As most teams hit the midway mark in their season this week, TSNs Jack Armstrong offers his thoughts on some of the players who have stood out to me in the first half. Aaron Donald Rams Jersey . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. Hes delivered on every level. Sure, LeBron James is the best all-around player in the game today yet hes had stretches where he seems to have it on cruise control. Durant brings it for you all the time and for that, I give it to him at the midpoint. ROOKIE: (MICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS-Sixers) - Simply put, brilliant. His team has been abysmal without him and yet have a decent (considering theyre in tank mode) 12-18 record when he plays. This guy is a better player than he was in college at Syracuse, much like Russell Westbrook at UCLA. He impacts the game on so many fronts its ridiculous. I love watching him play and if I cant catch his game, I make sure I check the boxscores from his games to see his eye-popping stats. I shook my head when they traded Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans on draft night but now I completely understand why they did. Theyve got a major impact guy to run their team for years to come. Special talent. COACH: (JEFF HORNACEK-Suns) - Could have gone with Terry Stotts of the Trail Blazers or Frank Vogel of the Pacers here but who figured the Suns would be this good this year? No one. They were one of the teams in the discussion as being in full tank mode yet a funny thing happened on the way to the lottery. This team plays really hard. Wonderful decision to team the two point guards together (Dragic and Bledsoe). They play with energy and a purpose. Outstanding role definition and they share the ball. To me, the coaching has been a major factor bringing it all together nicely. The injury to Eric Bledsoe is a major blow and Im not sure if they can hold on to a playoff spot but at this point, youve got to give major props to Hornacek and his staff for a job well done. DEFENCE: (ROY HIBBERT-Pacers) - All he does every night is block and alter shots and make you think twice and a third time about bringing your game into the lane. On top of that, he rebounds and is a physical force in the paint. The Pacers are the leagues best defensive team and a huge reason is the fact that they have outstanding rim protection and it all starts with this man. Offensively, hes become a much more polished player as well. He said his goal was to be the top defender in the league and in my book, hes it. MOST IMPROVED: (LANCE STEPHENSON-Pacers) - This second round pick has continued to get better and better. He had a lot of rough edges to his game and his personality coming out of Cincinnati but to his credit, hes slowly but surely emerged as a significant part of the attack of the leagues top team. He can score, rebound, pass and guard for you. Plays with great passion and intensity and has slowed his game down and now plays at a controlled speed with a purpose. Will get a nice raise this off-season. Well earned and well deserved. RAPTORS MVP: (KYLE LOWRY) - No doubt about this pick. Hes been a constant with his leadership, defence and clutch play. Has major league competitive spirit in his personality and zero back-down as well. Give him credit, hes in the best shape of his career (I love guys in their contract year, its amazing how it happens like this so often) and it shows in his game. His ability to get in the lane and create for teammates has grown nicely along with his consistency with the 3-point shot which makes him a greater force in the screen-and-roll game. Ultimately, you watch this team this year and his personality and will to win and pay the price has made this an enjoyable first half of the season for Raptors fans. Yes, there have been plenty of bumps in the road but when you think of Lowry, hes been a major bright spot. Good for him, hes paid the price and gives it to you consistently. Brian Quick Rams Jersey . Kingsbury, from Deux-Montagnes, Que., won gold with a score of 26.93, while Bilodeau, from Montreal, took silver with 26.54. Japans Sho Endo (25.24) placed third. Michael Brockers Jersey . Maxime Presseaults goal at 13:59 of the second period broke a 2-2 deadlock for the Foreurs, who trailed the series 3-2 before winning back-to-back games, and Guillaume Gelinas and Pierre-Maxime Poudrier also scored. BRISTOL, Conn. -- Police believe former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez was in an SUV when someone inside shot two people to death in Boston in 2012, according to a search warrant filed in Connecticut. The warrant does not indicate who investigators believe pulled the trigger or suggest a motive in the shooting of Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado in Bostons South End. No charges have been filed in the case. An attorney for Hernandez did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday. Hernandez came under scrutiny in the shooting following his arrest in the slaying of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player whose body was found June 17 near Hernandezs North Attleborough, Mass., home. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder in that case. In searching a home of Hernandezs uncle in Bristol, Conn., in June, police found the SUV wanted in the 2012 shooting in Boston. The new search warrant, first reported by The Hartford Courant, was filed in Bristol Superior Court and dated Dec. 11. It sought recordings of phone calls made by a Hernandez associate, Alexander Bradley, while Bradley was jailed in Hartford in October for failing to appear before a Massachusetts grand jury investigating the 2012 shooting. Bradley has alleged in a pending lawsuit in Florida that Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued outside a Miami club in February 2013. The search warrant filed by Bristol police provides some of the first details of Hernandezs alleged link to the Boston shooting. Surveillance camera recordings showed Hernandez and Bradley going into the Boston nightclub Cure at about 12:30 a.m. on July 16, 2012, shortly after the shooting victims went into the club, according to the warrant. Hernandezs movements inside the club werent recorded, but police said Hernandez quickly downed two drinks and thaat he and Bradley left after about 10 minutes. Chris Givens Youth Jersey. Surveillance video then showed Hernandez driving a Toyota 4Runner SUV out of a nearby parking garage with Bradley as a passenger, police said. The footage shows the victims leaving the club at about 2:10 a.m., and Hernandezs SUV passing by them twice as they walked to a parking garage to get their car, the warrant says. The shooting wasnt recorded by any cameras. A third man who was shot in the car but survived, Aquilino Freire, told police an SUV pulled up next to them while they were stopped at a traffic light, and he saw someone in the SUVs back seat laughing, the warrant says. Then, several gunshots were fired from the rear passenger seat into the car, Freire told police. Two other people in the car ran away, Freire said. A witness in another car told investigators that he saw an SUV with Rhode Island license plates run a red light, stop next to the victims car and he heard six gunshots. He described the SUV driver as a light-skinned Hispanic man with short dark hair. Another witness gave authorities the same description of the driver and said there was a passenger with hair that was either braided or had beads in it. The witness wasnt sure if the passenger was a man or woman. Hernandez has short dark hair, as does Bradley, according to police booking photos. When Bradley was being detained at the Hartford Correctional Center, he was informed that all phone calls by prisoners are subject to monitoring. An announcement repeated randomly during the phone calls tells both people on the call that it is being recorded, the warrant says. A correctional officer who was monitoring Bradleys calls alerted Bristol police that he believed Bradley discussed details of the Boston shooting in calls to people whom police did not identify. That led police to apply for the search warrant. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '