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Leading the Pac

Reaching the midway mark, this the opportunity to establish who are the leading candidates to win the all the major awards in the categories of Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man. Leading the pack in the Coach of the Year category is Byron Scott. Flip Saunders may be winning a lot, but he did not have a huge turnaround like the Hornets did. Byron is taking a group of nobodies and Chris Paul, and winning. That deserves an award.

When it comes to Defensive Player of the Year the choice isn?t as clear cut. I think that Shawn Marion should get the nod here. The Suns are playing very good defense this year, and he is the anchor of it. He is one of the best rebounders in the league and is really a small forward. Ben Wallace would be a close second, of course, but once again I think that is more of a team effort.

Rookie of the Year should go to Chris Paul, hands down. I?m not even gonna present an argument since he is everyone?s pick. There is no arguing over this. Finally, Sixth Man of the Year should go to Maurice Williams who is playing big time minutes and helping the Bucks win. Being the backup for a healthy TJ Ford and Michael Redd can?t be easy since minutes are sparse. Also his game winning shots this year were simply amazing.