2011-2012 NBA Horse Collar Awards
With the 2011-2012 NBA season
quickly being vaporized by the NBA offseason, the Olympics, and a number of
other things, I’m finally and hurriedly getting out my awards. Prior to this
season I’ve always given out regular season awards before the start of the
postseason and then done a separate entry for postseason awards after the
playoffs. This year I’m just doing one combined entry.
The reason for this is
that it took me so long to complete the intro to my regular season awards--explaining
why I give out separate awards for the regular season and the playoffs—that by
the time I was finished with it the 1st round was over. I decided I had
to wait until the end of the postseason (I’m not kidding).
I had been toying with
the idea of holding off on my awards until after the playoffs and I’m still
kind of torn on the issue. At this point, I plan on my NBA awards being the
same as my award entries for all other sports beginning next year (meaning I do
one awards entry after the playoffs, and I consider the postseason, but put
more emphasis on the season as a whole). Depending on how I feel next May, I
might go back to doing a regular season awards entry prior to the playoffs and
then a separate postseason awards entry after the playoffs are over (like I did
last year).
This season I won’t be
doing either of those things. For this year, I’m completely separating the
regular season from the postseason as far as awards, but I’m including both as
one entry (this one). All of the awards not specifically marked as “postseason”
awards are for regular season only.
The reason for this is
actually quite simple: I already did all of the non-postseason awards before
the start of the playoffs (even though I never posted them) and I don’t have
the time or the desire to try and go back and factor in the postseason.
Along these same lines,
I only have comments for the MVP section. The reason for this (again) is that I
just don’t have the time at this point.
So to get on with it, here
are my regular season and postseason awards for 2011-2012. Next year they will
be combined just like every other sport (I think). But you will notice a few
changes this year which make these awards a bit more like the others, including
the naming of awards and a few structural changes.
But
First, My Obligatory Explanations: As all of my imaginary
readers know, I always like to talk a little about the process before getting
into my awards. Giving out awards for the NBA is easier than football or
baseball in a way. There are fewer players and that does make the process
simpler.
However, basketball
statistics—in my opinion—are not as easily deciphered as football or baseball
stats. The traditional stats are useful, but they aren’t enough. There are
plenty of sabermetric style NBA stats available, but it can be difficult to
determine which ones are the most reliable or meaningful.
Defensive prowess is not
easily judged by stats alone. In basketball—just as in football and baseball--individual
offense is much easier to analyze/grade/rate than individual defense.
In general, I use the
traditional stats and a variety of the sabermetric style stats to pick all of
the awards. I also use the knowledge I’ve gained from watching and following
the sport. Just like with my baseball and football awards, I do take team
success into account, but playing for one of the top teams is not a requirement
for me. I will say that I value team success a bit more in the NBA because one
player can have such a tremendous impact on his team.
With my All-Horse
Collar (All-NBA)/All-Defense/All-Rookie teams I do try and follow the
PG-SG-SF-PF-C format as much as possible. I try not to stray from that unless
it simply can’t be avoided.
A
Quick Note about the Strange Quirks of This Season: It
was much harder to do these awards this year because of the strange nature of
this particular season. With the lockout; the decreased number of games; the accelerated
schedule; the injuries; the tanking; etc. this was just a very odd year, and it
certainly had an effect on the stats.
Just as an example,
there were many players who didn’t qualify for some of the traditional rate
stats such as points, rebounds, or assists per game due to missing more than 10
games. It was hard to figure out what to do with players like Derrick Rose and
Manu Ginobili, who were both excellent when on the court, but who played in
just 39 and 34 games respectively. I didn’t know exactly how much to punish
guys who missed a bunch of games or how much to reward guys who played every
night.
In the end I just did
the best I could. I knew I wasn’t going to be totally satisfied with the final
product, but considering the particulars of this unique season, I’m okay with
the results. Now, on to the awards.
