NBA awards

Heyyyyy I'm back...people have been asking me why I stopped posting on here and that I should get back into it (and by 'people' I mean Mike Lacey)

I started this website, well my Girlfriend did, (I don't know how to internet) about two years ago because I was injured and had nothing else to do! Im in a little off season break at the moment and have a lot of stuff I wanna chat about! Bailee (my aforementioned girlfriend) hates basketball so I'm gonna chuck a few thoughts here...LUCKY YOU lol

First things first, the NBA awards. Well not the awards, but the show! I actually like the idea of having a night to celebrate all the NBAs award winners in one place! Had a bit of an academy award feeling to it, like people outside doing 'best dressed' type stuff which I wasn't a fan of (very E channel) but the idea of having it all in one big night rather than periodically giving out awards during various times throughout the playoffs! However I did find the timing of it weird! For example the league MVP award, everyone knew Westbrook was going to win it. But he lost in the opening round of the playoffs, almost two months ago! Since the second round of the playoffs how many of you have thought about Russell Westbrook? I know I havent (well not much) ...I think the little gap after the regular season but before the playoffs would be better! They are the regular season awards after all! Makes sense doesn't it? It does to me at least haha

But now for the actual awards!

MVP - Russell Westbrook

There was no doubt really with this one! The second player ever to average a triple double, not only that but a 30 point triple double! He carried a team that isn't overly talented to the sixth seed in the West, Cleveland for example only won 4 less games in the much weaker East just to show what an impressive accomplishment that is! Perhaps saying they aren't overly talented is a bit harsh, but they definitely aren't built for the modern 'space the floor, 3 point heavy' game the NBA has become! Westbrook himself is an average to slightly above average deep shooter, Victor Oladipo is an average 3 point shooter (S/O) to him for dunk of the year though) Andre Roberson is the there pretty much exclusively for defence (Second team All-Defence) Domantas Sabonis had his moments from the outside as a rookie but they spent most of the time with some combo of Steve Adams, Enes Kanter and Taj Gibson out there together, neither of whom shoot the three and on the roster there isn't a person I would consider a 'sniper'. Imagine what Westbrook would have done if he was surrounded by gunners like Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon! Keeping him out of the lane is already impossible! Scary to think how much more damage he could have done with the floor spacing James Harden had to work with! A very deserving winner.

Defensive player of the year - Draymond Green

Another easy choice in my opinion! Green does a little bit of everything for the Warriors, while he definitely isn't there best player, to me he is there most important. He brings a physicality and presence that no one else does, does all the dirty work, defends every position, scores, rebounds, is probably there best passer and they just function better when he is out there despite some of his antics that annoy some people. Adding KD to the Warriors made them better at what they were already the best team ever at, shooting the deep ball, but giving up all of there big men and a lot of there bench most people (me included) thought they would fall off defensively. But they had the number one rated defence in the league! Green is the leader of that defence and despite stiff competition from The Klaw (Kawhi Leonard) and The Stiffel Tower (Rudy Gobert) was a bit of a no brainer for me.

Ill leave it here for now! Ill continue tomorrow with most improved and coach of the year tomorrow! Don't want your brains to explode with my first post in a while haha

AP

Clippers Clippers Clippers

Not to long ago I wrote a piece singing the Clippers praises! Labelled a talented, athletic and entertaining team but couldn't get it done when it mattered...I thought they had got over that hump! Well I was wrong...

They beat the Spurs, the kryptonite of many teams, in seven games. They continued their good form in game one versus the Rockets...Beating them in Houston WITHOUT Chris Paul then blew them out twice in LA in games three and four...Then it all went pear shaped!!

