2011-12 RealGM Player of the Year Discussion Thread

Post #1 » by **Doctor MJ** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 1:31 am

It's about that time. Let's start talking about top 5 candidates for the all-season RealGM "Player of the Year".

Anyone may participate in the discussion, and anyone may ask to have a vote, but I will be the one to say who votes. I'm not looking to have a closed club by any means, but I want to have confidence in the vote. If you aren't someone who has been a major part of this in the past, this means I want to see you involved in what's going on.

Voting will happen after the finals.

Dr Positivity · Post #2 » by **Dr Positivity** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 2:17 am

Present rankings

1. Lebron
2. Paul
3. Durant
4. Wade
5. KG

Seems like one of the weaker top 5s if you ask me, compared to some years where it's "I have to leave one of these guys off???"

C-izMe · Post #3 » by **C-izMe** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 3:16 am

Dr Mufasa wrote:Present rankings

1. Lebron
2. Paul
3. Durant
4. Wade
5. KG

Seems like one of the weaker top 5s if you ask me, compared to some years where it's "I have to leave one of these guys off???"

+1

HeartBreakKid · Post #4 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 5:15 am

As of now.

1) Lebron James is easily the best player in basketball today. Aside from the fact that he has had the typical stellar season, he has also gotten a post game (though he is not grown comfortable to the point where he uses it in important games). Also, defensively I thought he was amazing against Carmelo Anthony in this years post season. Probably the best perimeter defender in the league today.

2) Dwight Howard is the true defensive player of the year. He still hast he most defensive impact, the only thing is he was not very hot in the media this year. Well, I should say he was not hot in a good way, a lot of negativity due to the publicity given to his version of the "decision". It's still hard to deny that he has more impact than anyone in the league bar James. Not only is he by far the best center, but he is also better than all of the Power Forwards, the best big today.

3) Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the game. No one can deal with his size, and his jump shots are always wet. His defense has improved, and now he is learning to use his massive length. I'm most impressed that Durant is learning to play with the ball, I actually prefer watching him attack the basket then take his amazing jump shots. He looks almost unbeatable at times when he drives, he is so ridiculously smooth.

4) Chris Paul is the best point guard, and by that merit, he is the best offensive threat in the league. Not only did he prove his worth by carrying a Clippers team, which isn't all that great to their best season, but he also was pivotal in the upset against the Memphis Grizzlies. In fact, the only reasons why the Grizzlies are not respected anymore is because they lost to the Clippers in the first place. No point guard can challenge Paul at this point. He's a better ball handler than any one else, he is a legit 20 point scorer something that a player like Rondo is not, he has terrific help defense which Nash is not as good at, and he is a better playmaker and smarter player than Deron Williams.

5) Dwayne Wade is still as good as he was last year, despite popular belief, in fact I think he is actually better. His scoring has went down, so everyone has this idea that Wade is fading. Well, he has certainly peaked a few years back, but he is still in his prime years. Instead of the Heat having two co #1 options, Wade is fading to the #2 spot, but in doing so he is actually emphasizing the things he is good at. Wade no longer takes as many far jump shots or 3s and he doesn't have the ball in his hands anymore. Wade is going to what he is going at, and that is killing it in the paint. More so than not, I've noticed how amazing he has gotten at playing with out the ball, his cuts are the most practical form of attack the Heat have. He is just a beast in the paint, he gets the nod over Parker and Bryant because Wade can still be a 25-28 pt scorer on high efficiency if he wanted too.

ardee · Post #5 » by **ardee** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 6:06 am

Would definitely be interested in voting.

1. LeBron James. It's not close, unfortunately. 27-8-6 on 60% TS with a 30.7 PER, 30-9-6 on 58% TS with a 32.6 PER in the Playoffs, with multiple Eff-You type games. He also doubles up as the league's best perimeter defender, and has been responsible for shutting down Carmelo in the first round. Unless he ends up playing Durant in the Finals, and Durant has a massive performance, while he has a '11 Finals type performance, the no. 1 spot is comfortably his.

