The votes are in and final, and here we announce the Players of the Month
and Rookies of the Month for January, as well as the Players and Rookies of the
Month for December!
East
POTM – James Harden
For the 2nd month in a row, James Harden has been named the
Player of the Month! He had over half the 1st place votes to take
the award from Russell Westbrook. Harden averaged 31.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4
assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks while carrying the Knicks to a .590 record
for the month. He’s the heart and soul of the Knicks organisation and now with
added Dwight, the Knicks look poised to push deep into the playoffs and make a
run at that championship. Kyrie is healthy, and Harden is looking like the favourite for the
MVP award with two POTM awards under his belt, so go Knicks go! Congratulations
James Harden on 2x POTM!
West POTM
– Reggie Jackson
Out West, Reggie Jackson had 133% of the 1st place votes,
compared to John Wall’s 50%, but the Spurs star guard managed to pip Wall on
preference votes to take out January POTM. He averaged 23.5 points, 4.2
rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks while leading the Spurs to a
.720 record. The Spurs rough start is a thing of the past now as Reggie is
firing and doing all he can to lead this team right up to the 4th
spot in the West and climbing. With a .720 record in the coming month, they
could probably push for the top even! They were the pundits choice for top of
the West at season start, and they’re now playing well and truly like it, so
look for them to make that push to take the West. Congratulations Reggie
Jackson on POTM for January!
West
ROTM – Dangelo Russell
DRuss has been the seriously unopposed rookie stud in the West and that
continued as he won his 2nd ROTM award almost unopposed. He compiled
averages of 23.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks
while being the #1 option on the fully rebuilt Clippers team. GM Andrew was
high on Russell from a long way back and he managed to get his man through a
draft day trade with Atlanta, his franchise star. Recently trading out Stanley
Johnson showed even more how much faith he has in DRuss and the kid looks to
have an extremely bright future. Congratulations Dangelo Russell on 2x ROTM!
East
ROTM – Kristaps Porzingis
Like Dangelo,
Kristaps Porzingis won his 2nd ROTM award by a landslide vote over
Karl Anthony-Towns. Kristaps averaged 17.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1
steal and 1.8 blocks and is really making a case to be the rookie of the year
and franchise cornerstone for the Hornets. He’s the triumphant success of the
Hornets rebuild effort last season, working well with the other young pieces
they have and looks like he could push to being a 20-10 big man for a long long
long time in the NLL. Did we mention he’s still only 20? Congratulations
Kristaps Porzingis on 2x ROTM!
Congratulations to the
winners in January, and for the month of December, and may the odds be forever
in your favour!
