ok gentlemen: NBA MVP - who you got?

[cranrab]

let's have your top 3 candidates. but don't just give the name. let's hear your WHY. only 4 regular season games left to go, so we'll have our answer before too long.

here are mine, not in any order:

1) steve nash. i didn't feel that steve nash deserved it last year. leading the league in FT% and assists this season, comparatively, i think steve nash deserves MVP moreso this year than last year. the suns roster was gutted. no amare stoudemire. no joe johnson. no quentin richardson. no steven hunter. in spite of all the personnel changes, the suns still win the pussific division by a wide margin and have a stranglehold on the 2nd seed.

2) elton brand. leads the clippers in scoring, rebounding, fg% and blocked shots. averaging a double double. played 75 games (out of 77 so far) to lead the clippers back to the playoffs for the 1st time since 1997. may lead the clippers this season to the most FRANCHISE wins since 1976.

3) tim duncan. aside from shaquille o'neal, the only other consistent choice for best player in the league since michael jordan. despite a planar fascitis condition, TD has played 77 games (out of 78 so far), leading the spurs in minutes played, rebounding and blocked shots. TD has also already also lead the spurs more victories this season (60) than last year (59).

 

[TimRock]

Steve Nash - Aside from the stuff you already mentioned, everyone on the team is having career highs, thanks to Nash and his team play.

Kobe - Taking his team to the playoffs, when no one had them making it. He will win the scoring title. Broke a few records along the way. Also, this is my opinion, i dont need 30 pages full of stats on why kobe shouldnt win it.

Dirk - His team is plagued with injuries, yet thet are still in the hunt for the best record in the west. Of the entire team, only 4 people played in 70 or more games. No one else on the team played in more than 60. With all those injuries, his team is still on top. Even though i think someone his size should be averaging a double-double.

 

[SpiritualPorn]

1) Nash

2) LeBron

3) Wade

4) Melo

5) Brand

6) Kobe

 

[RunawaySlave]

I don't go strictly by statistics. So my vote for MVP goes to
Tim Duncan. Because if you take Duncan out of that lineup
they are a LESS than .500 team and might not even make
the playoffs, much less WIN the whole damn thing....

There is no more dominant TWO WAY player in the game
than the Big Fundamental

I really don't place too much emphasis on an individual MVP
though.

My next vote would have to go to Chauncey Billups. Takes
on the biggest chuckers and does a good job defensively
Runs the show with precision. And you CANNOT forget about
him because he will drop 30 (with high percentage shooting)
Billups keeps that unit intact. Anybody can keep Rasheed in
line gets my vote for player of the year any day


Third for me would be Dwayne Wade. Not because of scoring,
but because of his overall ability. Despite Riley's best efforts,
Wade is still a guy who will make other players better. Plays
like a PG, but can and DOES rebound and play defense

 

[tennblack]

Kobe : I know there r haters,but look at what he has done with a team that has mostly new players. Also i likewise say ( quote - Timrock > Taking his team to the playoffs, when no one had them making it. He will win the scoring title. Broke a few records along the way. Also, this is my opinion, i dont need 30 pages full of stats on why kobe shouldnt win it
L A K E R 4 L I F E

 

[Jakesnake]

1) Nash

2) LeBron

3) Wade

4) Melo

5) Brand

6) Kobe

cosign with this wothout Nash the Suns are the NY Knicks.

 

[Preezy]

Gotta go w/ Bron Bron as your MVP, bcuz w/o him...the Cavs are the Bulls. Nash gets a close 2nd, but I think The Matrix could carry them a bit. Chaunce would get 3rd, and that's ify cuz his team is so good; you can't go wrong with 'Sheed. D Wade fourth (chi rep) and Melo would get 5th cuz he's literally won a hell of a lot of games. Duncan misssed out cuz TP did his thang this year.

