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J.R. Smith will be named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.

Smith averaged 18.1 points per game on 42.2 percent shooting from the field this season. His previous career high in points came in 09-10 when he averaged 15.4.

Smith had a PER of 17.6, up from 15.2 last season.

Via Frank Isola/New York Daily News

He didn't deserve it IMO. I felt like Jamal Crawford should've won it but oh well. Not surprised about the league's decision. Can't wait to get a laugh at the All-NBA teams this year...

I would say Crawford deserved it. But this is a media voted award right. Lots of biased media in NY.

You guys are nuts. JR Smith filled in for whatever New York needed this year. Often he was their best defender, he had 8 games with at least 10 rebounds, 13 games of at least 5 assists, dropped over 30 points 7 times, and offered hustle and intangibles.

I say this as someone that has always despised Smith - his attitude, his shot selection, the person in general. But there is no denying how good he has been this year

I think that as far as the voting on these awards is concerned, the largest block of votes is controlled by ESPN.

crawford has won this award in the past because of scoring... and he fell off in that department in the second half.

j.r. was huge all year, not just stats, but as rondo2hondo said, everything. and i too despised j.r. before he came to new york. this year his maturation is amazing. woody deserves a lot of credit. as do the vets who have helped him keep his head on straight.

10acious wrote:I think that as far as the voting on these awards is concerned, the largest block of votes is controlled by ESPN.

what?

Ron Mexico wrote:

10acious wrote:I think that as far as the voting on these awards is concerned, the largest block of votes is controlled by ESPN.

what?

Between ESPN, which has the largest block of votes, and NY, there is an east coast bias. Is that clear?

Now I dislike the Knicks, but he clearly deserved it. Crawford - really???

JR averaged more points, more rebounds, same assists, higher PER and played just a few more minutes per game than Crawford. He was much more important to his team than Crawford and more versatile

Well deserved. JR does more for his team than Crawford does. Period. Defense? Assists? Rebounding? They're even scoring, but JR is more versatile; he proved that this year.

JR has the edge in the majority of statistical categories. Throw in the fact that his contribution helped the knicks win the Atlantic Div Title as well as secure a 2nd seed in the eastern conference.. it's really a no brainer

calamity wrote:I would say Crawford deserved it. But this is a media voted award right. Lots of biased media in NY.

Just think Crawford only played in the small LA media with Chris Paul & Blake Griffin on the team.

Rockazoids wrote:

calamity wrote:I would say Crawford deserved it. But this is a media voted award right. Lots of biased media in NY.

Just think Crawford only played in the small LA media with Chris Paul & Blake Griffin on the team.

Sigh, Media has nothing to do with it. I've been monitoring Jamal Crawford all year for every single game, especially since he was on my fantasy roster. Crawford played just as good as smith in the first half of the season. But as the second half approached, he began to drop off significantly, while smith had to fill in for melo due to his injuries. When melo was out, they won at least 75% of their games, and this was because of smith who carried the team. How do i know this? I've been monitoring melo and the knicks for every game since melo was also on my roster. Not to mention that at the second half of the season he put up 7 30+ point games, most or probably all of them were from when he was coming off the bench. Crawford touched 30 like twice this season. Don't get me wrong, crawford had some really good games and was pretty flashy this year, but JR smith performed better on average. The most obvious indicator is the stats so i don't see why people are saying the vote was biased.

I like crawford more than smith too, especially since smith is a nut who takes some of the most questionable shots i've ever seen lol. But the guy performed better than crawford, and it even looks like he's polished his game a lot since returning from china.