Best Player in the Series: Gerald Wallace. As a Bobcats fan, Crash leaving was bittersweet. Miscast as a #1 guy, I'm happy that he was going to a team where he could thrive as a true #2. I was a little sad that he was so willing to play undersized PF for the Blazers, considering the 'Cats seemed to try and accomodate his request not to play him there this year. But, excellent work in this series. All the best of Gerald on display, crashing the boards, infectious hustle, and even a little shooting now and then. I don't have to say this to Blazer fans, they're the best, but treat Gerald well - he's the kind of player you want to root for.
Worst Player in the Series: LaMarcus Aldridge. As much as I like looking at plus/minus, this is one of those results that makes me think I should be putting plus/minus in a brown paper bag and igniting it on an old man's doorstep. He deserved an All-Star berth, he carried this team all season, and I just don't want to believe this, plain and simple. He played a ton of minutes in the series, but only once (Game 4) was the scoreboard better with him on the floor(+4 on versus +2 off). Whatever, I still like him.
Jerome James Award: Rodrigue Beaubois. Ok, there wasn't really anyone that I thought fit the bill in this series. This is more of an ax I'd like to grind a little. Beaubois is a great prospect as a player, lightning fast with the ball, and virtually unguardable when his jumper is falling. But how many guys spent their first few years in the league toiling unremarkably only to become a franchise cornerstone after that? Other than Jermaine O'Neal, I'm drawing a blank. Point is, this team is built to win now. The window is probably this year and next, depending on how long Dirk can keep it up, and when Tyson Chandler's injury absences increase (my guess, ten games into his next contract). Rodrigue, while everyone in Dallas raves about him, didn't really break a sweat in this series. So what is he there for? The one thing I think this team is missing is a lockdown perimeter defender for elite wings. Caron might have been that guy, but when he went down, why wasn't this team flipping that contract and/or Beaubois for the missing link? Wouldn't a guy like Andre Iguodala, an ultra-athletic finisher, elite perimeter defender, underrated passer, be the missing piece on a team like this? I think we'll know if that's what they're missing against the Lakers (paging Deshawn Stevenson, paging Deshawn Stevenson).
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