Today, Nation basketball correspondent Justin Marville gives his picks for the 2011 Premier League season awards.
Remember back in July when I petitioned (begged, really) the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) to finally get a spot on the awards committee?
Well, those pleas didn’t fall on deaf ears as I spent the last weekend going through the best of the past season as part of a four-man panel.
And while I won’t reveal the choices that were settled on, the least I can do is disclose my personal picks and compare them to the midseason predictions I made five months ago.
Coach of the Year – Frederick Bynoe (Warriors) (midseason pick: Bynoe)
As you can see, nothing much has changed on this front where recognizing Warriors’ head honcho is concerned. If anything, Bynoe only tightened his grip on the award after leading an overmatched Dayrells Road squad to another unlikely post-season berth.
Rather unashamedly, I spent all season betting against Bynoe’s boys, and who could blame me after this rather untalented Warriors group won their first-round games at an average less than six points.
But all Bynoe did was guide the team to a 13-7 league record with a former superstar (Corey McDonald) who averaged just 11 points a game on bad knees and a sore Achilles tendon; using a rotation of only three big men (none of whom featured in the top 30); while relying heavily on an unseasoned rookie.
That Warriors team also happened to carry the top-ranked Bulls the distance in a first-round series with a 20-year-old, third-year point guard as their best player.
I know arguments will be made for Francis Williams after he led Lakers to yet another championship, and I do believe Williams is an expert at finding the best way to utilize players’ skill sets.
It’s just that I don’t know how Bynoe even wins with this team, far less build a consistent title contender around a squad which look as they should be competing for out of season crowns and not Premier League cups.
Most Improved – Jamai Puckerin (Cavs) (midseason pick: George Farrell)
This one was one of the tougher picks, and this was even after I removed Farrell from the equation following a huge drop-off in production in the season’s second half.
I really want to reward Ian Alexander for his greatly improved jumper, especially after the Lakers forward spent the entire season and playoffs just hitting clutch fourth quarter shots while increasing his rebounding numbers.
However, Puckerin genuinely upgraded every part of his game, showing vast improvement on his hook shots, footwork in the paint and midrange jumper to average 15 points and eight rebounds in a 12-game starting role.
That Station Hill went 10-2 in that span only further cements my decision, even though the Cavs did manage to miss out on the big dance for the first time in eight seasons.
Defensive Player of the Year – Pearson Griffith (Jackson) (midseason pick: Griffith)
The league leader in blocks (3.9) gets my vote here because no one player affects either side of the floor quite like Griffith does at the defensive end.
Not only does the six-foot-ten behemoth turn back a ridiculously high percentage of shots at the ring, but he forces so many opposing forwards to alter their shots in the paint and his presence alone deters many a player from even venturing into the key.
Without him, the sieve that fronts as Jackson’s defence would have the credibility of a CLICO life insurance policy signed by Allen Stanford.
I gave Anthony Forde serious consideration for this award, considering the steals leader (4.7) picked what seemed like every single ball dribbled within a five-foot radius of him. But his impact just wasn’t great enough to lift a Senators defence that languished in the bottom of the table.
Best Offensive Player of the Year – Adrian Stewart (Cougars) (midseason pick: Alwyn Lovell)
This is as straight- forward an award as they come – just give the man who averaged the most points a pretty prize. And they don’t come any better at putting the ball in the basket than Cougars’ prolific swingman (21.2), who probably is the purest scorer there is in the game right now.
His combination of size, strength and experience makes him the toughest cover in the league, and that doesn’t take into account the numerous ways Stewart can put points on the board.
More incredibly, the 40-year-old veteran shot a very respectable 47 per cent from the field despite being a volume shooter who hoisted 18 attempts a contest.
Most Valuable Player – Peter Alleyne (Jackson) (midseason pick: Jeremy Gill)
I still don’t quite get the criteria for this award, but what I am very well aware of is Alleyne’s immense value to a Jackson team that has no other ball-handler in their midst.
And his value goes far beyond those elite playmaker skills, evidenced by his tremendous all-round stat line of 16.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.1 blocks and 2.2 steals.
The man pretty much means everything to a team that was but a mere game away from contesting their first ever Premier League title.
To be fair, though, there’s no real clear cut pick for this award, as I wouldn’t argue against Jeremy Gill in a season where he led Clapham to the finals with similarly stout numbers (20.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.1 apg, 3.6 spg).
People might also build a case for Ricardo Jemmott (17.4 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.7 bpg), but I’m not sold that Lakers can’t find a way to collectively replace his numbers, outside of the blocks, considering they always contend no matter who is on their roster.
But in Alleyne’s case, he means so much more to his team’s success than the others do, and if you sincerely doubt that, then watch what happens when Jackson’s combo guard heads to the bench for a breather.
