2006 NBA Most Valuable Player
- Thread starter Purple Reign
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^ Btw, I've already made my real MVP candidate point clear many times here. Nash should get it again going by the reasoning they used last year to give it to him. Numbers are the same, Amare's out, 50+ wins in a tougher conf, won MVP last year facing fewer challenges.
James has good numbers on a mid-level Eastern team which gets the benefit of playing stiffs all year. Not his fault, but I think Nash still should be recognized for the higher stakes playing out West. That goes for Kobe too. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Lakers would be much worse off than the Cavs if both stars went down. LA would win about 20 games out West at best. James' turn will come. Even though the future doesn't have bearing on him winning the MVP award, I want to see more out of him before he actually gets it. I want to see what he does in the playoffs. I don't want to see him win the award this year and then get passed up in future years when he BEATS his accomplishments from this season (like what will happen to Nash if he loses out).
James has good numbers on a mid-level Eastern team which gets the benefit of playing stiffs all year. Not his fault, but I think Nash still should be recognized for the higher stakes playing out West. That goes for Kobe too. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Lakers would be much worse off than the Cavs if both stars went down. LA would win about 20 games out West at best. James' turn will come. Even though the future doesn't have bearing on him winning the MVP award, I want to see more out of him before he actually gets it. I want to see what he does in the playoffs. I don't want to see him win the award this year and then get passed up in future years when he BEATS his accomplishments from this season (like what will happen to Nash if he loses out).
This year, more so than most, begs the question of what does MVP mean? I voted for Kobe because I think he may be the best all around player. I still don't fully understand what the MVP is supposed to represent so its hard to vote. I really have no idea who will actually win it.
I actually liked Ric Bucher's (or at least I think it was him) article about all the different ways of defining the MVP and how doing so created 4-5 different winners. I'm curious to know how those who voted define what the MVP is.
I actually liked Ric Bucher's (or at least I think it was him) article about all the different ways of defining the MVP and how doing so created 4-5 different winners. I'm curious to know how those who voted define what the MVP is.
Anyone that reads Bill Simmons will be stunned.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060414
Eh, trust me, most of those voters are just as clueless as Joe Blow in terms of what MVP means. There's no consistency, they'll spread it around. That's why I think that if Nash was worthy of it last year (which I thought he was), he's even more worthy of it this year considering that he faced more adversity than James did. However, I think it's pretty clear that we're headed towards James actually winning it. He's a vogue choice. It's like Robinson winning over Olajuwon in 95, Malone over Jordan in 97, Iverson over Duncan in 01. James has had a pretty statistical season, but I confidently believe that Nash is more critical to the Suns playing as well as they do and I believe that Kobe is much more critical to LA's success than Bron is to Cleveland's. Cleveland could tread water for a bit w/o him. Lakers would sink like an anvil.
Here is my thing with Nash. Take last night for example, Pheonix shot 70% from the 3 point line. Even when Nash goes to the bench and Barbosa replaces him they keep knocking down the open shots.
A week ago when LA played them the score was 79-80 going into the 4th quater. Kobe and Nash both go to the bench. Kobe comes back in after getting between a 3-4 minute rest and the lead is up to 9 points. His team managed to score 2 points while he was on the bench. Nash's team on the other hand increased the lead while he rested.
A week ago when LA played them the score was 79-80 going into the 4th quater. Kobe and Nash both go to the bench. Kobe comes back in after getting between a 3-4 minute rest and the lead is up to 9 points. His team managed to score 2 points while he was on the bench. Nash's team on the other hand increased the lead while he rested.
It just irritates me when a guy wins the award one year for various reasons and doesn't win it the next year for doing the same things. Not only that, but in Nash's case, he's more deserving of it than he was in 2005. Back in the 80s and earlier, there was less of this spreading it around crap. Bird won 3 in a row over guys like Magic, Moses, Dr. J. We'll never see another guy win 3 straight unless he has absolutely no competition. Jordan deserved MVP in 5 of those 6 title years, with the exception of 93 when Barkley turned the Suns into a legit title contender. They gave Malone one in 97. From 88 to 92, the award went to Jordan and Magic and rightfully so. Back in the 60s, Russell edged everyone out to the extent that Jerry West never won it. And it was probably true that Russell deserved them all.
1995 seems to be the year where it became a total crapshoot as to who wins it and why, starting w/ Hakeem getting snubbed for Robinson. Robinson had an incredible year in 1994 along w/ Olajuwon. He had a 71-pt game and a quadruple double that year. Olajuwon won MVP. The next season, I'll be damned if they didn't give it to Robinson just to pass it around. As we saw in the 95 WCFs: Hakeem > David. Iverson winning in 01 was atrocious. The most blatantly vogue choice in history. Duncan deserved the award that year. Shaq deserved the award over Duncan in 02. KG deserved the award over Duncan in 03.
