Mid-Season MVP Balloting
We're about halfway through the season mathematically, and this is about the time where writers and talking heads start to yap about MVP candidates. Feel free to read Marc Stein's take on it all, but I'm going to give you my opinion.
I linked up Stein's article because, like him, the vast majority of media pundits out there think that Steve Nash should be the runaway winner for the third year in a row. There certainly wouldn't be anything wrong with that, especially when you consider that he's having a better year than the previous two when he did win. However, I'm going to play devil's advocate.
Nash is blessed with the fact that he plays in a great system with great athletes and a plethora of scoring options. He shouldn't be faulted for that, but that does make his job a little bit easier than some other deserving candidates.
The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the league, yet they (unfortunately) will probably only have one all-star representative in Dirk Nowitzki. Ditto for the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant, who has really changed his game for the better by trusting his teammates more.
But, let me throw one more name in there who probably won't win but should garner realistic attention, especially if his team can grab a high seed in the Eastern Conference.
Gilbert Arenas.
ESPN.com columnist David Thorpe wrote an article that describes exactly what I'm talking about. He is absolutely impossible to guard, maybe more so than any other perimeter player in the NBA today. If you sag off of him, he'll light you up from behind the arc. Get too close and he's gone to the rim. Play him honestly, pull-up jumper off the dribble. Arenas is the type of guy that keeps you off balance.
His intangibles jump out at you, too. He's always willing to take the big shot, and he knows he's going to make it. Against Utah yesterday, he pulled up from like 24 feet out at the buzzer, and the second it left his hands he flung his hands up and started walking away, knowing that the shot was going in.
He's a quirky interview, but not in the defiant Ron Artest way. He's just a genuinely unique character. How many other players in the NBA play online poker... at halftime of a game?
Granted, offensively he has more help surrounding him than some other MVP candidates, but I think what defines an MVP is this: with the game in doubt in the 4th quarter, what one player in the NBA would you want on your team?
The answer to that question, at least during the first half of the season, is #0.
I linked up Stein's article because, like him, the vast majority of media pundits out there think that Steve Nash should be the runaway winner for the third year in a row. There certainly wouldn't be anything wrong with that, especially when you consider that he's having a better year than the previous two when he did win. However, I'm going to play devil's advocate.
Nash is blessed with the fact that he plays in a great system with great athletes and a plethora of scoring options. He shouldn't be faulted for that, but that does make his job a little bit easier than some other deserving candidates.
The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the league, yet they (unfortunately) will probably only have one all-star representative in Dirk Nowitzki. Ditto for the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant, who has really changed his game for the better by trusting his teammates more.
But, let me throw one more name in there who probably won't win but should garner realistic attention, especially if his team can grab a high seed in the Eastern Conference.
Gilbert Arenas.
ESPN.com columnist David Thorpe wrote an article that describes exactly what I'm talking about. He is absolutely impossible to guard, maybe more so than any other perimeter player in the NBA today. If you sag off of him, he'll light you up from behind the arc. Get too close and he's gone to the rim. Play him honestly, pull-up jumper off the dribble. Arenas is the type of guy that keeps you off balance.
His intangibles jump out at you, too. He's always willing to take the big shot, and he knows he's going to make it. Against Utah yesterday, he pulled up from like 24 feet out at the buzzer, and the second it left his hands he flung his hands up and started walking away, knowing that the shot was going in.
He's a quirky interview, but not in the defiant Ron Artest way. He's just a genuinely unique character. How many other players in the NBA play online poker... at halftime of a game?
Granted, offensively he has more help surrounding him than some other MVP candidates, but I think what defines an MVP is this: with the game in doubt in the 4th quarter, what one player in the NBA would you want on your team?
The answer to that question, at least during the first half of the season, is #0.
posted by Justin Cherot @ 3:14 PM
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