 

[DCMC]

Kobe
Bron
Nas
Melo
Vince

 

[RunawaySlave]

Kobe

Like that sig dude
(thanks for the laugh)

 

[cranrab]

charley rosen's criteria for MVP

I am quite sure that you've been asked this many times, but I'll ask you anyway. Who would get your vote for the 2006 MVP?
— Tomasz

Actually, I pay minimal attention to all of the postseason awards simply because they're mostly media/NBA hype designed to spark controversy and attention. Players care primarily because they have bonus clauses in their contracts. And any player who'd rather win the MVP than a championship ring will never win the latter. What actually does "Most Valuable" mean, anyway? I'm certainly not the first to raise this question but it still hasn't been satisfactorily answered.

This is how I would determine the MVP: Take the top contenders — LeBron, Duncan, Nash, Nowitzki, whomever — and compile the numbers they've achieved against the NBA's elite teams — San Antonio, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix, and Miami. Then factor in how the candidates' teams fared in these games. And I'll bet the answer will be clear.

 

[cranrab]

nba shill, 5% owner of the phoenix suns, and yahoo columnist steve kerr flip-flopped today, hopping onto the lebron james bandwagon. oh no, wait a minute. he's just infatuated with tobe :


Yes, a 21-year-old MVP

By Steve Kerr, Yahoo! Sports
April 14, 2006

CLEVELAND – If anyone disputes the idea that LeBron James is worthy of winning this season's Most Valuable Player award, all they had to do was watch the Cleveland Cavaliers play without him on Thursday night. James watched a game in street clothes for the first time in his three-year career after spraining an ankle against Detroit on Wednesday night, and his Cavs eked out an ugly 91-87 win over the struggling Knicks.

With as many as eight players in the NBA this season making strong cases for MVP, it is difficult to separate the candidates. I believe the winner should be absolutely indispensable to his team, and under that criterion, James stands out. He has carried the Cavaliers to the verge of a 50-win season and he has done so with a team of role players around him.

Larry Hughes missed 45 games with a finger injury. Zydrunas Ilgauskas has played well but not to the All-Star level of 2003 or 2005. Eric Snow? Drew Gooden? Damon Jones? All are solid players, but let's be honest – without LeBron, Cleveland would be a lottery team.

Compare James' supporting cast with those of the other candidates, and I believe he stands alone. Steve Nash? He has Shawn Marion, and vice versa. Elton Brand? The Clippers weren't very good until Sam Cassell arrived. Chauncey Billups? He's part of the best starting five in the NBA. Dwyane Wade has Shaquille O'Neal next to him. Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant can make strong cases, but they have more talent around them than LeBron does. And in the end, James does more for his teammates than any of the above names, although Nash would have an argument there.

James is averaging 31.6 points despite the fact that he looks to pass first – hence the six assists he dishes per game. He also pounds the boards, grabbing seven per night. There are only three other players in NBA history who have averaged 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game for a season: Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Michael Jordan. Not a bad list of names.

A popular argument against LeBron earlier this season was that he didn't hit clutch shots. In fact, James had a stretch of games in January where he did look nervous in the clutch and failed to make big shots with the game on the line. Since then, he's hit a couple of buzzer beaters and made a series of huge passes to set up teammates for game winners.

A close look at the numbers shows that, in the final two minutes of one-possession games, James is shooting 18-for-28 this season. No other NBA player, including Kobe Bryant, is even shooting 50 percent. The truth is that LeBron has come up big in the clutch, and perhaps more importantly, he's trusted his teammates to make big shots as well.

LeBron's coach, Mike Brown, says that James' best quality is his character. "He allows me to coach the team," Brown said. "I single him out for mistakes in film sessions and he accepts the criticism, which means that everyone else falls right in line. He's like Tim Duncan in San Antonio – he sets the tone."

It's no wonder why James is so popular with his teammates. He passes them the ball when they're open, he brings the best out of them and he manages to score 31 points per game in the meantime.

