Chapter 509: The NBA Food Chain
During this stretch, the NBA officially announced a series of regular season awards.
D'Antoni was named the 2008 to 2009 Coach of the Year. Among 128 sports media members and television commentators from the United States and Canada, 65 voted for him. The Suns' performance this season spoke for itself. In truth, D'Antoni had already been worthy of the award last year, but Phoenix finished slightly behind the Lakers in the regular season standings, and he lost out to Phil Jackson.
Second place went to Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, who received 41 votes. Cleveland had surged back this season, winning 20 more games than the year before.
Last season's winner, Phil Jackson, finished third. The Lakers had been first in the West last season, but only second this year, and many in the media viewed that as a step backward.
This was the second Coach of the Year award of D'Antoni's career. The first came in the 2004 to 2005 season, when he led Phoenix to a 62 and 20 record, the same season his Seven Seconds or Less offense became famous throughout the league.
The Sixth Man of the Year award went to Jason Terry of the Mavericks. He embodied the firepower of Dallas's second unit, averaging 19.6 points per game this season, a number many starting guards around the league could not even reach.
The Most Improved Player award went to Danny Granger. His All Star caliber production of 25.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game made him the highest scoring Most Improved Player in league history.
Azubuike finished second in both awards.
With the numbers he put up this year, he would have had a serious chance to win either Sixth Man of the Year or Most Improved Player in many other seasons. Unfortunately for him, his competition this year was simply too strong. Azubuike, that scoring machine off the bench, ran into the wrong timing.
Chen Yan called him immediately to comfort him.
Azubuike was not only his Suns teammate, but also one of the players signed under his studio.
Fortunately, Azubuike was not the type to obsess over individual honors. He did not show too much disappointment.
In his own eyes, he was already incredibly lucky. He had gone from being an undrafted player to an essential rotation piece on a championship contender. He now had minutes, endorsements, and a ring. He did not dare ask for too much. All he wanted was to keep playing well and prove worthy of everything he had.
The Rookie of the Year award went to Rose, with no controversy whatsoever.
Rose averaged 18.1 points and 5.7 assists this season, and as 1 half of Boston's young core, he helped lead the Celtics back to the playoffs. Whether in terms of individual production or team success, his case was airtight.
The All Rookie Teams were announced as well.
Unlike some of the major awards, the All Rookie Teams were not chosen by the media, but by the head coaches of all 30 NBA teams. Under league rules, position did not matter in the voting. Coaches simply selected the 2 best rookie teams they believed in. A player named to the First Team received 2 points, while a player named to the Second Team received 1 point. The final results were determined by total points, which often led to strange outcomes, such as 3 players from the same position making the teams together.
The All Rookie First Team consisted of Rose, Westbrook, OJ Mayo, Beasley, and Lopez.
Jordan made the Second Team.
After Stoudemire's injury, Jordan spent a long stretch as Phoenix's starting big man, and his numbers climbed accordingly. By the end of the season, he had averaged 8.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks. Joining him on the All Rookie Second Team were Chen Yan's former college classmate DJ Augustin, Eric Gordon, Love, and Marc Gasol.
The First Team featured 3 guards, while the Second Team featured 3 big men.
The truly major regular season awards had yet to be revealed, but after Phoenix swept Utah in the first round, fans became even more convinced that Chen Yan would win this year's regular season MVP. Many fans even thought the first round would affect the voting, as if the award had not yet been decided.
In reality, that was a misunderstanding.
The MVP vote is completed after the regular season ends. The announcement is simply delayed. Otherwise, there never would have been the most awkward MVP moment in history for Dirk Nowitzki.
6 days after the Suns finished off the Jazz, the first round of the playoffs in both conferences came to an end.
Cleveland swept Detroit in 4 straight games, becoming the second team after Phoenix to complete a first round sweep this postseason.
James was dominant in Game 4, posting 36 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals, crushing what little pride the Pistons still had left.
Stuckey's performance improved somewhat in that game. He scored 14 points on 7 of 14 shooting.
The efficiency was decent, but his total impact was still nowhere near enough. That kind of output simply could not support a team.
Another Eastern power, the Magic, also lived up to expectations. After losing home court advantage early, they adjusted in time and ultimately beat the 76ers 4 to 2, completing the comeback and advancing.
The other 2 Eastern series both went to Game 7.
The Hawks defeated the Bulls 96 to 86 at home and won the series 4 to 3.
Joe Johnson exploded in the deciding game, finishing with 30 points and 7 rebounds, including 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, successfully carrying Atlanta across the line.
Chicago lost because of its overall team play. Almost everyone had some blame to shoulder. Ben Gordon's hands went cold in the biggest moments. Westbrook was too reckless as a playmaker. Tyrus Thomas played like he had no brain. Yi Jianlian finished the last game with just 2 points, 1 rebound, and 2 turnovers, producing negative value.
At that point, every asian player in the NBA who was actually getting minutes, except for Chen Yan, had already gone home.
In the West, the teams that advanced besides Phoenix, the Lakers, and Dallas were the Nuggets.
That group of winners was largely what fans had expected.
Denver eliminating San Antonio was not considered an upset. Ginóbili's injury had left the Spurs short on offensive firepower. Even though Duncan gave everything he had in Game 5 and scored 30 points, and Parker added 26, not a single other Spurs player reached double figures. They lost Game 5 by a score of 101 to 93 and were eliminated 4 to 1.
The second round was approaching, and Phoenix's coaching staff had spent the days in between studying opponents and refining tactics.
Overall, the Mavericks were stronger than the Trail Blazers. But from Phoenix's point of view, Dallas was actually the preferred matchup.
The NBA was like a food chain. Every team had something it feared.
Dallas's greatest weakness was against teams that played at a relentless pace and rained 3s on them. Back in the day, that was exactly how they were taken out by the Warriors.
The current Suns were basically an upgraded version of that Warriors team. They had better stars, more reliable shooting, and a more mature Seven Seconds or Less system.
Against Dallas, Phoenix's players needed to stay fully committed to their pace. They had to trust the offense, let it fly from deep, and play with absolute conviction.
The sooner they went crazy, the better their chances of winning.
.....
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