Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Orlando Magic are the only team in the NBA who have reached the halfway point in the season. So, if its good enough for one team out of 30, then we shall declare it the midpoint of the 2014-15 NBA season. In doing so, lets examine where the awards would go if the campaign was drastically shortened, which, no one would cry a single tear about. MVP - JAMES HARDEN, HOUSTON ROCKETS Almost every other pundit has tabbed Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors for this honor and I get it. Curry is the best player from the best team in the league, and, in the absence of a runaway contender, that formula is a solid means to an answer. However, I believe Harden has been a more valuable player for the Rockets. The statistics bare out pretty equal seasons. Harden is ahead in scoring, but Curry is up in assists. Pretty standard stuff since one is a shooting guard and the other is a point guard. (Although, I love that Harden is averaging a career-high 6.6 assists per game, which is second to LeBron James among non- point guards, and a near 90 percent clip from the foul line while leading the league in attempts.) Here are the three things that give Harden an edge for me: First, the Warriors are a much better, more complete team. Sounds like a plus for Curry, but Harden has done most of the heavy lifting in keeping the Rockets within four of the Warriors for the best record in the league. Curry is magnificent, but his team is loaded with two-way athletes in a manner that the Rockets are not. The overall talent is stronger in Golden State than in Houston, thus, making Hardens achievements this season more impressive. Second, when you are literally the butt of social media jokes about how horrendous a defender you are, it shows something to improve. Harden is not quite Gary Payton, but his defense has improved tremendously. Hes 12th in defensive rating and second in defensive win shares. Granted, those numbers changed with the arrival of Trevor Ariza and the continued solid defense from Dwight Howard, but Harden went from punch line to serviceable. The Rockets are third in opponents scoring and fourth in opponents field goal percentage. Last season, they were 23rd and seventh in those same categories. Harden isnt at the heart of the turnaround, but hes no longer weighing them down defensively like an anvil chained to the leg of a mob informant. Finally, during an 11-game stretch when Howard was down with a knee injury from mid-November to mid-December, Harden kept the Rockets afloat, going 8-3 in the process. During that stretch, Harden averaged 29 points and 6.1 assists per game. Curry hasnt had to deal with anything like that. Adversity shouldnt translate into automatic MVP victory. Its not the Oscars, where an actress will win if she plays an alcoholic, single-mother stripper, whose daughter is a piano prodigy and mom must find a way to work a third job to pay for a good teacher as well as trips abroad so the daughter can perform in recitals. Harden has kept the Rockets near the top of the league without a supporting cast like Currys. While Ariza has been a revelation, Howard is averaging nine- season lows in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Harden has taken a team, Ill admit, I had missing the playoffs, and got them the fourth-best record in the NBA. With less around him, I go Harden over Curry. COACH OF THE YEAR - STEVE KERR, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS This is possibly the closest competition for an award I can remember. How could you not like Mike Budenholzer of the Atlanta Hawks? With a stunningly similar roster that finished under .500 last season, Bud has the Hawks atop the Eastern Conference by four games (Al Horford is really important, too). However, Kerr gets my nod for the simple fact that he made extraordinary coaching decisions that paid massive dividends. He started Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green over Andre Iguodala and David Lee. Kerr put two infants in there at the expense of 21 combined seasons, three All-Star appearances and $27 million in 2014-15 salary. And its worked unbelievably. His lineup changed meant the Warriors starters can switch almost any time without massive consequence. Kerr had the hard job of replacing Mark Jackson, who is not quite Phil Jackson, but had the eternal respect of his players. Kerr erased any doubts, and quickly. I will fault no one who votes Budenholzer, but I think Kerr has done just a little more. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - ANDREW WIGGINS, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES Since Jabari Parkers injury, Wiggins was destined to pull away some. He has, but he would have even if Parkers ACL didnt tear. Over the last 10 games, Wiggins is averaging 21 ppg. Granted, they are all Timberwolves losses, but Wiggins game is rounding out nicely. Remember, he started slowly at Kansas, then emerged. As the T-wolves continue to be terrible, Wiggins is getting a chance to develop greatly. Shabazz Mohammeds insertion into the starting lineup, thus moving Wiggins to the shooting guard, paid off handsomely for the No. 1 pick as well. