[Hache Man]

The Fantasy Hoops Awards

With only one full week to play and then a 1-2 game week after that, there's little use for waiver wire pickup news these days. Ramon Sessions is a nice pickup given the Mo Williams injury, and maybe Raef LaFrentz can help you after Joel Przybilla's broken hand. Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, James Posey, Leon Powe, Josh Powell, Rodney Stuckey, Jeff Green and Jason Maxiell will all probably be useful this week, but instead of trying to guess who Marc Iavaroni is going to play this week, or which star will be the next to shut it down early (Corey Maggette looks like the answer), I've decided to hand out the NBA Fantasy Awards.

This column might be better showing up next week, but your league should really think about stopping play at the end of Week 23, as things become just too unpredictable over the final week and a half.

I'm planning on making Monday's Daily Dose a Waiver Wire column, so look for it at noon.

Fantasy MVP - LeBron James

James is currently sitting fourth behind Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant and Amare Stoudemire on the Basketballmonster.com player rater, but it's simply because of his poor free throw shooting. LeBron's numbers are at 30 points, 8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.1 blocks and 48% from the field. Free throws are LeBron's Achilles' heel, as he hit just 72% from the line. He's also not helping things by shooting over 10 of them per game, but we knew this going in. The fact he's outscoring Paul by nine points, getting four more boards and a block per game more than CP3 makes me think LeBron is still the guy you want to build your team around. Paul gets four more assists per game, one more steal and shoots it better from the line, but I don't care.

Runner Up - Chris Paul

Paul may have been the best value pick of the year, as he probably didn't even go until the second round in your league. In the two leagues of mine I took a quick look at, Paul went with the first pick of the second round and the last pick of the second round. Nice. If I were drafting my team for next year today, I'd go with LeBron No. 1, Kobe No. 2 and Paul No. 3. Paul is still wiry enough that I worry about injuries, but he certainly didn't have any problems this year and has a legitimate shot at winning the real MVP award. Congratulations if you drafted Paul this year.

Fantasy ROY - Al Horford

Kevin Durant's higher on the player rater, but his dreadful shooting percentage on many nights leads me to Horford. Horford didn't hurt you anywhere this season, and was arguably the second best player on his team, which appears to be headed to the playoffs. I'd personally rank him third, behind Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, but some acquaintances in the "know" actually think that Horford was behind only JJ in terms or real value for the Hawks. Horford was good for nearly a double-double every night, averaging 10 points and 9.6 rebounds, while hitting 50% of his field goals and 72% of his free throws.

Runner Up – Kevin Durant

Durant caught most of the headlines and was given the ROY award the day Greg Oden got hurt. He averaged close to 20 points to go along with 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.9 steals and shot 42% from the floor. He was on pace for a much lower shooting percentage, but tore it up in March. He shot 41% in November, 41% in December, 40% in January and 38% in February before exploding for 53% in March. His future is incredibly bright and I think his shot will be much better next season. But for this year, Horford was consistent from the start, played like a veteran and did more good than harm for his fantasy owners. Of course, just after I wrote this, Durant had his best game with a tough double-overtime win over the Nuggets.

Fantasy Sleeper of the Year - Hedo Turkoglu

Turkoglu was taken with the 96th pick in one league and wasn't drafted in League Freak (but I grabbed him off waivers in Week 1). The fact he is currently ranked as the No. 22 fantasy player is remarkable, but he had a great season. He averaged 20 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, a steal and 2 threes per game while shooting 45.4% from the floor. The nice thing about his season was that he was very consistent from week-to-week, meaning he rarely did anything to let his owners down.

Runner Up – Mike Dunleavy

Dunleavy's season was very similar to Turkoglu's. The numbers were similar, their consistency was similar and Dunleavy finished at No. 25 on the rater. I don't really trust him to do it again next season, but will have to see if the Pacers are blown up in the offseason.

I was going to do a "Value Pick" award, but it's essentially the same as the Sleeper award. My picks for best value of the year are Jose Calderon, who was not drafted in your league, and Andre Miller, who was taken somewhere around the fifth or sixth round. Calderon ended up coming in at No. 34 on the rater, while Miller clocked in a No. 40. Had Miller not gotten off to such an awful start, he would have finished much higher. He averaged just 14.8 points and 4.5 assists in November, while racking up 20 & 8 in February. And Calderon was fantastic in place of T.J. Ford, and more than any player in the league, needs a full-time starting gig. JC could also be added to the list of guys who disappeared down the stretch, but he was excellent for 3/4 of the season.

Fantasy Bust - Ben Wallace

This one was not tough to come up with. He's the biggest name sitting at the bottom of the player rater, clocking in at No. 148. That means that he shouldn't have theoretically even been owned or drafted in most leagues, but his boards (8.6), blocks (1.6) and steals (1.3) kept owners holding on. It probably wasn't worth it, as he was often injured and usually looked like he would have rather been just about anywhere else than at a basketball game. He averaged just five points, shot a typical 43% from the line, and incredibly hit just 39% of his shots from the floor. I'm not sure how he managed that one, but he hit just 37% of his shots with the Bulls this year. Big Bust. Big Bricks. Big Fro. Bust Wallace had a terrible year.

Runner Up – Andres Nocioni and Ben Gordon

Nocioni averaged 13 points and five boards to come in at No. 110 in the player rater, while Gordon averaged 19 points, but will finish the season with just seventh-round value. I'm not really sure it's their fault, as Jim Boylan is not winning the hearts of fantasy owners or Bulls fans. I had Gordon in one league and never had enough confidence in him to use him over the first few months of the season, while Nocioni never really seemed to find a spot in the Bulls' rotation.

I was going to do a separate category for "Most Disappointing," but it's basically the same thing. That said, I tried to find guys who had decent, yet disappointing seasons, but weren't actually busts. My most disappointing players are another set of teammates – Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor. Wallace played in 62 games and averaged 19 points, six boards, 3.5 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. The blocks were disappointing, but he helped make up for them by hitting a career-high 71 3-pointers. He didn't have a bad season, but was injured at the wrong times and didn't give his owners the blocks they were looking for. He finished at No. 48 overall, but I was looking for a Top 25 finish. Okafor was more of a true disappointment, despite averaging 13.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. He came in at No. 70 after being taken in the fourth round of most drafts, and all his numbers were down this season when compared to last year. His lackluster season can probably be blamed on his coach, Sam Vincent, who could never decide if Okafor was his center or power forward. I'm still optimistic that Okafor will turn into a beast soon, and he should end up being a value pick next year.

Fantasy Ironmen - Baron Davis and Marcus Camby

Two of the league's most injury-prone players got it done this year. Baron is in the running for MVP and hasn't missed a single game, while Camby will probably win the Defensive Player of the Year award and has missed just three games with six to play. I'm not sure why, but we stayed away from suggesting that these two would go down this year. Call it a lucky guess. Baron is ranked No. 5 on the rater, while Camby comes in at No. 10. Impressive.

Fantasy Defensive Player of the Year - Marcus Camby

Camby's 13.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 3.7 blocks should seal the deal for him. Josh Smith is next at 8.2 boards, 1.5 steals and 2.9 blocks, while guys like Shane Battier (a steal and block), LeBron James (2 steals and a block) are on the outside looking in. Chris Paul leads the leagues in steals at 2.7 per, while Baron Davis is second at 2.4. Camby had a fantastic season and gave his owners everything they could hope for this year.

Fantasy Invisible Man - Shane Battier

Battier's been shutting people down lately, doing a number on Kevin Durant and Al Thornton last week, and might be the best pure defender in the league. He's a role player, and gets very little fantasy love, but comes in at No. 62 overall. He's averaging 9.3 points, 1.8 threes, 5.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.2 blocks. He's only hitting 43% of his shots, but he always makes for a solid player to slot into your lineup or keep on your bench. He certainly doesn't do much to hurt you, outside of not scoring much.

Fantasy Magic Man – Shawn Marion

Despite playing in just 62 games and being traded to the worst team in the league, Marion still managed to come in at No. 24 overall, giving him second-round value. It's disappointing considering he was likely taken in the first round of your draft, but with so many things working against him and so few games played, it's amazing he'll still finish in the Top 25 or so cumulatively.

