It wasn't the regular season that many of us expected, but given the circumstances, an impressive late-season run and another near-playoff miss could serve to provide a sturdy foundation for the future. But now that it's over, it's time to hand out awards. In this case, you get to vote on who wins. We'll have a different award to hand out each day, so keep checking in. Feel free to discuss your reasoning for making a particular vote in the comments.
Previous Awards: Most Improved Player -- Most Impressive Victory -- Defensive Player of the Year -- Most Promising Future
We've come to the end of the awards train. So, who do you think was the Rockets' MVP this season?
This is a difficult question for me to answer, because there are two standout candidates -- Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry -- and then a third candidate in Luis Scola whose stability and consistency simply can't be overlooked.
Perhaps in the voting we'll see a nod to the insane scoring ability of Martin. He had himself a fantastic year on the offensive end, putting together one of his most efficient seasons. No matter what one thinks of Martin on the defensive end, his scoring ability positively impacted the number one offense in basketball far more than his suspect defense negatively impacted the team's overall D. I'm still convinced that with a legitimate center under the basket, the Rockets could have finished with a top fifteen, if not top ten defense.
Or, on the other hand, perhaps the crowd will stick with the story, much in the way that the NBA writers did in choosing Derrick Rose as the league MVP. Rose wasn't the best player in the league this season, and while an argument can be made against Lowry as the Rockets' best player in 2010-2011 as well, each point guard had an it factor that seemingly determined his respective team's direction and success. As Lowry began to heat up, so too did the Rockets.
Finally, there is Scola, who has quietly become one of the league's most effective scorers in the post. One also can't help but notice that Scola played some of his best games against the league's quality teams.
I can't decide. You make the call.