Your 2014-15 NBA (insert sponsor)'s Defensive Player of the Year is Kawhi Leonard. Draymond Green was a close 2nd place, Deandre Jordan a distant 3rd. The others receiving 1st place votes: Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert, Tony Allen, Tim Duncan. I gotta say I don't agree.
Before looking over the players that got votes, think of some of the guys that received zero votes this year: Tyson Chandler, Klay Thompson, Giannis Antetokounpo, Dwight Howard, Omer Asik, John Henson, Kenneth Faried, Serge Ibaka, Jae Crowder, Michael Carter-Williams, Zach Randolph, Taj Gibson, Marcus Smart, KJ McDaniels being the first ones off the top of my head. Some good defensive players in there that got no love whatsoever.
I watch a lot of basketball and I like digging into the numbers but I can't say I am any great judge of what makes a good defender. I'm pretty good about seeing the flow of team defense and play away from the action but, like most sports fans, I watch the ball too much for my own good. Defensive statistics are a fairly new thing in basketball (baseball too) and so far they are minimal and vague; I'll just assume the algorithm that makes up the defensive ratings makes sense and is actually a worthwhile indicator (50/50 it isn't worthwhile and we're wasting our time looking a broken clock, just throwing that out there for those that presume numbers are necessarily meaningful). But I can't make a reasonable case for any of those guys I named that received no votes (though my gut tells me they're all badasses).
The others that received votes: Andrew Bogut, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Jimmy Butler, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, Trevor Ariza, Lebron James, Patrick Beverley, Demarre Carrol, Chris Paul, Hassan Whiteside. Another fine collection of players, I can't complain with the voting in general.
But of the top 7, look at where the rank in terms of Minutes Played: Jordan (7th), Green (31st), Davis (34th), Duncan (72nd), Gobert (79th), Leonard (102nd), Allen (166th).
I'm a believer in usage, guys contribute when they play, not when they don't (except for Dion Waiters, ha!). To be a truly important, decisive, award-worthy player you've got to be in the top 60 in terms of usage. Why 60? 30 teams, 2 players from each team would make a top 60 roughly. You've gotta be one of the top two guys on your own team to really be considered a high level 'useful' player league-wide. I don't mean to suggest that Duncan, Gobert, Kawhi or Allen are unworthy players, only that they shouldn't really qualify for consideration for all-season honors. You've got to play to get consideration. (Top 60 is just a guidepost, let's be generous and say top 100)
The narrative on Kawhi is that his return to the lineup was a catalyst for the Spurs season; okay, fine. But his offense is just as important (probably more so) than his defense, so this narrative should be most effectively made toward the MVP award rather than the DPOY. Is anyone going to give Kawhi a 1st place for MVP? No, he didn't play enough games. If he's not an MVP candidate why is he a DPOY candidate? He's a great player, a decisive player, the best player on the team, but I can't say he gave the largest, most indelible contribution to his own team, so how can he be the best (anything) in the entire league? He's a great defender but he didn't produce enough this season to earn this honor. He's not even in the top 100 in Minutes Played, man, there are a lot of guys out there that have a better claim to this award and I think the writers (or whoever) have done Kawhi a disservice because Kawhi will get opportunities to win this award in the future because he's a great player with a great coach. But this year he didn't deserve it.
My pre-season pick was Jordan and I'm impressed that he acquitted himself well on the court this year. He was there night after night for a team that relied primarily on his defense. (How can you put Kawhi ahead of that?)
Green was perhaps the Most Improved player in the league this year. And his contribution to the team fit a specific need that kept the team rolling. Green is a good offensive player but really it was his defense that kept the Warriors in place. (Green played 15 more games and 300 more minutes than Kawhi and his team won 12 more games than the Spurs, how does someone vote for Kawhi instead?)
I'd take Green overall and Jordan 2nd. Seems to me these guys are easily the two best choices, 3rd place is a distant drop though I'd say Davis, Paul, and Gobert would round out my top five.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Coach of the Year (update)
As I wrote just yesterday: either Brooks is blamed for everything and run out of town or the GM values stability and doubles down on the coach that KD and Westbrook have tolerated for the last few years. If OKC thinks they can get a coach that Westbrook and KD will like better, I reckon Brooks is out; if they think another coach would just muck up the chemistry, then I reckon Brooks gets an extension.
And we have our answer: Brooks is out in OKC. Durant and Westbrook are certainly going to tantazlize any number of out of work coaches--even some of the ones with a job already. But....the rest of the roster is so-so, seemingly inflexible, the West is brutal and it is very possible both of those guys are gone in two years. Does John Calipari want this job? (Sorry Cal is my default for all coaching maneuvers) No. Kentucky is better, more controllable, more predictable, greater potential for success (which in the long run means more money). So who coaches the Thunder next year?
Kevin Ollie has already been whispered about. Billy Donovan seems ready for a change of scenery, not sure he's a natural born NBA coach (uptight, self-absorbed screamer type). Coach Thibs seems to have worn out his welcome in Chicago (though we'll see if a great playoff run gets him an extension). Dwayne Casey might be looking for a job if the Raptors get rolled by the Wiz. Does Mark Jackson wanna come back and coach Durant and Westbrook? Fred Hoiberg is the (theoretical) replacement for Thibs in Chicago but what if Thibs keeps his job? Would Hoiberg wanna coach OKC? Brian Shaw is out there, wasn't that long ago he was considered a golden child. Larry Brown? (I'm guessing all those guys would love this job and another half dozen others I haven't even thought of yet)
Where does Scott Brooks go? I don't see him as a college guy, so let's look only to the league. I think it takes him a while to get another head coaching gig but he's ideal for a bench coaching gig. How about on Jason Kidd's bench in Milwaukee? A squad loaded with up-and-comers, he could work those players, get the Kidd imprimatur (without being a threat to take Kidd's gig) for a coupla years then put his resume to work. I think the Bucks will rise nicely in the East for the next 2-3 years, not a bad place to work. Or perhaps a coupla years basking in the Flip-KG atmosphere in Minnesota.
And we have our answer: Brooks is out in OKC. Durant and Westbrook are certainly going to tantazlize any number of out of work coaches--even some of the ones with a job already. But....the rest of the roster is so-so, seemingly inflexible, the West is brutal and it is very possible both of those guys are gone in two years. Does John Calipari want this job? (Sorry Cal is my default for all coaching maneuvers) No. Kentucky is better, more controllable, more predictable, greater potential for success (which in the long run means more money). So who coaches the Thunder next year?
Kevin Ollie has already been whispered about. Billy Donovan seems ready for a change of scenery, not sure he's a natural born NBA coach (uptight, self-absorbed screamer type). Coach Thibs seems to have worn out his welcome in Chicago (though we'll see if a great playoff run gets him an extension). Dwayne Casey might be looking for a job if the Raptors get rolled by the Wiz. Does Mark Jackson wanna come back and coach Durant and Westbrook? Fred Hoiberg is the (theoretical) replacement for Thibs in Chicago but what if Thibs keeps his job? Would Hoiberg wanna coach OKC? Brian Shaw is out there, wasn't that long ago he was considered a golden child. Larry Brown? (I'm guessing all those guys would love this job and another half dozen others I haven't even thought of yet)
Where does Scott Brooks go? I don't see him as a college guy, so let's look only to the league. I think it takes him a while to get another head coaching gig but he's ideal for a bench coaching gig. How about on Jason Kidd's bench in Milwaukee? A squad loaded with up-and-comers, he could work those players, get the Kidd imprimatur (without being a threat to take Kidd's gig) for a coupla years then put his resume to work. I think the Bucks will rise nicely in the East for the next 2-3 years, not a bad place to work. Or perhaps a coupla years basking in the Flip-KG atmosphere in Minnesota.
