My Sim League Players Awards Ballot 2007-2008

[Bowtothebill23]

MVP:
1) Tracy McGrady, PG, Kings- TMAC is the best player in the league on the best team in the league. He's putting up 33 points a game, averaging 7 rebounds and 6 assists too. Oh and he's doing this shooting 58% from the field, 40% from 3, playing great defense, and posting a PER of 35. And if that's not enough, the Kings are 49-16, on their way to the best record in the league and outscoring teams by 14 points a game.
2) Rashard Lewis, PF, Wizards: It's almost a shame TMAC is playing so well because Rashard is putting up one of the best scoring seasons in league history. He's scoring over 36 points a game, and he's no slouch on the boards either. The only reasons TMAC pushes ahead of him are that TMAC has a better all-around game and the better team.
3) Ron Artest, SG, Bucks- Artest has been arguable the best 2-way guard this season. Aside from being perhaps the most dominant defensive guard/wing in league history, Artest is no slouch on the offensive end, posting up 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists a game. The only reason he falls behind the other 2 is that his efficiency is somewhat "lacking" compared to the other 2 on the offensive end.

DPOY:
1) Steven Hunter, C, Celtics- This is really a 2-horse race between Hunter and Tyson Chandler of the Kings. Hunter gets the edge in my book because of the defensive rebounding. Both anchor 2 of the best defensive teams in the league and lead the league in blocks, but Hunter grabs an incredible 7.8 DRBs per game and an even more impressive 24% of defensive boards.
2) Tyson Chandler, C, Kings- A good argument could be made for Chandler being DPOY. He is, in fact, leading the league in blocks and anchoring the best defense in the league. While very good on the defensive boards, Chandler's just not quite as dominant as Hunter. Chandler is still my clear #2 in this category.
3) Ron Artest, SG, Bucks- After the top 2, there's a bit of a drop off in this category. There are a lot of guys who could slot in right here. I give Artest the nod 1) because he's the best defender on an elite defensive team and 2) because he just is the best perimeter defender in the league right now.

ROY:
1) Kevin Durant, PF, Clippers- Yeah, I'm not gonna waste too much time writing up this one. Durant's averaging 24 PPG and is dropping in 6 boards per game. Oh and he's doing this shooting 57% from the field. No brainer here.
2) Jared Dudley, SG, Warriors- A little bit of a homer pick here. A lot of his stats are because of opportunity on a bad Warriors team but he's not exactly struggling with his opportunity. He's averaging 16 points per game, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists while scoring efficiently and shooting 40% from 3. He hasn't exactly been a sieve on defense either.
3) Joakim Noah, PF, Hawks- Grabbing 8 boards and blocking over 2 shots a game is usually enough to earn you some recognition as a rookie. Noah has been a solid contributor to the Hawks this season.

All League 1st Team:
C: Dirk Nowitzki, C, Clippers- Dirk has put up another spectacular season this year with the Clippers. He earns the 1st team nod for being easily the best scorer at the center position.
F: Rashard Lewis, PF, Wizards- Enough has been said about him already in the MVP section. I think Lewis is the second best player in the league and the best forward.
F: Chris Bosh, PF, Timberwolves- Bosh has been incredible this season, averaging 29 points per game (3rd in the league) and putting up 10 boards per game (5th in the league). If the Timberwolves were leading their division, Bosh would likely be the #3 spot in the MVP race.
G: Tracy McGrady, PG, Kings- Same goes for McGrady as Lewis. He's simply the best player in the league.
G: Ron Artest, SG, Bucks- Same goes for Artest as for McGrady and Lewis. 2nd best (healthy) guard in the league and best perimeter defender in the league.

All League 2nd Team:
C: Tim Duncan, C, Jazz- Duncan has really slipped efficiency wise but he's still a good scorer and a great defender. With center being a very weak position too as far as the top is concerned, Duncan is able to slot in at #2.
F: Antawn Jamison, SF, Hornets- Jamison is dropping in another impressive season this year, putting up 27 points and 9 rebounds from the small forward position.
F: Paul Pierce, SF, Cavaliers- Pierce is putting up a very impressive season on a Cavs team that most people in the league couldn't care less about. He's 4th in the league in scoring and is stuffing the stat sheet elsewhere as well with 7 boards and over 4 assists a game.
G: Kobe Bryant, PG, Lakers- Kobe has really taken the leap this year. He's averaging 27 points per game and he's as efficient as ever doing so. His scoring alone puts him as second team all league worthy.
G: Deron Williams, PG, Pacers- Williams is realizing his offensive potential this season, averaging 21 points and 10 assists a game (2nd in the league).

