Sippin' on a 41: Banter's Halftime Awards

Although it's seemed like an eternity after last year's espresso-shot of an NBA season, we're halfway through this year's complete version (call it a venti mocha-latte) which can mean one of several things: it's pretty cold outside in most of North America, we've only got a few more baseball-free weeks left, All-Star Weekend and the Trade Deadline are creeping up on us, and of course, it's time to hand out the Halftime Awards:

Rookie of the Half: Damian Lillard, Portland TrailBlazers
One of the less-known prospects coming into this year's Lottery (these things can happen playing at Weber State), Lillard's quickly made sure his name rings out on every block, dummying defenders of all walks with simply scary explosiveness off the dribble, a diverse scoring arsenal, and solid playmaking. Though he's had struggles on the defensive end, he's hardly the first small rookie guard to fumble that side of the ball, and the poise and confidence he's demonstrated so far suggests he'll continue to improve and attack his own weaknesses. Derrick Rose is clearly a lofty comparison, but Lillard reminds me a lot of him as a rookie; a fearless, athletic talent who's impressive now, has the proper combination of confidence and humility, and should only continue to amaze us with how good he can get.
Regards to: Dion Waiters, Anthony Davis, Harrison Barnes

Defensive Player of the Half: Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls
One of the "surprises" over the season's first half (although after last year it really shouldn't have been), was Chicago's ability to stay above water consistently without Rose, as Steve Kerr put it last night: (slightly paraphrasing) "because they'ere a team that knows what they're about and they just come out and do it every night". What he essentially means is that they're a suffocating defensive team that's going to make the opposition work its ass off for every bucket and to hell if the guy who dictates their entire offensive tempo is injured. Noah's the guy dictating their defensive tempo, protecting the hole and quarterbacking a fearsome resistance. Not only is he quick, agile, athletic, strong, versatile (ok, you get the idea) but plays with a motor seemingly stolen from the Energizer Bunny and a straight-up annoyingness that visibly unnerves a good deal of those who tangle with him. Short of playing on one leg, he'll do anything within his power to keep the pill out of the Bulls' basket, which unfortunately for the rest of the NBA, is a lot.
Regards to: Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler, Paul George

Coach of the Half: Mike Woodson, New York Knicks
This award took a little more thinking than most; not only are there certain obvious standout teams whose coaches deserve a lot of credit (Indiana, Golden State, Chicago), there's also many other factors at play: Lionel Hollins got Memphis off to a great start and then was screwed by his owners publicly compromising the team's immediate future, the Clippers - as great as they are - are still at least 35% coached by Chris Paul,  I'm thoroughly convinced that coaching a team GM'ed by Sam Presti might be the easiest gig in the NBA (sorry, Scott), and the Lakers had a perfectly-scripted opportunity to ship this award, and blew it.

Meanwhile, Woodson's taken a revamped roster and on the fly turned it into one of the NBA's most effective and exciting shows. The Knicks are performing way above expectations, and Woodson's truly getting the most out of his players: convincing Carmelo Anthony to buy into a team-first approach, convincing JR Smith to play basketball like a rational human being, beating defenses with the league's oldest roster (which has been ailing as such) through a pass-heavy, three-heavy inside-out attack featuring Tyson Chandler?! It was clear the Hawks were just a franchise mired in its own mediocrity while he was there, but given the proper situation, Woodson's shown his coaching chops aren't to be trifled with.
Regards to: Frank Vogel, Mark Jackson, Tom Thibodeau

Sixth Man of the Half: Jarrett Jack, Golden State Warriors 
It's one thing to come off the bench and deliver consistent, explosive offense for your team. It's another thing to do so consistently in the fourth quarter. It's yet even more different and unique when you're doing both those things for the Over-Achievers of the Half, supplying consistent playmaking, and shooting damn f***ing close to 50/40/90 as a point guard. Well, welcome to Jarrett Jack's season; after years of bouncing around teams and in between bench and starter roles, he certainly seems to have found his niche. Not only has his play been excellent, but his consistent ability to deliver key buckets and dishes down the stretch of close games has made him a fixture in the Warriors' 4th Q lineup and added yet another dimension to the value Jack adds off the pine.
Regards to: Jamal Crawford, Derrick Favors, Kevin Martin

Most Improved Player: Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia 76ers
As crappy as Philly's been lately, Holiday's been a breakout star for them; a player who's had the expectation of being his team's best player thrown on him completely unexpectedly, and has risen beyond the occasion. I realized me giving this award to anybody else would be penalizing him for the Sixers building their entire roster around a player who's thrown a serious gutter ball so far. Not only has he improved remarkably as a scorer, but his passing has become more confident, which is all the more impressive when you consider that this wasn't really his time or team. That aside, Holiday's made The Leap, made this his time, and as such, should clearly get this award.
Regards to: Greivis Vasquez, Omer Asik, James Harden*

* the asterisk comes because Harden is clearly - from an on-court standpoint - the most elite version of himself over last year. But we all knew Harden was very, very good; that's why he was on Team USA and got a Max deal last summer. We all knew with more minutes and an expanded role, he'd be a much bigger factor on another team - which we suddenly got to witness - but were still kind of blown black at just how good. Still, there's a pretty solid unwritten rule I may or may not have just invented, that if a team was already willing to acknowledge your talent as worthy of the maximum allowable contract, you shouldn't be able to win this award.

Most Valuable Player: Lebron James, Miami Heat
I'm sorry. Call me a realist, a puritan, a dick-rider, whatever I can handle it. I know how well Kevin Durant and Chris Paul are playing, but to try and say that anyone other than Lebron James is not only the best in the NBA, but the most valuable to his team, is just a flat-out lie. Paul's brilliance is flanked by a talented starting lineup and the deepest bench the League's seen this century. Durant shares the floor with a fellow Top-10 talent (Westbrook), the most rapidly and consistently improving player around over the past few years (Ibaka), and a great supporting cast of task-specific role players cobbled by arguably the best GM in the game. Lebron plays on a team that, despite its obvious star power, is chronically maligned and succeeds largely only because he's the most versatile two-way threat in the history of basketball. He does pretty much anything needed, does it all at an excellent-to-All-Time level, and while it might get boring for some people to hand the MVP to same player every year, I'm embracing it. We're Witnessing history here, I'll be honest with myself and appreciate it.
Regards to: Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony