Going into this year no one knew quite what to expect from C.J. McCollum. After all, McCollum to this point had good scoring potential but had never put it together. He had a smooth offensive game but had succumbed to numerous injuries and had never really played heavy minutes. That all changed this year though as McCollum field goal attempts tripled from six per game to 18 as his minutes exploded going from 15.7 to 34.9 per game. The shot attempts and expanded minutes were in part due to the Trail Blazers shifting focus after the departure of long-time franchise cornerstone LaMarcus Aldridge left in free agency for the San Antonio Spurs. The results have seen his scoring average increase from 6.8 points per game last year (his previous career high) to 20.9 points per game this year, but most importantly he has stayed healthy this year missing just two of the 71 games the Blazers have played after playing in just 100 out of a possible 164 games his first two seasons. McCollum has improved dramatically and he is a huge reason why the Trail Blazers are on the verge of wrapping up a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference.
One can’t really argue if someone decided to vote McCollum as Most Improved Player, but there is a more deserving candidate. That candidate is Jae Crowder of the Boston Celtics. Before the Rajon Rondo trade, Crowder was buried on the end of the Mavericks bench and was unable to earn consistent minutes or get the trust of head coach Rick Carlisle. Once Crowder got to Boston though he slowly became more and more relevant and earned more minutes from head coach Brad Stevens as the season rolled on eventually earning a spot in the Celtics starting five and a reputation as a “3 and D” type player. That seemed to fit him perfectly and to an extent that is what he has been this year, but the overall impact of Crowder and his overall game has improved so much that he has become perhaps the most important player to the Celtics.
In addition, Crowder is the heart and soul of a Celtics team that up until a recently tough stretch, had a top 10 defense and was remarkably consistent in defending the three-point line. The reason Crowder gets the award though is from the aforementioned improvements that he made, some of which not even Brad Stevens or Danny Ainge saw coming.
This season Crowder has increased his scoring from 9.5 to 14.4, is shooting four percent higher on two pointers, six percent higher on three-pointers, and is becoming known as a lockdown wing defender. Crowder plays small forward and is routinely guarding the best wing player on the opposing teams as well as chipping in on stretch fours when the Celtics go small with him at the four. However, Crowder is up to the task most nights and has routinely been hitting big shots
for a team that has shown bursts of being capable of beating anyone in the league.
That is where the two are separated. McCollum may hold the edge in scoring and has been putting up big numbers all season playing the two guard, but Crowder is a true two-way player and has become a team leader on one of the youngest teams and most promising teams in the league. If you think he doesn’t matter that much to the Celtics consider this, the Celtics had a 14-game home winning streak and the streak was not broken until Crowder was missing in action. The Celtics in fact, lost two straight at home without Crowder and four straight overall, albeit against good competition. Furthermore the Celtics without Crowder trailed by 20 points in the last two games of that four-game losing streak (at home vs OKC and on the road vs TOR), but that was the first time they had trailed by 20 in 51 games and they ended up doing it in back-to-back games. They also including those two double-digit losses have lost by double digits just four times in the past three months, tied with Golden State for second fewest in the NBA during that stretch.
The injury to Crowder has shown how valuable he is to a team that at the time of his injury, was the third best in the Eastern Conference. McCollum is having a fantastic year and I would not argue at all if the award is given to him, after all, he has upped his scoring average by 14.1 points per game in just one year. However, Crowder has become the leader, top wing defender, a lethal scorer coming off screens in the mid-range, a solid three-point shooter, and is able to draw fouls and connect at an 83 percent clip (up from 78 last year). If you ask me the answer is easy, Crowder has improved the most and deserves the award because after all basketball is about offense and defense.
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