Game five wasn't really close! Maybe they relaxed a bit because they had game six at home up their sleeves? Who knows. Then game six happened! I don't like using the word 'choke' very often, but there is no other word to describe it!!! It was a collapse of epic proportions...I didn't actually see the game but I remember exactly what I was doing. I was strolling around the supermarket, checked the score on my phone and LA were up by 19 points with about three mins left in the third quarter! Its the NBA playoffs and you never want to just assume a team is going to win...But up 19 with just over a quarter to go in a series clinching game AT HOME, I wouldn't blame you for thinking the series was over. As I was driving home I pulled out my phone for an update and I couldn't believe what I saw...The Rockets were up 12 with just over a minute remaining, I was shocked. They didn't just lose, they got blown out!! As we all know by now Houston closed out the series at home by a pretty comfortable margin in game seven earlier today.

Despite beating the Spurs and initially stealing home court advantage of Houston...The Clippers are still the Clippers (I hate saying that, but you can't really deny that its true)

When I said the Clippers have a legit shot at winning it all I meant it. They beat the battle tested Spurs winning multiple must win games and big road games, they stole home court from Houston, Golden State looked vulnerable against Memphis (though they turned that around) and out East the Cavs had lost Kevin Love, Atlanta were in a dog fight with Washington and they were the team in the best form! Then it all came crashing down...

So the question has to be asked! Was this their best shot? Do they need some type of overhaul? Its hard to say! Here is a look at their roster situation for the next couple of years...Of their main rotation Blake Griffin, CP3 and JJ Redick are locked in for the next two seasons (So is Spencer Hawes) Matt Barnes is in for at least one more season, Jamal Crawford has a player option so who knows what will happen there...The glaring thing is that DeAndre Jordan is a free agent! He will no doubt be a hot commodity and may be tough to retain...The Clippers have a big off season ahead of them, I don't want to speculate over who I think will stay and who won't but will definitely be worth keeping an eye on and seeing what unfolds.

I was rooting for this team! They are fun to watch and have a lot of talent, but give credit where its due, the Rockets put three pretty good games together with their backs against the wall. I was hoping that the Clippers would be this years cinderella story and would make a run at the championship...unfortunately they showed that they are STILL the Clippers.

AP

NBA Playoffs - The Clippers

Im starting to become a huge fan of these Clippers! They aren't a surprise team, since we all know that they are pretty good but they have definitely come of age in these playoffs.

With the history of success the Lakers have and all the great players that have put on the purple and gold, the Clippers have just had to accept being second rate citizens in LA...Even though in recent times the Clippers have been a good team, better than the Lakers in fact, they just haven't been able to shake that "They are still the Clippers" tag...Some may think this is fair, others may not, but fact remains CP3 and Blake Griffin have been labelled playoff chokers and guys who despite amazing ability haven't shown they can carry a team when it matters.

Well that has changed....

The first round series between the Clippers and Spurs was by FAR the most entertaining. It went seven games and the Clippers obviously came out on top...But that victory meant so much more to that franchise than just a tick in the win column. They have been labelled by many people as a highly entertaining and athletic team (Lob City) but when it come to big games they didn't have the mental toughness to match up with good battle tested teams over the course a seven game series...But, in my opinion, that game seven win squashed all of that. Against the Spurs they lost game two at home and then proceeded to get smacked by almost 30 points in game three, this is the point where many experts believed the Clippers were done, but they won game four in San Antonio and got home advantage back...then went ahead and gave it right back by loosing game five at home. Down 3-2 with a must win game six on the road aka the type of game playoff tested San Antonio doesn't loose very often. They got the W and proceeded to close the series in dramatic fashion in a game seven that featured over 25 lead changes!!! On top of that the Spurs have been the playoff 'Kryptonite' for several teams over the years and was no doubt a huge mental barrier they managed to conquer.

I think Blake Griffin has been the best player in the playoffs so far! He has transformed his game from being a dunker to a highly skilled multi-dimensional player...he is arguably the best passing big man in the NBA and has developed a relatively consistent jumper from mid range. He has had a double double in every game so far, with a few triple doubles mixed in between.

You can see the difference in them so far in the series against the Rockets in game two. With Chris Paul not playing due to injury they won game one in Houston and at the time of writing are just behind the Rockets by four points early in the fourth (without CP3 again). Regardless of the result of game two I'm picking them to win in six, they have taken home court advantage off the Rockets and with CP3 coming back I think they will be too good...Im not going to do a Rasheed Wallace and guarantee anything but it would not surprise me one bit if they won the west and make it to the finals. 