Will he actually win the MVP award? Probably not. Voters will say that he's too young and that he'll have many more chances in the future. (If that's not the stupidest argument ever, I don't know what is.) All I know is that James is the most athletic player in the game, he's amazingly unselfish, he makes every one of his teammates better and he has led his team to a great season.

A couple of months ago, I would have picked Kobe, but I just don't think he makes his teammates better. A few weeks ago, Nash would have been my choice, but I realize that without Marion the Suns wouldn't be anywhere as good as they are. But the more I've seen of LeBron, the more I realize that he is the most special player in the NBA. He is the rare superstar that carries his teammates on his shoulders while at the same time empowering them to make plays. And the scary thing is, he's going to be doing this for the next 12 years or so.

That's why in the most wide-open MVP race the NBA has seen in a long time, LeBron James should be the winner.

 

[cranrab]

who are some of the candidates people around the league are pushing?

Mark Cuban doesn't need any convincing.

"There should be no question that Dirk is the leading candidate," the Mavericks owner said. "You can't look at any other team with a single All-Star and find one who has been more valuable to his team and has led his team to more wins."


"LeBron had a spectacular year, which has really helped our team take the next step," Cavs general manager Danny Ferry said. "And we did it with injuries, and we did it with a first-year general manager, first-year coach, all those things, and he really led the way."

Most importantly, James' play prevented the Cavs from the type of second-half collapse they had last year. As Ferry said, "The guy was driven not to let that happen again this year."

Still, James says he doesn't get caught up in trying to become the first player since Allen Iverson in 2001 to be the MVP of the All-Star game and the regular season in the same year.

"I never worry about individual accolades," James said. "Never have and never will. I feel like the individual awards will come with the team's success. They recognize that, people who are voting for the MVP race, and they'll probably realize who the MVP of the league is."



Oh, and don't forget Kobe Bryant's choice: Kobe Bryant.

"I'd vote for myself," the Lakers star said with a smile.

And if he couldn't?

"I wouldn't vote at all." what a classy sportsman.


"What's the criteria? Make your team better," Knicks coach Larry Brown said. "And then look at the record. Look at the people around them and then you make a decision.

"You pick five guys out on Detroit. You look at the teams that are winning in the league. You look at Dallas right away, you look at absolutely LeBron, you look at Steve Nash not having (Amare) Stoudemire. There's a lot of pretty neat stories."


Nowitzki's play has kept the Mavs neck-and-neck with the Spurs for the best record in the West.

"He's as valuable to his team as any player in the league," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "The most unusual thing about Dallas is that they lose last year's MVP and still get better. It's mind-boggling."


"An MVP has to be a great player that makes his teammates better and makes huge plays in clutch situations to lead his team to victories," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "Chauncey Billups fits that description and that's why he would get my first-place vote for MVP."

 

[cranrab]

from the l.a. times:

After Sunday's game, I asked Hubie Brown to recap the MVP analysis he did for ABC's broadcast. Yeah, I could have TiVo'd it, but there's nothing better than getting a Hubie Brown Breakdown in person.

"Me — just me — I'm picking Steve Nash," Brown said. "The reason, I said, they have seven new guys, six of them in their top eight scoring, seven guys have had career years. I said he's answered the bell.

"He shot 50% [from the field], 40% [on three-pointers] and 92% [from the free-throw line]. Only three other guys in the history of the game have done that: Bird, Reggie Miller and Mark Price. So I said: You have to understand what he's doing. The team won 62 games last year, they won 52 already this year and they still have not had Kurt Thomas [for 27 games] or [Amare] Stoudemire" for 77 games.

 

[RunawaySlave]

"He shot 50% [from the field], 40% [on three-pointers] and 92% [from the free-throw line]. Only three other guys in the history of the game have done that: Bird, Reggie Miller and Mark Price....

This is a great shooting stat. But it gets a big "ho-hum" from me
It's a faulty stat for an MVP. Out of those other three guys, only
Bird was ever the MVP, or even considered for the MVP. And Bird
did so much more than just shoot the ball well

Now if it was a sharp shooter award, he'd have a point......

