Chris Paul was just too strong across the board to be denied the title.
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul won the 2009 TSN Fantasy Award for guards, squeezing past Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant.
Paul, who led the Hornets to a 49-33 record and a seventh seed in this year's playoffs, was just too strong across the board to be denied the title. In a man-to-man battle agains Wade, Paul was better in rebounding (not bad for a 6'0" guard), assists, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage, three-point shooting percentage and turnovers.
Against Bryant, Paul again won rebound, assists, steals, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and three-point shooting percentage. Of course, because Bryant's Lakers were so far an away the best team in the Western Conference, he played about two-and-a-half minutes less per game, but in fantasy sports it's all about the bottom line.
Bryant and Paul were picked one-two on Draft Day, so each lived up to their ADP (Average Draft Position).
The "TSN Best Bargain Award" was a tight battle between three players. Fourth- ranked Brandon Roy (ADP 49), ninth-ranked Devin Harris (ADP 64) and 10th-ranked Tony Parker (ADP 72) all were worthy of the title, but in the end, it was eighth-round pick Parker who emerged victorious.
With Manu Ginobili, the third leg of the San Antonio Spurs offense missing for more than 35 games, Parker expanded his game increasing his scoring by more than three points per game. He also added one assist per game and increased his three-point shooting (career-high 28.4%) and free-throw percentage.
The "TSN Most Disappointin Award" was won by Allen Iverson, who had had an overall ADP of 13, but couldn't crack the top-25 guards in the final standings. A second-round selection should give you more than 17.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 5.0 apg in just 57 games played. Iverson was coming off a 2007 in which he scored 26.4 ppg with 7.1 apg and the drop severely hampered his fantasy owners.