Pointless Trade Idea
There looks to be a lot of free agent movement this summer. This could lead to more sign-and-trade deals allowing players to maximize pay while teams maximize roster/cap flexibility. An example.
Rajon Rondo clearly does not fit with the Mavs. He expected to play hard this year (whether in Boston or elsewhere) and get a big money deal this off-season. I don't think that big money deal is out there (even the Lakers, who are certainly foolhardy enough to give Rondo big money, may find even foolhardier options available) and there are frankly only a coupla places he could play even at so-so money. So where does he get big money? (He does not) Where does he get to play big minutes? (Not a lot of places)
Rondo could play with the Bulls. And by that I mean he could play with Noah. To my mind Noah is the one running that offense (a la Marc Gasol, Chris Webber, Sabonis), his hands are sure hands and having them on the ball never makes the coach sweat (this is a soccer quality or maybe hockey), running the offense through him might not be sexy but it will be efficient, clean and productive. Rondo can play off of Noah, playing a 2-man game to set up Pao, D Rose, Butler, Mirotic (I think Dunleavy's gone next year). Noah gets his settling touches, Rondo can dominate the ball without having to score, the other guys can set up and play off the ball just fine; Rondo fits the defensive scheme to a T (Rondo and Noah could be a wicked defensive duo). The Bulls are the one place that I think Rondo can really be old time Rondo again and make a good team better.
But the Bulls don't have money to spend. If they could jettison contracts, then Rondo becomes somewhat affordable (if he's willing to backload a deal, the Bulls could afford to overpay as the cap expands). The way for Rondo to get to the Bulls (or any number of places) is much easier as a sign-and-trade than as a free agent signing. The Mavs need bodies on their roster so a sign-and-trade could be advantageous for them.
How about this: Rondo re-signs for 1st year/$10m, that matches well with Taj Gibson (2 yrs/$8.5 next year) and Tony Snell (2 yrs/$1.5m next year). Taj Gibson is falling through the cracks in Chicago (not unlike Omer Asik, Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Elton Brand, Tyson Chandler--Bulls got a history), but I think his poor man's Tyson Chandler routine fits with Coach Carlisle and that's not a bad deal over the next 2 years (with or without Tyson Chandler). Snell is a backup but he's cheap enough to keep as a 3rd string guy, he'll get minutes (if he can get hot as a shooter he can be a star in Dallas).
Bulls get to bring in a star and let go of two guys that weren't gonna play anyway. Can the Mavs leverage more from the Bulls for Rondo? Probably but I wouldn't think the Bulls would be into getting gutted for Rondo. Let's say the Bulls throw in a 2016 2nd round pick and a 2020 2nd round pick (protected). Rondo for Taj, Snell and 2 2nd round draft picks? I think Rondo works for the Bulls and the Mavs could use affordably priced bodies.
Keep an eye out for sign-and-trades this year within the usual free agent movement this summer.
Rajon Rondo clearly does not fit with the Mavs. He expected to play hard this year (whether in Boston or elsewhere) and get a big money deal this off-season. I don't think that big money deal is out there (even the Lakers, who are certainly foolhardy enough to give Rondo big money, may find even foolhardier options available) and there are frankly only a coupla places he could play even at so-so money. So where does he get big money? (He does not) Where does he get to play big minutes? (Not a lot of places)
Rondo could play with the Bulls. And by that I mean he could play with Noah. To my mind Noah is the one running that offense (a la Marc Gasol, Chris Webber, Sabonis), his hands are sure hands and having them on the ball never makes the coach sweat (this is a soccer quality or maybe hockey), running the offense through him might not be sexy but it will be efficient, clean and productive. Rondo can play off of Noah, playing a 2-man game to set up Pao, D Rose, Butler, Mirotic (I think Dunleavy's gone next year). Noah gets his settling touches, Rondo can dominate the ball without having to score, the other guys can set up and play off the ball just fine; Rondo fits the defensive scheme to a T (Rondo and Noah could be a wicked defensive duo). The Bulls are the one place that I think Rondo can really be old time Rondo again and make a good team better.
But the Bulls don't have money to spend. If they could jettison contracts, then Rondo becomes somewhat affordable (if he's willing to backload a deal, the Bulls could afford to overpay as the cap expands). The way for Rondo to get to the Bulls (or any number of places) is much easier as a sign-and-trade than as a free agent signing. The Mavs need bodies on their roster so a sign-and-trade could be advantageous for them.
How about this: Rondo re-signs for 1st year/$10m, that matches well with Taj Gibson (2 yrs/$8.5 next year) and Tony Snell (2 yrs/$1.5m next year). Taj Gibson is falling through the cracks in Chicago (not unlike Omer Asik, Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Elton Brand, Tyson Chandler--Bulls got a history), but I think his poor man's Tyson Chandler routine fits with Coach Carlisle and that's not a bad deal over the next 2 years (with or without Tyson Chandler). Snell is a backup but he's cheap enough to keep as a 3rd string guy, he'll get minutes (if he can get hot as a shooter he can be a star in Dallas).
Bulls get to bring in a star and let go of two guys that weren't gonna play anyway. Can the Mavs leverage more from the Bulls for Rondo? Probably but I wouldn't think the Bulls would be into getting gutted for Rondo. Let's say the Bulls throw in a 2016 2nd round pick and a 2020 2nd round pick (protected). Rondo for Taj, Snell and 2 2nd round draft picks? I think Rondo works for the Bulls and the Mavs could use affordably priced bodies.
Keep an eye out for sign-and-trades this year within the usual free agent movement this summer.
Coach of the Year
Mike Budenholzer (Hawks) is your 2014-15 NBA (fill in sponsor) Coach of the Year. Kerr (Warriors) was 2nd, followed by Jason Kidd (Bucks) and Brad Stevens (Celtics). Budenholzer and Kerr were the clear top 2 choices, both teams vastly exceeded last year with minimal roster moves. Perhaps its foolhardy to assume the coach gets all the credit...but that's how we do it. Let's look over each team and how they were coached this year.
EAST
Hawks: The only real difference btw this year's squad and last year's squad is the return of Al Horford (a great season btw) and the exiles of Lou Williams (to Toronto), Adriean Payne (to Minnesota) and GM Danny Ferry (to wherever it is Danny Ferry hangs out). The same team from last year grew together and got career years out of everybody. Coach Bud deserve all the credit? Yeah, sure, I guess. Its a good roster all on the same page. I love that with this Hawks team everyone shoots 3's, everyone! That'll keep any defense off balance. Budenholzer is a good coach, had a good year.
Cavs: Can Lebron win Coach of the Year? He's the coach, right? David Blatt flew in from a different world and before he could even hang up posters, his team was taken over by a ghost returned from Miami. Hard to tell what Blatt's influence is. My gut feeling is if Love stays, Blatt goes and vice versa. Blatt doesn't get any of the credit if/when they win, we'll see how much of the blame comes to him if/when they lose. Can't really tell if Blatt is a good coach or had a productive year.