Regular
Season Awards
The
Michael Jeffrey Jordan Award
NBA
Most Valuable Player of the Year
Winner: LeBron James-SF-Miami
Runner-up: Kevin
Durant-SF-Oklahoma City
Third Place: Chris
Paul-PG-Los Angeles Clippers
Fourth Place: Kevin
Love-PF-Minnesota
Fifth Place: Dwight
Howard-C-Orlando
Sixth Place: Kobe
Bryant-SG-Los Angeles Lakers
Seventh Place: Blake
Griffin-PF-Los Angeles Clippers
Eighth Place: Russell
Westbrook-PG-Oklahoma City
Ninth Place: Dwyane
Wade-SG-Miami
Tenth Place: Andrew
Bynum-C-Los Angeles Lakers
Eleventh Place: Josh
Smith-PF-Atlanta
Twelfth Place: Tony
Parker-PG-San Antonio
Comments: It wasn’t difficult
to pick the overall regular season MVP this season. Really, there were only 3
players who even deserved consideration for the award, and the winner was clear
cut. However, I like to include more than just the top 3 for the MVP, and in
this odd season it was difficult to sort out all the players who could be
considered for the top 12. Here’s a review of the top 12 I decided on.
Tony
Parker doesn’t rank amongst the leaders in the traditional
statistic categories, but then, that’s not really what the Spurs are about.
With Tim Duncan at the end of his career and Manu Ginobili missing much of the
year with injuries, Parker was the glue that held all of San Antonio’s many
important parts together. While his stats don’t jump off the page at you (60
games, 32.1 MPG, 16th in PER, 18.3 PPG, 7.7 APG), he led the Spurs
to the top record in the NBA. That’s why I have him in my top 12.
Having said that, I
can’t go along with the many people who have Parker in their top 5 or top 3. I
mean, I get that he’s the most important player on the best team, but that
doesn’t justify placing him ahead of all of the guys who had stronger
individual seasons overall. Winning and being important to your team is
certainly something I look at when choosing MVP, but it’s not as crucial as
being the best player in the NBA.
Josh
Smith doesn’t get too much respect around the league (as
evidenced by his being passed over for the All-Star Game several times). He’s
brought much of that on himself. Truth be told, he’s not the most popular figure
amongst Hawks fans either. Again, he has brought most of that upon himself.
Many people would not even consider Josh Smith in the MVP voting, including
many Hawks fans.
Trust me, I’m as big
and loyal a Hawks fan as there is, but I can also be objective about things. I
know all too well the ups and downs of Smith’s game. Believe me, I’ve lived and
died with them as a fan for many years. Anyone who follows the Hawks knows the
bad things that Josh does. He is perhaps the most frustrating basketball player
I have ever followed.
But while his mistakes
do hurt the team, they do not come close to negating all of the good things
that Josh does. This season he really had to step up when Al Horford was lost
for the season very early on in the schedule. In a year in which just being
available and durable enough to go every night was hugely important, Josh
played in all 66 games, averaging 35.3 minutes a night. He averaged 18.8 PPG,
9.6 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.4 SPG, and 1.7 BPG.
Josh was only ranked 29th
in PER (still just one behind Carmelo Anthony) but he was the biggest reason
that the Hawks managed to win 40 games this year even without Horford. Defense
is tough to measure with stats, but I watched every game Josh played this season,
and he was stellar defensively.
Andrew
Bynum is immature, has inconsistent energy, and is prone
to mental/effort lapses on both ends of the floor. Unfortunately, these are
hardly unique traits in the NBA. And let’s face it: he produces. At times he
was an unstoppable, dominant force this season. Bynum played in 60 games for
the Lakers, averaging 35.2 minutes. He scored 18.7 PPG on .558 shooting and was
tied for 10th in PER. Bynum finished 3rd in RPG and 6th
in BPG.
