As the season comes to a close, awards are constantly being given out. I've talked a lot about players throughout the season, so I'll gloss over some of the awards. Here are my takes on the award races. Again, I use my own PAA for this.
As the season comes to a close, awards are constantly being given out. I've talked a lot about players throughout the season, so I'll gloss over some of the awards. Here are my takes on the award races. Again, I use my own PAA for this.
MVP:
Durant in a landslide. His only real competition is LeBron, but Durant by PAA beats him handily. Better at scoring, better at rebounding, better defensively (this year at least), and only a marginally worse passer. Case closed.
Sixth Man:
Although pundits are making this out to be a close race, there's really only one right answer. While it might seem boring, Manu Ginobili has been by far the best sixth man this year, with 187 PAA. The two other candidates that some are pushing for, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford, only have 93 and 91 PAA respectively.
Rookie of the Year/All Rookie Teams:
Since they all rookie teams don't depend on position, I'll just like the top ten rookies in order.
First Team:
Victor Oladipo (156 PAA)
Mason Plumlee (80 PAA)
Steven Adams (71 PAA)
Michael Carter-Williams (64 PAA)
Gorgui Dieng (59 PAA)
Second Team:
Pero Antic (52 PAA)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (43 PAA)
Nick Calathes (32 PAA)
Kelly Olynyk (32 PAA)
Ryan Kelly (24 PAA)
A truly miserable rookie class, but Oladipo was by far and away the best. Carter-Williams was terribly inefficient, which killed him in my stat.
All-NBA Teams:
These do depend on position, so I will be going with two guards, two forwards, and a center.
First Team:
Stephen Curry
James Harden
Kevin Durant
LeBron James
Joakim Noah
Second Team:
Chris Paul
Ty Lawson
Serge Ibaka
Kevin Love
DeAndre Jordan
Third Team:
Goran Dragic
Monta Ellis
Paul George
Carmelo Anthony
Robin Lopez
The toughest omission by far was that of Dirk Nowitzki, who was one spot behind Paul George for the last forward spot. I could have moved Paul George to a guard position, but then that would have kicked out Dragic, who was also very deserving of this honor.
My first team is exactly the same as Zach Lowe's, which I find to be a nice confirmation that my stat passes the eye test. After that, my stat diverges from his list by a bit. As I've noted before, PAA loves Serge Ibaka, who was the highest ranked player on the second team. Ty Lawson is either just a very underrated team or just isn't being considered for a spot since his team performed awfully this season (my stat doesn't take records in consideration). Finally, DeAndre Jordan replaced Blake Griffin as the second Clipper on an All-NBA team, do to the fact that he has been a BEAST on the boards, and PAA seemingly underrates inside scoring, which is Griffin's specially. Paul and Love both made Lowe's second team as well.
Goran Dragic was on Lowe's second team, but only makes my third team as Lawson had a higher PAA than him. Paul George appears on both of our second teams, but after that there aren't many similarities. Robin Lopez snags a spot for his elite rebounding/defense, while Monta and Carmelo get the nod for their offense.
But all this is old news. The new thing is the playoffs, which I will try to predict using PAA by team as well as their pass and move score (something else I invented).
First Round:
Indiana over Atlanta
Washington over Chicago
Brooklyn over Toronto
Miami over Charlotte
San Antonio over Dallas
Houston over Portland
Clippers over Golden State
Thunder over Memphis
Conf. Semifinals:
Washington over Indiana
Miami over Brooklyn
San Antonio over Houston
Clippers over Thunder
Conf. Finals:
Miami over Washington
Clippers over San Antonio
NBA Finals:
Clippers over Miami
Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading. See you next season!
MVP:
Durant in a landslide. His only real competition is LeBron, but Durant by PAA beats him handily. Better at scoring, better at rebounding, better defensively (this year at least), and only a marginally worse passer. Case closed.
Sixth Man:
Although pundits are making this out to be a close race, there's really only one right answer. While it might seem boring, Manu Ginobili has been by far the best sixth man this year, with 187 PAA. The two other candidates that some are pushing for, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford, only have 93 and 91 PAA respectively.
Rookie of the Year/All Rookie Teams:
Since they all rookie teams don't depend on position, I'll just like the top ten rookies in order.
First Team:
Victor Oladipo (156 PAA)
Mason Plumlee (80 PAA)
Steven Adams (71 PAA)
Michael Carter-Williams (64 PAA)
Gorgui Dieng (59 PAA)
Second Team:
Pero Antic (52 PAA)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (43 PAA)
Nick Calathes (32 PAA)
Kelly Olynyk (32 PAA)
Ryan Kelly (24 PAA)
A truly miserable rookie class, but Oladipo was by far and away the best. Carter-Williams was terribly inefficient, which killed him in my stat.
All-NBA Teams:
These do depend on position, so I will be going with two guards, two forwards, and a center.
First Team:
Stephen Curry
James Harden
Kevin Durant
LeBron James
Joakim Noah
Second Team:
Chris Paul
Ty Lawson
Serge Ibaka
Kevin Love
DeAndre Jordan
Third Team:
Goran Dragic
Monta Ellis
Paul George
Carmelo Anthony
Robin Lopez
The toughest omission by far was that of Dirk Nowitzki, who was one spot behind Paul George for the last forward spot. I could have moved Paul George to a guard position, but then that would have kicked out Dragic, who was also very deserving of this honor.
My first team is exactly the same as Zach Lowe's, which I find to be a nice confirmation that my stat passes the eye test. After that, my stat diverges from his list by a bit. As I've noted before, PAA loves Serge Ibaka, who was the highest ranked player on the second team. Ty Lawson is either just a very underrated team or just isn't being considered for a spot since his team performed awfully this season (my stat doesn't take records in consideration). Finally, DeAndre Jordan replaced Blake Griffin as the second Clipper on an All-NBA team, do to the fact that he has been a BEAST on the boards, and PAA seemingly underrates inside scoring, which is Griffin's specially. Paul and Love both made Lowe's second team as well.
Goran Dragic was on Lowe's second team, but only makes my third team as Lawson had a higher PAA than him. Paul George appears on both of our second teams, but after that there aren't many similarities. Robin Lopez snags a spot for his elite rebounding/defense, while Monta and Carmelo get the nod for their offense.
But all this is old news. The new thing is the playoffs, which I will try to predict using PAA by team as well as their pass and move score (something else I invented).
First Round:
Indiana over Atlanta
Washington over Chicago
Brooklyn over Toronto
Miami over Charlotte
San Antonio over Dallas
Houston over Portland
Clippers over Golden State
Thunder over Memphis
Conf. Semifinals:
Washington over Indiana
Miami over Brooklyn
San Antonio over Houston
Clippers over Thunder
Conf. Finals:
Miami over Washington
Clippers over San Antonio
NBA Finals:
Clippers over Miami
Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading. See you next season!