First Half MVP

[Jamaaliver]

Atlanta Hawks (28-15)
Someday Al Horford is going to hit his ceiling, but for the fourth straight season he's been a better player than he was the year before. With a 56.6 shooting percentage, Horford would be an automatic 20-point, 10-rebound guy if he attempted more than 12.4 field goals per game (earning more trips to the free-throw line, where he shoots 82.1 percent on 2.6 attempts per game, would help, too). Always a double-digit rebounder, his accuracy from the field has improved every year, just as his assists have risen and his turnovers have fallen. And on defense, his ability to joust with much bigger centers and also slide over to guard power forwards gives the Hawks great front-line flexibility.
MVP: Al Horford
Runner-up: Joe Johnson

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/britt_robson/01/18/power.rankings/index.html?eref=sihp

JJ 2nd? no J-Smoove? I agree with their assertion, but please, chime in with your thoughts.

[evildallas]

I'm fine with Al being the 1st half MVP, but Joe as runner-up? I can't abide by that. In addition to missing 9 games, he shot poorly in 16 other games (almost half of what he has played) to the point of shooting us out of some games. His last 6 games have been high quality so maybe that clouded the evaluation. I could argue that Jamal Crawford has played as well in as many games this season and carried the team offensively for a stretch of games as well. He's missed a lot of games too and had some very bad outings early in the season. The obvious alternative would be Josh Smith. Josh's all-around game had a greater impact through most of the 1st half. He has been wildly inconsistent in his effectiveness of late, but overall I would say he'd played better than Joe.

My candidate for runner-up is actually Mike Bibby because he's produced consistently more than I ever expected out of him this season. His 3 point shooting has been a big boon to the team's success. I also think he deserves more credit for the implementation of some offensive structure other than iso. If every Hawk screened like he does we'd be devastating. He's also played defense with intensity, he just doesn't have the wheels to be affective at this point in his career. Joe, Josh, and Jamal all have bigger roles on the team, but I would argue haven't exceeded the expectations for them (Josh has shot better from outside, but offset that by not going to the hole as well as last year). I'd argue that Bibby deserves some notice for being a valuable difference maker by exceeding the expectations of his role and leading by example in a lot of ways.