Sixers (Embiid-less) Midseason Awards
It has been quite the couple of weeks in Sixerland. As fans as one of the hottest teams in professional basketball, we’ve been gifted so much to get excited, nervous, and even angry (#NBAVote Joel Embiid) about. If you had asked me one year ago if there would be any all-star hopefuls on this season’s team, you would have had somebody laughing in your face. 2017 has been gracious to the Philadelphia 76ers throughout the first several weeks of the year, and there is still much more to be looking forward to.
Ben Simmons’s debut is approaching. It is yet to be released to the public when the number-1 overall pick will make his long-awaited debut, but there are rumors suggesting post-All-Star break appearance for Simmons. Adding another playmaker with the size, speed, and vision of the former LSU Tiger could elevate the Sixers to true competitiveness when looking forward to the playoff race.
Upon Simmons’s arrival Brett Brown will have yet another player to run the offense around. However, as circumstances are as of right now, the offense runs through one player and one player only: Embiid. The All-Star snub has been undoubtedly the best player in Philadelphia for the entire season, despite playing limited minutes and sitting out games for fear of another foot injury. Most of the credit for the unprecedented improvement of Brown’s team during the first half of the 2016-17 season goes to Joel. But there are still some players that have contributed greatly in making the Sixers won of the league’s most exciting teams.
At the halfway point of the season, it is time to give out some awards. Due to the fact that a list of midseason awards would be just about swept by JoJo, he will be ineligible from winning. Therefore, some of the less heralded players can receive the acknowledgement that they deserve.
Most Valuable Player: Ersan Ilyasova, PF
Most Valuable Player should not only be the best player in the league (or the team in this case), but also the player who has actually been most important to the success of the team. Since being acquired by the Sixers at the very beginning of the season, Ilyasova has provided scoring, floor spacing, and a starting-caliber power forward that fits well next to Embiid in the front court.
Although he has been criticized for poor shot selection and questionable on-court behavior, Ersan has been exactly what the team has needed him to be since his arrival to Philadelphia. Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor couldn’t play together last season because neither could efficiently shoot from outside the paint. Ilyasova is shooting 39% from beyond the arc this season on 5.7 three-point attempts per game, and this statistic is enough to understand why his pairing with The Process has worked so well.
He is averaging 15.1 points and 6 rebounds per game with the Sixers this season, both of which rank second on the team, behind Mr. Ineligible.
Ilyasova’s presence has also assisted in the development of one of the team’s more promising young star, Dario Saric. After struggling mightily with his role in the starting lineup, Saric was moved to the bench in order to take some pressure off the young Croatian. Dario has thrived in his bench role and is becoming one of the league’s most productive rookies in his first season of American basketball.
It hasn’t been all positive for Ersan, however. He was never, by any means, considered a dominant defensive player. But he is having one of his worst years yet on that side of the ball. Ilyasova currently has a defensive rating (estimated points allowed per 100 possessions) of 108. If the season ended today, it would be the third-worst rating of his career. Nonetheless, he is tied for the NBA lead in charges drawn per game, so at least he hustles. And when playing next to a defensive player of Embiid’s caliber, defense isn’t the most important aspect of the game.
The acquisition of the 29-year-old Turk has paid dividends to a team that was in dire need of a stretch four. In fact the deal has provided the team’s MVP.
Defensive Player of the Year: Robert Covington, SF
Robert Covington, also known as The Rock, RoCo, and Big Shot Bob, has been nothing short of a defensive powerhouse on one of the league’s best defensive teams (when Embiid is on the floor, of course). Covington has become the Sixers’ own personal Klay Thompson because of his assignment to guard the opponent’s best player. According to NBA.com’s “Hustle Stats” section, he is leading the league in player deflections, which is any time that a defender tips the ball on a “non-shot attempt.”
The Sixers’ Defensive Player of the Year award was the easiest to decided upon, and that statement should suggest just how invaluable Covington has been to this young team. In fact, he is having the worst offensive season of his career, but Bob still manages to find himself in the starting lineup night after night.
His offensive numbers have actually been quite atrocious, but his career highs in defensive rating and defensive box plus/minus (“A box score estimate of the defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average player, translated to an average team,” per Basketball Reference) are keeping him worthy for a starting role in the eyes of Brett Brown. And at the end of the day, nobody’s opinion matters more than Brown’s opinion.
And in case there was any confusion about where the nickname Big Shot Bob came from:
Rookie of the Year: Dario Saric, F
Rookies are one of the most rewarding facets of being a fan of the Sixers. Since the reign of Hinkie began, the losses were all justified by a high draft pick and a high-end youngster with limitless expectations placed upon him. Throughout The Process (the period, not the player), there was only one player who won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, and he is no longer on the roster.
On a team that drafted first overall in last June’s draft, the most unlikely candidate for the award given to the best rookie is currently the frontrunner for the honor. When Ben Simmons broke his right foot in an offseason practice, there was an automatic loss of depth at the small forward position. Dario Saric has stepped up in a big way after he passed up money and comfortability to leave his native Europe and move to Philadelphia.
Dario has been a significant spark off the bench and seems to improve every time he touches the court. For a 22-year-old still trying to learn the ropes of the NBA, Saric has been playing well above the expectations that fans, media, and the organization had for him coming into the year.
Averaging about 10 points and 6 rebounds per game, The Homie, as he was dubbed by Nerlens Noel, will travel to New Orleans for the Rising Stars Challenge. Dario is also third on the NBA’s rookie ladder that ranks the league’s best first-year players. First on that list is He Who Must Not Win An Award, so even more praise is due for the Croatian.
Most Improved Player: TJ McConnell, PG
Two years ago today TJ McConnell was the starting point guard at Arizona, and nobody considered him a legitimate NBA prospect. He was an above average college player that would become a D-League or overseas player after graduation. However, a rare situation in Philadelphia offered TJ a chance that he would not waste.
It is no secret that the Sixers had (and have) a serious point guard issue. The problem was that the team had no reliable point guards that would be healthy to begin the 2015-16 season. McConnell had a strong offseason and unexpectedly made the team, with the consensus assumption being that he would be cut after Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall recovered from injury. TJ worked hard to beat out both Wroten and Marshall, both of whom are no longer in the NBA.
It is now 2017, and McConnell finds himself in a place that only he could have believed he would be: the starting point guard for an NBA team. Since winning the starting job from Sergio Rodriguez, TJ has, in part, led the team to a 10-4 record and the thick of the hunt for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. His stats aren’t notably higher than those which he put up last season, but his emergence as the team’s floor general and ability to run the offense both efficiently and successfully is resulting in the improvement of other players.
No close observer of the Sixers is questioning McConnell’s talent any longer. If he continues to develop as a leader, he has potential to make waves in The Association.
There has also been plenty of Carmelo Anthony drama dominating the media recently. It all seemed to have started after TJ did this to Melo. Is it fair to say that McConnell ruined the career of a Hall of Famer? (Please note the MJ leap at the end of this gif. Thank you.)
Bench Player of the Year: Nerlens Noel, F/C
The most controversial of the award selections will assumedly be Nerlens Noel as BPOY. Traditionally this award is named Sixth Man of the Year, but, as there would only have been one candidate, most valuable player coming off the bench receives the nod. Noel has played in limited games due to injury and controversy surrounding the famous center logjam, but he has still been one of the most important pieces of the recent success that the Sixers have enjoyed.
It has yet to be decided what the fate of the flat-topped Noel will be; nevertheless, what he has done since being given the opportunity to join the rotation should not be ignored. When Okafor was getting the backup center minutes, leads were not safe. Embiid would take a seat on the bench, and watchers would clutch the ends of their chairs. Without a rim protect, they would think, there is nobody to stop DeMarcus Cousins or Nikola Jokic or Dwight Howard.
Noel’s presence as a backup symbolizes a sigh of relief for fans everywhere. His offensive game is raw, but there have been signs of significant improvement for Nerlens on the offensive end. In addition to an improving offensive game, the possibilities are endless as a rim protector for the pending restricted free agent, including the chance that he and Embiid will be able to play together to form a terrifying duo for opposing big men.
In about 17 minutes per contest, Nerlens Noel is shooting 60% from the field and has an offensive rating of 121 (!). Taken into the context that he has played limited minutes, Noel’s numbers are admittedly exaggerated. However, he has shown a much improved mid-range jump shot in the opportunities that he has been given for the Sixers in 2016-17, and he has front Bryan Colangelo considering the option of matching the expensive offer sheets that teams with be looking to sign him to in this coming offseason.
The Sixers are only halfway through the 2016-17 campaign, but there has been enough excitement to last a lifetime. As the season winds down and the team continues to improve and the youngsters continue to develop their games, fans will have even more material to show their friends and Twitter haters who are yet to Trust the Process. Ben Simmons might come back, a big man might be moved, and Rookie of the Year trophy might be handed out, so don’t take your eyes off the Sixers.
Photo by Raps Fan (via Flickr)
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:Sixers