Bulls: For years Coach Thibs has kept plucky youngsters overacheiving by being a rugged taskmaster and stressing team defense above all. That style works for a while and then wears people out. The buzz all year long (really going back a coupla years now) is that the franchise has wearied of Thibs and that he's probably on his way out (New Orleans? OKC? Would he be up for being an assistant in Cleveland to Coach Calipari? Orlando might be the best spot for him). All year long I've wondered why the Bulls weren't better: they got a great maturation year out of Butler, added an excellent year from Pau, got a strong rookie campaign from Mirotic, fir Dunleavy and Brooks back to their proper rotation spots, D Rose had a solid return season and while Taj Gibson kinda floundered, Doug McDermott never got in the game and D Rose was out of action for long chunks of the season, seems to me the Bulls should have improved more than they did. Oh well, this team is solid enough that they cruised to 3rd place in the East without much effort, they were looking ahead to the playoffs anyway. Coach Thibs didn't seem to have much impact on this team: a new and different squad somehow managed to play just like last year...that doesn't seem right at all...I'd say Thibodeau was playing for the playoffs all year long, if the Bulls come out of the East, then he will have shown himself to be Coach of the Year. But for the regular season alone, Thibs isn't even in the conversation, I'd say.
Raptors: The Hawks brought back the same squad as last year and dominated the East. The Raptors brought back the same squad and dominated the East...for a month or so. Somewhere around Xmas time, the bloom came off the rose and even though they were all still having good years, the Raptors were not the steady regular season juggernaut team that the Hawks became. So were the saving it for the playoffs? Do the Raptors have another gear to get to? Ehhh, I'm dubious. I thought the Raptors would overacheive and as a result I thought Dwayne Casey would be a popular pick for Coach of the Year by this time. 4th place is nice but its not a sign of a great season. Casey not in my top ten for Coach of the Year.
Wizards: Like the Raptors, I thought the Wizards would be a good regular season team that could be really dangerous come playoff time; and in that scenario, Randy Whittman would emerge a great candidate for Coach of the Year. But the Wizards have mostly floundered along and the team itself seems raggedy and unbrotherly; whereas last year the Wizards were playing their best basketball going into the playoffs (where they easily smacked down the overacheiving Bulls), this year they seem spent and they haven't even started. There could be a locker room cancer at work lowering the morale, but no one seems to fit that role. Only conclusion: the coach is weak, nobody likes him, he doesn't know what he's doing, he's unable to provide cohesion for his squad. Maybe details will emerge but until then the disappointing look and feel of this team falls squarely on the coach. Whittman is not in my top 20.
Bucks: At the beginning of the year, Jason Kidd was one of the many question marks about the Bucks. The Bucks were awful last year but not really that bad, that roster was more ready to compete than a #1 pick kinda team usually is, so I'm not surprised they were much better this year. But the emergence of Antetokounpo, Middleton and Dudley, getting the most out of Knight, easing MCW into the framework, letting go of Larry Sanders, getting over the loss of Jabari, all examples of what a tumultuous year this was for the Bucks. There was a lot going on there and they responded with their best finish in ages. This is an obvious one: if Kidd was a bad coach, this year would've been a mess thus he must be a good coach because most things worked out pretty good. Kidd is a top 5 choice for Coach of the Year.
Celtics: I thought the Celtics would be a dumpster fire this year. Rondo and Green loomed over the team, neither promising a happy finish. The team seemed primed for a tank job. But Stevens is a hell of a coach, man. He keeps them falling out of games, he keeps the team competitive. Purging Rondo and Green was a boon for the team and giving Coach Stevens players like Isiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart leads to hustle and productivity. I like Stevens, he's the real star of the team, Stevens is the guy that'll lure free agents for the next few years. The fact that a coach can will a bad team to be a pretty good (or at least 'promising') team is impressive. Stevens is a top 5 choice for Coach of the Year.
Nets: The Nets have made the playoffs 3 straight years with 3 different coaches...yet we all know that the Nets suck, have for years, and will for years. Shouldn't we think that Hollins did a good job of taking a low morale, low efficiency team and getting them into the playoffs. Isn't that a Disney narrative there for us to latch on to? Why aren't we latching on? (Shouldn't we retroactively give Jason Kidd consideration for last year's Coach of the Year award?) Sitting on my couch, looking over the box scores, that feels like a squad of guys getting paychecks instead playing basketball. Hollins seems like one of those guys too.
Pacers: At the start of the year to me there were two ways the Pacers could go: flame out horribly and play for ping pong balls or they can buckle down, play with veteran intensity and figure out how to win games. I figured they were more likely to go the former route rather than the latter because even buckling down and playing smart didn't look like it would generate enough offense to win games. They struggled to score last year with Paul George and Lance Stephenson, I just assumed that without them there was not enough defense to counter that lack of offense. But the Pacers really did compete night and night, held together, bunker-style, got a wildly underappreciated season out of Rodney Stuckey (my #2 choice for 6th Man of the Year), and held their identity right down to the final day of the season. Hey, man, I'm impressed. I credit Larry Bird for not panicking and Frank Vogel for keeping the guys playing professional basketball. If they'd made the playoffs, Vogel would be in my top 5, but he's easily top 10.
Heat: The world waited breathlessly to see how Coach Spo would adjust to being Lebron-less. They lost McRoberts early on, lost Bosh later on, Wade played his usual in and out of the lineup maneuver, and though they didn't really exploit Goran Dragin, they can herald the emergence of Hassan Whiteside and a promising rookie season from Shabazz Napier. Next year the Heat look like they should be pretty good (starting five: Dragic, Wade, McRoberts, Bosh, Whiteside), we'll get a better look at Coach Spo then. This year Spoelstra did well to hold it together. (I bet next year he'll get more votes for Coach of the Year)
Hornets: I wasn't sold on the Hornets last year, I thought losing McRoberts was going to hurt, wasn't too impressed with the signings of Marvin Williams and Lance Stephenson, not sure why I thought the team would improve. They didn't improve, they were pretty bad really. Kemba looks lost, Big Al did not repeat his prior good year, neither MKG nor Zeller took a step forward, Noah Vonleh did not shine out this year, Lance was a disaster, Marvin Williams was not a good signing. I don't like anything about this team and while I think the GM is really the problem, I can't say as I have much faith in the coach either. Coach ? is not in my top 20.
Pistons: Stan Van Gundy has tough task ahead of him. Good year? I dunno. I don't know how we could know. Detroit is a town that with an NBA legacy so you hope that school spirit can help the Pistons rise from the ashes. But, man, that roster is a mess, it'll still be a mess next year, maybe in two years we'll see something out of the Pistons. Stan Van a good coach? I'd like to think so but not this year.
Magic: Here's what the Magic hoped to get out of this season: fine rookie seasons out of Gordon and Payton, good maturation years out of Oladipo, Harris and Vucevic, see if Harkless, Fournier are keepers, and hope the Frye, Ben Gordon, Ridenour signings look stupid. Notice that making the playoffs was not one of the milestones Orlando even hoped to achieve this year. Payton had a hell of a season and its clear he can play with Oladipo, Vucevic is a good candidate for Most Improved, Tobias Harris needs to be signed, Frye is okay (Gordon and Ridenour should both be put of my misery), Aaron Gordon had some injuries but seems like he's gonna be fine. Harkless, Dedmon and Fournier look like keepers...so did the Magic have a bad season? No. They had a great season! All of the above and they saved money and ended up with a top 5 pick! Great season! So how do we measure the contributions of the Vaughn/Borrego tandem? I dunno. But neither of those guys can finish in the top 20 can they?
