Ellis beats out Martin by 3 votes for MIP!!!

[RaY Z]

this is bull****... !

rigged again! damn you david stern!!! =P

but yeh... i guess both really deserved it, but martin more in my opinion....

i guess martins play at the end of the season had alot to do with him losing to ellis in the end... but yeh he wont let this affect him... its just some silly award...

 

[Bricklayer]

Me, I think it's BS. I don't care what ya'll say.. Martin imo earned it. Frmo 10ppg to 20ppg is pretty damn good. Esp for a young guy like Martin.

Shoul dhave ben Martin #1, Ellis #2, and Williams #3.

Very nice, and Kevin did take a big jump, but let's compare:

Kevin: +9.4pts (-.008 FG%, +.012 3pt%, -.003 FT%) +.7reb +.9ast +.4stl

Ellis: +9.7pts (+.060 FG%, -.068 3pt%, +.051 FT%) +1.1reb +2.5ast +1.1stl


Hard indeed to see the B.S., in particular when you take into account Kevin's late fade at the same time the Warriors mounted a big charge to make the playoffs. Think Kevin had it at the All Star break, but just one of those things. Lot of breakout performers this year.

 

[ParniValjak]

I thought Ellis earned it as well -- he was a nobody last year, and a major factor on a playoff team this year. Certainly could have gone to Kevin with no complaints, but calling it B.S. to award it to a guy who jumps from a 6.8ppg player to a 17ppg player or whatever is kind of silly.

And realistically, Kevin probably lost it with those last couple of months -- he shot something like 42% over the last 20-30 games..

Word.

 

[1kingzfan]

I think Kevin deserved the award, but Ellis had a nice breakout season as well. The MIP means nothing much really, aside from recognition and getting your name in the history books for a league-wide award, but it has also often been a bellweather of better things to come.

Kevin's upside is clearly much more than Ellis'...not even close.

Had Kevin been on a running team, taking full advantage of his athleticism and quickness, he could have averged 30 ppg this season...easy.

Instead, we saw our former coach play mostly a slow down, toss it in the black-hole post game.

Few plays were called for his leading scorer....by design ("Kevin can get his shots in the flow of the offense")...ummm, WHAT flow?

Our ex-coach allowed his team to often keep pushing the ball to the opposite side of the floor, possession after possession, such that Kevin would be in the corner and not get a single touch on offense for 3, 5, even 8 minutes in a row (I know ... I counted).

The coup de gras was the substituting for his leading scorer after he had drilled several consecutive shots and was clearly in a rhythm, maybe even a zone...it happened way too often.

As the air came out of the Kings' season, Kevin also slowed a bit. Fatigue? Perhaps, and I know that's the party line now, but not that I have heard.

Anyway, this saga is over, and Kevin will merely have to come back next season and prove himself all over again, since there are still a lot of St. Thomas disciples out there. Plus it's a contact year for him at $1.8 million next season, and he's looking for the big pay day...PLENTY to play for and work to improve for this summer.

Will the Kings try to lock him up long-term early this summer, like they did for Peja? Hopefully, Petrie believes.

Let's also hope that over the next few months Kevin works on his ballhandling, defense, a little bit of back-to-the-basket game, and becomes a little more aggressive on the floor. He's on a red eye to Ohio now as this is written, so I hope he takes a few weeks off, has some fun back home, and then puts the same or greater effort into a rigorous training regimen like he has done the last couple summers.

I know he will.

 

[kennadog]

I'm proud of Kevin's season, and I hope he'll be a King for a long time. But I can't say Ellis isn't deserving. Ellis also had a big season.

I don't think it helped Kevin that he faded quite a bit after the All-Star break, whatever the reason (and I think fatigue had something to do with it). It meant the closer it got to voting time, his play wasn't standing out like Ellis's was.

However, its pretty clear from the close voting, that Martin did stand out this year for an awful lot of the voters (and the team GMs, as pointed out above). I expect to see more improvement from Kevin.