2. Kevin Durant. The perfect scorer. He could literally be averaging 37 a game if he wanted to, you just cannot stop him from doing what he wants to, when he wants to. He still improved his all-around game though. His rebounding average was the highest for a perimeter player, his efficiency improved drastically, he has become a better passer (nearly 4 apg), and a better defender (lockdown D on Kobe in the WCSF).

Now it gets hard....

Paul had a great regular season and 1st round, but an awful 2nd round. Howard missed the entire Playoffs. Wade was not up to the mark in the regular season and only recently turned it on in the Playoffs. Kobe's efficiency was way down. I think I'll go...

3. Chris Paul: He doesn't have the explosiveness of his Hornet days but has more than made-up for it in terms of guile, trickery and basketball IQ. Arguably the best clutch player in the NBA, and a great scorer for a PG. I would have put him at no. 2 if his 2nd round was better.

4. Dwight Howard: He acted very immature but that doesn't take away from his on court impact. Still the best interior defender in the league. His offense was a lot worse, and he needs to work on his free throws.

Trying to decide between Wade, Parker, Kobe, Garnett and Kevin Love here. Yes, I think Love definitely merits at least discussion. Until Rubio's injury he had the Wolves above .500. The best rebounder in the league, and a very versatile game on offense. I will reserve judgment on the 5th spot until I hear some discussion

lukekarts · Post #6 » by **lukekarts** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 9:36 am

What is the specific context of 'Player of the Year'?

Are we simply talking about who had the most in-form year (this is what I'm assuming); or more generally who we think was the best player in basketball in 2011/12?

e.g. Although it won't likely affect the very top, one could argue Drik had a 'down' year but you could still make a case for him being well inside the top 10, meanwhile Tony Parker had a great year but you'd struggle to make a case for him being right up there in the mix as best player.

Narigo · Post #7 » by **Narigo** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 10:58 am

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Chris Paul
4. Dwyane Wade
5. Nash/Garnett/Duncan/Dwight

therealbig3 · Post #8 » by **therealbig3** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 11:55 am

I would like to vote for this year.

1. LeBron James - I don't think it's really arguable. Another insanely dominant season, and he's following it up again in the playoffs.

2. Chris Paul - Probably the most underrated superstar in the league this year. He had an MVP-caliber season (should have been included in the discussion more), he was healthy (played 60 games), and he had another super impressive season in terms of +/-. He single-handedly turned around the Clippers franchise, despite that team losing a ton of talent in order to acquire him. They went from the 22nd ranked offense to the 4th ranked offense after trading for CP3. I can excuse his disappointing playoffs because of the injury he suffered, and I don't think it's fair to ignore his great regular season.

3. Kevin Durant - He had an awesome season...the best scorer in the league for the 3rd straight year, and he really improved a lot in terms of iso scoring and as a ball handler. However, he still needs to improve a lot as a playmaker if he's going to be more of a ball handler (more TOs than assists), and in fact, his TOs are quite high for a guy who primarily plays off-ball. But regardless, he's improved a lot defensively, and he's an elite rebounder and scorer. Very durable as well, since he played the full 66 games this season. As impressed as I was with Durant this season, I have him 3rd mainly because of health, because when everyone is healthy, I'd still take my #4 and #5 guys over him. I think it's important to note how good he's been in the playoffs so far.

4. Dwyane Wade - He's 4th instead of 2nd because he missed so many games and when he did play, he was inconsistent as hell because of a bunch of nagging injuries. Nevertheless, he put up an efficient 22/5/5 season with very few TOs. Wade has shown that when he's healthy, he's still the best player in the league not named LeBron James, and even that's debatable on some nights, but the missed time and the inconsistency in general sees him fall to #4. The playoffs so far have been a microcosm of his season as a whole: very inconsistent performances, ranging from horrible to epic, and resulting in an overall pretty solid bottom line. He seems to have finally gotten his act together though.