Sixers: The Sixers are designed to lose games but bring young players along. Coach Brown seems like he knows what he's doing, I hope that when they are finally capable of success that Brown is still there to get some of the spoils too. How do you rank a coach like Brown? Easily in my top 20, maybe my top 10.
Knicks: The Knicks are terrible, nothing but terrible, nothing good happened this year. Don't want to blame new coach Derek Fisher but can't credit him with anything either. Fisher is not in my top 20.
EAST
Hawks: The only real difference btw this year's squad and last year's squad is the return of Al Horford (a great season btw) and the exiles of Lou Williams (to Toronto), Adriean Payne (to Minnesota) and GM Danny Ferry (to wherever it is Danny Ferry hangs out). The same team from last year grew together and got career years out of everybody. Coach Bud deserve all the credit? Yeah, sure, I guess. Its a good roster all on the same page. I love that with this Hawks team everyone shoots 3's, everyone! That'll keep any defense off balance. Budenholzer is a good coach, had a good year.
Cavs: Can Lebron win Coach of the Year? He's the coach, right? David Blatt flew in from a different world and before he could even hang up posters, his team was taken over by a ghost returned from Miami. Hard to tell what Blatt's influence is. My gut feeling is if Love stays, Blatt goes and vice versa. Blatt doesn't get any of the credit if/when they win, we'll see how much of the blame comes to him if/when they lose. Can't really tell if Blatt is a good coach or had a productive year.
Bulls: For years Coach Thibs has kept plucky youngsters overacheiving by being a rugged taskmaster and stressing team defense above all. That style works for a while and then wears people out. The buzz all year long (really going back a coupla years now) is that the franchise has wearied of Thibs and that he's probably on his way out (New Orleans? OKC? Would he be up for being an assistant in Cleveland to Coach Calipari? Orlando might be the best spot for him). All year long I've wondered why the Bulls weren't better: they got a great maturation year out of Butler, added an excellent year from Pau, got a strong rookie campaign from Mirotic, fir Dunleavy and Brooks back to their proper rotation spots, D Rose had a solid return season and while Taj Gibson kinda floundered, Doug McDermott never got in the game and D Rose was out of action for long chunks of the season, seems to me the Bulls should have improved more than they did. Oh well, this team is solid enough that they cruised to 3rd place in the East without much effort, they were looking ahead to the playoffs anyway. Coach Thibs didn't seem to have much impact on this team: a new and different squad somehow managed to play just like last year...that doesn't seem right at all...I'd say Thibodeau was playing for the playoffs all year long, if the Bulls come out of the East, then he will have shown himself to be Coach of the Year. But for the regular season alone, Thibs isn't even in the conversation, I'd say.
Raptors: The Hawks brought back the same squad as last year and dominated the East. The Raptors brought back the same squad and dominated the East...for a month or so. Somewhere around Xmas time, the bloom came off the rose and even though they were all still having good years, the Raptors were not the steady regular season juggernaut team that the Hawks became. So were the saving it for the playoffs? Do the Raptors have another gear to get to? Ehhh, I'm dubious. I thought the Raptors would overacheive and as a result I thought Dwayne Casey would be a popular pick for Coach of the Year by this time. 4th place is nice but its not a sign of a great season. Casey not in my top ten for Coach of the Year.
Wizards: Like the Raptors, I thought the Wizards would be a good regular season team that could be really dangerous come playoff time; and in that scenario, Randy Whittman would emerge a great candidate for Coach of the Year. But the Wizards have mostly floundered along and the team itself seems raggedy and unbrotherly; whereas last year the Wizards were playing their best basketball going into the playoffs (where they easily smacked down the overacheiving Bulls), this year they seem spent and they haven't even started. There could be a locker room cancer at work lowering the morale, but no one seems to fit that role. Only conclusion: the coach is weak, nobody likes him, he doesn't know what he's doing, he's unable to provide cohesion for his squad. Maybe details will emerge but until then the disappointing look and feel of this team falls squarely on the coach. Whittman is not in my top 20.
Bucks: At the beginning of the year, Jason Kidd was one of the many question marks about the Bucks. The Bucks were awful last year but not really that bad, that roster was more ready to compete than a #1 pick kinda team usually is, so I'm not surprised they were much better this year. But the emergence of Antetokounpo, Middleton and Dudley, getting the most out of Knight, easing MCW into the framework, letting go of Larry Sanders, getting over the loss of Jabari, all examples of what a tumultuous year this was for the Bucks. There was a lot going on there and they responded with their best finish in ages. This is an obvious one: if Kidd was a bad coach, this year would've been a mess thus he must be a good coach because most things worked out pretty good. Kidd is a top 5 choice for Coach of the Year.
Celtics: I thought the Celtics would be a dumpster fire this year. Rondo and Green loomed over the team, neither promising a happy finish. The team seemed primed for a tank job. But Stevens is a hell of a coach, man. He keeps them falling out of games, he keeps the team competitive. Purging Rondo and Green was a boon for the team and giving Coach Stevens players like Isiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart leads to hustle and productivity. I like Stevens, he's the real star of the team, Stevens is the guy that'll lure free agents for the next few years. The fact that a coach can will a bad team to be a pretty good (or at least 'promising') team is impressive. Stevens is a top 5 choice for Coach of the Year.
Nets: The Nets have made the playoffs 3 straight years with 3 different coaches...yet we all know that the Nets suck, have for years, and will for years. Shouldn't we think that Hollins did a good job of taking a low morale, low efficiency team and getting them into the playoffs. Isn't that a Disney narrative there for us to latch on to? Why aren't we latching on? (Shouldn't we retroactively give Jason Kidd consideration for last year's Coach of the Year award?) Sitting on my couch, looking over the box scores, that feels like a squad of guys getting paychecks instead playing basketball. Hollins seems like one of those guys too.
Pacers: At the start of the year to me there were two ways the Pacers could go: flame out horribly and play for ping pong balls or they can buckle down, play with veteran intensity and figure out how to win games. I figured they were more likely to go the former route rather than the latter because even buckling down and playing smart didn't look like it would generate enough offense to win games. They struggled to score last year with Paul George and Lance Stephenson, I just assumed that without them there was not enough defense to counter that lack of offense. But the Pacers really did compete night and night, held together, bunker-style, got a wildly underappreciated season out of Rodney Stuckey (my #2 choice for 6th Man of the Year), and held their identity right down to the final day of the season. Hey, man, I'm impressed. I credit Larry Bird for not panicking and Frank Vogel for keeping the guys playing professional basketball. If they'd made the playoffs, Vogel would be in my top 5, but he's easily top 10.
