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Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest
Is Bruce Bowen one of the greatest defenders in the game because of Tim Duncan or is it because of Bruce Bowen? Yes, Bowen gets that open corner 3 point shot from time to time due to playing alongside Duncan but its not what makes Bowen a great player. That whole "makes his teammates batter" argument for MVP is bogus. It shouldn't even be brought up IMO because no one really makes a player better. It takes talent and hard work. Dirk can't make a bum off the street look any better than Steve Nash could.
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Granted, Bruce Bowen is one of the best defenders in the league because of Bruce Bowen (or maybe George Gervin). But, his effectiveness is inextricably tied to the fact that he has a player like Tim Duncan in the post to contain any player who may get by him on the perimeter. Duncan makes Bowen better by taking pressure off of him when both players are on the floor - here is a golf-equivalent: Tiger Woods is a great putter (putting = Bruce). But if Tiger's iron game (Duncan) isn't doing its job, then it doesn't matter how good of a putter he has, he will not be able to play well because a putter can only do so much. (This is what happened in the Master's - Tiger put too much pressure on his putter by not sticking his iron shots and he wasn't able to make a run on the final day). Replace TD with Jermaine O'Neal - Bowen's life is made that much harder. I'm not saying that Bowen would be a poor defensive player if you took him off the Spurs and put him with, say, the Knicks - but TD's presence on the floor makes playing defense much much easier.
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Its frustrating because this is the argument I hear people bring up when it comes to Dirk beign a valid MVP candidate. Because he doesn't make his teammates look better than they really are he's not really a candidate. I think its bs. There's not really a MVP out there who makes his teammate any better than they currently are. I don't think finding your teammate for a open 3 fits the description of making your teammate better.
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I wouldn't be too frustrated with those people, because they do not know what they are talking about. I'm not being a homer, I'm just stating a fact. To not recognize that Dirk makes his teammates better is what we would refer to as a 'blatant disregard for reality'. But I think you are seeking a far too narrow definition of what it means to, 'make your teammates better'. I don't think that anyone means that these MVP-candidates are literally taking a 'bum off the street' and transforming them into a top-50 candidate. It's all about the impact that said MVP-candidates have on the game that makes the game easier for their teammates to play. Here's just one example: Dirk makes his teammates better by drawing double-teams, thereby creating space on the floor for shooters or opening up lanes to the paint for slashers. Playing on Dirk's team is the reason why Jason Terry has averaged 50.1% and 47% while in Dallas despite shooting 43.6% in his previous-best season. A more obvious example of this is the relationship between Shaq and a player such as Damon Jones. Jones is the definition of a 'one-dimensional player' - he shoots. Nothing else. If you look at his career stats, he doesn't even do that very well (.409 FG%, .385 3P%). But last year in Miami, he was able to up that to .456 and .432, respectively, because he had a billion open looks a game...because of Shaq. It's not about finding your teammate for the open 3, it's about taking sufficient attention from the defense to give your teammate the opportunity to shoot the open 3. It's about forcing the defense to collapse and then having the court-vision to kick it out to your open teammate on the perimeter. It's about forcing opposing players to shoot a low-percentage jump shot against a strong perimeter player instead of driving to the hoop because they know that if they try for the lay-up, their shot will be blocked. That's how a player makes his teammates better.