Who should win the 2008-2009 NBA’s Most Improved Player
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Innovative basketball by benjieordonez
The NBA has been asking the question, “Where will amazing happen?” this year but before we know where that will happen since that will only happen in the playoff, we should first look at the individual awards. I like to take a look at the Most Improved Player award first since it’s nice to see players taking their game to another level from the previous year(s). So my question is who’s the Most Improved Player? So here are my candidates and my favorite to win the award for the 2008-2009 season.
Kevin Durant
He’s my favorite to win the award this year but I don’t think he’ll get the votes to win this. It may be because he’s not that not popular (yet) or they just don’t see the improvement he has done to lead the Thunder. Whatever the reason is, the numbers speak for themselves, as he has increased in every category and has been really an efficient player. What’s nice is that he increased his fg% by over 5 points while also increasing his shots taken by 2. Kevindurantula has got to win this award and there should be no more snubs for this kid.
Devin Harris
This guy looks like he’s going to win this award not only because of his All Star vote but also for showing maturity to lead the Nets to a respectable record. His stats didn’t jump to great heights from the previous years but it did improve – enough for him to be considered as the Most Improved player. This guy didn’t surprise me at all this year as he has already showed signs of being a future All Star in Dallas and even when he was traded to the Nets last year. If ever Harris wins this award, he will be the first MIP player to player in an All-Star game since Gilbert Arenas did it in 2003.
Paul Millsap
A great start to the season placed him among the early favorites to win this award but an injury and the return of Carlos Boozer somehow affected his overall performance. This guy was one of my picks to be part of the All-Star game because he was so consistent and it didn’t look like his early start was a fluke. Boozer plans to opt out of his contract at the end of the season, and Millsap will be a restricted free agent. He’ll be cashing in as long as Boozer leaves but I hope he continues to improve. The sky is the limit for this kid and who knows, he might win it all next year.
Andrea Bargnani
A lot of people have been talking that Andrea Bargnani might be a bust after being taken 1st overall in 2006 but he’s proving his doubters wrong this year. He just wasn’t given the chance to play in Sam Mitchell’s offense in previous years and right now he is playing with more confidence. He has a small chance of winning MIP but this guy is still worth mentioning as he has stayed pretty consistent the whole year and producing solid all around numbers.
Chris Duhon
You’ve got to love Chris Duhon as he has brought excitement back in New York. Of course, Mike D’Antoni is there and so is Nate Robinson but at least this guy can lead his team or should I say teams. The Knicks had three different teams on their roster this year due to trades in different parts of the season and Duhon had the leadership to make them adjust to his play while not affecting his stats. In fact, all of his stats increased this year and is having a career year.
Jeff Green
Durant’s sidekick is doing a lot to help the Thunder win as much as games as possible and gain momentum towards next season. Jeff Green has increase almost all of his stats except for the blocks but he has learned how to shoot threes and is evident from his 1.3 a game this year to last year’s .3. This guy hasn’t had enough buzz around the league to win MIP but he will definitely improve his game and hopefully take it to another level next year.
Other players worth mentioning:
Danny Granger – looks to be the favorite of everyone to win this award but I am not that convinced he should.
Spencer Hawes – The season’s beginning was great. The middle was bad. The end is looking good.
Dominic McGuire – Did improve but his overall stats aren’t that impressive.
Von Wafer – The Rockets unloaded Alston and Head because they liked what they saw in Wafer and Aaron Brooks.
Nene – We already knew this guy was good but he took his games to another level and increased his games played after 4 injury plagued seasons.
Dwayne Wade – Believe it or not but Wade increased in every statistical category from last year but we knew he was injured. We also knew he was good the two years ago and the year before that and so on..but he’s looking to play his most played games in the season this year.
There you have it – my list for Most Improved Player. What do you think of this? Let me know through comments or you can just email me.
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I have to agree with you that his attitude and his work/approach towards the game changed. A big part of this would have to be because he is playing beside Lebron now but if he were still in Milwaukee, he might have taken the last few games off. He hasn\\'t played in more than 68 games in any of the past three years and it\\'s good to see him reaching at least 80 this year. We already knew this guy was good but his work ethic improved and if there was an award for a change in attitude, I\\'d definitely consider him. But again, this guy was and is already good so I\\'m giving the award to another guy.
As for Danny Ferry being the the Executive of the Year? I\\'d really consider him after the trade that shipped Mo Will to the Cavs. Great job on his part:)
1@Rajon
If Rondo didn\\'t help the Celtics win the championship last year, he could be a candidate this year but as of last year we already knew that he was going to be really good.
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