This team is for real! They have the best PG in the game, the best defensive centre in the game and Blake Griffin on top of some excellent role players...depth off the bench is one of their downsides, with Jamal Crawford being the only consistent contributor. They are maybe one piece away from being a year in year out championship contender, but with the Spurs gone and the form they are currently in against the Rockets it would not surprise me at all if they made it out of the west.

They may not have the history the Lakers have...But at this moment they are definitely the Kings of LA

AP

NBA MVP wrap up

Well the regular season is over and we are well into the playoffs! I have gone over the candidates and some pros and cons of each...Now its decision making time!

When choosing a winner for an award like this it all depends on your definition of valuable! There are so many angles you can come from, so many pros and cons to consider...The voters have a tough choice to make this year!

Theres the "best player on the best team" argument, the "how good would the team be if he wasn't there" argument, the "If you put this guy on this team they would be better/worse" argument and the "this guy has a better supporting cast" and "This guy carried a weaker team" angles...on top of all the "making teammates better" & "performing in clutch moments" arguments people like to make.

Considering all of the above I believe the most deserving candidate is *drum roll please* James Harden AKA The Beard...Ive said a million times over the last week that the western conference is so much better/deeper than the east its almost unfair, the fact that James Harden carried them to the second seed is nothing short of phenomenal!! Im not saying Houston without Dwight Howard is bad, but does it scream "two seed in the west' at you? it doesn't to me. Plus what he does on court speaks for itself. He can score and get to the line pretty much at will, he has excellent play making ability and gets his teammates involved and he has a much improved attitude towards defence and is no longer the liability he has been in the past.

However, I don't think he will win the award, I think Curry will...I am in no way hating and he would be an extremely worthy MVP. But I don't think voters will be able to look past that fact that the Warriors had the best record in the NBA (67-15), won the west by over ten games and him being there best player.

An idea that was discussed in a recent episode of First Take on ESPN that I would love to see was a Players Choice award...Its pretty common knowledge that select sports writers/media members are the people who vote. The NBA season has ALOT of games and some players argue think that its simply not possible for voters to watch every single game of every candidate so a lot of votes are based on who seems to be the most popular, or as Kevin Durant calls it in the video 'sexy', pick. Where as the some players believe a players choice would be a more accurate representation of an MVP since they are on the floor with these guys and see first hand how much they mean to there teams and how valuable they really are...It would be interesting to see the difference (if any) between the sports writers choice and the players choice.

AP

NBA MVP Race

As most fans are very aware we are only a few games away from the NBA playoffs...Which means the regular season MVP is close to being crowned

Even those who only casually follow the NBA know who the MVP favourites are this year. I think there are three main contenders. They are Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook and "The Beard" James Harden! Over the next few days I will present cases for each player and decide who I think is most deserving.

But before I do that I think its important to briefly touch on what I believe an MVP actually is, since different people have different criteria when deciding things like this.


Some people believe it should be the best player on the best team. Others believe that it is an individual award, not a team award, so team success should not play a huge factor in deciding, Im kind of in the middle...While I definitely understand the logic behind the "its an individual award, not a team award" argument, I can't 100% agree with it, if you have a player with video game stats but is not on a playoff contender you have to ask the question, How valuable are they? Its the Most Valuable Player award! Not the best player/best stats award...if it was DeMarcus Cousins would surely be in the conversation as well? But in my opinion you can't make a legitimate argument for him because, despite his highly impressive individual season, his team isn't going to make the post season. 

Lastly, without deliberately sounding like ESPN and saying LeBron's name just because he's LeBron. I think he is easily the best player in the world but he just isn't one of the leading contenders this season. Its been well documented that over the first half of the season for whatever reason he was't playing to his usual high standard and his heart didn't appear to be completely in it! That may seem a little harsh, since his 'below average' is still pretty damn good
But to me almost half a season is to much to ignore despite his amazing form over the second half of the year.


Stay tuned
AP