2022 Awards and Playoff Preview

_________

Movement Woj

July 24 2022

We’re back! After a long hiatus, the Movement Summer League is heading to the playoffs and it is so so good to be back. We considered doing a bubble, but after a survey, only two people were passionate enough to drop everything to stay in a hotel for a month and play unpaid basketball: Jeff Law and Austin Spurlin. Besides, we all know bubble championships don’t count (don’t @ me Bron-stans).

League Awards

The media and captains have voted on these awards.

Rookie of the Year: The award for the top newcomer to the league

It was a two man race for most of the season between Kyle Lai and Nick Devries. Both were dominant and a key part of their teams’ success. Narrowly edging out Kyle, Nick Devries is our 2022 Rookie of the Year! Nick had a monster 20/20 game, as well as dominating the league all year with his size and skill.

(Sorry Kyle, your team was too good for you to get ROTY, everyone knows it’s the best rookie on a bad team award)

Defensive Player of the Year: The award for the most impactful defender

Many received votes, but only one broke his nose for the game. Marcus Wright is your 2022 DPOY. Anyone that played against Marcus knows the dog in him, relentless on defense and the glass, he made life miserable for anyone playing against him. Even more understated than his basketball skills, was his leadership in communicating and encouraging his team. Marcus symbolizes a lot of what this league values, congrats brotha!

Most Valuable Player: The best player in 2022

Back in 2013, there was one media member that voted for Carmelo Anthony over Lebron James to prevent him from getting the unanimous MVP. We New Yorkers love that dude, but we also know he was trippin. Incidentally, the same robbery of unanimous MVP has happened to Knicks great, Grant Knight, who is your 2022 MVP. Grant dominated all season scoring a league record 122 points (don’t fact check that, I just made it up), dominating on the boards, and leading his team to a 7-1 | +101 first place finish. No one else had his resume and no one else made the impact he did. We putting the banner up boys.

Playoff Preview

8. Detroit Pistons (2-6 | -99)

This team has been ravaged by injuries this year, but with two of the best rookies of the year, Matt and Nick, the future looks bright. (Except that it totally doesn’t matter, because you don’t actually get to keep your rookies in this league.) The Pistons will be looking to make a cinderella run in the playoffs, but face a tough round one matchup against the 1-seed Knicks, who they struggled with early on in the regular season. They’ll need people to play through injuries and contributions all around to make the upset!

7. Celtics (2-6 | -51)

Are the Celtics heating up (they play the heat lol) at just the right time? With a dominant victory in the last week of the regular season, maybe Captain Thomas and his squad have found their stride. This team has unfortunately been unable to get a full squad together for much of the season, whether due to injury, sickness, or otherwise. Connor, Alex, and Sepehr have been holding it down every week, but the team seems to be figuring out how to play with all their pieces. No one will be surprised if they pull an upset. Prayers up Richard Lees quick recovery from a nasty ankle injury.

6. Bulls (3-5 | -41)

The preseason darlings everyone was scared of have underperformed their expectations this year. But don’t you dare count them out, this team is not a true 6-seed and they have all the talent in the world to shut down opposing offenses and grind out win after win. Their captain Lhuda Lhee got their team fitted with some matching drip and everyone seems to be getting healthy at the right time. Myoungki Lee had a career season this year, absolutely torching the league from deep, he wanted me to write that he’s not just a shooter though (he is).

5. Rockets (4-4 | -6)

The Rockets have a great squad and are expected to be at full strength for this playoff run. Ed and Khalil have had their playoff struggles in the past, but they are confident this is their year. And they have every right to be, they are filled with talent and depth. Will captain Ed break his playoff curse or will it once again wash away with his overflowing sweat pores.

4. Suns (4-4 | +11)

This team is reminiscent of the 2021-2022 Lakers squad, the oldest squad ever. Will they also fall short of championship aspirations or will they put everything together to make a playoff run. As if they needed it, the Rockets gave them some bulletin board material, quoting Ed Lee, “I’m going 3-0 vs my pastor this year”. There is no way this team takes that disrespect lying down and I think the 4-5 matchup will be one to watch this year.

Special shoutout to Andrew Yi who just had his first child! Prayers up for that family, we might be be seeing some Fred Van Vleet-esque fatherhood superpowers coming from the big man.

3. Pelicans (4-4 | +35)

One of the deepest teams in the league, this team has solid players at every spot. They are elite on defense with the DPOY Marcus Wright, and the Jaime led offense is always proven to get buckets, with contributors all over the court. They’ve lost some close ones, but I believe them to be a true contender that can take it all, unfortunately they are running into one of the toughest underseeded teams in the league in the first round. We will be seeing a battle, with every 50-50 ball resulting in someone on the floor.

2. Heat (6-2 | +50)

The #1 seed came down to the last match of the season between the Heat and the Knicks and it was a dogfight. This team is scary and has size and depth. They have scorers at every level, high IQ players, and good teamwork to boot. Rookie Ryan Clark has been serving up the smoke not only on his delicious brisket, but on the court as well. Chris Knight and Kyle Lai always get buckets and they have the most dedicated player in the league, Jeff Law, flying in every week to see his buddies and play some ball. This team is a true contender.

1. Knicks (7-1 | +101)

Home of the MVP and sporting the best record and point differential in the league, this team is the clear favorite. They have shown cracks, going through scoring droughts and opponents hot streaks, losing a close one to the Heat early in the season. However, this team has fought back at every deficit and shown championship caliber resilience, getting revenge on the Heat to lock up the 1-seed and ready to face on all challengers. Other than the Pelicans, this may be the deepest team in the league with everyone able to ball. The only question mark is how they will replace Captain Joon Dokgo’s irreplaceable 1.2 points per game on the season, with him out due to knee injury (thank you to all the brothers who showed me love this last two weeks, it really meant a lot).

Thank you to everyone who played in this league, sharing with our goals and spirit with great sportsman, fellowship, and love. We hope to continue building connections with you all and I hope that God was glorified by our play and friendships.

2 Corinthians 13:14

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.