I won't be upset if Kobe wins it by any means, but I will be upset if Bron wins it over Nash. As I've already mentioned, Nash had a harder go of it. As far as your claim that the Suns would be fine w/o him, you could also say that he's a major reason they haven't sunk w/o Amare. As far as the Lakers game goes, I'm not so sure his absence at the start of the 4th had much to do w/ LA blowing the game so quickly. Kobe was also on the bench, which killed them more than anything. Also, they suck at rotating out to the arc and in preventing backdoor lobs. The Suns can probably beat the Lakers at least 50% of the time without EITHER Amare or Nash.
1995 seems to be the year where it became a total crapshoot as to who wins it and why, starting w/ Hakeem getting snubbed for Robinson. Robinson had an incredible year in 1994 along w/ Olajuwon. He had a 71-pt game and a quadruple double that year. Olajuwon won MVP. The next season, I'll be damned if they didn't give it to Robinson just to pass it around. As we saw in the 95 WCFs: Hakeem > David. Iverson winning in 01 was atrocious. The most blatantly vogue choice in history. Duncan deserved the award that year. Shaq deserved the award over Duncan in 02. KG deserved the award over Duncan in 03.
I won't be upset if Kobe wins it by any means, but I will be upset if Bron wins it over Nash. As I've already mentioned, Nash had a harder go of it. As far as your claim that the Suns would be fine w/o him, you could also say that he's a major reason they haven't sunk w/o Amare. As far as the Lakers game goes, I'm not so sure his absence at the start of the 4th had much to do w/ LA blowing the game so quickly. Kobe was also on the bench, which killed them more than anything. Also, they suck at rotating out to the arc and in preventing backdoor lobs. The Suns can probably beat the Lakers at least 50% of the time without EITHER Amare or Nash.
The record is going to hurt Kobe. Although LA has lost a grip of games by 3 pts or less and they play in the West, the nincompoops who actually have a vote ain't gonna take that into account. Bron has 48 wins in a conf w/ 3 teams in the playoffs while sporting a sub-500 record.
Kobe's case is a tough one. I personally think he had a better season in 2003 (30, 7, 6, 2). He had a 12-gm 35+ pt streak which pretty much helped his team do what Sacto did this year, very similar comeback. Shaq was out for 12 games and fat for 18 more. Kobe was critical that year. However, he got totally gypped in terms of 1st place votes due to the Shaq factor. That was before Eagle and Shaqgate. Now the voters really hate him. This year, he's scoring a lot and his other stats are slightly down. Considering the swill who get minutes on this team, he's probably doing what he has to do, but that kind of ball dominance won't resonate with the voters, if I don't miss my guess. Plus, this team plays like an expansion team in close games. All the flubs and fumbles (prime example: Lamar's brainfart in Sacto) are going to cost him dearly. If we were up about 7-10 games in the standings, then there's no way I'd even be considering Nasty Nash.
Kobe's case is a tough one. I personally think he had a better season in 2003 (30, 7, 6, 2). He had a 12-gm 35+ pt streak which pretty much helped his team do what Sacto did this year, very similar comeback. Shaq was out for 12 games and fat for 18 more. Kobe was critical that year. However, he got totally gypped in terms of 1st place votes due to the Shaq factor. That was before Eagle and Shaqgate. Now the voters really hate him. This year, he's scoring a lot and his other stats are slightly down. Considering the swill who get minutes on this team, he's probably doing what he has to do, but that kind of ball dominance won't resonate with the voters, if I don't miss my guess. Plus, this team plays like an expansion team in close games. All the flubs and fumbles (prime example: Lamar's brainfart in Sacto) are going to cost him dearly. If we were up about 7-10 games in the standings, then there's no way I'd even be considering Nasty Nash.
Only LA doesn't make the playoffs if all those guys are taken off their teams. They may have to scrape in, but that's that. Phx has 52 wins w/o Amare. Spurs have a ton of talent to get away w/ small ball. Same w/ Dallas to a lesser extent. Over in the East, the fricken Pacers are in after all the crap they've gone thru. Cleveland could suck and still make it in.
Freakout said:
Anyone that reads Bill Simmons will be stunned.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060414
Freakout said:
Anyone that reads Bill Simmons will be stunned.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060414
Kobe iwill be the MVP in a remarkably close race. I still hate him.
