Tag: Sixth Man of the Year

Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly voted as SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year

Jahvon Quinerly awarded as the SEC’s Co-Sixth Man of the Year

Brandon Miller has been the star for the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team this season, but Jahvon Quinerly has quietly been the engine that makes the Tide go. After starting 27 games for Alabama last season, Quinerly has taken on a new role this season and hasn’t started a single game for the Tide this year.

Quinerly has been the Tide’s first guy off the bench and with his leadership and knowledge of the game he has been a massive asset for Nate Oats’ squad. Quinerly has always been a team guy, rather than being upset he wasn’t starting, he fully bought into the role off the bench and has been a game-changer for Alabama.

For his efforts off the bench this year, Quinerly was named the SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year award with Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves.

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Texas guard Sir’Jabari Rice wins National Sixth Man of the Year

Sir’Jabari Rice was named College Hoops Today’s Sixth Man of the Year.

Texas guard Sir’Jabari Rice willed the Longhorns to a blowout victory against Kansas on Saturday. It was simply another day on the job for Rice.

It appears national media has taken notice of the transfer’s role on the Texas basketball team. On Sunday, we learned the shot making guard was recognized as the nation’s top sixth man for the 2023 season according to College Hoops Today.

Rice earning the nomination was a no-brainer for college basketball media. Arguably, the New Mexico State transfer has become the best scorer and most valuable player on the team alongside Marcus Carr.

On the year, Rice is shooting 38% from three while averaging just under 13 points per game. His role has increased over the Big 12 stretch run. Rice has eclipsed 21 points in 5 of the last 11 games the Longhorns have played.

The backup guard has been dependable for much of the season on the offensive end. Texas will hope he brings the same level of play he brought last season in New Mexico State’s upset of UConn in the NCAA Tournament.

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Bleacher Report mentions James Harden as one of the best sixth men in the league since 2000

James Harden won the award with the Thunder in 2012.

Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley recently ranked the best sixth men in NBA history since 2000.

A sixth man is basically the best player off the bench for a team. The NBA hands out a sixth-man-of-the-year award every season. Since 2000, the Oklahoma City Thunder have won this award once — in 2012 with James Harden.

Harden finished with an honorable mention and was not viewed as a top-five bench player during his time with the Thunder.

“Before Harden found his calling as a net-shredding MVP, he spent his first three seasons making his presence felt off the Oklahoma City Thunder’s bench. The Sooner State’s spark plug was spectacular by his third NBA go-round, averaging 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists while posting a pristine 49.1/39.0/84.6 shooting slash.

While that effort earned him Sixth Man of the Year honors, it also ended his run as a super-sub. The Houston Rockets snatched him up that offseason and quickly handed over the keys to the franchise. It was, obviously, a brilliant move for Space City, but it hurts him in an exercise like this since he loses the longevity argument.”

The argument laid out is sound. Harden only came off the bench for his first three seasons in the league and really blossomed into one of the best sixth men in his third season when he won the award.

Harden quickly graduated from being one of the best bench players in the league to being one of the best players in the league — period — during his time with the Houston Rockets.

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Everyone is rightfully roasting Kentucky’s awful Sixth Man of the Year graphic for Tyler Herro

Shouts to Tyler Herro but please get this graphic out of here.

One of the coolest things about John Calipari and the folks at Kentucky is they don’t just forget about their players that move on to the NBA.

Cal will show up at all sorts of games for his players on the next level. And whenever the players that leave the school come back, they’re always shown a ton of love.

We’ve seen it with John Wall, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and so many other players that have gone through Rupp Arena.

The latest Cal alum in the spotlight is Tyler Herro. The Heat guard recently just won Sixth Man of the Year this season and is in the midst of a playoff run with his team.

Of course, Kentucky should show him some love for winning this award. And that’s cool! We absolutely love to see it as fans of the game.

What we don’t love to see, though, are terrible graphics showing that love. Kentucky probably could’ve kept this one in the chamber.

This graphic is just…weird. The tweet is kind of weird, too, honestly. The hashtag #6MOTYLER is just…that’s a bit much. And the flyer itself? It looks like a club flyer of some sort.

Y’all know the flyers I’m talking about. The joints that get stuck to your windshield because the party promoter sneakily stuck it there while you were in the grocery store. Yes. Those flyers.

That’s what this looks like. And that’s pretty hilarious. Twitter had a lot of fun with this one.

 

February’s best longshot bets for NBA award contenders

No one is a lock in February. No one.

The NBA is a beyond-individual-centric sports league. It is one of the few avenues where one phenomenal player can turn the tide of an entire game, or even a season, by himself. Sure, there’s something to be said about general team play and unity and chemistry, but if you don’t have a lights-out star, or a lights-out shooter, or a lights-out role player, you’re out of luck.

That sort of distinction makes the individual hardware the league hands out every spring that much more valuable and noteworthy. You were the best at your specific job, in an environment that, at any given time, only employs 450 people in the world? Incredible. High marks to you. Cherish every bit of your honor.

