Warriors Mid-Season Awards

Offensive Player:

In the eight games without Travis Leslie the Warriors have gone 5-3 and other players have been working hard to cover his points, but make no mistake, the Warriors missed the former Los Angeles Clipper dearly. In his first 14 games he averaged 15.7 points per game. His efficiency is what set him apart from the other scorers around the league. Shooting 50 percent from the field and and 40 percent from three he always made the most of all his possessions.

The University of Georgia product made his return in the Warriors against the Maine Red Claws January 25th and saw just 11 minutes. His conditioning is something that will comeback with time and the rust will begin to shake off as well. 

Defensive Player:

Stefhon Hannah has been the heart and soul of this team at the point guard spot. His scoring has been picking up in the past three games and he's been shooting the lights out from three. His defense is something that has been at an all-star level all season long however. The 2012 D-League Defensive Player of the Year has been averaging the just under two steals per game. Although those are solid numbers they really do not do him justice. The way that he hinders other point guards from running their offense is sensational. 

All-Hustle:

Mickell Gladness is just one of those players that has been there all season long and doesn't get much publicity, but there's no doubt he impacts both ends of the court. He does all the dirty work rebounds, blocks, solid box outs and finishing at the rim when he gets his chances. 

He's been dominant at times in the low-post as shot blocker. He leads the team in blocks with 2.46 per game. Even when he was coming off the bench when head coach Nate Bjorkgren decided to start Chris Johnson, he was still playing hard and fighting every minute he was on the court. 

Most Valuable Player:

It was a tough decision on who the MVP should go to. There were three major candidates in Hannah, Leslie and Taylor Griffin. Then there was the dark horse in Cameron Jones who's played at a high level and carried the Warriors at times since being put into the starting five. The more I thought about it though, I always came to the conclusion that Hannah has been the one player the Warriors cannot live without. 

Like a for mentioned, his scoring has picked up in the past three games as he's averaged 19 points per game. His defensive intensity is something that he prides himself on as always, but the little things that he does on and off the court make the Warriors serious play-off contenders. 

He's like another coach out on the floor and has been all season long. When I first met him in training camp he told me the one thing he tried to improve on this off-season were his leadership skills. Not only being a more vocal leader, but also bringing in the new guys and making them all gel into a complete team.