Fantasy Basketball Midseason Awards

D’Antoni Award for “Player whose stock is elevated most by coaching change/style”

David Lee had a virtual lock on this award until Kevin McHale led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a five-game winning streak.

Who knew, one of the worst GM’s of all time – a guy whose team was finically penalized because he paid JOE SMITH! under the table – would end up being, at least so far, a competent coach.

And one player has flourished the most since McHale has taken over: Randy Foye.

During that winning streak, Foye suddenly emerged as one of the elite point guards in fantasy hoops.

Check out his stats his for the month of January: 22 points, 52% shooting, 3.3 threes, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals.

Drew Bledsoe Award for “Player who benefits most from another player’s injury”

Andrea Bargnani wins this one over Paul Millsap in a close race but lately Bargs has been on absolute fire since Jermaine O’Neal went down(again) with a knee injury.

O’Neal even has volunteered to come off the bench once he returns and let Bargnani remain the starter. Admirable, but I think that would have been the scenario regardless.

Sorry Jermaine, but you’re playing sidekick to the youngster.

Isiah Thomas Award for “Player who benefits most from a trade”

Since the trade deadline has yet to arrive, I can’t officially give this award out.

Boris Diaw and Al Harrington, however, are the major frontrunners for the honor.

Diaw has once again emerged as the do-it-all center, averaging 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists since being dealt to the Charlotte Bobcats. Those numbers are the equivalent of having a point guard you can plug in at center.

Harrington’s numbers improved even more drastically now that he’s a main component in the fantasy-steroid system of Mike D’Antoni.

Big Al is putting up 21 points, 6 boards, and 2.5 threes under the mustached taskmaster.

I can understand why Diaw had trouble finding time amongst the Suns big men, but it baffles me how Harrington and small-ball pioneer Don Nelson couldn’t co-exists.

Especially when Nellie goes on record that he signed Jermareo Davidson instead of Richard Hendrix because “"Hendrix is more of an inside player, and the kind of forwards we're looking for can run and shoot the jumper a little better than Hendrix.”

Hmm, sounds like the kind of big man you’re looking for is . . . ah. . . Al Harrington.

Brent Barry Award for “Player most likely to cool off during second half of season”

I hate to do this to one of my favorite players, but Nate Robinson has been putrid after a surprisingly hot and efficient start.

It’s one thing to go through a shooting slump, it’s far worse to fall out of the rotation all together.

D’Antoni has limited Robinson to less than 20 minutes of PT in the last two games.

I hope this award/prediction proves to be false for Nasty Nate. You have to love the little guy.

Rafer Alston Award for “Player most likely to explode during second half of season”

Take a gander at these three rookie lines by ESPN stat geek John Hollinger:

Player A: 37.3 min., 16.3 pts., 6.2 ast., 45.9 FG%, 13.58 PER
Player B: 36.4 min., 17.7 pts., 3.8 ast., 43.8 FG%, 14.03 PER
Player C: 33.1 min., 15.5 pts., 5.1 ast., 46.2 FG%, 16.23 PER

"Player A is Rose in the month of December. Player B is Mayo in the month of December."

"And Player C, who has more combined points and assists per minute than either Rose or Mayo, a better shooting percentage and a higher Player Efficiency Rating? That would be Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook in the month of December."

Westbrook’s stock should continue to rise; he was just awarded rookie of the month for December along with Rose. Furthermore, Oklahoma City keeps improving and Earl Watson keeps declining.

It’s not as if anyone expected Samuel Dalembert to be an All-Star, but 5.5 points is substandard.

He’s tallied only six double-digit scoring games and has registered a goose egg four times.

Dalembert is also struggling in the categories he’s supposed to produce, averaging only 8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, both down from last year. Maybe it's the new Mohawk.

Why Mo Cheeks is still playing him over Marreese Speights is beyond me.

Jameer Nelson finally learned how to play point guard.

Nothing spectacular, but still numbers many questioned if he could ever produce. His improved shooting has made him a far more consistent point guard.

2007-08: 11 points (47% FG), 1 three (42%)
2008-09: 16.5 points (51% FG), 2 threes (46%)

At first, I was on the O.J. Mayo bandwagon but Rose is slowly emerging as the more efficient player.

Both miss plenty of shots but in recent weeks, Rose has at least cut down on his turnovers giving him a slight edge over O.J. And while his assists may suffer, Rose’s field goal percentage should improve with the return of Hinrich.

Captain Kirk will provide another point guard who can actually find Rose for easy buckets instead of him having to penetrate against three defenders.

O.J., on the other hand, plays for Memphis.

In real life LeBron James is the superior player in the NBA, in the fantasy world, however, I give a slight nod to Chris Paul.

In one of the hardest categories (steals) and the hardest category (assists) to attain, Paul amasses far more the closest competitor. With 11 assists and 3 steals a game no one dominates their position-specific stats like CP3 except for Dwight Howard.

Unlike Howard, however, Paul doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. And oh yeah, he also averages 21 points and 5 rebounds.

This year’s mid-season Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Gilbert Arenas.

This most recent accolade is merely one amongst many dubious distinctions Gilbert has attained over the past few years, such as: “Most popular athlete blogger.”

This award is bestowed upon the “Hibachi” for annually teasing his fantasy owners (I’m amongst them) into believing he will come back after his fourteenth knee surgery.

Never does Arenas commit to a return date or sitting the remainder of the season. Instead, he toys with the confidence and sanity of fantasy nerds with ambiguous phrases about the condition of his knee.

One week he’s doing 2-on-2 drills, the next week he proclaims, “I’m not even close to returning.”

Thanks Gil, all I have left is the occasional daydream at work about you returning to my lineup to average 28 and 6. Remember those day, me neither.

Come back already, the Wizards need you, the NBA needs you; Gilbert, I need you.