Dwyane
Wade
played in only 49 games but when he was on the court he was fantastic. Wade was
a stat stuffer, averaging 22.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.7 SPG, and 1.3 BPG. He
shot .497 from the field and was 3rd in the NBA in PER. Many people
would say Wade doesn’t belong in the MVP discussion this season because he
missed much of the year, and because he isn’t as vital to his team as others
are because of LeBron. But while I do look at how vital a player is to his
team’s success, I’m not going to penalize a guy too much just because he
happens to play with the best player alive. I think the fact that Wade only
played in 49 games is a valid point to bring up and that’s why I have him 9th
and not closer to the top.
Russell
Westbrook plays with a superstar in Kevin Durant, and he
infuriates people who feel he doesn’t cede to KD often enough, but there’s no
denying that he is one of the better players in the game today. As much as
people want to see Durant take over games, the Thunder wouldn’t be the threat
that they are if not for Westbrook.
Westbrook may not make
the smartest play every time, but he goes all out every game. He is criticized for taking too many shots
and committing too many turnovers, but he actually shot .457 from the floor and
he is the primary ball handler for the Thunder. Westbrook finished tied for 10th
in PER, averaging 23.6 PPG (5th), 5.5 APG, and 4.6 RPG as a guard.
He also had an impact on defense, averaging 1.7 SPG, and locking down opposing
guards.
Blake
Griffin is still developing as a player, yet he is already
a force. Griffin obviously benefited greatly from the arrival of CP3, but Griffin
got LAC’s turnaround started last season. This year, when health and durability
were more important than ever, Griffin played every game, averaging 36.2
minutes per game, and never took a night off on the court either.
Griffin and Paul led
the Clippers to arguably their greatest ever regular season. Griffin’s on court
attitude is not perfect but he goes all out every night. His toughness showed
this season, as he continued to play his reckless style of ball despite being
hammered by opponents on a nightly basis.
Blake isn’t a great
defensive player, but offensively he had a tremendous season, averaging 20.7-10.9-3.2
(PPG-RPG-APG) while shooting .549 from the floor (7th best). He was
10th in PPG, 6th in RPG, and finished 8th in
PER.
I have Kobe Bryant 6th and this is
probably another “controversial” pick. To be sure, many folks would have no
problem with Kobe being that high. However, many others would say that Kobe
shouldn’t be included, because in their view Kobe played selfishly all season,
jacking up too many shots. Many criticize his .430 FG% and .303 3PT% and say
his reputation as a “closer” is overblown.
I agree that at times
Kobe tries to do too much on his own and doesn’t get teammates involved enough.
However, the Lakers were coming off of a year in which they were swept by the
Mavericks in the playoffs, and off of a tumultuous offseason which included the
trading away of Lamar Odom. It was clear that Kobe didn’t have complete faith
that his teammates could get the job done night in and night out over the
course of this jam-packed season.
To be honest, it’s hard
to argue with Kobe if that indeed was his thinking. The Lakers did not have
much of a roster once you got past the top 3 guys, and Bynum and Pau Gasol
don’t always bring it. Clearly, Bryant thought he had to carry this team, and
he did that, leading the Lakers to the #3 seed in the West.
Kobe missed several
games down the stretch, but he played in 58 games and averaged 38.5 minutes per
game. He does take too many shots, but he would have won the scoring title if
the late season injuries hadn’t caught up to him. He also averaged 5.4 RPG, 4.6
APG, 1.2 SPG, and was 17th in PER. And of course, he made countless
huge plays to rescue the Lakers late, in a year when all of their games seemed
to go down to the wire.
The most difficult
decision for me was how to judge Dwight
Howard’s season. Many people would leave the guy off their list even if
they ranked the top 100 candidates for the MVP. They would have some valid
reasons to do so, as Howard’s contract situation/trade demands/feud with head
coach Stan Van Gundy was a constant distraction for the team. However, at the
time that Stan Van Gundy went public with his knowledge that Dwight had asked
that he be fired, the Magic were legit contenders in the East with a 32-18
record (.640), and that was in large part due to the play of Howard.
