PLAYER OF THE WEEK WATCH - Week 9

	TEAM	WHY	WHY NOT	STATS
Dwight Howard PER 29.66 MVP	-	27 and 14, 3-1 record, 67% shooting, usual solid D including 2 steals and 1.3 blocks. The numbers are there, even in a big man crazy season.	A Knicks player for Player of the Week not named Harden or Irving? Are you serious? It's tough to give POTW to the second best player on the team... what about the third?	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Ben Simmons PER 23.59 MVP	-	32/8/9 is getting about as close to averaging a triple-double as I can recall seeing. He improved in pretty much every way compared to his season stats including leaps in PPG (21 > 32.5), FT% (65 > 76), rebounds (6.6 > 8) and assists (8.5 > 9).	He's a rookie - stay in your lane rookie! Usually I use record as a pretty big way to narrow down player of the week, but the rest of the Eastern candidates are very solid in that area... not quite as much for Simmons at 2-2. You've got to feel like those 5+ turnovers played a big role in those losses.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Kristaps Porzingis PER 20.30 MVP	-	This guy has arrived - freaking 40 points per game and a 4-0 week with one of the youngest roster in the league. Did you know they have 40 mil in cap space? Remember what I said about voting for Klay? I'm not so sure now... this is crazy and maybe unprecedented.	He's a big and bigs are boring right now, voting for guards is cool. I mean... he only averaged 10 rebounds per game... and 10 is the new 6 as far as rebounds per game.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Karl-Anthony Towns PER 32.24 MVP	-	26 and 13 on 61% and 83% from the line is great. If you feel like Badwolf hasn't gotten enough credit for putting together this crazy roster.	3-1 for the Bucks is pretty pedestrian, do we really reward above average for a great team? This is also pretty much the exact line he's been putting up all year and he only lead the team in scoring in 2 of the games.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Hassan Whiteside PER 19.46 MVP	-	Similar gaudy numbers as he's been rolling with all season - 23/15. He seems to be happy enough to do his thing through the turmoil that has sent the other 2 of the IT/Hayward/Hassan big 3 that coexisted previously.	The only player on the list whose averages look a decent bit worse for the week than they do for the season. He also only lead the team to a 2-2 week as they sit a bit outside of 8th in the West.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Rudy Gay PER 11.91 MVP	-	If you ripped off DJ Drew in a trade that left this team without future picks, you owe it to Toby - give them man some happiness. 2-2 is still a pretty solid week for where many thought this team would fall this season.	These stats are pretty much his season averages and Portland is falling out of the playoff picture. Gay is potentially the best stretch 4 in the league this season, but that's a role that usually doesn't lead big teams to big places.	PTS REB AST STL BLK