Heat: The world waited breathlessly to see how Coach Spo would adjust to being Lebron-less. They lost McRoberts early on, lost Bosh later on, Wade played his usual in and out of the lineup maneuver, and though they didn't really exploit Goran Dragin, they can herald the emergence of Hassan Whiteside and a promising rookie season from Shabazz Napier. Next year the Heat look like they should be pretty good (starting five: Dragic, Wade, McRoberts, Bosh, Whiteside), we'll get a better look at Coach Spo then. This year Spoelstra did well to hold it together. (I bet next year he'll get more votes for Coach of the Year)
Hornets: I wasn't sold on the Hornets last year, I thought losing McRoberts was going to hurt, wasn't too impressed with the signings of Marvin Williams and Lance Stephenson, not sure why I thought the team would improve. They didn't improve, they were pretty bad really. Kemba looks lost, Big Al did not repeat his prior good year, neither MKG nor Zeller took a step forward, Noah Vonleh did not shine out this year, Lance was a disaster, Marvin Williams was not a good signing. I don't like anything about this team and while I think the GM is really the problem, I can't say as I have much faith in the coach either. Coach ? is not in my top 20.
Pistons: Stan Van Gundy has tough task ahead of him. Good year? I dunno. I don't know how we could know. Detroit is a town that with an NBA legacy so you hope that school spirit can help the Pistons rise from the ashes. But, man, that roster is a mess, it'll still be a mess next year, maybe in two years we'll see something out of the Pistons. Stan Van a good coach? I'd like to think so but not this year.
Magic: Here's what the Magic hoped to get out of this season: fine rookie seasons out of Gordon and Payton, good maturation years out of Oladipo, Harris and Vucevic, see if Harkless, Fournier are keepers, and hope the Frye, Ben Gordon, Ridenour signings look stupid. Notice that making the playoffs was not one of the milestones Orlando even hoped to achieve this year. Payton had a hell of a season and its clear he can play with Oladipo, Vucevic is a good candidate for Most Improved, Tobias Harris needs to be signed, Frye is okay (Gordon and Ridenour should both be put of my misery), Aaron Gordon had some injuries but seems like he's gonna be fine. Harkless, Dedmon and Fournier look like keepers...so did the Magic have a bad season? No. They had a great season! All of the above and they saved money and ended up with a top 5 pick! Great season! So how do we measure the contributions of the Vaughn/Borrego tandem? I dunno. But neither of those guys can finish in the top 20 can they?
Sixers: The Sixers are designed to lose games but bring young players along. Coach Brown seems like he knows what he's doing, I hope that when they are finally capable of success that Brown is still there to get some of the spoils too. How do you rank a coach like Brown? Easily in my top 20, maybe my top 10.
Knicks: The Knicks are terrible, nothing but terrible, nothing good happened this year. Don't want to blame new coach Derek Fisher but can't credit him with anything either. Fisher is not in my top 20.
Coach of the Year (part 2)
West
Warriors: I had the Warriors improving this season but they exceeded my expectations by a long shot. With this team (unlike the Hawks) you can see changes from the previous years basically in the play of 3 dudes: Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala. Kerr used Barnes correctly, was able to convince Iguodala (and Lee) to take a lesser role, and oversaw the emergence of Green (personally, I think Green would've still been a badass under Mark Jackson, Kerr was lucky enough to be there when he blossomed). Add in a typical maturation year from Thompson and a healthy year from Bogut, then Curry is allowed to just do what he does best: he's better at expanding a lead than hitting the last shot to win it (he's a piler-onner more than a rescuer). Kerr streamlined the offense, tightened the defense, got the most out of his parts. He'd be my choice for Coach of the Year.
Rockets: At the beginning of the year, Coach McHale was one of the popular choices for an early firing. Nope. 2nd best record in the West, suck on that! The James Harden show worked better than I thought it would, exceeded everyone's expectations (we'll see how far he can carry that in the playoffs). How much credit does McHale deserve? Well, he didn't screw it up. He didn't get in the way but there's nothing I can really point to and say that's the McHale effect. I don't know where to put McHale, top 20 I guess.
Clippers: I thought the Clippers would roll this year, not so much but they had a really good season, so can't complain. The Clippers, though, have post-season expectation so for the regular season his coaching doesn't seem that integral. That top 6 (CP3, Reddick, Barnes, Deandre, Blake and Jamal off the bench) is pretty great. Man, after that though, oooooohhhh, doesn't look good. You'd think the coach wold make the most out of that, right? Then why does it look like Austin Rivers is gonna get the 7th most minutes played this post-season? That top 6 can beat the Spurs, the next 4 will lose to the Spurs. As the Spurs get into the bullpen, they'll score plenty. (Weird: This series will go 7 games but I can see the first 6 games being blowouts, home team will crush for the first 6 games) So how's the coach? Doc the Coach is cursed by Doc the GM, the guy who still has Turkoglu, Big Baby and Austin (can we call him 'Little Baby'?) on the roster. I dunno, finishing 3rd in the West doesn't seem like the correct place to judge his season. Doc is in my top 20, maybe top 10.
Blazers: I expected the Blazers to falter this year as their starters logged more and more minutes (or got hurt). I don't know much about Coach Stotts, I thought if the Blazers dipped in the table (out of the playoffs I thought), then Stotts could be sent packing. Stotts seems like an integral part of the vibe but really this team goes as far as Lillard and Aldridge can carry them, not sure it matters who the coach is. And since the coach's strategy is to continually use and abuse his starters, I figured maybe the Blazers would be better without him. But they overachieved this year, easily made the playoffs even without Matthews. Still, though, I don't know what to make of Stotts because I don't get the Blazers at all.
Grizzlies: As much as any team I can think of recently, it feels like the Grizz thrive on the relationships of the players more than the scheme on the court or even the roster construction. When Gasol-Conley-Zebo-Allen are groovin' they can hang with anyone in the league; if any one of those guys is off, the Grizzly bench doesn't step up as much as need be. I think the Grizzlies can win at home in the playoffs but I don't like them on the road. The coach is the guy that needs to make the most of the non-core players. Not sure Coach Joerger is that guy. Joerger is probably top 20 but not top 10.
Spurs: I love Coach Popovich almost as much as I love basketball itself. (John Lennon thought rock and roll could be called Chuck Berry, I think basketball can be called Coach Pop) I thought the Spurs would hum through the regular season, cruise through the West, crush whoever in the Finals; the Spurs actually kinda sucked for the first 2 months, didn't really get right til the All-Star break, closed strong...but then curiously dropped the last game in New Orleans (one of the clearest conspiracy theory talking points of the entire season), fell from 2nd down to 6th. The masterstroke move at the end of the year backfired and left them playing the Clippers, who can beat them. So did Coach Pop have a good season? If they beat the Pelicans, Pop gets serious Coach of the Year consideration; if they lose, how can you give Coach of the Year to the defending champion that finished 6th while enduring no great hardship? Well he's still in my top 5.
Mavs: I thought the Mavs would improve this season up into the top 4 in the West; they seemed well on their way to doing that til they panic-moved for Rondo and shot their offense in the foot. They still had enough talent, veteran grit and (yep) coaching smarts to secure a playoff spot in the West (against the potentially beatable Rockets). Though he openly fought with his high profile contract year PG, I think Coach Carlisle did pretty well to keep the wheels from falling off. The GM did him no favors this year and that has to factor in. Carlisle definitely in my top 10.
