The first half of the season has been a pleasant surprise for the Boston Celtics, who have soared to a 32-23 record which is good enough for 3rd place in the Eastern Conference just a year after a very similar roster only carried them to a 7th place finish.
Being a blogger who only writes about the Celtics, I figured now would be an appropriate time to do some reflecting of my own, and hand out some meaningless midseason team awards.
Most Improved: Jae Crowder (photo courtesy of unionleader.com)
Crowder has shown constant improvement in his offensive game since coming to Boston in the Rajon Rondo trade last year. Before the trade Crowder only averaged 3.6 points per game with Dallas. In 57 games with Boston after the trade, he averaged 9.5. In his 55 appearances this year, Crowder has upped his scoring average to a career high 14.1 points per game, while also averaging career highs in rebounding, assists, steals, field goal percentage, and 3 point field goal percentage. Need I say more?
Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Smart (photo courtesy of celticslife.com)
Although Smart continues to improve on the offensive end, his defense has proved to be his most valuable asset to the Celtics. Despite playing 5 minutes less per game than Crowder, Smart's 1.7 steals per game are just .1 behind Jae Crowder for the team lead. his pesky hustle has provided a spark on numerous occasions this season, most recently in the Celtics 1 point win over the Cavaliers. Coming off the bench, Smart provides an alternative to Isaiah Thomas when facing bigger guards, and can also relieve the other Celtics defensive minded guard, Avery Bradley.
Sixth Man of the Year: Evan Turner (photo courtesy of csnphilly.com)
I'm sure when Evan Turner was drafted 2nd overall in the 2010 draft, he didn't envision himself as a bench player. his career didn't play out the way he expected to with Philadelphia or Indiana, but he seems to have found the perfect fit in Boston. Turner's 9.9 points per game won't jump out at you in the box-score, but it's when he scores them that matters. Time and time again, Turner has found himself not only on the floor but producing down the stretch in close games. Take last night for example, when Turner put up 7 points
in a minute of overtime to push the Celtics past the
Clippers. He works almost like a pitch hitter, coming
in when he needs to and getting the job done.
MVP: (drumroll..) Isaiah Thomas (photo courtesy of redsarmy.com)
As the Celtics only All-Star selection, Thomas is the easy choice for team MVP. His averages of 21.5 points per game, 6.6 assists per game, and 3 rebounds per game are all career highs for the Celtics point guard. Thomas is also the teams emotional leader. I can imagine it's hard not to be inspired when your 5'9 teammate ferociously takes it to 7 footers seemingly every possession. Thomas' never quit attitude has been infectious to this Celtics team, and is one of the main reasons why you can never count them out. Averaging 6 more points and 3 more assists per game than he was at this time last year, Thomas could also have been considered for the most improved player of the team.
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