MIP balloting could be all Suns

Barkley6 · Post #1 » by **Barkley6** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 1:31 am

Clearly it's still quite early, but 16 games in the Suns would seem to have the inside track for the Most Improved Player award.

Eric Bledsoe is certainly a candidate moving from bit part player to go to scorer and upping his averages from 8.5/3.1/3 to 20.3/6.3/4.7.

Miles Plumlee is another player who had emerged from the shadows to show his abilities with increased minutes, proving that he can be a legit starting center and a defensive presence in the paint.

Gerald Green has been another pleasant surprise, thus far doubling his scoring average from last season and shooting a much higher percentage. He's definitely a high flier, but has shown this season he can be a consistent threat from beyond the arc.

Finally, Markieff Morris has really embraced a new role as a banger in the paint and while he's a more likely candidate for 6th man, his improvement shouldn't be ignored.

The Suns don't have the most talented roster, but they are showing a knack for identifying ways in which to get young players to blossom and thrive. Very exciting!

YFZblu · Post #2 » by **YFZblu** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 2:01 am

I agree - I do think of all the improved candidates though, Markieff has actually improved his game the most; whereas IMO most others on the list (especially Bledsoe) probably would have performed similarly last season had they been provided adequate playing time.

Dragic13 · Post #3 » by **Dragic13** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 8:28 am

My vote would be for Plumlee coming out of nowhere to average 10 and 9 with 2 blocks a game

That's pretty much what Gortat gave us last year. Gortat gave us 11 and 9 last year.

Gorilla Warfare · Post #4 » by **Gorilla Warfare** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 5:22 pm

I would say Green is most improved, but Bledsoe will probably be the only player on our roster that will get votes sadly, and knowing how much the league hates us, we won't even have a player in the top 5 for this category.

Post #5 » by **lilfishi22** » Sun Dec 1, 2013 10:52 pm

I'd go Plumlee, only because the majority of us saw him purely as a throw-in in the Scola trade. Didn't expect him to play more than garbage minutes (pre-Gortat trade) and probably would just be that guy who would give us 6 fouls a game. His hustle and energy is fantastic and his offense and foot work is a complete surprise. The guy averaging 12/10/2.5 per36 and the only other players in this company is Ibaka, Hibbert, Howard and Anthony Davis. I'm not saying he's an elite defender on the same level of these guys but his defense is showing up on the stat sheet and he's also averaging less fouls per game than most of these guys.

With Bledsoe, I think most of us expected him to put up stats and in that respect, it's not as big of a surprise as what the Plumber has contributed.

Gorilla Warfare · Post #6 » by **Gorilla Warfare** » Mon Dec 2, 2013 2:23 am

lilfishi22 wrote:I'd go Plumlee, only because the majority of us saw him purely as a throw-in in the Scola trade. Didn't expect him to play more than garbage minutes (pre-Gortat trade) and probably would just be that guy who would give us 6 fouls a game. His hustle and energy is fantastic and his offense and foot work is a complete surprise. The guy averaging 12/10/2.5 per36 and the only other players in this company is Ibaka, Hibbert, Howard and Anthony Davis. I'm not saying he's an elite defender on the same level of these guys but his defense is showing up on the stat sheet and he's also averaging less fouls per game than most of these guys.

With Bledsoe, I think most of us expected him to put up stats and in that respect, it's not as big of a surprise as what the Plumber has contributed.

I think this is the reason why he will be the only Suns player in MIP contention. Bledsoe is our most known player throughout the league and if someone like Green, Plumlee, or Markieff is in the race for it NBA fans in places like Toronto, Washington, and other places that don't catch our games will be like "who the hell are those guys?"

The NBA won't choose a player for MIP if they are not well known by fans across the league. It's sad but true.

RunDogGun · Post #7 » by **RunDogGun** » Mon Dec 2, 2013 3:26 am

I think many of the guys on that list became more famous because of the extra hard work they put in to get the award in the first place. I don't think many knew of Diaw the year he won it.

Side note, it's strange how many guys on the MIP list have worked with the Suns. KJ, Diaw, JOneal, Scott Skiles, Turk, and a few others.

I forgot ABrooks, and JRose.

And Don MacLean

Post #8 » by **lilfishi22** » Mon Dec 2, 2013 4:59 am

Gorilla Warfare wrote:I think this is the reason why he will be the only Suns player in MIP contention. Bledsoe is our most known player throughout the league and if someone like Green, Plumlee, or Markieff is in the race for it NBA fans in places like Toronto, Washington, and other places that don't catch our games will be like "who the hell are those guys?"

The NBA won't choose a player for MIP if they are not well known by fans across the league. It's sad but true.

True. Plumlee would have to be the guy leading us above .500 at the end of the season to get consideration since Bledsoe is the face the organisation right now (in contention for MIP)

Barkley6 · Post #9 » by **Barkley6** » Mon Dec 2, 2013 11:44 pm

Dont the coaches vote on MIP? Or am I making that up? If so, every coach will have seen and played against our guys. I dont think the coaches have a vested interest in who gets the MIP award considering it's the lowliest of the season's end haul.