 

[cranrab]

steve kerr weighed in again yesterday:

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

LeBron James – This was the toughest selection of all the awards because there were as many as eight candidates worthy of consideration. But LeBron carried the Cleveland Cavaliers all season, putting up huge numbers while also bringing out the best in his teammates.

Of all the candidates, James is the most well-rounded. He is just the fourth player in league history to average at least 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists – the others being Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and Jerry West. Perhaps James' best asset is his passing skill because he truly makes his teammates better. James created countless open looks for other Cavs throughout the season, but he also recognized when he needed to take over games on his own.

Moreover, LeBron's 31-point scoring average came on four fewer field-goal attempts per game than Kobe Bryant, proving that James is a more efficient scorer than the Lakers star.

 

[darkjedi]

OK, here's the deal...

If you can't elevate your squad to the level of serious NBA Champion contention, then you can't be MVP, period. That puts Tobe and The Chosen One out of contention off the bat. That leaves Dirk, Nash, Wade and Chauncey. I like what Dirk has done this year, but he's still almost a liability on the defensive end. Wade carried the Heat for significant streches this year, but alot of his slashing buckets are due to Shaq warping the defense. Nash is the hype, but again he is a defensive liability. Chauncey is the best player on the best squad. He can dominate almost anyone at his position offensively or defensively. He's one of the most clutch shooters in the game. The bigger the game, the better Chauncey plays. Plus the last time the Piston's got knocked out early, it was because Chauncey was playing on one leg. Chauncey is the glue that holds that team together. It's GOT to be Billups!!!

 

[Havoc]

I'd go with Kobe, simply because I felt like he should have already had at least one.

However, that's not to single out the other contenders.

Steve Nash is not capable of playing defense. I can accept that because of what he does on the offensive end. He has few turnovers, a large number of assists, and can get 25 points on almost any night this season WITHOUT Amare Stoudamire, who was said by many to be one of the few things keeping Phoenix in the playoff this year (then again, Boris Diaw/Raja Bell/Shawn Marion aren't bad players to have on your team, either).

Dirk Nowitski? Eh...I just can't do it. NO Defense, although his offensive skills are worth mentioning. He's a good scorer, but I haven't really had a chance to see what Dallas would be like without him.

I'm not going to say Tim Duncan simply because he's not producing his usual numbers (and I can understand that it's due to an injury, but you've got players like Elton Brand who are getting the numbers without Manu/Tony/a good supporting cast).

What about Jason Kidd or Lebron James? Both are having good seasons, and although Lebron's defense is lacking (so is Kidd's), both are clearly the leader (or at least dominant player) on their teams, which would fall apart without either player.

 

[xfactor]

As much as people (the media) are hyping up this MVP race, saying their as a many as 8 candidates worthy, I can definitely shorten my list down to 3.

Despite what they've done this season... Shawn Marion, Wobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki are all MVP pretenders.

My list...

3) Tim Duncan - I know its easy for people to forget how about this guy because he consistently puts up numbers and leads his team to wins playing for the 'mundane' Spurs. But his play on the court speaks for itself. Leading San Antonio to a franchise record 63-19 season despite the fact he was playing hurt.

2) Chauncey Billups - The leader and best player on the best team in the league. Barring the inevitable coaching breakdown by Flip Saunders, the team should win the NBA title for the 2nd time in the last 3 years and Billup's leadership, shooting, and ability to get his teammates the ball in the right spots is a main part of that.

1) LeBron James - I am definitely not a fan of prep to pro players as all of them are overrated in my opinion and dont bring anything to a team other than individual achievement but after watching LeBron the second half of the year, his talent and athleticism, has exceeded just about everyone in the league and he is definitely the best of the prep to pro players in the league now. 31 ppg 7 rpg and 6 apg to go along with leading his team to 50 wins says it all.

LeBron James - MVP for 2005- 2006