Steve Nash will reportedly be named the NBA MVP in the next few days.
Huh?
There are at least five other people who could and should be considered ahead of Nash for MVP this year:
1) Dirk Nowitzki. See, Steve Nash wasn't even the best white player in the league this year. Nowitzki has made the leap and was absolutely lethal this year. Considering how much better Dallas has gotten since losing Nash and Michael Finley, a lot of the credit needs to go to Dirk Diggler. 90% from the line, 26.6 PPG (7th in the NBA), 40% from outside, making 1.4/game. Toss in 9 rebounds and a block per game, and this is someone that can't be ignored. At a minimum, should have won Most Valuable White Player.
2) LeBron James. Another one making the leap as expected. 31 points a game, 7 boards, 7 assists, and someone you do NOT want taking the last shot against you. Only 21, and carries a bunch of stiffs to 50 wins. Crikey.
3) Elton Brand. For Christ's sake, the CLIPPERS won almost 50 games! That has not happened since Kurt Cobain was still alive. Yeah, I know, Cassell brought a lot of improvement, but this is an unselfish player who is also great at setting up his teammates in addition to just taking over a game. A guaranteed 25/10 every night (top 10 in both categories), an inside presence with 3 blocks a game. A complete player in the early part of his prime.
4) Chauncey Billups. Hell, if you are looking for someone who is the engine of a winning team, this is the guy. Second in the league in assists, and puts up 19 points a game to boot. Defensively, much better than Nash. The two are close, but between defense and team record, I'd go with Billups.
While all four should be considered ahead of Nash, unfortunately they are all still behind....
5) Kobe Bryant. This kills me. Really. I still don't think he was guilty, but I do think him stupid for being in the situation. In the past he's been a team-killer and coach-killer. Ask Shaq, Del, and Phil (before this season).
This season.....every game is a vengeance game. He wants to do the MJ impression, well he has the "supporting" cast to do so. When Smush Parker is the third-best player.....oy vey. It makes the 81 and 68 point games understandable, and those sorts of games create some of the few WOW moments that people remember.
With NOBODY else on that team, he dropped 35 points, 5 boards, 4 assists (huh?), a couple 3's, and 2 steals per game. Can create his own shot from ANYWHERE - with this cast, he pretty much has to.
Kobe should have gotten it the same reason Iverson got it last year. In both cases, their teams would have been 20-win teams without them. The Suns would still be a 45-50 win team without Nash.
I don't think the Suns are getting out of the first round. Kobe will want vengeance on a nice, grand scale, and knocking out Nash would sure do that. Get out of Mamba's way.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
I don't get it...
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4 comments:
It sure was a crapshoot for MVP. But I love Nash's game and have to defend his merits here.
The Suns would still be a 45-50 win team without Nash.
I want some of what you're smoking? Actually, this is precisely why Nash won - the "V" for valuable. He's not the best player, but nobody is more valuable. Remember when the Suns were a 20 win team just 2 years ago before they signed Nash?
This year's Suns wouldn't even have won 20 games w/o Nash. Did you see how poorly they played down the strecth when he was rested? Diaw was playing point! Think about it....Amare played a total of 3 games all year, they lost Joe Johnson to FA, traded Quentin Richardson, lost Kurt Thomas to injury, and even had to sign Knick outcast Tim Thomas who had been out of basketball.
Oh yeah and Boris Diaw went from a guy behind Ira Newble on the Hawks' depth chart last year to a guy who racked up several triple doubles. 'Nuff said, Hawks fan!
Dirk, Billups, Brand, James and Wade all had amazing years too. But Dirk, Billups, and Wade are on teams that are stacked. Cassell was actually more "valuable" to the Clippers than Brand. James giveth and he taketh away - he still makes too many mistakes to win an MVP, but his time is coming.
Finally, Kobe is also very deserving and would be my 2nd choice. But he's got that whole Phil Jackson "pulling the strings" factor - yeah, I know, so did MJ. But the Suns had a better year than the Lakers and I think their overall rosters are about equal (w/o Amare). Marion is a better 2nd option than Odom but not by much (as witnessed by the playoffs so far). And the Lakers have more depth, especially with big guys of which the Suns have nobody.
But it's a great debate. Mike, welcome back to pro basketball. Now if we could only win over Ted! :)
Actually, the year before they signed Nash, they won 45 games.
Marion is a FAR better 2nd option than Odom. Odom is good...when he puts the pipe down. But 7 less points and 2.5 less rebounds a game is not "close". Besides, the rest of the starters are Chris Mihm, Smush Parker, and Kwame Brown. Much worse than Raja Bell, Diaw, and Kurt Thomas. Forget depth; the rest of the starting 5 for LA isn't even average.
LeBron: The second best player is Ilgauskas and a giant fork sticking out of his back.
The others: debatable, I definitely allow that the teams were "stacked", especially for Billups. But, losing each player costs about 15 wins - which is about what Nash bring to the Suns in a comparison of records. All bring a lot to the table and would be sorely missed, so they are quite "valuable".
Now, on to the NFL draft - and laughing tomorrow about the Texans not taking Reggie Bush....wow.
2003-2004 Phoenix Suns: 29-53 (w/o Nash)
2004-2005 Phoenix Suns: 62-20 (w/Nash)
2005-2006 Phoenix Suns: 54-28 (w/Nash & w/o Amare)
I think those numbers speak volumes.
But I agree about the draft and Bush. A Texas sized mistake as Len Pasquarelli called it.
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