Paul Millsap comes up short of a new KIA

by Basketball John on May 12, 2009 11:26 AM MDT

Danny Granger took home the award for Most Improved Player today. It was a pretty tough year competition-wise for this award. Both Granger and runner-up Devin Harris had huge years and were the bright spots on their teams.

Paul Millsap finished fourth, right behind Kevin Durant.

Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Danny Granger	Indiana	48	37	13	364
Devin Harris	New Jersey	43	35	19	339
Kevin Durant	Oklahoma City	6	14	11	83
Paul Millsap	Utah	3	13	23	77

Millsap had the huge task of filling in for Carlos Boozer's 20 & 10 when Booze went down with an injury.

He did phenomenal during that period and at one point had 19 straight double-doubles (much to Boler & Booner's delight).

Unfortunately, he played so well that he's going to command big money this offseason and that leaves his status as a Jazz man up in the air.

There's no question that the Jazz and fans want him back. He's the embodiment of hustle and pure "who wants it more" status. What will the price be and will we be able to afford him will be the biggest question. The other of course will be, is he the go-to guy for a championship team? He is definitely a player on a team like that, but do we need to go after someone else to lighten the load on offense?

Ronnie B also finished with 2 3rd-place votes.

Poll

Where would you have ranked Millsap?

1st

57 votes

2nd

35 votes

3rd

33 votes

4th

17 votes

5th

1 votes

Lower

2 votes

145 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Nobody cares...

…but Danny Granger went to my high school in New Orleans about ten years after me. We had the same coach. So I’m a fan. The rest of you all ought to like him because he’s a MWC guy.

I'll make it coach.

by MTN on May 12, 2009 5:14 PM MDT reply actions

I do like him

he’s a really exciting player, and I’m glad he’s repping for UNM/the Mountain West. Besides, he was a fantasy MONSTER for me.

Uh, do you think you could draw me like a ninja?

by Shums on May 12, 2009 6:14 PM MDT up reply actions

hopefully he'll be a monster for someone else

i.e. me, next year.

by moni on May 13, 2009 1:00 AM MDT up reply actions

Like Granger, but

why is the award his?
Sure, he scored 6 ppg more, but his rebounds & steals both went down… and he played 13 fewer games (all compared to the season before).

Devin Harris also improved his scoring by 6+ ppg, but also increased his rebounds (barely), steals & assists… while playing more games.

’Sap played 6 fewer games, but his scoring went up by 5+ ppg, and he got 3 rebounds more/game. He also had slight increases to blocks & steals (0.1/game better) and an increase to assists per game (0.8 apg better than the season before).

Maybe it has to do with records? Utah’s record got worse, while Indiana & NJ each had the exact same record.

True Blue Jazz
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RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09

by UtesFan89 on May 12, 2009 7:30 PM MDT reply actions

Most difficult leap is from really good to great

And in a lot of people’s minds, that’s what Granger did, whereas Harris went from good to really good, and Sap’s increased production (as much as I love him and would have voted for him for MIP) was due at least in part to his significant increase in minutes. I dunno, I could be wrong, but that’s how I see it.

by shandonfan on May 12, 2009 9:09 PM MDT up reply actions