OTRBasketball: The 08-09 NBA Awards

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The NBA Playoffs couldn't have come any later for almost half of the teams in the league, and OTRBasketball has been anticipating its arrival for weeks.

Three staff members (Yama Hazheer and Erick Blasco, writers, and Brandon Neal, site owner) have put their minds together to come up with their own version of the NBA's 2008-09 awards.

Despite a few hours of indecision on my part for the Coach of the Year award, here is our list.

Coach of the Year

Erick Blasco: Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets

Despite having no roster stability over the first half of the season, and no Tracy McGrady over the second half, the Rockets have been the second-best team in the West for much of the second half of the season.

Their defense has been professional-grade since T-Mac expunged himself from the team, Ron Artest has played nice, and the Rockets rarely beat themselves.

All this with a second-year runt directing the offense. Adelman deserves major props for guiding Houston through unstable waters.

Yama Hazheer: Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets

This season, Adelman developed Von Wafer, was able to control Ron Artest, and kept the Houston Rockets at the top of the Western Conference without Tracy McGrady. He has made this club one of the better defensive teams in the league.

Brandon Neal: Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers

Over the last few years, fans have taken shots at Mike Brown for playing "LeBron James basketball" and having the inability to make coaching decisions for anyone else on the floor.

The fact of the matter is, Brown's stint under Popovich may have paid off, because his coaching is nothing short of outstanding this season.

Cleveland has hit an all-time high in wins, reached the best record in the NBA for the first time in franchise history, and has a stellar defensive squad, and it's fairly difficult to put that all on LeBron's shoulders, although a significant chunk is due to his improved play on defense.

Sixth Man of the Year

Erick Blasco: Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks

Strictly a conscienceless scorer and defensive gambler, Terry’s ability to sizzle quickly has given Dallas’ offense the edge it’s needed. No other bench player has provided the same impact Terry has.

Yama Hazheer: Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks

Jason Terry would be a starter on 90 percent of NBA teams, but the Dallas Mavericks already have enough offense in their starting lineup, so they put Terry on the bench.

When "Jet" comes into the game, he averages 20 points on 46 percent field goal shooting. He's also one of the better three-point shooters in the game.

When it comes down to the final minutes of the game, Dirk Nowitzki and Terry will finish out games for Dallas.

Brandon Neal: Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks

Terry is averaging nearly 20 points per game on 46 percent shooting. His ability to hit jumpers from anywhere on the floor not only spreads the opposing defense out to allow more offensive options, but also gives him room to operate out of any one-on-one situations.

With Josh Howard's inconsistent play this season, Terry has been there to pick up the slack.

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