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DRAYMOND GREEN, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS Know who leads the league in Defensive Rating and Defensive Win Shares? Draymond Green. Know how to calculate either of those? (Not rhetorical, please help me.) The Warriors rank first in opponents field goal percentage. Green is one integral piece of that team-oriented puzzle. Andrew Bogut is a top-five defensive big man. Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala are both upper echelon wing defenders. Steph Curry is underrated and leads the league in steals. But heres why I like Green so much for this award - hes a wonderful combination of all of those things and that versatility is what makes the Warriors a stout defense. Golden State can constantly switch anything because players like Green can cover all five positions. To have that kind of flexibility is huge. Green is the best demonstration of that. SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR - LOU WILLIAMS, TORONTO RAPTORS Jamal Crawford of the Los Angeles Clippers, Ryan Anderson of the New Orleans Pelicans, Williams, Reggie Jackson of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Isaiah Thomas of the Phoenix Suns are all close in scoring. I feel like Williams and Thomas have done more for their teams in terms of helping them win games. I feel like Williams did more when DeMar DeRozan was gone to help Toronto keep pace. Thomas missed a few too many games. MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - JIMMY BUTLER, CHICAGO BULLS Ill say it - I hate this award. Its too hard to figure out the meaning of a three-word award. Too many people vote for someone who gets more playing time than the season before. Is that technically improvement or did that player just receive a mountains worth of more run? Or did the player improve so much during camp, that he forced his way into this new-found time? Ive always favored the player who improves, not the one who receives more playing time, although, Ive softened on that. There is a reasonable argument to be made that a player like an Alex Len of the Suns improved enough to crack the rotation. But, Im going with a player who didnt receive a bump in minutes. That wouldve been next to impossible considering Jimmy Butler shared the league lead in minutes per game last season. Hes first again this season. In literally ONE MORE MINUTE of playing time per game this campaign than last, here is the tale of Jimmy Butler: 2013-14 2014-15 Points per game: 13.1 20.9 Assists per game: 2.6 3.4 Rebounds per game: 4.9 6.2 3-point percentage: 28.3 34.2 field goal percentage: 39.7 46.4 free throw percentage: 76.9 83.0 Thats with ONE MORE MINUTE a game. Theres not a better example of improvement in the league. Bobby Murcer Jersey . The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating. Jacoby Ellsbury Yankees Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (5) – He had a brilliant game; it was a huge response for his average games before. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1491g-gianc...ey-yankees.html. -- Catriona Matthew remained atop the Airbus LPGA Classic leaderboard Friday, birdieing four of the last seven holes to take a one-stroke advantage over Charley Hull into the weekend. Roger Clemens Jersey . The Los Angeles Clippers showed them just how ugly that life could be. Jared Dudley scored a season-high 21 points, Chris Paul added 16 points and 17 assists, and the Clippers jumped all over the Bulls in Roses absence for a 121-82 victory Sunday. David Hale Yankees Jersey .? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win.ASHBURN, Va. - Jim Haslett is done as the Washington Redskins defensive co-ordinator after five seasons.The Redskins never finished better than 20th in the 32-team NFL in points allowed during his tenure. They were 29th in that category this season, and 30th a year earlier.Hasletts departure, announced by the team Wednesday morning, is the first fallout after Washington finished 4-12 for its sixth last-place finish in the NFC East over the past seven years.The Redskins said in a news release that the team and Haslett have mutually agreed to part ways.Haslett joined the team when Mike Shanahan became head coach and worked under him for four years. Haslett then was kept aboard when Shanahan was fired after last season and replaced by first-time NFL head coach Jay Gruden.Gruden once worked for Hasslett in the now-defunct UFL.ddddddddddddOn Monday, Gruden said he would recommend keeping Haslett.Bruce Allen, the Redskins president and general manager, said at a news conference Wednesday that Hasletts exit was the right decision.Jay and Jim had been talking the last few days, Allen said. This morning when they were talking, they decided it was the best way for both sides.Allen said other defensive assistant coaches had not been let go.Well start the defensive co-ordinator search later today and start exploring some names and bring in some people for interviews, Allen said. But Jay will make those decisions later.___Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '