Kori Ellis
04-10-2005, 02:13 AM
Mike Monroe: One man's ballot is no longer secret
Web Posted: 04/19/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA041005.10C.COL.BKNmonroe.1c0e79ef7.html
San Antonio Express-News
The ballots arrived in the mail a few days ago.
It's 2005, so it was an e-mail, but the NBA is a league for the 21st century, to be sure.
It's time to cast our ballots for postseason awards, and this year there are some very difficult choices to make.
Here is how one set of official ballots is being filled out and why. We'll save our MVP and All-NBA selections for another column on another day.
Rookie of the year: This is one of the toughest choices this season.
There are three outstanding rookies: Charlotte's Emeka Okafor, Chicago's Ben Gordon and Orlando's Dwight Howard. You can easily rationalize a vote for any of the three.
My vote is going to Okafor, and that is despite the fact I believe Howard is going to be the gem of this draft class, a fact that likely will be evident by next season.
Howard is going to fill out and remind a lot of us of Karl Malone before very long. Gordon has had a bigger impact rookie season than Okafor, helping the Bulls back into the playoffs. But that isn't Okafor's fault. Besides, Gordon is getting my vote for another award.
Okafor has had an amazingly steady, outstanding season while toiling for an expansion team, and that's no easy thing. He averages a double-double, and there aren't many big men, rookie or otherwise, who do that.
Sixth man award: Gordon gets the nod here because he has been the biggest impact player off the bench all season, especially in crunch time.
Gordon leads the league in double-figure fourth quarters. He is averaging 15.6 points and making 41.6 percent of his 3-point attempts (11th in the league), and he's doing it in only 24.4 minutes a game. He has won half a dozen games for the Bulls with big fourth-quarter shots and has become a latter-day Vinny "the Microwave" Johnson.
Most improved player: The Bobcats want us to consider Primoz Brezec for this one because his numbers are much better this season than last. That's the trouble with this award: More often than not, dramatically improved numbers result from increase in opportunity.
Brezec didn't improve his game so much as land on a team where he could get the kind of playing time you need to put up numbers.
I've always believed this award should go to a player who truly improved his game through hard work to correct a flaw or improve his shooting. Someone like the Spurs' Devin Brown, who might have gotten this vote had he not had misfortune with his back the past few weeks.
So this vote is going, instead, to Dwyane Wade, the Heat's All-Star guard. Wade went from being a very good payer to being one of the league's elite players, and it's not all attributable to the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal and the effect his presence has on defenses.
Wade's scoring average is up 8.2 points and his shooting percentage is up, from 46.5 to 48.2, and his rebounds and assists are up, too.
Defensive player of the year: The defending champ — Ron Artest of Indiana — was suspended for most of the season. Two-time winner Ben Wallace was suspended for a while, too. None of that really ought to matter, though.
The Spurs' Bruce Bowen is still the single defender the league's best scorers least want to play against. The more they whine, the more convinced voters should be that Bowen finally deserves this award.
Coach of the year: The Pacers move into fifth in the East and start thumping the tub for Rick Carlisle for this award. The Nuggets go 27-6 under George Karl, and the Nuggets' PR types want to convince us half a season is enough to qualify a coach for this award. Chicago overcomes an 0-9 start and returns to the playoffs, and the Bulls want us to vote for Scott Skiles.
All of those coaches have done superior work with their teams, but none of their teams is going to win 50 games. This should be a three-man race, among Stan Van Gundy, Nate McMillan and Mike D'Antoni. The Suns and Heat almost certainly are going to win at least 60 games.
This vote goes to D'Antoni for his brilliance in realizing the league's new interpretation of defensive rules gave his team a unique opportunity. He also convinced Amare Stoudemire he could thrive as an undersized center and realized Shawn Marion could excel as an undersized power forward. Then he sold his players on the notion that with Steve Nash running the show, they could outrun any team in the league.
Along the way, D'Antoni and the Suns have helped make the NBA fun to watch again. Certainly, that's worth at least one Red Auerbach Trophy.
Web Posted: 04/19/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA041005.10C.COL.BKNmonroe.1c0e79ef7.html
San Antonio Express-News
The ballots arrived in the mail a few days ago.
It's 2005, so it was an e-mail, but the NBA is a league for the 21st century, to be sure.
It's time to cast our ballots for postseason awards, and this year there are some very difficult choices to make.
Here is how one set of official ballots is being filled out and why. We'll save our MVP and All-NBA selections for another column on another day.
Rookie of the year: This is one of the toughest choices this season.
There are three outstanding rookies: Charlotte's Emeka Okafor, Chicago's Ben Gordon and Orlando's Dwight Howard. You can easily rationalize a vote for any of the three.
My vote is going to Okafor, and that is despite the fact I believe Howard is going to be the gem of this draft class, a fact that likely will be evident by next season.
Howard is going to fill out and remind a lot of us of Karl Malone before very long. Gordon has had a bigger impact rookie season than Okafor, helping the Bulls back into the playoffs. But that isn't Okafor's fault. Besides, Gordon is getting my vote for another award.
Okafor has had an amazingly steady, outstanding season while toiling for an expansion team, and that's no easy thing. He averages a double-double, and there aren't many big men, rookie or otherwise, who do that.
Sixth man award: Gordon gets the nod here because he has been the biggest impact player off the bench all season, especially in crunch time.
Gordon leads the league in double-figure fourth quarters. He is averaging 15.6 points and making 41.6 percent of his 3-point attempts (11th in the league), and he's doing it in only 24.4 minutes a game. He has won half a dozen games for the Bulls with big fourth-quarter shots and has become a latter-day Vinny "the Microwave" Johnson.
Most improved player: The Bobcats want us to consider Primoz Brezec for this one because his numbers are much better this season than last. That's the trouble with this award: More often than not, dramatically improved numbers result from increase in opportunity.
Brezec didn't improve his game so much as land on a team where he could get the kind of playing time you need to put up numbers.
I've always believed this award should go to a player who truly improved his game through hard work to correct a flaw or improve his shooting. Someone like the Spurs' Devin Brown, who might have gotten this vote had he not had misfortune with his back the past few weeks.
So this vote is going, instead, to Dwyane Wade, the Heat's All-Star guard. Wade went from being a very good payer to being one of the league's elite players, and it's not all attributable to the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal and the effect his presence has on defenses.
Wade's scoring average is up 8.2 points and his shooting percentage is up, from 46.5 to 48.2, and his rebounds and assists are up, too.
Defensive player of the year: The defending champ — Ron Artest of Indiana — was suspended for most of the season. Two-time winner Ben Wallace was suspended for a while, too. None of that really ought to matter, though.
The Spurs' Bruce Bowen is still the single defender the league's best scorers least want to play against. The more they whine, the more convinced voters should be that Bowen finally deserves this award.
Coach of the year: The Pacers move into fifth in the East and start thumping the tub for Rick Carlisle for this award. The Nuggets go 27-6 under George Karl, and the Nuggets' PR types want to convince us half a season is enough to qualify a coach for this award. Chicago overcomes an 0-9 start and returns to the playoffs, and the Bulls want us to vote for Scott Skiles.
All of those coaches have done superior work with their teams, but none of their teams is going to win 50 games. This should be a three-man race, among Stan Van Gundy, Nate McMillan and Mike D'Antoni. The Suns and Heat almost certainly are going to win at least 60 games.
This vote goes to D'Antoni for his brilliance in realizing the league's new interpretation of defensive rules gave his team a unique opportunity. He also convinced Amare Stoudemire he could thrive as an undersized center and realized Shawn Marion could excel as an undersized power forward. Then he sold his players on the notion that with Steve Nash running the show, they could outrun any team in the league.
Along the way, D'Antoni and the Suns have helped make the NBA fun to watch again. Certainly, that's worth at least one Red Auerbach Trophy.