody when you know Dwight is down there. And also...HIGHLIGHT BLOCKS!!!!

Coach of the Year

CotY might be the toughest because there's nothing tangible stat-wise about coaching except maybe wins. I'm sure there have been coaches of the year whose players would refute, but I'll try to find some good ones.

3. Nate McMillan, Portland Trailblazers

No link here (what am I supposed to link?). McMillan coaches an extremely young team who is now poised to win probably one playoff series (don't sleep on Portland over LA in the second round. The Lakers haven't won away from LA against the Blazers in a while and Kobe gets booed every time he touches the ball in Portland just because they don't like him...smart fans). The Blazers seem to be pretty ahead of schedule, and I can only assume Nate McMillan has at least something to do with it. But then again, how should I know?

2. Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets

Adelman has kept Ron Artest in check since he's been in Houston (aside from basically losing the game to the Lakers by firing up Kobe with his idiotic trash talk) which is no easy task. He also has lost his starting point guard to a trade and Tracy McGrady to himself. In fact, McGrady was never really involved in this season, even when he was playing. And with all that, Houston looks like, I would say, the second best team in the West (not sold on the Nuggs). Unfortunately, Adelman is without a doubt going to be foiled AGAIN by a Phil Jackson coached team in the Western Conference Finals. What a bummer.

1. Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers

A few years ago, this would have been followed by a "Just kidding!! LOL!!!" and a hearty laugh. Now with the Cavs going for the league's best record, it doesn't seem so silly does it? Mike Brown is an easy target because he's young coach with funny mannerisms, but when (other than the San Antonio sweep) has he been out coached in a playoff series? I'm not sure he has. Of course, when the correct coaching move is "give the ball to LeBron" it's harder to give a guy credit, but here's the deal:

Mike has convinced the best player in the league with perhaps the biggest ego to embrace defense and therefore force his teammates to play defense (that defense first world view LeBron now has might even convince him not to play for the New York D'antonis...you never know). His team has the best record in the league, can we give him some credit?

Rookie of the Year

My Rookie of the Year ballot is split between these three: My Favorite, the Stat Man, and Derrick Rose.

3. J.J. Hickson, Cleveland Cavaliers

Yessss!! I love doing this.

(By the way, does JJ remind anybody else of Luigi from Mario 2? He can jump to places the other characters can't get to but sometimes he just loses control and falls in lava.)

3. Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder

Russell Westbrook is what being a rookie is all about. He has lots of turnovers, a low shooting percentage, is on a bad team, but is a pleasure to watch do anything. I love this guy.

2. Brook Lopez, New Jersey Nets

I know the Lopez twins aren't very cool, but Brook is really quite good. He's a productive starting Center in the NBA already (Greg Oden isn't even that yet). Just look at his stats, there's really nothing more to explain here.

1. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls

...............

(It really looks like Andre Miller broke one of his ankles on that play. If you type in, "Derrick rose br" into youtube, "Derrick Rose breaks Andre Millers ankles" shows up. I didn't really want to write anything in this, but I will mention that he is the best player on a playoff team as a rookie. Not bad.)

Most Valuable Player

The MVP award takes the cake on stupidly annoying to interpret, not because it's the most ambiguous, but because it is still so ambiguous and allegedly the most important. It seems that there are a few schools of thought.

There's the group that says it should just go to the most outstanding player in the league. I can sympathize with this group because Dwyane Wade probably isn't going to win any regular season awards this year (is there a comeback player of the year?), even though we'll probably remember this season from him for a long time. There's the group that says it should go to the "best player on the best team." These are the idiots who are waiting to see if the Cavs or Lakers finish with the best record as if that tells us a damn thing about who is more valuable (this is how Dirk Nowtizki wins an MVP on the "best" team to lose in the first round of the playoffs). I have no tolerance for these people.

I like to go with who is truly the most indispensable, because isn't that what "most valuable means?" I guess I don't know.

5. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

Rather than defending why he's an MVP candidate, it's more likely I would be asked to explain why I have him so low on the ballot. Kobe is the most polished and skilled player in the league and his team is probably going to have 65 wins (and yes, wins do factor into my concept of who is "valuable." Everything becomes more valuable when you are an actual title contender). So you might ask, "If wins are a factor, why is he so low??"

The fact is, Kobe contributes, by far, the least to his team's record than any of the other four guys on the list. Again, in John Hollinger's new "Estimated Value Added" statistic, Kobe ranks fifth (behind the guys he is behind on this list...I'm not really sure in what order). But just from what I've seen, the only defense for putting Kobe higher on the MVP ballot is purely reputation based (a repuation he has not earned, mind you...but I'll save my Kobe hating for the Finals). Kobe is a great player, but not as good as these other four, and furthermore, he's not a good enough teammate or personality for his value to be inflated in my book.

4. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets

It hurts to put him this low on the list because he should have won it last year. He is the first of four on this list that if you take him off, the team just ceases to exist. Without these players, the teams they are on have absolutely no identity (and probably would have a bottom three record). I also read an article by John Hollinger that I believe stated that Chris Paul was the only player on his team with a Player Efficiency Rating over the league average. If you're not disgusted by that, you probably don't know what PER is. Chris Paul is a high probability Charles Barkley style MVP, where they don't give it to LeBron one year just beacuse he wins it too much in the next 10 years.

3. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

Dwight is easy to like and hard to like at the same time. He's a nice kid, but is that really a good thing as a physically imposing Center? He teeters on the brink of being good in spite of himself. I've seen him make horrible plays in crunch time while at the same time, almost never see him hit clutch free throws in crunch time (nice block on Paul Pierce though).

However, him just being there is more valuable than anyone else's in the NBA. Again, the Magic are basically the Toronto Raptors without Dwight in the middle. Also, keep in mind any distrust of him in the playoffs is semi-irrelevant because this is a regular season award.

2. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

The common argument for Wade to win the award is that he does "more with less." That statement is false. While he does have a worse supporting cast than LeBron or Kobe, what Dwyane Wade actually does is "less with less."

His per minute stats are slightly worse than LeBron's, but the difference is basically negligible. The reason he is not number one is that being great on a team that is a title contender is just more important than doing it on one that isn't. But even though his team is not very good, he is too good to put anywhere below second.

1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

The way Wade, Kobe and even Jordan carry a team is differen than the way LeBron does it. The Jordan type drags their team along. They are going to do what they want and you can follow if you want. If you're not good enough, they have no time or tolerance for you. The way this type of player operates, the lone wolf with teammates there only because the rules say they have to be, is what leads analysts to come up with concepts like "killer instinct." Before Jordan, that type of player didn't really exist. Now, everybody tries to play that way, and they have all failed. Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Grant Hill...all have come up short in attempting to center a team around a shoot first/pass never shooting guard. But still, great perimeter players will be crucified for passing up the final shot to an open man in the final seconds because he lacks some contrived concept of "killer instinct." That's not the way the MVP operates.

The way LeBron james lifts his teammates is nothing short of inspirational. Instead of dragging them along, he fills up their confidence bubble to where, instead of being dead weight, they become useful players. This year, LeBron has extended careers (Big Z, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak), made starters out of career goofballs (Delonte West, Anderson Varejao) and molded a defenseless chucker on a bad team into an All Star and the second in command on the best team in basketball (Mo Williams). He has tricked us into thinking the Cavs are a great team.

LeBron might leave something to be desired with his shooting ability and occasional heat-checks, but what he does for his team, and the league, is undeniable and an absolute pleasure.