Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Who is the NBA MVP so far???
What is the true definition of a MVP? The letters stand for Most Valuable Player, but most valuable to what? His team? The league? Valuable to his team means, that without this specific player that team would be no where close to where they are. Valuable to the league, meaning that they are drawing crowds to the games, bringing in viewers to watch televised games, and dominating the league statistically. There is no real definition on what the MVP voters look for, but I am sure that they take all of these factors into consideration when choosing their MVP.
Although this year seems to be just a two man race, is it really just that? Kobe and Lebron are the clear front runners, but what about Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade? Statistically speaking Lebron, Dwade, and CP3 would be the clear front runners, while Kobe would be on the outside looking in. But it is not all about just stats, otherwise Shawn Marion would be in the running every year (as he was a stat box filler over the past couple of years).
Let’s take a look at these players’ stat lines this year to see if we can draw a clear comparison. LeBron: 28 Points, 7 Assists, 7.4 Rebounds, 1.7 Steals, 1.2 Blocks, 3 Turnovers. Kobe: 28 Points, 4.9 Assists, 5.4 Rebounds, 1.3 Steals, .4 Blocks, 2.6 Turnovers. Dwyane Wade: 29.7 Points, 7.7 Assists, 5.1 Rebounds, 2.2 Steals, 1.4 Blocks, 3.6 Turnovers. Chris Paul: 21.4 Points, 5.3 Rebounds, 11.1 Assists, 2.8 Steals, .2 Blocks, 3.1 Turnovers. Just for fun, let’s throw Dwight Howard in the mix: 21 Points, 14 Rebounds, 1.2 Assists, 1 Steal, 2.9 Blocks, and 3 Turnovers.
From this comparison it is hard to draw a distinct player who is statistically superior to the others. So what to do next? Let’s bring in the team records of these players, and for fun we’ll bring in Howard (I keep saying for fun, because a lot of analysts seem to be counting Howard out of the MVP race).
Lakers 50-13, Cleveland 49-13, Orlando 46-17, New Orleans 39-23, Miami 34-29. To compare who gets the most national attention is almost unfair, because the Lakers and Celtics are the clear front runners for this category (just because of their recent rekindled rivalry) with Cleveland coming in a close second. Miami does not get the national attention like these teams, because of their lackluster effort last year, although they were without Dwade. The Hornets and Magic get televised more than the Heat, but not nearly as much as the Cavs, Lakers, or Celtics. Here is an interesting question, why are there no Celtics players on this list, they do have three All-Stars. It is because they don’t produce individually at the levels that these five players do, because they (Celtics) are all sacrificing individual statistics for the ultimate goal, a NBA Championship, something these 5 players do not have the luxury of doing. Ok, so we know why the Celtics have no players on the list, so how can we start to eliminate the other 5 to a smaller list? Let’s speculate how the teams would fair without their superstars.
Let’s start with Kobe. Although the Lakers will most likely finish the regular season with the best record in the league, is he the most valuable player to his team out of these five players? Possibly. He is arguably the best closer in the league, but he also has the best supporting cast out of these five players. He has one All-Star player this year in Pau Gasol, and two other potentials in Odom and Bynum (who I think would have been an All-Star had he stayed healthy), not to mention one of the deepest benches in the league and a savvy veteran point guard in Derek Fisher. Lets mark Kobe off the list (I can already hear the Laker Fans Chastising me now). Remember I never said they were not going to win the Championship, because isn’t that what you fans want ultimately in the end?
Although Superman (Howard) is clearly the front runner for defensive player of the year, without him the Magic might be a sub .500 team which is most likely going to be the second best team out of these five, second to the Lakers. He has two All-Stars in Lewis and Nelson, and one All-Star snub in Turkoglu. They would be missing their glue defensively, but they may only miss a beat offensively. They would still have three potential All-Stars, not to mention the ability to shoot themselves into or out of a game. If we checked out Kobe, let’s check off Howard as well.
CP3 is next. Clearly he is the heart and soul of the Hornets, and has played his best year so far. But they need CP3 as much as they need Tyson Chandler. With just a West, CP3 combination, the Hornets were struggling to stay in the top 4 of the West. After the Chandler trade was rescinded, the Hornets (until a recent loss to Chicago) went on a 7 game winning streak and reestablished themselves as an extremely dangerous Western Conference team. I hate to do it, but check Paul off as well.
