2011-12 End Of Year Thunder Awards

At the end of every game, Welcome To Loud City hands out its awards; Thunder Wonder, Blunder, Down Under, and Plunderer. Throughout the season, I've been keeping a running tally of the award recipients in order to award our annual and highly cherished "End of Year Awards." Awards are presented to the player who had accumulated the most of a given award over the course of a year. Simply put, whoever wins the most Thunder Wonders in a season wins Thunder Wonder of the Year.

Without further adieu, let's reveal our awards:

THUNDER WONDER OF THE YEAR

Total tally:

Kevin Durant -- 32

Russell Westbrook -- 15

James Harden -- 12

Serge Ibaka -- 3

Thabo Sefolosha -- 2

Nick Collison -- 1

Kendrick Perkins -- 1

Daequan Cook - 1

WINNER: Kevin Durant

A few notes about the award:

• Unsurprisingly, Durant is Thunder Wonder of the Year. This wasn't even close, he won the award in nearly half the games he player in.
• The next three players on the list aren't all that surprising, but Thabo Sefolosha is a surprise at No. 5. Though he only won twice, there are still some Thunder fans out there who hate the fact that he starts. He also missed several games this season due to injury.
• The award definitely seems to favor scorers, which isn't really a bad thing. Scoring is the object of the game.
• Daequan Cook won once, which I'm sure comes as a huge surprise to some. It should be noted, however, that his win came at the end of the season against the Kings when the Thunder, frankly, didn't care all that much.

AFTER THE JUMP: DOWN UNDER OF THE YEAR, BLUNDER OF THE YEAR, AND THE DEBATE FOR PLUNDERER!

THUNDER DOWN UNDER OF THE YEAR

Total tally:

Serge Ibaka -- 21

Russell Westbrook -- 10

Nick Collison -- 9

James Harden -- 7

Kevin Durant -- 7

Kendrick Perkins -- 3

Daequan Cook -- 3

Derek Fisher -- 3

Thabo Sefolosha -- 2

Nazr Mohammed -- 1

WINNER: Serge Ibaka

A few notes about the award:

• Serge Ibaka is the run away winner of this year's Thunder Down Under of the Year, thanks to a near historic season in blocking shots. Does this show that blocking shots is not as valuable as scoring points like Durant?Probably, but I don't think anyone out there is going to argue that Ibaka should be this year's Thunder Wonder.
• Russell Westbrook finished second in both Thunder Wonder and Thunder Down Under. Some people might wonder why the team's second best player didn't win the award for being second best in the game. Keep in mind, however, that intangibles are often considered more heavily in this award than the others.
• Even after winning Thunder Wonder of the Year, Kevin Durant still managed to finish tied for fourth in Thunder Down Under. Impressive.
• Derek Fisher won three times despite playing in only 20 games. Interesting.

THUNDER BLUNDER OF THE YEAR

Total tally:

Serge Ibaka -- 10

None -- 8

Daequan Cook -- 7

Kevin Durant -- 7

Russell Westbrook -- 5

Kendrick Perkins -- 5

James Harden -- 5

Thabo Sefolosha -- 3

Derek Fisher -- 3

Thunder Bench -- 2

Eric Maynor -- 1

Lazar Hayward -- 1

Thunder Offense -- 1

Thunder Defense -- 1

Team Turnover -- 1

Reggie Jackson -- 1

Overall Team Effort -- 1

Nick Collison -- 1

Cole Aldrich -- 1

Royal Ivey -- 1

Scott Brooks -- 1

Starting Five -- 1

WINNER: Serge Ibaka

A few notes about the award:

• Serge Ibaka won both Thunder Down Under and Thunder Blunder of the Year. I think this perfectly describes Ibaka as a player: full of ridiculous upside but still a little raw.
• I don't know who this None guy is, but I think we should consider cutting him from the roster.
• Kevin Durant was named Thunder Blunder 7 times. As good as the guy is, he is prone to having games where he is cold as ice -- and in a bad way. When Durant starts bricking 3s, the Thunder usually struggle, which more often than not leads to a loss.
• Derek Fisher won three times despite playing in only 20 games. Interesting.

THUNDER PLUNDERER OF THE YEAR

Total tally (multiple award winners):

Dirk Nowitzki -- 3

Al Jefferson -- 3

Chris Paul -- 3

Marc Gasol -- 2

LaMarcus Aldridge -- 2

Kevin Martin -- 2

Jarrett Jack -- 2

Marcin Gortat -- 2

Andre Miller -- 2

Tony Parker -- 2

Players who won the award once:

Ryan Anderson

Ricky Rubio

Zach Randolph

Goran Dragic

Gary Neal

Chris Kaman

Tyson Chandler

Mickael Pietrus

John Wall

Deron Williams

Tayshaun Prince

Jarrett Jack

Dorell Wright

Jason Terry

Monta Ellis

Tyreke Evans

David Lee

Kevin Garnett

Pau Gasol

Andre Igoudala

Dwight Howard

Josh Smith

Kyrie Irving

Corey Maggette

Courtney Lee

DeJuan Blair

Danny Green

Jamal Crawford

Paul Milsap

Randy Foye

Kevin Love

Dwyane Wade

J.J. Hickson

Andrew Bynum

Jimmy Butler

O.J. Mayo

LeBron James

Danny Granger

Jose Calderon

Drew Gooden

Isiah Thomas

Jose Juan Barea

Jared Dudley

Francisco Garcia

Kobe Bryant

DeMarcus Cousins

Kenneth Faried

WINNER: Dirk Nowitzki, Al Jefferson, Chris Paul (3-way tie)

A TIE?!?! What is this soccer?! I WILL NOT ALLOW TIES! To break the tie, it's up to you the fans. The winner will be whoever wins the vote-off at the end of the post. Below, I will provide each of the candidates average stats vs the Thunder this season and let you determine for yourself who the winner should be...

DIRK NOWITZKI AVERAGE VS THE THUNDER (1 Win, 3 Losses): 22.5 Points, 7.25 Rebounds, 2.25 Assists, 1 Steal, 2.25 Turnovers, .443 Field Goal %, .300 3-Point %, 22-23 Free Throws.

AL JEFFERSON AVERAGE VS THE THUNDER (1 Win, 2 Losses): 17 Points, 6.33 Rebounds, 2.67 Assits, 1 Block, 0.67 Turnovers, .423 Field Goal %, 7-8 Free Throws.

CHRIS PAUL AVERAGE VS THE THUNDER (3 Wins, 1 Loss): 20.5 Points, 2.5 Rebounds, 9.5 Assists, 2.75 Steals, 2 Turnovers, .517 Field Goal %, .467 3-Point %, 13-14 Free Throws.