Most Improved Player: NBA 1st Half Awards

This one really didn’t take much thought.  The answer was crystal clear the seconds after reading the question.  However, I did note a few other players who deserve an honorable mention for seriously stepping their game up:

Demar Derozan, Otto Porter, Jabari Parker, Zach Lavine, Dennis Schroder, Devin Booker

Without further ado, our first half (and likely full year) most improved goes to… Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis came into the league 3.5 years ago with a whirlwind of hype surrounding him. He was quickly dubbed “The Greek Freak” and… to be honest at first it was difficult to understand why. He had very unique physical attributes, but watching him play in his first year wasn’t exactly inspiring.  He couldn’t shoot and looked hesitant -- qualities that are not found in a current-day superstar.  Many (including myself) were wholeheartedly rooting for him, but more production was needed before breaking out the Giannis bandwagon.  

However, with a few years under his belt, he has shown us a heck of a lot more.  Bucks fans witnessed a few glimpses of greatness towards the end of last season, but nothing could have prepared them for what has come this year.  Giannis has taken the league by storm, posting 23.7p/8.8r/5.4a/1.8s/2.0b, utterly god-like numbers across the board. He is the very essence  of a “do-it-all” player, and is a huge reason behind the Bucks being in the playoff conversation this year. His scoring has increased by 6.8 points, assists by 1.1, and he added almost a whole block per game. That’s all on top of his FG% jumping from 50.6% to an extremely efficient 53%, which is crazy given the spike in usage he is experiencing.

One could try and compare him with players like Lebron James or Magic Johnson, but it would be unfair to both sides.  Giannis possesses a combination of skills that the league has never seen before.  The guy is 7 feet tall and has a great handle, which allows him to attack the rim and nonchalantly pick up his dribble before the three-point line and throw down a ferocious dunk. Rarely ever does a draft gamble like Giannis turn out to become one of the league’s most talented players, but John Hammond is surely thanking his stars in Milwaukee.

At the time of he was drafted in 2013, Giannis was a 6’9” forward who did not have much besides potential. There sure was a lot of it, but he hadn’t really refined his game in any direction.  As stated before: he couldn’t shoot, didn’t have a great handle on the ball, two things essential to making a superstar player. However, for the better part of his first 3 years, the basketball world remained confident that huge things were coming from the Greek native. He weathered the ups and downs of being a young NBA player, steadily improving throughout each year. And boy, things have changed.  He is now 7’0” tall and arguably at his most dangerous when handling the ball in the open court.  His great length allows him to corral rebounds with the league’s best, and take off to finish on the other end of the court with ease, or drop a sweet dime to Jabari Parker.  The versatility he displays on a night-in, night-out basis is incredible.  From defense to playmaking to finishing, Giannis has truly become one of the league’s elite, and is deserving of his spot as an All-Star Game starter. Almost every aspect of his game has clicked harmoniously, and the league may have a perennial All-Leaguer on its hands.  

Now the only problem he has is figuring out which position he is best at.

Houston Rockets: The D'Antoni Effect

Mike D’Antoni has done it again, this time in Houston. Innovator of the run-and-gun style and “7 Seconds or Less” philosophy, D’Antoni has proven himself a winner and one of the most successful offensive minds of the 21st century. He has led 3 different teams to the playoffs, often under less than ideal circumstances. And, invariably, D’Antoni has proven his ability to elevate guards to incredible heights. Steve Nash won two consecutive MVP awards at the helm of the D’Antoni-led Suns; Chauncey Billups had a reemergence at 34 on D’Antoni’s Knickerbockers; and of course, he was coach when Linsanity took over the NBA in 2012. In 2016, now with his 5th team as head coach, he is once again showing his aptitude for offense, elevating the Rockets to one of the top three offenses in the league, and quite possibly a top-5 team overall. But how exactly has he done it?