5. Dwight Howard - Very disappointing season all-around for Dwight, who usually finds himself at #2 or #3. Nevertheless, still a top 5 player. His defense and rebounding was still all-around excellent, but his FT shooting regressed badly and he still tends to turn the ball over a lot, and his offensive impact really suffered. According to 2012 RAPM, he barely had any impact offensively. Furthermore, this was the first year when he actually missed significant time, playing in only 54 of 66 games, and missing the playoffs altogether. And then there's the whole Indecision, and I can't help but believe that he ruined team chemistry with his antics this year.

EDIT: Thinking about it now, and I could easily see the cases for Kobe/KG/Nash at the #5 spot instead of Dwight.

JordansBulls · Post #9 » by **JordansBulls** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 1:11 pm

Right now.

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. CP3
4. Wade
5. Dwight

There is basically only 1 way for Durant to overtake Lebron for the top spot, but I'll wait to see how things play out first. But unless something significant changes this is probably my list.

ElGee · Post #10 » by **ElGee** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 3:58 pm

I wonder if MisterWestside, Chicago76, EvanZ (driving cross country) and TrueLAFan can find their way into this discussion. Can someone page them?

This is an interesting year in that like 1999, it feels "thin" at the top. Injuries certainly have something to do with that. I'm hoping that a Spur doesn't see a meteoric rise up the rankings due to some Winning Bias...

C-izMe · Post #11 » by **C-izMe** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 10:13 pm

ElGee wrote:I wonder if MisterWestside, Chicago76, EvanZ (driving cross country) and TrueLAFan can find their way into this discussion. Can someone page them?

This is an interesting year in that like 1999, it feels "thin" at the top. Injuries certainly have something to do with that. I'm hoping that a Spur doesn't see a meteoric rise up the rankings due to some Winning Bias...

I can see Parker and Duncan landing in some top fives.

StateOfThunder · Post #12 » by **StateOfThunder** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 10:50 pm

I would like to participate in this year's POY discussion.

My top 5 so far this season is this....

1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Chris Paul
4. Russell Westbrook
5. Kobe Bryant

Assuming we are talking this season only.

I'm more than positive a lot of people are going to ask me why I have Kobe in my list and why Kobe is above Wade, and I'll explain.

I have Kobe above Wade due to consistency. Wade has been very injury prone this season and has been inconsistent to go along with it. Kobe has been a bit more consistent although Kobe is not a very consistent player himself these days but nevertheless more consistent than Wade has been. Kobe also didn't suffer and miss as many games as Wade has this season either. Kobe really can't afford to miss as many games as Wade can because Kobe is more valuable since he is playing on a weaker team than Wade is. It also doesn't help Wade that the Heat were 14-3 when he didn't play and this isn't even counting the games where LeBron sat with him. You also have to factor in how Wade only played 33 mpg this season while Kobe was one of the top 3-5 when it came to mpg with around 37-38 mpg. Wade's PER and per minute stats were probably better but that is because he can afford to rest due to playing with better players and on a better team. It wouldn't be fair to give Wade an advantage due to being in a better situation/circumstance.

Kobe also had a terrific post-season run this season. There were games in the post-season where he single handily kept them in the game or won them games. Wade on the other hand has been relatively inconsistent all season especially in the post-season. He has gotten it going recently ever since he got his knee drained after Game 3 in the Pacers series and ever since Danny Granger confronted him but before that he was playing subpar basketball especially against the Pacers.

I value consistency highly and that is why Kobe is above Wade.....at least for now.

I noticed nobody put Westbrook in their top 5 or even listed him as an honorable mention but he deserves to be up here in my opinion.

I thought Westbrook should have been made the All-NBA first team over Kobe this season but I do understand why they put Kobe above Westbrook. Westbrook has been remarkable this season especially when it comes to durability in this condensed schedule/season. Westbrook has been very good in the post-season too and before the WCF, many people were saying that Westbrook was the best player for the Thunder in the post-season. Westbrook has also been consistent and efficient this season than both Kobe and Wade were this season for both regular season and post-season.

Howard/Love/Rose are all probably better individual players than Westbrook and Kobe but due to the injuries they suffered this season and due to the fact that we are only talking about this season only, I have Westbrook and Kobe ahead of both of them.