Even if Howard’s
handling of his situation was horrendous, he had the team in the mix without
much of a supporting cast. Dwight wasn’t as big of a force as a shot blocker
this season but he still finished 3rd in BPG. Howard also averaged
1.5 steals per game. He again led the NBA in rebounding, averaging 1.2 more
boards per game than the next best man. He scored 20.8 PPG while finishing 2nd
in FG% and 6th in PER.
Howard’s season ended
after 54 games when he underwent surgery to repair a bulging disc in his back.
Obviously, Howard had been playing through pain all season, and there can be no
doubt that the injury was a real thing, and not a fabrication as some had
suggested. However, it is my belief that Howard could have played out the year
with the injury. I believe he opted to end his season and go ahead and have the
surgery because of the situation with Van Gundy.
Howard’s approach to
his contract situation has been awful in my opinion, and in almost any
situation I would condemn a player for seemingly quitting on the season. But
when I really sat down and considered the situation, I found that Howard’s
decision—if I am correct in my belief that he decided it was not worth it to
keep playing—made sense to me.
Looking at the
situation now, the guy whose decision doesn’t make any sense to me is Van
Gundy. The Magic were rolling at the time, Howard had decided to play out his
contract in Orlando, and things were going well at least on the court. People
were actually starting to look at the Magic as a major threat again in the East
until the report came out about Howard wanting Van Gundy fired, and Van Gundy then
told the media that he knew it was true.
Why would Van Gundy do
it at that point? Was it a calculated move to try and make Howard look bad? I
don’t think that’s really it, because winning with the media and the public was
unlikely to save his job one way or the other. I think it was probably just a
slipup caused by emotions. Either way, it made Howard look devious and like a
back stabber, never more so than when he came up and put his arm around the
coach in front of the media just moments after the coach had confirmed the
reports.
I’m not saying Howard
has handled all of this well. As I said earlier, he’s handled it about as
poorly as he could have. But the results on the court have never wavered, and
it’s hard to question his heart when he was obviously playing with a serious
back injury all season. And when you look at it from his stand point, it would
be tough to play through pain and risk further injury in order to play for Van
Gundy.
To make a long story
short, it was Howard’s play that made the Magic contenders, and while he did “quit”
on the season in my belief, it’s pretty easy for me to understand why he did
it. This is why I have him 5th for this award, despite all of the
drama.
Kevin
Love
took his game to another level this season. He finished 4th in the
NBA in PPG (26.0) and 2nd in RPG (13.2), while ranking 5th
in PER. Before PG Ricky Rubio’s knee injury crushed Minnesota’s season, Love
had the lowly T-Wolves headed straight for the postseason. Love suffered his
own injury late in the season and missed the final 7 games, finishing with 55
games played, during which he played an average of 39 minutes per night.
Actually, this year’s
T-Wolves team is a good example of why I don’t consider team success and a
player’s importance to his team’s success to be the end-all-be-all when it
comes to determining the MVP. It couldn’t be more obvious how crucial Ricky
Rubio was to Minnesota’s success. Rubio played in Minnesota’s first 41 games,
during which the T-Wolves went 21-20. He was lost for the season in that 41st
game. In Minnesota’s final 25 games without Rubio, they went 5-20.
It’s not hard to make
the correlation between Rubio’s injury and the T-Wolves’ collapse. But you
would never think of calling Rubio the MVP, right? At the same time, while
Kevin Love obviously couldn’t keep Minnesota afloat on his own after the Rubio
injury, it doesn’t mean his amazing individual season is somehow not valid.
In the NBA, you don’t
always need stats to understand a player’s value. This is the case with Chris Paul. All you have to do is look
at the history of the Los Angeles Clippers and then look at their 2011-2012
season to understand how impactful a player CP3 really is. In his first year
with the team, Paul led the Clips to a .606 winning percentage, the highest in
franchise history. Obviously his individual stats were excellent as well. Paul
was 3rd in the NBA in APG; 13th in PPG; 2nd in
PER and Assist-to-Turnover ratio; and he led the league in SPG.