But while there are the obvious favorites for awards like MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, we would be remiss if we didn’t keep an eye on the long-shots, er, potential sleepers. These are the guys who may, in time, find themselves snatching up a trophy to put in their case (mantel?) when everyone with Basketball Brain least expected it. And that surprise achievement, Dear Reader, is an even more tremendous honor.

All odds and ends via Tipico Sportsbook.

The case for Billy Donovan as NBA Coach of the Year

After being projected to win just 31.5 games in 2019-20, the Thunder owns a record of 40-24, and has the NBA’s 9th best winning percentage.

It’s been ten years since the Oklahoma City Thunder last had an NBA Coach of the Year.

Scott Brooks took home the honor following the 2009-10 season after guiding the Thunder to a 50-32 overall record and their first appearance in the postseason since 2004-05. The 50 victories that year were an improvement by 27 wins from the previous season when OKC went just 23-59.

After trading away both Russell Westbrook and Paul George during the offseason, the Thunder were projected to win just 31.5 games coming into 2019-20, a figure they blew past at the beginning of February.

With 18 games left on the schedule prior to the league-wide suspension, Oklahoma City was sitting at 40-24, in fifth place in the Western Conference, with a chance to finish with a better record than last year’s team.

It’s because of the Thunder’s unexpected success that Nick Crain of Forbes believes that if the season ended today, head coach Billy Donovan should be in the running for Coach of the Year.

So far, the 2019-20 Thunder under Billy Donovan has a better win percentage than that 50-win team under Brooks and have the 9th best win percentage in NBA. Donovan has done an exceptional job staggering the three outstanding point guards on the Oklahoma City roster, ensuring there is always at least one quality ball handler and scorer on the floor at all times. He has gotten the most out of every player on the roster, getting great production from every individual member of the team.

One of the players that has exemplified sacrificing for the greater good of the team has been Dennis Schroder.

Schroder is good enough to start elsewhere in the league, but has accepted his role as the sixth man off the bench this season in Oklahoma City. In Donovan’s three-guard rotation, Schroder has thrived: averaging over 19 points per game and career-highs in field goal and 3-point percentage.

Many believe that Schroder will be in the conversation for Sixth Man of the Year, with writers from Sports Illustrated already casting their votes for the Thunder guard if the season ended today.

SI writers cast votes for Dennis Schroder as Sixth Man of the Year

With the rest to the year in jeopardy, the staff of SI’s The Crossover made their 2019-20 NBA award picks as if the season ended today.

If the NBA season ended today.

It’s a phrase used by those who cover the league as a jumping-off point for comparing players and starting to determine who might be worthy of postseason awards.

It sentence that carried a lot less weight a week ago.

With the season on hold indefinitely as the country continues to grapple with the spread of the coronavirus, there is no indication that the league will start back up any time soon.

While Adam Silver did outline to Rachel Nichols what the NBA would need in order to get back up and running, there is still the chance that the 2019-20 season has effectively come to an end.

Which is why the staff of The Crossover at Sports Illustrated went ahead and cast their votes for postseason awards as if the season ended today.

It wasn’t a clean sweep, but the majority of the staff writers believed that, despite competition from Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell (who both received votes), the Sixth Man of the Year Award belongs to Dennis Schroder.

Here’s what they each had to say about Schroder:

Chris Mannix

Schroder—who the Thunder acquired for Carmelo freaking Anthony two summers ago—has been outstanding. He’s a tick ahead of Williams in scoring while besting him in field goal (46.8%) and three-point percentage (38.1%). He’s a better defensive player, too. Williams is great, but would the Clippers be where they are without him? Maybe not. Would Oklahoma City be having the kind of season its having without Schroder? Definitely not.

Rohan Nadkarni

The point guard leads all players who’ve come off the bench in at least 45 games in scoring. He’s an integral part of the Thunder’s best lineup. And unlike say Montrezl Harrel or Lou Williams, Schroder does not have the benefit of playing off two superstars. While Schroder may not be the center of attention on a team featuring Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I find his impact to be more valuable—and of higher stakes—than some of his competitors. OKC’s surprising success is mostly due to Chris Paul, but Schroder’s steady play has also been hugely important.

Jeremy Woo

The Thunder exceeded expectations across the board this season, and Schroder stepped up in a major way off the bench as one of three natural point guards in their rotation. Honestly, I’m also just tired of voting for Lou Williams.

Michael Shapiro

Chris Paul gets the credit for reviving Oklahoma City, but the Thunder’s sixth man has been instrumental in keeping his team in the playoff race. OKC’s three-guard lineups–add Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to CP3 and Schroder–are outscoring teams by a whopping 28.6 (!) points by 100 possessions. Nobody will be looking to match up with the Thunder in the first round if we ever do resume the 2019-20 season.

Ben Pickman

The Sixth Man of the Year race also could go a number of ways, with both Clipper options being worthy candidates, but Schröder is having one of his best career seasons, playing an integral role on a 40-win Thunder team that has grossly over-performed preseason, public expectations.

Robin Lundberg

The Thunder have been a surprise story on the season and while that is due in large part to Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroder has also played a key role off the bench. Oklahoma City’s third guard has given them scoring punch scoring 19 points a game for the unexpected squad near the top of the West standings.