Join BJ, Ovie, Mo and Jaydee for the latest edition of Heatcheck on Wednesday at 7pm on Sky Sports Arena
Wednesday 22 July 2020 12:43, UK
Heatcheck guest BJ Armstrong made his picks for the NBA regular season awards and could not look beyond Milwaukee Bucks franchise star Giannis Antetokounmpo for MVP.
Last Friday the NBA announced voting for individual regular season performance awards - including Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year - would be based on games played up to and including March 11, the date the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Voting to determine award winners for the 2019-20 regular season will be conducted July 21-28 before the season resumes on July 30.
On the latest edition of Heatcheck, three-time NBA champion BJ Armstrong picked the players he believes deserve to win each of the respective awards. Regulars Ovie Soko and Mo Mooncey gave their reaction to his choices.
Read Armstrong's picks below, see what Ovie and Mo thought of them, then have your say in the comments box at the foot of the page.
It's Giannis Antetokounmpo. Reason being, over the last two seasons, he has been the most consistent player and the best player on the best regular season team in the NBA.
My Most Improved Player is Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat. I love watching him, he reminds me of a young Shawn Kemp (who starred for the Seattle Supersonics in the mid 1990s). He is so athletic.
What he has done to the bottom line of helping this Miami Heat team… no one expected them to do what they have done this season. He has played a huge part in that and I give a huge thumbs up for what he has been able to do this season.
Ja Morant is my Rookie of the Year. He is one of the most exciting young players to come into this league for a long time.
Being a former guard myself, he is one of my favourites. I only wish athletically I could do the things he is doing. He will dunk on you, finish over the top of you, go around you. He is just fun and exciting and he has the Memphis Grizzlies winning in his rookie year which is a difficult thing to do.
My pick for Sixth Man is LA Clippers' forward Montrezl Harrell. I really like what he has done this year, taking on a scoring role as an undersized five.
He has always been and exceptional player coming off the bench but the consistency with which he has done that this year [stands out] and is something I think will serve him and the Clippers as the try to make a championship run.
With the injuries the Clippers have had and all the people coming in and out of their line-up, Harrell has probably been the most consistent player on the team even though he is coming off the bench.
Small ball is here to stay and Harrell is going to be a key component for the small ball in the playoffs. He can play against the PJ Tuckers, especially on the defensive end. You can't just run screen-and-rolls against him.
We have seen what players like Draymond Green can do in the playoffs. Harrell is cut from the same cloth. He brings toughness and can defend screen-and-roll, the most critical part of today's game. He enables the Clippers to play big or small. He gives them a unique look. He may not get the headlines but the Clippers will be relying on this young man.
It's Nick Nurse. Any man that can go to a two-three zone or a box-and-one in the NBA Finals and has the guts to do that deserves my vote.
What he has been able to do in Toronto this year minus Kawhi Leonard speaks volumes for his ability to coach on the fly and put teams together. Guys seem to thrive under his leadership.
My choice is Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers. He rim-protects, blocks shots and can defend on the perimeter. And he does it at two positions, the four [power forward] and the five [center].
He has had a terrific year. He has length and he brings everything on [the defensive end] of the floor.
Heatcheck regulars Ovie Soko and Mo Mooncey reacted to Armstrong's choices and put forward alternative candidates for a couple of the awards.
"Harrell is terrific but I went for Dennis Schroder [for Sixth Man of the Year]," said Soko. "I felt like what he has done as a sixth man on an Oklahoma City Thunder team - where the level of success they are having was not expected - was a bigger achievement, for me. Schroder's play has also helped the development of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Mooncey called foul on Armstrong's choice for Defensive Player of the Year.
"The best defender in the NBA is Giannis Antetokounmpo. We are talking about speed, size and strength. Positions one through five, he is the best defender in the league," he said.
"Only Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon have won MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season but, this year, we should be seeing it for a third time because the Bucks have the most efficient defense in the league and Giannis, as an individual defender, is so good at defending he is keeping opponents to 15 per cent shooting on isolation possessions and 30 per cent on post-ups.
"Opponents are now not even bothering attacking him. They have the ball to the other side of the floor to get away from him just to stop him having that impact.
"Anthony Davis is keeping opponents scoring around 50 per cent at the rim. That's 20th in the league. Who's No 1? That's Giannis at 40 per cent. When he plays at the five position in Milwaukee's small ball line-ups, they are only allowing opponents 94 points per 100 possessions. That's insane efficiency. I know Davis gets a lot of highlights and blocks coming over from the help-side but Antetokounmpo is the best defender in the NBA this season."
Agree with BJ, backing Mo or Ovie, or do you have a player you think is a more deserving recipient of a regular season award? Have your say in the comments box below.