Pelicans: The thought pre-season was suspicion that Monte Williams wasn't good enough to coach Anthony Davis and he'd probably be pushed aside for a more high profile candidate (Calipari, Thibodeau, Karl, Donovan, D'antoni, Mike Brown, Larry Brown is always just a phone call away (couldn't Ben Howland coach in the NBA?)) and that only making the playoffs could save his job...which is (theoretically) what happened. I was of a different view: I thought Williams had a rapport with AD that would save his job, since the problem is the horrible roster construction rather than x's and o's. I'm not sure any of the above is true. I guess Williams stays, I don't think he's horrible but I don't think he's great either, and either way the horrible roster construction is what is bad about the team and Anthony Davis is all that is good...not really much for the coach to do. Why fire the guy your star likes when the situation isn't really ready for a high profile coach anyway? Williams is a middle of the pack coach (that's probably better than most people would rank him) and I reckon he's here to stay.
Thunder: I thought OKC would fall back this year and I predicted two scenarios: either Brooks is blamed for everything and run out of town or the GM values stability and doubles down on the coach that KD and Westbrook have tolerated for the last few years. I am still convinced one of those things will happen, but I have no idea which one and I've never had any grasp on which will prevail. If OKC thinks they can get a coach that Westbrook and KD will like better, I reckon Brooks is out; if they think another coach would just muck up the chemistry, then I reckon Brooks gets an extension. I dunno. Did Brooks have a good year? Well I thought they made some great moves at the deadline but only Kanter really seemed to matter (and some are dubious of his positive impact), shouldn't the coach have made more of a difference? Brooks is much maligned but I reckon he does just fine. I'd make him top 20 just based on experience.
Suns: I drank the Suns kool-aid last year, thought the Suns would make the 3 PG thing work and cruise into the playoffs. Nope. None of that. Not a terrible year but the unexpected improvement of the year before suggested a steeper upward curve than this past year bore out. This season saw a lot more roster maneuvering than I would've thought (Dragic, Thomas, Plumlee, Ennis Tolliver got jettisoned), so all in all they've got the future laid out: maybe the Bledsoe-Knight combo can get it done, maybe not. I guess I still gotta say Coach Hornacek had a decent year, top 20 easily.
Jazz: Coach Snyder did well. The Jazz are one of those terminally young teams who are built on draft picks because no big NBA star wants to live in Salt Lake City. The Stockton-Malone days are gone, they are now destined to be a feeder team that always has a nice young nucleus of players....that will all play better for other teams (the Donald Sterling Clippers, the Pittsburgh Pirates for two solid decades). Their only chance is to draft well and shepherd them into solid NBA careers. Kanter was the odd man out all along, once they finally got rid of him Gobert had room to grow. Hayward, Favors had nice years, Exum had a good rookie campaign, they got good minutes from Ingles, Evans, Hood and Booker. A lot of young talent without the veteran smarts to win big in the NBA but they can be competitive with good coaching. I'd say that's where they are. Snyder had a top 10 year.
Nuggets: At the start of the year Brian Shaw was a popular choice for getting fired during the year. The Nuggets were not very good, weird injury problems, weird morale, Shaw got the axe. His interim replacement (?) is well-respected and may well keep the job. But the Nuggets are the Nuggets, man, they usually have good talent, sometimes they overachieve, sometimes they underachieve. This year I can't say either of their coaches get too much from me.
Kings: Coach Malone got off to a great start this year...then Boogie get sick and Malone got fired. Not sure why, never really sure about anything that happens in Sacramento (the NBA equivalent of Twin Peaks). They went with (some guy) as an interim for a while, lost because the Kings were gonna lose anyway, then gave George Karl a dump truck full of money. Karl had a seemingly good effect on McLemore, Gay and Stauskus but apparently not so much on Boogie. Buzz is they'll be shopping Boogie in the off-season. So how was Karl? Well Malone actually won a few games with Boogie, Karl might get him shipped out of town. Karl might be the right coach for the Kings next year but he didn't do much for them this year.
Lakers: Coach Scott's job is to stand there and remind everybody how good the Lakers usually are. The roster will change quite a bit next year, maybe he'll have something to work with. Maybe when the Lakers finally turn around Coach Scott will still be there to get some glory...maybe not. He's collecting a paycheck. Not in my top 20.
Wolves: Coach Flip is just there in case GM Flip turns out to be a genius. Wiggins, LaVine and Payne are good looking rookies, Dieng and Muhammad are still young, I don't hate the Peckovic and Rubio contracts but they need to get veteran presence if they're paying top dollar for it. They've got a lot of nice players, they'll be adding one more this year, (don't you think Kevin Martin would look good in Mavs uniform?), is Coach Flip a developer of talent? We'll see. How was his coaching performances? I dunno. Top 20 I guess, he kept his youth playing hard all year, that's good stuff.
Warriors: I had the Warriors improving this season but they exceeded my expectations by a long shot. With this team (unlike the Hawks) you can see changes from the previous years basically in the play of 3 dudes: Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala. Kerr used Barnes correctly, was able to convince Iguodala (and Lee) to take a lesser role, and oversaw the emergence of Green (personally, I think Green would've still been a badass under Mark Jackson, Kerr was lucky enough to be there when he blossomed). Add in a typical maturation year from Thompson and a healthy year from Bogut, then Curry is allowed to just do what he does best: he's better at expanding a lead than hitting the last shot to win it (he's a piler-onner more than a rescuer). Kerr streamlined the offense, tightened the defense, got the most out of his parts. He'd be my choice for Coach of the Year.
Rockets: At the beginning of the year, Coach McHale was one of the popular choices for an early firing. Nope. 2nd best record in the West, suck on that! The James Harden show worked better than I thought it would, exceeded everyone's expectations (we'll see how far he can carry that in the playoffs). How much credit does McHale deserve? Well, he didn't screw it up. He didn't get in the way but there's nothing I can really point to and say that's the McHale effect. I don't know where to put McHale, top 20 I guess.
Clippers: I thought the Clippers would roll this year, not so much but they had a really good season, so can't complain. The Clippers, though, have post-season expectation so for the regular season his coaching doesn't seem that integral. That top 6 (CP3, Reddick, Barnes, Deandre, Blake and Jamal off the bench) is pretty great. Man, after that though, oooooohhhh, doesn't look good. You'd think the coach wold make the most out of that, right? Then why does it look like Austin Rivers is gonna get the 7th most minutes played this post-season? That top 6 can beat the Spurs, the next 4 will lose to the Spurs. As the Spurs get into the bullpen, they'll score plenty. (Weird: This series will go 7 games but I can see the first 6 games being blowouts, home team will crush for the first 6 games) So how's the coach? Doc the Coach is cursed by Doc the GM, the guy who still has Turkoglu, Big Baby and Austin (can we call him 'Little Baby'?) on the roster. I dunno, finishing 3rd in the West doesn't seem like the correct place to judge his season. Doc is in my top 20, maybe top 10.
Blazers: I expected the Blazers to falter this year as their starters logged more and more minutes (or got hurt). I don't know much about Coach Stotts, I thought if the Blazers dipped in the table (out of the playoffs I thought), then Stotts could be sent packing. Stotts seems like an integral part of the vibe but really this team goes as far as Lillard and Aldridge can carry them, not sure it matters who the coach is. And since the coach's strategy is to continually use and abuse his starters, I figured maybe the Blazers would be better without him. But they overachieved this year, easily made the playoffs even without Matthews. Still, though, I don't know what to make of Stotts because I don't get the Blazers at all.
Grizzlies: As much as any team I can think of recently, it feels like the Grizz thrive on the relationships of the players more than the scheme on the court or even the roster construction. When Gasol-Conley-Zebo-Allen are groovin' they can hang with anyone in the league; if any one of those guys is off, the Grizzly bench doesn't step up as much as need be. I think the Grizzlies can win at home in the playoffs but I don't like them on the road. The coach is the guy that needs to make the most of the non-core players. Not sure Coach Joerger is that guy. Joerger is probably top 20 but not top 10.
Spurs: I love Coach Popovich almost as much as I love basketball itself. (John Lennon thought rock and roll could be called Chuck Berry, I think basketball can be called Coach Pop) I thought the Spurs would hum through the regular season, cruise through the West, crush whoever in the Finals; the Spurs actually kinda sucked for the first 2 months, didn't really get right til the All-Star break, closed strong...but then curiously dropped the last game in New Orleans (one of the clearest conspiracy theory talking points of the entire season), fell from 2nd down to 6th. The masterstroke move at the end of the year backfired and left them playing the Clippers, who can beat them. So did Coach Pop have a good season? If they beat the Pelicans, Pop gets serious Coach of the Year consideration; if they lose, how can you give Coach of the Year to the defending champion that finished 6th while enduring no great hardship? Well he's still in my top 5.
Mavs: I thought the Mavs would improve this season up into the top 4 in the West; they seemed well on their way to doing that til they panic-moved for Rondo and shot their offense in the foot. They still had enough talent, veteran grit and (yep) coaching smarts to secure a playoff spot in the West (against the potentially beatable Rockets). Though he openly fought with his high profile contract year PG, I think Coach Carlisle did pretty well to keep the wheels from falling off. The GM did him no favors this year and that has to factor in. Carlisle definitely in my top 10.
Pelicans: The thought pre-season was suspicion that Monte Williams wasn't good enough to coach Anthony Davis and he'd probably be pushed aside for a more high profile candidate (Calipari, Thibodeau, Karl, Donovan, D'antoni, Mike Brown, Larry Brown is always just a phone call away (couldn't Ben Howland coach in the NBA?)) and that only making the playoffs could save his job...which is (theoretically) what happened. I was of a different view: I thought Williams had a rapport with AD that would save his job, since the problem is the horrible roster construction rather than x's and o's. I'm not sure any of the above is true. I guess Williams stays, I don't think he's horrible but I don't think he's great either, and either way the horrible roster construction is what is bad about the team and Anthony Davis is all that is good...not really much for the coach to do. Why fire the guy your star likes when the situation isn't really ready for a high profile coach anyway? Williams is a middle of the pack coach (that's probably better than most people would rank him) and I reckon he's here to stay.
Thunder: I thought OKC would fall back this year and I predicted two scenarios: either Brooks is blamed for everything and run out of town or the GM values stability and doubles down on the coach that KD and Westbrook have tolerated for the last few years. I am still convinced one of those things will happen, but I have no idea which one and I've never had any grasp on which will prevail. If OKC thinks they can get a coach that Westbrook and KD will like better, I reckon Brooks is out; if they think another coach would just muck up the chemistry, then I reckon Brooks gets an extension. I dunno. Did Brooks have a good year? Well I thought they made some great moves at the deadline but only Kanter really seemed to matter (and some are dubious of his positive impact), shouldn't the coach have made more of a difference? Brooks is much maligned but I reckon he does just fine. I'd make him top 20 just based on experience.
Suns: I drank the Suns kool-aid last year, thought the Suns would make the 3 PG thing work and cruise into the playoffs. Nope. None of that. Not a terrible year but the unexpected improvement of the year before suggested a steeper upward curve than this past year bore out. This season saw a lot more roster maneuvering than I would've thought (Dragic, Thomas, Plumlee, Ennis Tolliver got jettisoned), so all in all they've got the future laid out: maybe the Bledsoe-Knight combo can get it done, maybe not. I guess I still gotta say Coach Hornacek had a decent year, top 20 easily.
Jazz: Coach Snyder did well. The Jazz are one of those terminally young teams who are built on draft picks because no big NBA star wants to live in Salt Lake City. The Stockton-Malone days are gone, they are now destined to be a feeder team that always has a nice young nucleus of players....that will all play better for other teams (the Donald Sterling Clippers, the Pittsburgh Pirates for two solid decades). Their only chance is to draft well and shepherd them into solid NBA careers. Kanter was the odd man out all along, once they finally got rid of him Gobert had room to grow. Hayward, Favors had nice years, Exum had a good rookie campaign, they got good minutes from Ingles, Evans, Hood and Booker. A lot of young talent without the veteran smarts to win big in the NBA but they can be competitive with good coaching. I'd say that's where they are. Snyder had a top 10 year.
Nuggets: At the start of the year Brian Shaw was a popular choice for getting fired during the year. The Nuggets were not very good, weird injury problems, weird morale, Shaw got the axe. His interim replacement (?) is well-respected and may well keep the job. But the Nuggets are the Nuggets, man, they usually have good talent, sometimes they overachieve, sometimes they underachieve. This year I can't say either of their coaches get too much from me.
Kings: Coach Malone got off to a great start this year...then Boogie get sick and Malone got fired. Not sure why, never really sure about anything that happens in Sacramento (the NBA equivalent of Twin Peaks). They went with (some guy) as an interim for a while, lost because the Kings were gonna lose anyway, then gave George Karl a dump truck full of money. Karl had a seemingly good effect on McLemore, Gay and Stauskus but apparently not so much on Boogie. Buzz is they'll be shopping Boogie in the off-season. So how was Karl? Well Malone actually won a few games with Boogie, Karl might get him shipped out of town. Karl might be the right coach for the Kings next year but he didn't do much for them this year.
Lakers: Coach Scott's job is to stand there and remind everybody how good the Lakers usually are. The roster will change quite a bit next year, maybe he'll have something to work with. Maybe when the Lakers finally turn around Coach Scott will still be there to get some glory...maybe not. He's collecting a paycheck. Not in my top 20.
Wolves: Coach Flip is just there in case GM Flip turns out to be a genius. Wiggins, LaVine and Payne are good looking rookies, Dieng and Muhammad are still young, I don't hate the Peckovic and Rubio contracts but they need to get veteran presence if they're paying top dollar for it. They've got a lot of nice players, they'll be adding one more this year, (don't you think Kevin Martin would look good in Mavs uniform?), is Coach Flip a developer of talent? We'll see. How was his coaching performances? I dunno. Top 20 I guess, he kept his youth playing hard all year, that's good stuff.
Monday, April 20, 2015
6th Man of the Year
The voting is in: Lou Williams is the winner of the 6th Man of the Year. I gotta say, I think he's not the best choice.
So who are the guys in the top tier?
At least 1700 Minutes Played, under 40 starts (33): Mario Chalmers, Josh Smith, Jarrett Jack, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, Rudy Gobert, Patrick Patterson, Corey Brewer, Andre Iguodala, Marcus Morris, Marvin Williams, Lou Williams, Grievus Vasquez, Boris Diaw, Mo Williams, DJ Augustin, Jeremy Lin, Aaron Brooks, Rodney Stuckey, Shane Larkin, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis, Norris Cole, Marcus Smart, Anthony Morrow, Quincy Pondexter, Jason Smith, Hollis Thompson, Alan Anderson, Isiah Thomas, Jaryd Bayless, Jared Dudley, Jamal Crawford (1703 minutes, 4 starts).
The next tier (7): Chalmers (under appreciated bench guy), Brewer (his hustle is indispensable at times but not the most efficient of players), Morris (a mediocre shooter still, though a competent swing forward), Mo Williams (less a difference maker off the bench as a classic journeyman guy just having a good season), Bogdanovic (fine rookie season, off the bench wing scorer), Anderson (that guy does more for the Nets than anyone notices), Smart (good rookie, high energy guy, his FG% dropped off, hopefully he can keep it up next year).
My top ten (6-10): Lou Williams (had a great bounceback year off the bench, brought energy, excitement, but not the most efficient guy, not the best at involving teammates, 2nd best Raptor), Quincy Pondexter (an under appreciated 3p threat off the bench for the Pelicans, who need anything they can get, good player seems to have found a place for himself), Jarrett Jack (biggest contribution was as a starter, old man still getting it done, he's a winner, man, has the intangibles), Josh Smith (played 83 games this year, 83! To paraphrase Raymond Carver: 'He played 83 games...not all of them were good but there were 83 of them.' Dude, got run out of town but kept working before, during and after, something about that is kinda after school special).
My top ten (2-5): Rodney Stuckey (dude pretty much dragged the Pacers to the playoffs all by himself, deserves some kudos), Jamal Crawford (he's always in the running for this because that's what his game is: offense off the bench), Patrick Patterson (man, his numbers are pretty impressive and he's an integral part of the squad, locked down for a coupla years, perfect role player for an up and coming team), Rudy Gobert (thunder off the bench, can't front on that, loved him last summer, good to see him blossom out from under the Kanter shadow).
My pick for 6th Man of the Year: Isiah Thomas (appeared in 67 games, started 1; 348 FTA 86%; 37% 3p%, 284:153 asst:to, gave the Celtics a 4th quarter threat they haven't had since Pierce left town, he was the player they wanted all along now on a reasonable contract, dude can be a Celtic legend if he wants).
6th Man seems like it should about the guys that aren't regular starters but still play an integral role within a regular amount of playing time. 1700 Minutes Played and/or 75 Games played with less than 40 starts would seem to give a good collection of guys that played important roles this year without being starters. But first let's look at the the guys who played a lot of games without playing a lot of minutes.
Under 1700 Minutes Played, under 40 starts, over 80 games played: Nikola Mirotic, Jae Crowder, Luis Scola, Steve Blake, Kosta Koufos, Andre Miller
Under 1700 Minutes Played, under 40 starts, over 75 games played: Joe Ingles, Trevor Booker, Beno Udrih, Cory Joseph, Kevin Seraphin, Caron Butler, Shaun Livingston, Jason Terry, Dennis Schroeder, JJ Barea, Devin Harris, Austin Rivers, Anthony Tolliver, Marreese Speights, Rasual Butler, Brandon Wright, Kent Bazemore, Jonas Jerebko.
Anyone in those pools stand out as possible 6th Man of the Year winners? No. Those dudes all had good years, acquitted themselves admirably, earned their money, deserve to be patted on the back for living the dream of being pro ballers. Some of those guys had upside years, some of those are guys collecting checks and chasing rings. But none of those guys are in the running for this award.
At least 1700 Minutes Played, under 40 starts (33): Mario Chalmers, Josh Smith, Jarrett Jack, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, Rudy Gobert, Patrick Patterson, Corey Brewer, Andre Iguodala, Marcus Morris, Marvin Williams, Lou Williams, Grievus Vasquez, Boris Diaw, Mo Williams, DJ Augustin, Jeremy Lin, Aaron Brooks, Rodney Stuckey, Shane Larkin, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis, Norris Cole, Marcus Smart, Anthony Morrow, Quincy Pondexter, Jason Smith, Hollis Thompson, Alan Anderson, Isiah Thomas, Jaryd Bayless, Jared Dudley, Jamal Crawford (1703 minutes, 4 starts).
Some just seem improbable right off the bat (16): Waiters (come on, man, Waiters?), Thompson (the Cavs were never livin' and dyin' off what Tristan was up to tonight), Marvin Williams (the fact that he wasn't the most disappointing Hornet acquisition is kinda startling), Vasquez (good player, good year, 3rd best Raptor), Diaw (the Spurs are their own special organism, Diaw is one piece of many pieces), Augustin (nice back up, decent season), Lin (could work in the right system, hasn't been in the right system in a while now), Brooks (his biggest contributions this season came logging minutes as a starter), Larkin (a so-so maturation year on a hideous team), Davis (not a bad player, not a bad season, a terrible terrible team), Thompson (kid is big and can rebound, he'll hang around for a while in this league), Cole (makes the most of his minutes), Morrow (makes the most of his minutes), Jason Smith (gotta admit: I don't know who this guy is, plays for the Knicks?), Bayless (kinda liked his D, I think he fits what they're doing there), Dudley (a nice bounce back year).
The next tier (7): Chalmers (under appreciated bench guy), Brewer (his hustle is indispensable at times but not the most efficient of players), Morris (a mediocre shooter still, though a competent swing forward), Mo Williams (less a difference maker off the bench as a classic journeyman guy just having a good season), Bogdanovic (fine rookie season, off the bench wing scorer), Anderson (that guy does more for the Nets than anyone notices), Smart (good rookie, high energy guy, his FG% dropped off, hopefully he can keep it up next year).
My top ten (6-10): Lou Williams (had a great bounceback year off the bench, brought energy, excitement, but not the most efficient guy, not the best at involving teammates, 2nd best Raptor), Quincy Pondexter (an under appreciated 3p threat off the bench for the Pelicans, who need anything they can get, good player seems to have found a place for himself), Jarrett Jack (biggest contribution was as a starter, old man still getting it done, he's a winner, man, has the intangibles), Josh Smith (played 83 games this year, 83! To paraphrase Raymond Carver: 'He played 83 games...not all of them were good but there were 83 of them.' Dude, got run out of town but kept working before, during and after, something about that is kinda after school special).
My top ten (2-5): Rodney Stuckey (dude pretty much dragged the Pacers to the playoffs all by himself, deserves some kudos), Jamal Crawford (he's always in the running for this because that's what his game is: offense off the bench), Patrick Patterson (man, his numbers are pretty impressive and he's an integral part of the squad, locked down for a coupla years, perfect role player for an up and coming team), Rudy Gobert (thunder off the bench, can't front on that, loved him last summer, good to see him blossom out from under the Kanter shadow).
My pick for 6th Man of the Year: Isiah Thomas (appeared in 67 games, started 1; 348 FTA 86%; 37% 3p%, 284:153 asst:to, gave the Celtics a 4th quarter threat they haven't had since Pierce left town, he was the player they wanted all along now on a reasonable contract, dude can be a Celtic legend if he wants).
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Do you know who led the NBA in Games Played in 2014-15? Josh Smith (played a pretty much unbeatable 83 games this year). Surely its meaningful that the least efficient player in the history of basketball plays more basketball than just about every other person on planet Earth. Paid by one team to leave and never come back, half-cursed by a second team paying him peanuts. I think the lesson is: Cal Ripken Jr would've made a terrible basketball player.
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