Clearly, my brother and I disagree on this point. I find it funny that he thinks the only two MVP worthy candidates are in the East (James and Garnett). I really think that the MVP race should be a three man race between Bryant, James and Paul. I think Garnett should be in 4th place in the voting.
I have been a Garnett fan since he was playing basketball with Ronnie Fields at Farragut. I have always loved his game. If I had to write down my top 10 favorite players ever, he would be on that list. 20-10-5...always. This year's statistics are very similar to every other year's statistics (if you pro-rate them for minutes played). Garnett missed 11 games this year, almost 1/7th of the year. What was the Celtics record? 9-2. Many nights, he is not even the most valuable player on his team. Ray Allen and more importantly Paul Pierce are great players that also play for the Celtics and carry the team as well. Garnett's biggest achilles heel (always has been) is that he does not take the big shot. He is more willing to pass the ball with the game on the line than demand it. The Celtics really did not have to worry much about that this year given ALL the talent on the team. Has Garnett instilled his will on the Celtics? Yes. Did he do that in Minnesota? Yes. Why does Garnett not have more MVP trophies then??? He is the same player he has always been but for some reason, this year is different. Not really.
Lebron may finish averaging 30/8/7. Well, if he does, he will be the third player ever to do it (Jordan and Oscar Robertson ). You can argue that he or Kobe (i really think James) are the two best individual basketball players on this planet. Not many people will disagree. Lebron's defense has really stepped up this year. His biggest problem is that the last team to have an MVP and not win 50 games was Mose Malone...has not happened in a while. Is that right? Well, it goes down to what you definition of MVP is? Best player on the planet or most valuable to your team.
End of a game, down one or two, I want the ball in either Kobe or Lebron's hands. No question about it. Kobe also plays better defense than anyone out there. He is the best defensive player out there. Do I like him as a person? No. He is amazing offensively and just as good defensively? Yes. Is his team the number one seed in the best conference? Yes. That says a lot and I see him being MVP.
One last thing people want in an MVP. Someone who makes his teammates better. This is the reason Nash won MVP not once but TWICE. Lets look at Paul. He is having a better year than Nash ever did with less talent. Before he got to the Hornets, they were talking about moving. David West was a nobody and Chandler was considered a bust. After one year, Chandler is playing for USA basketball team and West is most improved player(with his numbers going drastically up). The year after that, West is an All-Star and Chandler is considered for the All-Star game. This year, the Hornets were projected to be maybe the 8 seed. CP makes his teammates better. There is no question. He has the team fighting for the #1 seed in the West and has revived basketball in the city of New Orleans. No one means more to his team than Chris Paul.
With all this said and if you are still reading, consider me impressed. I really think Kobe wins the award this year. Does he deserve it? Well, that is up to the voters and I am not one.
Sidenote: The NBA is just loaded with talent right now. The MVP race right now is a 4 person race. Wow!
No comments:
Post a Comment