We Got your Awards right here!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Trimester Awards! This is a bit shamelessly stolen from that horrid Canadian Marc Stein.



MVP Ballot:

1) LeBron James - This is perhaps the easiest choice you could ever make. James has been the best player in the league; and he happens to play on the best team in the league, that is solely the best team because of his utter dominance this year. For years I asked the question, what role players would you pair with LeBron James? This was as guys like Damon Jones, Larry Hughes, Wally Sczerbiak and others seemed to come to Cleveland and get worse. Then, finally, Mike Brown and the Cavs did it with Maurice Williams. The Mo Williams and Delonte West combo at the guards slots officially and finally end the painful "LeBron James is a Point Guard" experiment; which then gave birth to the "LeBron James is a shooting guard" experiment then to the "LeBron James is a Point Forward" experiment (getting tired yet?) and culminating, finally, in the LeBron James is a forward. Sure he is a forward in the same way Larry Bird was just a forward, but he is a guy who plays near the hoop, defends near the hoop, guards bigger, slower guys and only handles at the top of the key in bailout end of shot clock situations.

I have never liked LeBron personally. I don't think he's cool, or charismatic, and his dominating offensive play has never had the aesthetic flair of Jordan, Kobe, Reggie Miller, Amare, Wade, Stockton, Payton, Kemp . .. blah blah blah. He is a lot more like Shaq or Barkley - powerful freight trains. That being said, watching him this year has been a true pleasure. The way he moves off the ball around the baseline is breathtaking, his passing has finally become Bird-esqu a consistent flashy force, and his defense has been spirited (even though he still doesn't block as many shots as he could.) And, most importantly, he is playing 100% without ego, not caring about scoring titles, or numbers at all. I shall raise my glass to you. Even though "the LeBrons" commercials totally sucked.



2) Dwyane Wade

How do I love thee, D-Wade? Let me count the ways. We have not seen a player in the NBA this crazy since Kobe Bryant's 35.4 from the 05-06 campaign. The only difference is: while Kobe was scoring 60 in three quarters and 81 in four that season, Wade puts up bizarre stat lines like the 41 point, 11 assist, 5 block performance against the Raptors (in a loss). And the 44 on 23 shots against the Nets last evening. He has proven himself to be the most devastatingly unguardable player in the NBA. No one weaves through double or triple teams more often than Wade, and no player is handed more of an offensive burden than Flash. He plays defense the way Theo Ratliff used to. Would he be a better player if he stayed on his man and didn't dive into passing lanes or for weakside blocks constantly? Maybe. Would it be more entertaining? Nope.

3) Tim Duncan

At spot #3 it begins to get tough. Brandon Roy, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and Devin Harris can all make serious claims to this spot. Roy has been the leader and best player on a up and coming Trailblazers team. However, he is no longer merely the leader of a good team, but a legit top 8 player in the NBA. Paul has been as good as last year, when I thought he deserved the MVP. Howards numbers are absolutely ridiculous on the only team with a shot to beat Cleveland or Boston in the East. And Devin Harris has been a revelation in New Jersey, taking what I thought would be a 30 win team to a .500 record early in the season.

But with Duncan. The numbers are again right there: 21, 10, 2 over 50% from the field. But it is his mind numbing consistency on offense and defense that lets the Spurs not only get over injuries to Parker and Ginobili, but also allows them to mix and match different players and somehow create a winning formula. Roger Mason has never stuck anywhere in the league, and now he is shooting 50% from 3. Bowen is washed up. Ime Udoka hasn't figured it out yet. And, for chrissakes Matt Bonner plays power forward next to Duncan to start games. Yet Duncan's ridiculous defense and brilliant passing out of double teams, and screening on the backside and at the top of the key constantly keeps this teams as a top contender.

Again, apologies to Chris Paul who is shooting 52% from the field, 38% from beyond the arc and dropping in 11 assists per game. I just hink Dunc's defensive value and underrated passing (ie doesn't always equal assists) give him the edge so far.