The results from the Blazersedge 1/3 Season Awards are in and have been tabulated. Here you go.

Rookie or Sophomore of the (1/3) Year

Results:

• Rudy Fernandez (97)
  
• Greg Oden (43)
  
• Nicolas Batum (23)
  
• Jerryd Bayless (1)
  

Ben Says: Great arguments were made for both Nic and Greg but I went with Rudy because he has logged the most minutes of the 3 and has logged the most important minutes by a large margin. His shooting and spark has kept us in some games, extended leads in others, and flat out crushed opponents' spirits in a few. He has handled the ridiculous fan attention perfectly and has carried himself like a professional at all times. He comes to play every night whether or not his shot is falling. I suspect that his careless passes and wild shots might allow Greg to overtake him when we vote again at the 2/3 mark... but for now I'm down with vivaing the Rudylucion. Also, his swag is phenomenal and was sorely missing from our second unit last year.

Dave Says: Solid choice. Hard to argue against it. The actual voting pretty much mirrored my thoughts as well. I'm about 60% Rudy, 25% Greg, and 15% Nicolas for this award.

Most Improved

Results:

• Sergio Rodriguez (72)
  
• Brandon Roy (34)
  
• Joel Przybilla (31)
  
• Steve Blake (20)
  
• Travis Outlaw (2)
  

Ben Says: I went with Przybilla mostly because of his ridiculousfield goal percentage and the efficiency that goes with it. I guess I might have been blinded by that number because the rest of his stats are pretty much unchanged year/year. Another explanation for Joel's perceived improvement may be that he's playing most of his minutes recently against 2nd teamers -- so he looks great in comparison to those guys. Joel seems to have eliminated the dropped passes from his life which were absolutely the most infuriating part of his game. What's left? Only hard work, rebounding, catch and dunks, and the beautiful block shots. Despite the Spanish Connection hype, his increased playing time and his improved assist/turnover numbers, I'm still not sold on Sergio's improvement. He certainly looks spectacular more often that he did last year but he still struggles with reading defenses consistently and, of course, he still hasn't found his shot. While Sergio has me jumping out of my chair more often he still leaves me pulling out my hair as well. From a backup point guard, I am looking for consistency and reliability -- Sergio's not there yet... but that could change by the 2/3 mark.

Dave Says: While Joel is tempting I'd go with Blake. Both have made an incredible difference on this team but I already knew Joel was capable of most of the things he's doing. (Not the offense, but then the offense is only about 20% of what he's doing.) Steve Blake the leading scorer and a must-guard guy, however? While adjusting to a different role alongside Brandon to boot? That's incredible. I won't go with Sergio just because his improvement rate says as much about where he's come from as where he is. Keep improving at this rate and I might be swayed more. He's also had a fine season though.

Biggest Letdown

Results (updated):

• Channing Frye (58) 
  
• Travis Outlaw (33)
  
• Greg Oden (21)
  
• Martell Webster (20)
  
• Lamarcus Aldridge (10)
  
• Jerryd Bayless (4)
  
• Steve Blake (2)
  
• Raef LaFrentz (1)
  

Ben Says: I went with Greg but not because of anything on-court. In some ways, he has exceeded expectations there. In other ways, of course, he hasn't done all that was expected by many. The letdown started early for me -- on media day, when he was aloof, quiet and altogether a different person than I saw last season. Remember when he got that crazy mohawk last year? I thought nothing at the time of asking him to pose for a picture. He gladly did so, even offering an unprompted ear-to-ear smile. There was a complete approachability about him. This season, as has been well-documented, it's 180 degrees different. Does this mean its the end of the world? That I have grave concerns about Oden? No. But the difference between my expectations of his personality and the reality of his personality is the biggest disconnect I'm feeling this year. Also, the difference between his attitude and the attitudes of his teammates, particularly the big minute guys, is noticeable. Given how much has gone right this season, it's hard not to be letdown by that. Also -- I didn't expect Frye to see much time, I didn't really expect Travis to make another leap, and I don't hold his injury against Martell. So this one came down to a process of elimination. I don't expect to be selecting Greg again at the 2/3 mark. He's showing signs -- starting with that jump hook -- that it's starting to come together.

Dave Says: Whoever voted for Steve Blake has a screw loose. And how do you vote for Raef LaFrentz? What exactly did you expect of him? That's like complaining that Dolly Madison isn't winning a bikini contest. Yes...but those baked goods! Anyway, I'd go with Travis also, just because of the intermittent play we're still seeing.

Most Inspirational

Results:

• Brandon Roy (71)
  
• Joel Przybilla (14)
  
• Jerryd Bayless (12)
  
• Rudy Fernandez (11)
  
• Nicolas Batum (7)
  
• Greg Oden (7)
  
• Martell Webster (7)
  
• Steve Blake (5)
  
• Sergio Rodriguez (5)
  
• Shavlik Randolph(1)
  
• Channing Frye (1)
  
• Ike Diogu (1)
  

Ben Says: If you voted Brandon I don't blame you. The word "inspirational" can go a lot of different directions. Here, I looked to work ethic and camaraderie. Back in early September I was hearing that Bayless was the first guy in the gym and the last one to leave. Then through training camp we heard about how hard he was working around the clock. Then recently we again heard that he works out so hard that the coaches are suggesting that he might ease up a little bit. His work ethic never changed one iota ... even as he dealt with a tough playing time situation and the unavoidable rookie adjustment to the NBA. His genuine excitement on the bench is just the icing on the cake. He's the kind of guy you want on your team and he's a coach's dream. The fact that he's so young makes it all the more impressive. Nature hasn't yet run its course but it will.

Dave Says: Once again it becomes evident that some people's moms are voting. And that Ben is Jerryd Bayless' mom. (Just kidding! We all know that's not possible. That scowl is clearly genetic and Ben doesn't have it.) I would have to vote for Joel Przybilla just because nobody does more of the little things in more situations with less complaining and fewer bad nights.

Defensive Player of the (1/3) Year

Results:

• Joel Przybilla (128)
  
• Greg Oden (11)
  
• Nicolas Batum (10)
  
• Brandon Roy (1)
  
• Lamarcus Aldridge (1)
  

Ben Says: I went with the vast majority here and picked Joel. He is the rock, the anchor, the everything. Batum has looked great at times but has been slipping a bit the last fortnight or so. Joel has also weathered some huge matchups, stepped up big in Greg's injury absence, and has made himself ready to play at any moment when Greg gets into foul trouble. Joel's also been using his fouls intelligently and swatting shots as always. Our overall defense has been tough to watch at times -- hopefully Joel starts rubbing off on some of his teammates.

Dave Says: Batum would have gotten more consideration had his impact been greater lately. There's nobody close to Joel here.

Most Valuable Player (Besides Roy)

Results:

• Joel Przybilla (71)
  
• Lamarcus Aldridge (59)
  
• Steve Blake (21)
  
• Jerryd Bayless (2)
  
• Greg Oden (2)
  

Ben Says: If you think Brandon Roy is getting doubled a lot now, imagine what would happen if he didn't have LMA keeping teams honest. Sure, Aldridge hasn't lived up to the preseason All-Star-Potential hype and has been struggling with defensive rotations, but he's still going for almost 17 and 7 and logging heavy minutes night in and night out. He's faced a ton of big tests already (Amar'e, Rasheed, etc.) and I expect him to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the lighter schedule in 2009 and THE biggest beneficiary of a more comfortable and tested Greg Oden. There's a reason that Coach Nate continues to try to get LMA off at the beginning of almost every game -- when he's on, we're infinitely more difficult to deal with than when he's off.

Dave Says: This is hard. Joel has done yeoman's work but his stats are about the same as Greg's. I'm not a huge stat guy but for something like MVPBR you want some oomph. We don't win unless Steve Blake contributes. But Lamarcus is our second-leading scorer and, as Ben says, a huge threat. Arrrgh. I'm going to take the weak way out and say our Most Valuable Player (Besides Roy) is the entire second unit. They've inspired and propelled us to plenty of wins. You don't cringe anymore when the starters leave. Instead you salivate. That's good enough for me. I'll have a better answer at the 2/3 mark.

Best Comments Describing Roy

We left the judging to you guys in the "Brandon Roy is..." post and these were your favorites:

Brandon Roy is... not paid enough money. -- proaxis

Brandon Roy is.. For me and my son what Drexler was for my dad and I, special. -- tmundal

Brandon Roy is... so amazing and great I forget he is a Husky. -- trumpetduck

Brandon Roy is... only getting started -- mark twain

Brandon Roy is.. to the eye, what a toasted almond bar is to the taste buds. -- captain flitzy

Brandon Roy is... The best 3rd round fantasy pick i ever had in my life. -- captain flitzy

Branond Roy is... The reason this pacer fan is a member of BlazersEdge and stays up till 130 Am eastern with work early in the morning. -- captain flitzy

Brandon Roy is so hot right now. -- appel82

Brandon Roy is headed for the rafters with a big, beautiful "7". -- QualityPie

Brandon Roy is A role model. Humility, Fundamentals, Desire, Teamwork. -- GreatOden'sRaven

Brandon Roy is ...clutch. -- grim

Brandon Roy is the reason why, in 20 years, some old geezer will be posting here as 7roy. - 22baylor

Brandon Roy is threatening to supplant me as future ruler of the world. -- jscot

Brandon Roy is freestyling, asking Shaq how "my 52 tastes!" -- ArbyOSU

Thanks to everybody who participated!

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)