Fantasy Breakout Player – Rudy Gay

Gay will finish around No. 20 overall and contributes in all categories, including scoring, threes, steals and blocks. He should be taken in the early second round next year, and is only going to get better from here on out. Given that he played for such a bad team and shaky fantasy coach, his numbers look even better. Josh Smith didn't exactly break out this season, as that happened last year. But he's going to finish at No. 12 or 13 overall, and should be a first-round fantasy pick for the rest of his career. Monta Ellis also overcame the Nellie factor and a slow start to post huge numbers this season.

Biggest Fantasy Injury – Yao Ming

Gilbert Arenas' injury was obviously the most devastating fantasy injury this season, as he was taken in the Top 5 in most leagues and missed almost the entire season. But the good news is that he should come back strong next season. Yao played well for his owners until he went down again with a stress fracture in his left foot. But the biggest concern is that this was the third straight season Yao has played 57 or less games due to a foot or leg problem, and we have to wonder if he's going to ever be fully healthy again. I was watching a documentary about his rookie season on IFC the other day and he was on a trainer's table with a bag of ice on his foot when I tuned in. Arenas' injury was the most devastating, but Yao's injury concerns will have a bigger impact at next year's drafts. Think twice before drafting him.

Biggest Disappearing Act – Mo Williams & Chris Kaman

Both of these guys were enjoying huge seasons until their team's terrible records and injuries caught up with them. We had some notice on Kaman, who really didn't do much over the last month, but the loss of Williams has cost many of you a fantasy championship. Hopefully you were able to replace him before he hurt you too badly, but these were just two of many players who pulled a Houdini over the playoff stretch.

Least Valuable Fantasy Coach – Marc Iavaroni

Iavaroni wins my award for worst fantasy coach, as he couldn't seem to make up his mind all season. He is probably responsible for a less than stellar season from Mike Miller, and the disappointing rookie season for Mike Conley. We could never figure out what he would do with Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry, Javaris Crittenton, Juan Carlos Navarro, Darko Milicic and Kwame Brown. Yeah, he was wise enough to run Rudy Gay out there consistently, but the rest of the Memphis lineup was nothing more than a fantasy headache.

Isiah Thomas, Don Nelson, Jim Boylan, Sam Vincent, Randy Wittman and Avery Johnson also deserve some attention. The reasons are obvious on Isiah, but the biggest mistake he continued to make over the last two years was his reluctance to play David Lee. Well, and the Stephon Marbury fiasco, not to mention countless other shady things he did this year.

Nelson is always a favorite for this award and owners of Andris Biedrins and Al Harrington probably will disagree with Nellie not winning the thing. Boylan took over for Scott Skiles but the Bulls actually looked worse, and the rotations were a nightmare. Just ask an Andres Nocioni owner. Vincent is begging to keep his job, but given his team's poor effort this season and the apparent misuse of Emeka Okafor, and Michael Jordan just might fire him soon. Wittman could never decide on a starting lineup, but things did get better near the end. At least he didn't mess with Al Jefferson. And Avery Johnson is doing his best to screw up the Mavericks. He's made plenty of bad in-game decisions this year and makes the list if, for nothing else, his use of Jason Terry this season.

MVP Fantasy Coach – Mike Woodson

This is obviously a fantasy award, as Woody isn't going to win any awards in real life this year, unless the Hawks somehow beat the Celtics in Round 1 (um, yeah). Oh, and they still haven't even locked up the No. 8 seed and have to play in Indy this week. But as far as fantasy coaches go, Woody was great. He basically played a seven-man rotation, giving solid minutes to his starters, allowing Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby and Al Horford to be reliable on a weekly basis. In addition, Josh Childress got his minutes and had value as well. Thanks, Woody, for not keeping owners guessing (and possibly getting your team into the playoffs).

George Karl quietly did a nice fantasy job in Denver, Doc Rivers used a set rotation that could be relied upon and Jerry Sloan was quite predictable as well this season. He also buried the hatchet and let Andrei Kirilenko return to form (sort of), although AK-47 still didn't really live up to the hype. utahjazz.com

Look for Monday's Dose as I'll tackle waiver wire questions there.