28reloaded · Post #13 » by **28reloaded** » Fri Jun 1, 2012 10:54 pm

1. LeBron
2. Durant
3. Paul
4. Dwight
5. Kobe

An Unbiased Fan · Post #14 » by **An Unbiased Fan** » Sat Jun 2, 2012 3:33 am

Weird year to say the least. A shortened season, and injury plagued post-season.

So far I have....

Lebron
Durant
Kobe
CP3
Westbrook

Some things though. In previous years, game played mattered if someone lost a significant amount of the season. So one has to wonder how Wade is in people's Top 5 with 49 out of 66 games played. Dwight played 54 games which is respectable, but he's also missed the entire post-season.

Josephpaul · Post #15 » by **Josephpaul** » Sat Jun 2, 2012 3:52 am

An Unbiased Fan wrote:Weird year to say the least. A shortened season, and injury plagued post-season.

So far I have....

Lebron
Durant
Kobe
CP3
Westbrook

Some things though. In previous years, game played mattered if someone lost a significant amount of the season. So one has to wonder how Wade is in people's Top 5 with 49 out of 66 games played. Dwight played 54 games which is respectable, but he's also missed the entire post-season.

Mine to a T agreed

Mo26 · Post #16 » by **Mo26** » Sat Jun 2, 2012 4:09 am

CP3 was crap in the post-season.

Dwight missed 12 games and the entire post-season.

How are they top 5. SMh.

StateOfThunder · Post #17 » by **StateOfThunder** » Sat Jun 2, 2012 5:56 am

Mo26 wrote:CP3 was crap in the post-season.

Dwight missed 12 games and the entire post-season.

How are they top 5. SMh.

CP3 was pretty good before he got injured in like Game 5. It's hard to take away what he did all season too. He turned around the Clippers organization and brought them to the playoffs and he was also 3rd in MVP voting which was well deserved.

CP3 should be up in this discussion although I don't agree with the people that put him at #2 though.

I agree with you on Howard though. I also take into account how much of a distraction he has been all season along with the injuries. I actually factor in the intangibles and off-court issues when it comes to comparing and ranking players. It's not just the injuries that made me not consider Dwight in this discussion but also how much of a drama queen/diva he has been all season with the trade talks and the firing of the head coach in Stan Van Gundy. I feel like that ultimately hurt the team and it hurt the team far more than most people realized.

RocketPower23 · Post #18 » by **RocketPower23** » Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:50 pm

LeBron
Durant
CP3

Those are probably my top 3 (I want to take a better look at CP3 this season). The next two spots will likely be between Bryant, Westbrook, Garnett, Wade, Howard, Nash and I'd also throw Love's and Parker's names into the mix. I think the top 3 will be pretty set instone, the 4 and 5 slots will have some interesting discussions.

Sinant · Post #19 » by **Sinant** » Sun Jun 3, 2012 12:17 am

My tentative top 5 right now:

LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Chris Paul
Dwyane Wade
Kevin Garnett

I'm really confident on the top 4, but that fifth spot could go to any number of guys. Dwight's the best player I'm leaving out, but my god he had such a rough season. I hate coach killing. I just can't reward him on talent alone.

The playoffs for me pushed KD over CP3. It's a given that CP3 hauls a bigger load than KD, Durant's got a fantastic bunch of guys around him and they certainly make up for a lot of his weaknesses or bad moments which isn't something CP3 gets to enjoy, but still, KD's been great in the playoffs in his own way, and continues to make strides towards becoming a better all-around player. Assuming nothing disastrous happens in the last few games of the Spurs series (or the Finals, should they pull the upset), Durant's my #2 guy.

AnaheimRoyale · Post #20 » by **AnaheimRoyale** » Sun Jun 3, 2012 5:04 am

Right now? I'd say:

1) Lebron. Not close.
2) Chris Paul. He got quite underrated this season
3) Durant. Great season, still adding to his performance so far.
4) Dwight. People focus too much on the negatives, the guy was still pretty awesome this year.
5) Nash. Totally underrated again this year, almost willed a nothing team to the playoffs.