ASCH:
OK, Woods, so on our radio show last week you had the choice of taking Tiger or the field in the Masters, and you chose Tiger.  As we now know, Tiger came up just short for you, finishing at five-under and in second place, behind Trevor Immelman, whose three stroke victory made him the first South African since Gary Player to win the Masters. So in theory I won our bet; nonetheless, it feels cheap to me.  At the time of our show on Friday Immelman was the leader in the clubhouse after shooting consecutive 68s in the first two rounds.  I, being the bold prognosticator that I am, said that while I was taking the field over Tiger, there was also no chance this Immelman character (whose name I thought was Tom or Tim before looking it up) would be wearing the green jacket on Sunday.  So how did this relative unknown claim victory and leave most of the world’s best golfers (Woods, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington all finished in the top five) in his wake?

WOODS:
For the record, I think our bet is a push for your comments mentioned above about the eventual champ, Immelman.  As to how he did it, I feel like this storyline is played out more in golf than any other sport.  There are so many players entered into each tournament that are all starting on the same ground; there’s no seeding, no bye-games, no advantages for the best players in the world.  And that’s part of the reason why what Tiger has done over the past four to five years (winning something like 25 percent of his tournaments entered) is so impressive.  All the players on the tour, or at least all entered in the Masters, have the skills to string together some quality rounds of golf.  Look at Immelman’s history and he doesn’t look like such an underdog (he made the cut at the 1999 Masters as an amateur).  So hats off to Immelman for hanging on when no one thought he could and taking home the green jacket.  For Tiger, I think it has to be a disappointing second place finish, right?  Considering I can’t think of another player who would label a second place Masters finish as a disappointment, this is just another statement to the fact of how high Tiger’s expectations have become.

ASCH:
There is absolutely no doubt that second at the Masters is a big personal disappointment for Tiger, especially in light of his off-season comments about how winning the Grand Slam this season was “a definite possibility.”  It’s common knowledge that the Masters is the most important tournament to him, and now his quest to win the Grand Slam is over before it even started.
But enough about Tiger, let’s talk about the champion: Immelman.  Although he had only one PGA Tour win to his credit before the Masters (the 2006 Western Open), he was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2006 and had won three times on the European Tour. He has played on both President’s Cup and Ryder Cup teams, and has been ranked as high as 12th in the world.  He either shared the lead or was alone atop the leader board on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, and did so after having a calcified fibrosis tumor removed in December, causing him to miss the first eight weeks of the season.
But enough about golf, too.  Let’s move on to what you really want to talk about: NBA season-ending awards.  Who ya got?

WOODS:
Now you’re speaking my language, Eli.   Any one of the NBA’s postseason awards could be hotly debated, but I think I make a good case for my winners.   For the MVP, I said before that if New Orleans wins the wild race in the Western Conference, Paul has to get the MVP.   After his Hornets lost to the Lakers, and then to the Kings, it looks as if the Lakers will get that number one seed.   And to me, that clinches it for Kobe.   He carried the team all year through a barrage of injuries and is currently playing through some of his own.   He can still score with the best of them and is one of the top defenders in the league as well, so I give it to him.
My coach of the year goes to Rick Adelman.   The Rockets weren’t really on anybody’s radar at the start of the season, so he has to get a lot of the credit for this 54-46 team, especially with that run they made after Yao got hurt to win an astonishing 22 games in a row.   You could make a compelling case for Byron Scott, or even Jerry Sloan, who I still can’t believe has never won the award, but Adelman gets my vote.   My rookie of the year goes to Seattle Sonic Kevin Durant.   Horford averages near a double-double in Atlanta, but Durant had the challenge of coming into the league and being a team’s number one option.   He took on the best defenders and still came out averaging 20 a game.   My defensive player of the year goes to another Kevin, Kevin Garnett, simply for the presence he had in turning that team (and the defense) around.   Most improved in my book goes to Rudy Gay in Memphis for nearly doubling his scoring average from his rookie season and increasing his numbers across the board.   That’s enough from me, though.   Eli, who’re your winners?

ASCH:
We might be speaking you language now, Woods, but half of that was foreign to me. Nonetheless, I’ll try to hang with you while you talk NBA.   Looking back at my mid-season awards, a lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same.   I picked Doc Rivers as my coach of the year then, and: as much as I want to give Jerry Sloan some hardware for his lifetime achievement: I’m sticking with him now.   I’m amazed that he-of-absolutely no-ability-to-manage-personnel has been able to successfully utilize the Celtics’ surprisingly-deep bench.   I thought KG was a co-MVP (along with Chris Paul) before, and I still think he’s a co-MVP, although now with Kobe.   I agree with you that KG is the defensive player of the year as well, because, as John Hollinger recently pointed out, the C’s jump from 18th in the league in defensive efficiency last year to third all-time this year can hardly be attributed to Ray Allen.   Garnett’s intensity is contagious. For rookie of the year, I’m switching my vote to again agree with you: I’m on the Durant bandwagon: he’s going to be something special.   And as far as most improved: hell, I don’t follow the NBA well enough to have a real pick, so I’m going with another Celtics player: point guard Rajon Rondo.