Midseason awards given for NBA teams
By Nick Meyers
IV Leader Sports Writer
The NBA is to the halfway point and it is time I hand out
my midseason awards.
The first award is the biggest surprise of the season so far.
The winner is the Chicago Bulls. Who would of thunk it? The
Bulls are 24-23 and are in seventh in the East.
The biggest bust of the first half is the Minnesota
Timberwolves.
This team was my favorite, (besides the Bulls) to win the NBA
championship this year and now they probably are not going to even make the
playoffs. They have too many crybabies on that team.
With Minnesota probably not going to the playoff’s, it will
give Latrell Spreewell more time to find a way to feed his family.
Let’s get to the real awards.
MVP- Lebron James. Many people will argue that this award
should go to Steve Nash, but if you take away Nash from the Suns they still have
a good chance to make the playoffs with Amare Stoudamire, Shawn Marion, and
Quentin Richardson. On the other hand if you take away Lebron from Cleveland,
they are looking at a lottery pick. Another factor for my picking of James is
that he has lived up to all the hype. He is putting up unreal numbers for a 2nd
year player.
Coach of the Year- Scott Skiles. The bulls are off to a
unbelievable start to the season. Now, they are only one game over .500, but
that is remarkable for a team that many thought would be the worst team in the
league.
Runners up- Nate McMillian (Seattle), Eddie Jordan
(Washington), and Mike D’Anotoni (Phoenix).
Rookie of the Year- Ben Gordon. There are many great rookies
to choose from this year, but when you think of what is put on the shoulders of
Ben Gordon a lot of times, it is remarkable. He is only a rookie, yet he is
called on in the end of games to be the go to guy and he responds. He has had
plenty of double figure scoring in the fourth quarter of games.
Runners up- Emeka Okafor (Charlotte), Luol Deng (Chicago),
Dwight Howard (Orlando).
Most Improved Player- Bobby Simmons. Simmons has come out of
his shell this year and is a big reason why the Clippers are competing for the
final playoff spot in the West.
Runners up- Drew Gooden (Cleveland), Nazr Mohammad (New
York).
Sixth Man of the Year- Ben Gordon. Gordon’s second award this
year. He comes of the bench for the Bulls and is instant offense. Gordon would
be a starter if it wasn’t for his size. He is two small to handle most shooting
guards and his stamina is just not quite NBA ready yet. He still manages to
average around 14 points a game.
Runners up- Jerry Stackhouse (Dallas), Ricky Davis(Boston).
GM of the Year- John Paxson. Paxson had one of the best
drafts ever in the history of the Bulls this year. He drafted Ben Gordon, Chris
Duhon and Luol Deng. He also signed Andres Nocioni from Argentina. The Bulls are
back and Paxson deserves the credit.