Kevin
Durant was the guy who came the closest to challenging
LeBron James for MVP. Durant won the scoring title, averaging 28.0 PPG as he
led the Thunder to 47 wins and the NBA’s 3rd best record. KD also
finished in the top 40 in the Association in RPG, APG, SPG, BPG (Blocks per
game), FG%, 3PT%, and FT%. He was 4th in the NBA in PER.
That’s impressive
stuff. But in the end, while Durant was closer to LeBron than anyone else, he
still wasn’t all that close.
For much of the season
the MVP looked like a runaway for LeBron
James. I didn’t think there was anyone close to LBJ through the early part
of March. LeBron was ridiculously good for about half of a usual regular
season. In his first 42 games played, LBJ shot .548/.404/.764 (FG/3-PT/FT),
averaging 27.7 points, 8.4 boards, 6.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks.
During that stretch he averaged 3.4 turnovers and had an average GameScore of
24.1 (formula that gives estimate of player’s productivity, 10 is average, 40
is excellent).
It’s not like James
sucked over his final 20 games, but his numbers did drop in almost all
categories, particularly in 3-point shooting and rebounding. LBJ’s slight
decline in the final 3rd of the season didn’t really open the door
for any other contenders, but it did at least make it reasonable to look at
other guys.
In the end, James was
still the clear choice in my opinion. He finished 3rd in the NBA in
PPG (27.1 points per game) and SPG (1.85 steals per game); 11th in
FG% (.531); 13th in APG (6.2 assists per game); and 25th
in RPG (7.9 rebounds per game). James also led the Association in John
Hollinger’s Player Efficiency Rating (PER) at 30.80.
LBJ’s problems in late
game/pressure moments continued this season at times, but he brought it every
night. The Heat finished 7th in points scored and 4th in
points allowed. James was their best player on both offense and defense,
leading the Heat to a 46-20 regular season record. In my opinion, James was both
the best offensive and the best defensive player this season.
The
Bill Russell Award
NBA
Defensive Player of the Year
Winner: LeBron James-SF-Miami
Runner-up: Dwight
Howard-C-Orlando
Third Place: Josh
Smith-PF-Atlanta
The
David Robinson Award
NBA
Rookie of the Year
Winner: Kyrie
Irving-PG-Cleveland
Runner-up: Ricky
Rubio-PG-Minnesota
Third Place: Kenneth
Faried-PF-Denver
The
Detlef Schrempf Award
NBA
Sixth Man of the Year
Winner: James
Harden-SG-Oklahoma City
Runner-up: Lou
Williams-PG-Philadelphia
Third Place: Jason
Terry-SG-Dallas
The
Dana Barros Award
NBA
Most Improved Player
Winner: Jeremy
Lin-PG-New York
Runner-up: Nikola Pekovic-C-Minnesota
Third Place: Greg
Monroe-C-Detroit
The
Hubie Brown Award
NBA
Coach of the Year
Winner: Tom Thibodeau-Chicago
Runner-up: Greg
Popovich-San Antonio
Third Place: Kevin
McHale-Houston
The
Red Auerbach Award
NBA
Executive of the Year
Winner: Danny
Ainge-Boston
Runner-up: RC
Buford-San Antonio
Third Place: Gar
Forman-Chicago
Most
Surprising Regular Season Team
Winner: Houston Rockets
Runner-up: Phoenix Suns
Third Place: Indiana
Pacers
Most
Disappointing Regular Season Team
Winner: Portland
Trailblazers
