Basketball New Zealand

June 18, 2008

A single-game franchise assists record, three triple-doubles, five Player of the Week awards and number one in the Player Power Rankings.

Add it all up and it equals Most Valuable Player.

Waikato Pistons point guard Jason Crowe flew away with the Dominion Finance NBL MVP Award on Wednesday, culminating an All-Star season that sees his team one win away from the NBL Championship.

Crowe was a comfortable MVP winner over import team-mate Brian Wethers, Youthtown Auckland Stars forward Casey Frank and Century City Wellington Saints American forward Ernest Scott.

The 31-year-old American’s season began with a Waikato club record 16 assists in a win over the CPS Nelson Giants, just hours after arriving from Los Angeles.

And his season only got better.

The NBL had not seen a triple-double since pre-2000 until Crowe went to work this season - recording his first with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists against Devon Dynamos Taranaki in round three, his second with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 10 points against the Saints in round 10, and third against the Marley Canterbury Rams in round 12 with 44 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

He won Player of the Weeks honours in rounds three, five, 10, 11 and 15, ended the regular season atop the Player Power Rankings by a healthy margin, won the assists title and was second in steals.

Crowe, who averaged 21.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 3.1 steals per game during the regular season, also earned All-Star Five selection on Wednesday, alongside Frank, Wethers, Scott and Saints import-turned-naturalised-citizen Nick Horvath.

Frank, averaging 21.6 points and 8.5 rebounds, followed up his Outstanding Forward and Outstanding Kiwi Forward awards earlier this week by taking out the Kiwi MVP award over Giants shooting guard Phill Jones.

Wethers won the scoring title, averaging 27.6 points per game, and joined his running mate Crowe in the All-Star Five, becoming the first team-mate guard pairing since Jones and Joe Wyatt did it for the Giants in 1998.

Scott – 21.3 points and 6.7 rebounds – and Horvath – 17.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks – were rewarded for the Saints 14-4 record, regular season title and undefeated 9-0 record at home with selection, and were the first team-mate forward duo to be named since Pero Cameron and Clifton Bush for the Waikato Titans in 2001.

While Crowe, Wethers and Scott were first-time NBL All-Star Fivers, it was Frank’s third selection in four years and Horvath’s second in three years.

Dominion Finance NBL Awards

MVP

Jason Crowe (Waikato Pistons)

Kiwi MVP

Casey Frank (Youthtown Auckland Stars)

All-Star Five

Jason Crowe (Waikato Pistons)
Casey Frank (Youthtown Auckland Stars)
Ernest Scott (Century City Wellington Saints)
Brian Wethers (Waikato Pistons)
Nick Horvath (Century City Wellington Saints)

Outstanding Guard (Keith Carr Trophy)

Jason Crowe (Waikato Pistons)

Outstanding Forward (Commissioner’s Cup)

Casey Frank (Youthtown Auckland Stars)

Outstanding Kiwi Guard (John Macdonald Trophy)

Phill Jones (CPS Nelson Giants)

Outstanding Kiwi Forward (Stan Hill Trophy)

Casey Frank (Youthtown Auckland Stars)

Rookie of the Year

Tyrone Davey (Youthtown Auckland Stars)

Coach of the Year

Doug Marty (Century City Wellington Saints)

Scoring Champion (Alan Bland Memorial Trophy)

Brian Wethers (Waikato Pistons)

Rebounding Champion (Garry Pettis Memorial Trophy)

Antoine Tisby (Cartridge World Otago Nuggets)

Assist Champion (Dave Taylor Trophy)

Jason Crowe (Waikato Pistons)

Regular Season Champions

Century City Wellington Saints

Best Team Free-Throws (Nial Forsyth Trophy)

Appliance Shed Harbour Heat

Administrator of the Year

Sarah Moulder (CPS Nelson Giants)

Media Award

Adrian Seconi (Otago Daily Times)