Rookie of the Year - Amare Stoudamire: Without any hesitation, Amare Stoudamire. Straight from out of high school, he was ready to contribute, and did. He was a skyscraper higher than any other choice, those being Yao Ming, Caron Butler, or Dajuan Wagner. What was impressive was that Stoudamire did it at a position the Western Conference was stacked with, the power forward, while helping the Suns improve so much this year. He basically out-jumped and out-quicked all of them, like a pogo stick. He scored on all of them  with a sushi-raw low post game by sheer athleticism alone. But you got to have liked the way he did it. No fear, just face up, take it hard and don't stop until the ball is in the hole. Often it resulted in some vicious dunks, provoking Marbury to express some Kodak moment close-up pictures. It was just NASTY!

Defensive Player of the Year - Ben Wallace: Pretty safe decision, which doesn't mean it's not the right one. Ben Wallace was the man in the middle for the Pistons, and if he was hurt, there's no telling how many points the other team would have put up. Hustle and work ethic define this guy, and I wouldn't be scared to have him switch out on a point guard on a pick and roll. While in the middle, he was able to intimidate a vast number of shots, and when they missed, he got the ball. Defensive rebounding is a very underrated defensive statistic, but it's importance is probably greater than a block and just less than a steal because it eliminates the other team's possession, thus eliminating their scoring opportunity. Just for pure hustle and work ethic this guy deserves an award, and all the better it's the Defensive Player of the Year.

Sixth Man of the Year - Bobby Jackson: I had a pretty difficult time deciding between him, Michael Redd, or Nick Van Exel, but I went with Jackson because despite his size, he does a little bit of everything, including score. All three of these guys could be starters for more than half the teams in the league, but they've all accepted bench roles and their teams as well as themselves have thrived. I actually think he should start over Bibby. Jackson's listed at 6'1, but I've heard he's actually closer to 5'11. He's the type of player that if given three more inches, I think would be as good as T-Mac or Kobe, and I compare him to those two because of his scoring mentality. He's as good as most getting to the basket, and has pesky on-the-ball defense that frustrates and tires opposing point guards. If he wasn't a sixth man, I think he'd be an all-star.  

Most Improved Player - Matt Harpring: I don't really like the name for this award, because names like Gilbert Arenas are thrown in with it, and  I always felt it was a merely playing time that was holding them back. Matt Harpring has the skills, but I don't think he knew how to work a system the way he's learned to until this year in Utah. Granted, he has one of the all-time greatest point's in history in John Stockton feeding him, and also playing off of Karl Malone, but he's doing it extremely well. He's brash, physical, fundamentally sound, and not afraid to talk trash. He'll talk trash to marquee players. Sometimes I think he has no business doing it, but hey, whatever makes you better and whatever works right? 

Coach of the Year - Eric Musselman: This is dedicated to my friend Doug, who's an devoted Warriors fan. There were plenty of candidates: Rick Carlisle for doing it again in Detroit, Frank Johnson for Phoenix's playoff run, Rick Adelman for another great Sacramento season. However, it was Musselman who had his team improve seventeen wins. Although I didn't agree with him injecting Boykins into the 4th quarter at the expense of Gilbert Arenas, he took a young team and had them compete and perform extremely well in the West. What's impressive is that he did this with a meager inside presence (Eric Dampier, Troy Murphy) against a frontcourt heavy Western Conference. Good job Eric Musselman, I expect the Warriors to make the playoffs next year.

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