The Rockets have arguably the least starpower that they have had in the Harden era, losing the uber-athletic Dwight Howard to free agency along with other valuable pieces in Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones. But two nifty offseason acquisitions have proven to be brilliant.  The Rockets signed sharpshooter Eric Gordon to a 4yr/$53million contract, and perhaps the best stretch big in the game in Ryan Anderson for 4yrs/$80million.  The addition of two of the league’s premier shooters have sent the Rockets offense to the moon, typified by having already twice broken the records for three-pointers made and three-pointers attempted in a single game, and we’re not even halfway through the season.  The Rockets play at a torrid pace, rivaled only by past teams that D’Antoni has also been at the helm of.  The style of play does result in a lot of turnovers, but it produces countless easy buckets and wide-open threes, something the Houston offense thrives off of.  

While the prolific offense has been a huge factor, D’Antoni has never been known for his defensive prowess.  His teams often choose to put their foot on the gas and outscore their opponent, rather than to grind it out and make their opponent score less.  On opening night the defense most closely resembled strawberry Jell-O with how fluidly the Lakers cut through them in transition, and it looked like it was going to be pitiful at best after the first few games of the season.  However, it’s actually improved to a solid not that bad.  Their weakness was especially glaring when the defensive stopper Patrick Beverley was out for the beginning of the season, but since his return the defense has looked alive and well.  Sometimes it only takes one man to inspire an army.

To this point, you’ve gotta be thinking “So D’Antoni has worked his magic and created a carbon copy of the ‘3 Seconds or Less’ Phoenix Suns! Right?” Not quite. Yes the Rockets are scoring at will, chucking 3’s at a historic rate, and have an elite playmaker at the helm; but there are a few defining qualities that make this Rockets team unique, quite unlike any team we’ve ever seen before.  And that is largely in thanks to the man, the myth, the Beard: James Harden.

Harden’s astronomical offensive numbers are largely due to a stroke of genius from D’Antoni, and how he has completely reimagined the offense by utilizing Harden as his full-time point guard.  Last year ranking 13th in touches per game and time of possession, Harden now leads the league in both; he touches the ball a remarkable 99 times a game and has possession for over 9 minutes. This has caused him to be directly involved in almost 60 points a game, scoring 28.4 himself and letting his league-leading 11.9 assists account for the rest.  A few aforementioned offseason moves have surrounded him with an abundance of floor spacers and pick-and-roll big men, allowing Harden to impose his will in the paint more effectively than ever before.  His offensive plus/minus leads the league at a whopping +7.5, a half point higher than even Russell Westbrook (who’s averaging a triple double).  Simply put, with Harden at the helm, the offense is nearly unstoppable.

Yes, Harden does have his flaws.  He averages a league-most 5.7 turnovers per game.  His defense is suspect.  There are questions surrounding whether he has the ability to lead a team to a chip.  But c’mon, with the kind of season he is having, it’s hard to deny his greatness.  The combination of talents he has in being able to shoot the 3-ball, score inside, get to the line over 10 times a game, and create offense for others is almost unprecedented, and allows him to slice-and-dice through defenses all game long.  Houston’s, and especially Harden’s, firepower was on full display throughout the month of December, where they compiled a fantastic 14-2 record.  The real fireworks didn’t go off until New Year’s Eve, however, when Harden posted an astounding 53point-16rebound-17assist triple-double in a 119-112 win over the Knicks.  It marked the first time in NBA history that anybody has posted a 50-15-15 game, and he tied the legend Wilt Chamberlain for the most points in a triple-double ever.  Truly incredible numbers.

Long story short: The Rockets are legit. The beautiful combination of Point Guard James Harden, the offensive mind of Mike D’Antoni, and a plethora of shooters has caused a team that many weren’t predicting to earn higher than the 6th seed in the Western Conference to strike fear in the hearts of the league’s giants. They are a picture-perfect example of what a team can grow to become when the GM, coach, and players are all tuned to the same wavelength, and that’s exactly what Daryl Morey has accomplished: one of the most gifted offensive minds of the modern era paired with one of the most gifted offensive players of the modern era, chucking 3’s and dunking basketballs into the hearts of basketball fans.