Well done Kevin Martin!

 

[Evenstar]

total horse bleep

it's only because the warriors got to the playoffs. what a load of crap.

whatever... i bet kevin beats him to the all star game

 

[vytzka]

The hell?

Kevin's been robbed.

Booo! Booo!

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

total horse bleep

it's only because the warriors got to the playoffs. what a load of crap.

whatever... i bet kevin beats him to the all star game

You know, people REALLY need to stop acting like that point is insignificant; the playoffs are what matter, and that's just the way it is... When you play well down the stretch and help get your team into the playoffs, that should have more weight than if someone else scores a little more in games that don't mean as much. especially when that someone else fades as noticeably down the stretch as they did.

 

[love_them_kings]

You know, people REALLY need to stop acting like that point is insignificant; the playoffs are what matter, and that's just the way it is... When you play well down the stretch and help get your team into the playoffs, that should have more weight than if someone else scores a little more in games that don't mean as much. especially when that someone else fades as noticeably down the stretch as they did.

I agree. Obviously, I would have loved for Kevin to win, I love the guy. But looking at the stats comparison, it seems the he & Ellis basically improved about the same amount. So, if it's a toss up between two (essentially) equally improved players, you'd give the nodd to the guy who helped his team into the playoffs. Makes sense to me.

 

[kyo2002]

Okay, just trade Martin for Ellis; everyone happy or flame.
Martin had a slow and gradual slide. His team did not make the playoffs. Plus, who knew Matt Barnes was one of the top players for the Warriors? Personally I wanted to see Mikki Moore win it, but Al Jefferson may be the most promising of the Most Improved candidates although Martin's drawing free throw style is highly efficient.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Okay, just trade Martin for Ellis; everyone happy or flame.

Don't be obtuse. Only the blindest of homers can read "Ellis deserved to be MIP, and Martin did not, in fact, get robbed," and re-interpret that in their minds to mean "Martin is a scrub and/or I don't like him; we should trade him for Monta Eliis."

 

[Cal-Kings]

I'm disappointed, but agree it's not the biggest award on the planet.

And I expected it after the review of the canditates on TNT a few weeks ago never even included Kevin in the mix. How handy of them.

 

[Zyphen]

Wow. I haven't posted here since forever.

Anyways, I just felt like dropping in to say kudos to Kevin Martin. He proved me wrong. I had serious doubts about the kid and projected him to be a 5th/6th man. It still boggles the mind how such a fugly jumper could land him 20ppg with a decent FG% to boot.

 

[gunks]

I'm disappointed, but agree it's not the biggest award on the planet.

And I expected it after the review of the canditates on TNT a few weeks ago never even included Kevin in the mix. How handy of them.

TNT hates the Kings...Its the Barkley effect

 

[Cal-Kings]

TNT hates the Kings...Its the Barkley effect

I know. I always have my remote handy so that when he goes off on his idiot comments, I can switch him. Which happens quite often.

 

[mdme]

First off, I think both of them DESERVED the award. It's only sad only one of them can win it.....

That said though, I think Kevin should have gotten the nod for the ff reasons:

1) The increase in his production is more difficult to do (going from 10ppg to 20ppg). To add icing on the cake, he did it while remaining extremely efficient (only other player in his class was AMARE.

2. He did #1 while being the focal point of opposing defenses. Remember, at first, he was going under the radar, then opposing defenses keyed in on him and really took him down, BUT like a great player, he "adjusted" to that and held his scoring average >20ppg.

3. He did it on a King's team with a lot of potential ballhogs like (artest, bibby, sar).

4. His offensive game is light years ahead of Ellis.

5. Ellis' stats were equally impressive but it is easier to go from 7ppg to 16ppg. His numbers were inflated due to the high-octane, fast paced, small ball offense of nelson. Strip him of his ppg and he won't even be in the discussion of MIP.

6. I'm a King's fan. (ok, I know it doesn't count)