The regular season of the NBL is over and some things stayed the same. Five of the six teams that made the postseason last year made the postseason this year. The team in sixth place made it with a negative record. The race for Most Valuable Player was between the same two players. The Brisbane Bullets were injured out of contention. What had started as a season of hope where every team looked like they had the potential to compete gradually gave way to the reality of a major schism in talent. Ultimately, only four teams have looked like true championship contenders at any point in the season. Even the reigning champion Illawarra Hawks will have no chance of a repeat after they finished in eighth place. With the awards for the season now handed out, now is a good time as ever to reflect and consider on what was… and perhaps what should have been. I have referenced my previous post, NBL26 Predictions, and also utilised the season predictions from NBL experts.

1. Most Valuable Player
2. Coach of the Year
3. Most Improved Player
4. Best Sixth Man
5. Best Defensive Player
6. Next Generation Award

Most Valuable Player

Winner: Bryce Cotton (25.7 ppg, 7.6 apg, 3.6 rpg, 1.8 spg, .3 bpg)
Runner-up: Kendric Davis (24.4 ppg, 6.7 apg, 3.9 rpg, 1.1 spg, .0 bpg)
My Prediction: Bryce Cotton / Expert Prediction: Bryce Cotton
Who Should Have Won: Bryce Cotton

The premier individual award of the season ended up being between the same two players as last season: Bryce Cotton and Kendric Davis. The two guards accomplished the same feat despite both playing for different teams this season with Cotton taking Davis’ place on the 36ers after Davis left for the Sydney Kings. In addition, Cotton and Davis were the two standout players from the two top teams. Despite Cotton looking like the clearcut favourite while the 36ers were dominating the league for the majority of the year, Davis made significant ground while he led the Kings to an end-of-season dominance with an undefeated 11–0 streak. Who was the true MVP ended up being the most tightly contested title of the season. The voters ultimately went with the greatest player in the league and again relegated the agitated Davis to a runner-up status.

The definition of what an MVP should entail is often minimised to the sole essence of the best player from the best team. If such a mindset was followed, Davis from the 23–9 Kings deserved it over Cotton from the 22–10 36ers. However, that obviously ignores the fact that it was only one loss which separated the two teams (basically decided by the 36ers decision to sit out Cotton in their throwaway concluder game). The other definition often utilised is which player would leave the greatest deficit in their team if they were not present. It is reasonable to assume that the 36ers might have missed the postseason if they did not have the heroics of Cotton and his league-leading 38.0 minutes per game to will them to victory. In that conclusion, Cotton would be the easy winner. If going by individual statistics, their numbers were almost identical (albeit with Cotton leading in four of the five major statistical categories) but the major contributor to this was minutes: Davis played 3.1 less minutes per game than Cotton. I do not know by which metrics the voters of this award ended up going with but they went for the trusted option by selecting Cotton for his sixth MVP. It was a decision met with much disdain by Davis who openly ranted on social media about it being a “popularity contest” and called for the voting process to be made public. The NBL issued a quick “no, thanks” in response.

Did Davis have an argument that he was the MVP? Obviously. Cotton had an argument too though. For bringing the 36ers to their first meaningful postseason position in a decade while leading the league in points and assists, Cotton spoke a little louder.

Coach of the Year

Winner: Brian Goorjian
Runner-up: Josh King
My Prediction: Mike Wells / Expert Prediction: Adam Forde / John Rillie
Who Should Have Won: Josh King

Let me get into the obvious before starting anything: I have no idea what compelled the NBL expert pundits to prognosticate Adam Forde or John Rillie as potential Coach of the Year contenders. To do so, they had to ignore reigning champion Justin Tatum, 6x award winner Brian Goorjian, the obviously improved arsenal of Mike Wells and the turn-around wonders of Josh King. It is a baffling conclusion. Regardless, the award for Coach of the Year ended up being another battle between two contenders: Goorjian of the Sydney Kings and King of the South East Melbourne Phoenix. It was the COAT (coach of all time) versus the fresh kid. The longtime fixture versus the new addition. The king of Kings versus the King of Phoenixes. Goorjian was the leader of one of the most stacked teams in the league and led them to a first-place finish. King oversaw a more modestly assembled roster and led them to a third-place finish. Was the Coach of the Year defined by who made the most of having the most or who made the most of having less?