All League 3rd Team:
C: Steven Hunter, C, Celtics- I honestly debated putting Hunter at 1st team all league. He's that incredible of a defender. All in all though, 3rd team is not too bad. He's the best defensive center in the league, and he's no slouch on offense either.
F: Amare Stoudemire, PF, Bucks- Amare is averaging 25 points per game and, as usual, is among the most efficient big men in the NBA. He still leaves some to be the desired on the boards, but his scoring makes him impossible to leave off this list.
F: Stephen Jackson, SF, Jazz- Jackson is on a new team this year and took a small step back but is still an elite wing in this league. He's a stat sheet stuffer, averaging 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and over 2 steals a game.
G: Kevin Martin, SG, Pistons- Martin offers little besides scoring but he's a damn good scorer, averaging 25 points a game on an impressive 62% TS%.
G: Ricky Davis, SG, Nets- Davis is averaging 21 PPG, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. He's got a PER of 22 so he slots in as the last guard.

All-Defense 1st Team:
C: Steven Hunter, C, Celtics- Enough has been said about him in my campaign for DPOY. Best rebounder and best defender.
F: Kevin Garnett, PF, Nuggets- Garnett isn't the dominant force he once was but he anchors the Nuggets defense, grabs 8 defensive boards a game, and averages over 1 steal and block per game.
F: Tony Allen, SF, Lakers- Allen has taken a huge step forward on defense this season. Outside of Artest, he may be the best perimeter defender in the league. He' second in the league in steals.
G: Ron Artest, SG, Bucks- Best perimeter defender in the league.
G: Bonzi Wells, PG, Jazz- Averaging 2 steals a game and playing very good defense on a good defensive Jazz team.

All-Defense 2nd Team:
C: Tyson Chandler, C, Kings- See: DPOY
F: Stephen Jackson, SF, Jazz- 3rd in the league in steals and one of the best defenders on a very good defensive Jazz team.
F: Ben Wallace, PF, Warriors- Averaging almost 2 steals and blocks a game, the Warriors aren't great at defense but Wallace still is. He's also still averaging 6 DRBs per game.
G: Tracy McGrady, PG, Kings- McGrady averages over a steal and almost a block per game. He's so big and athletic that he can lock down any guard or wing on any game.
G: Rajon Rondo, PG, Supersonics- Rondo is 5th in the league in steals, and is playing great D at the PG positon.

All-Rookie First Team:
C: Greg Oden, C, Magic- Wow the rookie centers all sucked this year. Oden is probably the best of the bunch averaging 4 points and 6 rebounds on a terrible Magic team.
F: Kevin Durant, PF, Clippers- Yeah I don't think this needs an explanation.
F: Joakim Noah, PF, Hawks- Noah averaged 8 points and 8 boards which is good enough for first team all rookie this year.
G: Jared Dudley, SG, Warriors- See ROY argument.
G: Rodney Stuckey, PG, Raptors- Stuckey averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists while grabbing one Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month.

All-Rookie Second Team:
C: Aaron Gray, C, Bucks- Gray was really the only other Center to get minutes this season.
F: Jamario Moon, SF, Suns- Older than the rest of the rookies, Moon dropped in 13 points and 7 rebounds a game this season.
F: Carl Landry, PF, Pistons- Landry averaged 8 points and 4 rebounds per game in 22 minutes.
G: Mike Conley, PG, Lakers-Conley dropped in 9 points and 5 assists a game.
G: Wilson Chandler, SG, Knicks- Chandler averaged 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.

[TheSyndicate]

Ouch - Wade snubbed for ALL of the all-NBA and all-NBA defense? Damn...what did I do to you, Ben??

[TheSyndicate]

But I did enjoy reading the write up.

Thanks sir!

[Bowtothebill23]

Ouch - Wade snubbed for ALL of the all-NBA and all-NBA defense? Damn...what did I do to you, Ben??

Wade probably could've been 3rd team all league or 2nd team all defense. A lot of those were toss ups.

[JNR]

Great stuff Ben. Really enjoyed it!

[IamQuailman]

Great Write-up!!! Would be greater if CJ Watson wasn't snubbed from all rookie

[IamQuailman]

AWARDED 5 POINTS! League-Centric, Macro-level article focusing not on 1 particular player or team. Very thorough and thoughtful.

[Bowtothebill23]

Great Write-up!!! Would be greater if CJ Watson wasn't snubbed from all rookie

Maybe you should've played him at center...

[Darth Vegito]

Scanned, didn't see the word "Sonics" anywhere. Mediocre article at best.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Bowtothebill23]

Checklist:

MVP-check
ROY-check
DPOY-check

All League First Team- 100% check
All League Second Team- 4/5 correct. Put Antawn on second team who was on 3rd.
All League Third Team- 1/5 correct Stephen Jackson got second team instead of 3rd. Meanwhile Wade got 3rd over Davis (not a big surprise), Melo got it over Amare (ok), and Big Z got it over Steven Hunter (what?).

All Defense First Team- 3/5 correct: TMAC got in over Artest and Noah got in over Tony Allen (disagree highly with both choices)
All Defense Second Team- 1/5 correct: Chandler was easy. Don't know how Bosh made it over Allen and Jackson. No problem with Wade making it.

All Rookie First Team- 3/5 correct. Horford was random center to get it. Conley made it over Stuckey which was a total toss up.
All Rookie Second Team- 3/5 correct. Got Oden and Stuckey right, just on the wrong team.

[IamQuailman]

AWARDED 5 PTS