Runner-up: New Orleans
Hornets
Third Place: Golden
State Warriors
The
Wilt Chamberlain Memorial All-Horse Collar Team (All-NBA)
1st
Team
G Chris Paul-Los
Angeles Clippers
G Kobe Bryant-Los
Angeles Lakers
F LeBron James-Miami
F Kevin Durant-Oklahoma
City
C Dwight Howard-Orlando
2nd
Team
G Russell
Westbrook-Oklahoma City
G Dwyane Wade-Miami
F Blake Griffin-Los
Angeles Clippers
F Kevin Love-Minnesota
C Andrew Bynum-Los
Angeles Lakers
3rd
Team
G Tony Parker-San
Antonio
G Derrick Rose-Chicago
F Josh Smith-Atlanta
F LaMarcus
Aldridge-Portland
C Al Jefferson-Utah
The
Chuck Daly Memorial All-Defensive Team
1st
Team
G Chris Paul-New
Orleans
F LeBron James-Miami
F Josh Smith-Atlanta
F Kevin Garnett-Boston
C Dwight Howard-Orlando
2nd
Team
G Rajon Rondo-Boston
G Tony Allen-Memphis
F Andre
Iguodala-Philadelphia
F Serge Ibaka-Oklahoma
City
C Joakim Noah-Chicago
The
George Mikan Memorial All-Rookie Team
1st
Team
G Kyrie
Irving-Cleveland
G Ricky Rubio-Minnesota
F Kenneth Faried-Denver
F Kawhi Leonard-San
Antonio
C Nikola
Vucevic-Philadelphia
2nd
Team
G Kemba
Walker-Charlotte
G Isaiah
Thomas-Sacramento
F Ivan Johnson-Atlanta
F Tristan
Thompson-Cleveland
C Greg Stiemsma-Boston
Postseason
Awards
The
Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. Award
Postseason
Most Valuable Player
Winner: LeBron
James-SF-Miami
Runner-up: Kevin
Durant-SF-Oklahoma City
Third Place: Dwyane
Wade-SG-Miami
The
Dave DeBusschere Memorial All-Postseason Team
G Rajon Rondo-Boston
G-Dwyane Wade-Miami
F LeBron James-Miami
F Kevin Durant-Oklahoma
City
F Kevin Garnett-Boston
HC Erik Spoelstra-Miami
Most
Surprising Postseason Player
Winner: Ty
Lawson-PG-Denver
Runner-up: Darren
Collison-PG-Indiana
Third Place: Mario
Chalmers-PG-Miami
Most
Disappointing Postseason Player
Winner: Derrick
Rose-PG-Chicago
Runner-up: Joakim
Noah-C-Chicago
Third Place: Amare
Stoudemire-PF-New York
Most
Surprising Postseason Team
Winner: Boston Celtics
Runner-up: Philadelphia
76ers
Third Place: Indiana
Pacers
Most
Disappointing Postseason Team
Winner: Chicago Bulls
Runner-up: Dallas
Mavericks
Third Place: Memphis
Grizzlies
Best
Postseason Series
Winner: Miami vs.
Boston (Eastern Conference Finals)
Runner-up: San Antonio
vs. Oklahoma City (Western Conference Finals)
Third Place: Oklahoma
City vs. Miami (NBA Finals)
Worst
Postseason Series
Winner: San Antonio vs.
Utah (Western Conference 1st Round)
Runner-up: San Antonio
vs. Los Angeles Clippers (Western Conference Semifinals)
Third Place: Chicago
vs. Philadelphia (Eastern Conference 1st Round)
Best
Postseason Game
Winner: Miami over
Oklahoma City, NBA Finals, Game 4
Runner-up: Boston over
Miami, Eastern Conference Finals, Game 5
Third Place: Oklahoma
City over San Antonio, Western Conference Finals, Game 5
Fourth Place: Miami
over Oklahoma City, NBA Finals, Game 2
Fifth Place: Miami over
Boston, Eastern Conference Finals, Game 2
Worst
Postseason Game
Winner: Chicago over
Philadelphia, Eastern Conference 1st Round, Game 1
Runner-up: Philadelphia
over Chicago, Eastern Conference 1st Round, Game 2
Third Place:
Philadelphia over Chicago, Eastern Conference 1st Round, Game 4
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