The voters went again for a repeat offender and selected Goorjian for his seventh Coach of the Year award. It is the third consecutive year that the award has gone to the coach of the first-placed team. Goorjian oversaw the incredible 11–0 run from the Kings to finish the season and there was no doubt that such an accomplishment left an impression on the voting panel. However, Goorjian’s team is composed of a former league MVP, the two-time MVP runner-up and three former NBA players. Meanwhile, King ran a team that featured no MVPs and had two former NBA players who were both mid-season acquisitions. I did not predict the Phoenix to make the postseason; none of the NBL experts picked the Phoenix to finish in the top 4. King absolutely overachieved with what he had. Not to mention, he joined the Phoenix when they had an 0–5 record at the start of last season and then took them on a 16–8 streak; he could have deserved the award then too but it instead went to Tatum who had accomplished a similar feat with his mid-season hiring at the Hawks the previous year and also deserved the recognition. I believe that King deserved to be recognised for his accomplishments this season. (My prediction of Wells was obviously wrong; he was very much the victim of having the best player in the league on his team to deflect any credit. Maybe if Davis had won MVP, Goorjian too would have been excluded.)

Most Improved Player

Winner: Flynn Cameron (12.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, .2 bpg, .8 spg from 6.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.0 apg, .0 bpg, .3 spg)
Runner-up: Makuach Maluach (8.2 ppg, 3.1 ppg, .8 apg, .1 bpg, .5 spg from 3.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg, .8 apg, .3 bpg, .2 spg)
My Prediction: Flynn Cameron / Expert Prediction: Jaylin Galloway
Who Should Have Won: Flynn Cameron

A simple and clearcut award. Flynn Cameron went from a reserve at Melbourne United to a starter with the Adelaide 36ers while he doubled his scoring and tripled his assists. Not to mention, he became a significant contributor to a winning team as well. United not finding more of an opportunity for him is a major loss for them. It was relatively obvious that a new opportunity would do wonders for Cameron who had his flashes of potential in a deep United team last season and I had selected him as my prediction even before his starting role was confirmed. The experts went for Jaylin Galloway but the eventual runner-up was his Kings teammate in Makuach Maluach; I had previously pondered why he would recommit to a team that was already so stacked but he found enough shine to show that he has the potential to do even more.

Best Sixth Man

Winner: Angus Glover (10.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.1 apg, .1 bpg, .7 spg)
Runner-up: Kouat Noi (11.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, .8 apg, .1 bpg, .6 spg)
My Prediction: Kouat Noi / Expert Prediction: Flynn Cameron / Isaac White
Who Should Have Won: Kouat Noi

Davis might have been outspoken after finding out that he had not won what he thought was his award but his Kings teammate Kouat Noi had been openly lobbying to be named as the Best Sixth Man all season long and was likely equally disappointed when he ultimately lost. Instead, the award went to Angus Glover of the South East Melbourne Phoenix. Again, their statistics are almost exact but Noi accomplished his in two minutes less per game and recorded more points and rebounds. I was more inclined to go with Noi only because he was a major contributor to a team that required him to vie with multiple other players in his position. The expert prediction of it being Cameron was immediately void once he was appointed as a starting guard. Their other prediction of it being Isaac White was considerably lofty and I do not understand why no one thought Noi would be in the position to repeat. In retrospect, neither was the official voting panel for the award as they dismissed him for Glover.

Best Defensive Player

Winner: John Brown (.2 bpg, 2.0 spg)
Runner-up: Will Magnay (1.8 bpg, .9 spg)
My Prediction: John Brown / Expert Prediction: Will Magnay
Who Should Have Won: John Brown

John Brown of the Phoenix was a genuine nightmare on defence. The hounding of a 6’8″ power forward was previously an unrealised fear for smaller guards until his arrival. Brown led the league in steals and his defensive pressure had a seismic impact on the Phoenix’s success. He bested Will Magnay of the Tasmania JackJumpers – the expert prediction – who was tied for most blocks but missed almost a third of the season. Torrey Craig of the Kings would have been a legitimate contender had he been here for a longer period. The voting panel completely disregarded JaVale McGee (1.8 bpg, .9 spg) who clearly had his output reduced to mere emptiness as a result of the Hawks’ woes.

Next Generation Award

Winner: Sam Mennenga (17.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, .4 bpg, .6 spg)
Runner-up: Karim López (11.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.0 bpg, 1.2 spg)
My Prediction: Reyne Smith / Expert Prediction: None
Who Should Have Won: Sam Mennenga

The NBL’s continually bizarre pseudo-Rookie of the Year award was so confusing that the experts were not even asked for their predictions. I am happy to admit that I was completely off with my choice of Reyne Smith but such is life. It was Sam Mennenga of the Breakers who won the Relatively-Young-Player of the Year award with his dominance that had also put him in consideration for Most Improved Player. Sure enough, Mennenga was the best player who had not yet his mid-20s and was the right selection for the award. His selection now means that three of the four players who have won the Next Generation Award have been named Sam: an honour Mennenga shares alongside Sam Waardenburg and Sam Froling. Who will be the Next Generation Sam?