It now boils down to Lebron and Dwade, the stars of the 2003 Draft class (which is arguably one of the best and deepest in league history). Although the King’s Cavs have the best record in the East, he has the benefit of All-Star Mo Williams. Who does Dwade have? An old Jermaine O’neal, a young scoring machine but no defense Michael Beasley, and a young inexperienced point guard in Mario Chalmers. Ultimately, if you take either player off of their respected teams, they are heading to the lottery with a chance to draft a Freak of a Player in Blake Griffen. (Same can be argued for Paul if you take him away from his team, but he just has more help then these two do). So then how are you able to pick? To me it has to be LeBron by a very close margin. A close split decision championship fight type decision. 150-149, 149-150, 150-149 and the winner by split decision LeBron James. If they take the number 1 spot in the East it might just be an unanimous decision. James not only sells tickets, but he puts up the numbers, and wins more games with less help than these other 4 players. Yes, Wade would win more games with Cavs roster than the Heat roster, but would he be doing what LeBron is? We will never know. But what we do know is that all five of these players should be unanimous first team All-NBA, with Howard as the Defensive Player of the Year, Wade as the Most Improved Player of the Year, and LeBron being your MVP. Watch out though, if the Magic get that number 1 spot Howard could be a surprise, and never ever count out Kobe.
I can not wait for the playoffs!
Posted by The Sports Guy at 5:34 PM 0 comments ![]()
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Am I a Kobe Hater?
I get this all the time. “JJ you just don’t like the Lakers because you hate Kobe. Stop hating just because you are a Warriors fan.” The one that gets me the most is “JJ you are a bandwagon Celtics fan.” Seriously? Let me break down how I truly feel about Kobe. First off, to be a “hater” you have to not care if the person gets injured, sick, or does not succeed for any reason. Now, if Kobe does not succeed because he does not play well, or his team does not play to their potential, I am all for that. But I have never said that I wanted him to be sick and not play, or to get hurt and have his season end. I am not a hater in that sense of the word. But what makes me root against Kobe is the following.
1. He is the best player in the world, and I naturally root for the underdog. If you are the best player on the best team I am naturally going to root against you, because every team you play are going to be underdogs going into the game against his team; for the most part.
2. I met Kobe in person when I was in college. A friend of mine had let me know that Kobe was going to the gym early in the mornings and was willing to take pictures, sign autographs, or just say “wassup”. So I woke up at 5 AM to get to the gym early to try to see him. I saw him lifting weights and was completely amazed at how tall he really is in person. I was so caught up in the moment that I couldn’t say anything to him. But, I was able to gather myself and asked him to sign my White #8 Kobe jersey (I bought it in high school the first year they started wearing whites on Sunday). His trainer said he couldn’t sign jerseys (probably because of contract stipulations) so instead I decided to ask him for a picture. To me a picture is worth as much as an autograph to me. Actually it has more sentimental value. He stated to me “Let’s just take a group picture.” I looked around and realized I was surrounded by a group of other Asian students. I told Kobe that I had no idea who any of those people were, but he insisted that the picture be a group one. At this point, I had enough and left and I have not regretted the decision to not take a picture with him. As a basketball fan I wanted a picture with him, but he decided he did not have an extra minute to provide a fan with a picture.
3. Kobe had one of the best dynasties ever and let it go because he could not let Shaq be the face of the franchise for the couple of years that he would have been, and instead let him get traded to Miami and win a championship with Dwade. Shaq and Kobe could have won probably at least 2 more together and he could have closed in on Jordan’s count. I truly do not believe that if you lose your dynasty that you deserve to have another one back. Look at San Antonio or the Pistons. Not once do you hear those guys trying to get one another traded. They just want to win (easier now a days for the Spurs than the Pistons).
4. When Kobe scores 50+ I feel that it comes at the expense of his teammates. Too many times do I see Kobe score and everyone watch. When LeBron gets his 50+ it usually comes with 7 boards and 7 Assist. To me, I believe that this is the correct way to get 50. You have to do it in the flow of the offense. Do not get me wrong though. I have seen Kobe drop 50 in person and I was amazed. If I was on the court I would probably be watching too. But I feel that when it comes to basketball it is more impressive to get 50 in the flow of your offense, instead of shooting 20 free throws and taking almost 30 shots. I may not be right, but it is just how I feel.
So yes there are reasons that make me root against Kobe. No I am not a Hater for all you Laker fans out there who think that I am. Remember this…I have a Kobe #8 white jersey that I bought in high school, and that same year I bought my Paul Pierce jersey. Who would have known that these two would have met in the finals 8 years later? So stop calling me a bandwagon fan and a hater.
These are the reasons why I root against Kobe, and will continue to do so. Kobe if somehow you ever read this (he probably won’t) if you give me my damn picture that you owe me, maybe I can start to try to root for you. I said I would try -__-. Remember though, I did mention that he is the best player in the world.
