is anyone else really sick of this MVP talk?

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

So when Dirk gets the MVP trophy sometime in the whatever round it is, and then Nash and the Suns skip to the NBA finals after ousting the mavs in the WCF you'll all feel good about that?

ask charles barkley how he's enjoying his MVP trophy. It must be easy to hold with his ringless fingers.

This is just a dumb post. Obviously no one would feel good about. But why is it not ok to want both?

Once again, we're not players. We get to do all the things players don't. We get to look past the Hawks and focus on our next game with the Spurs or Suns. We get to dismiss our first round opponent as irrelevant and discuss who we might face in the second round.

We also have the right to care about Dirk winning the MVP. If you don't want to, fine. But stop acting like it's ridiculous to want to see it happen.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by jthig32

I'm...confused. Is this a joke?

When you say "I'll gladly trade X for Y", what you're saying is you'd rather have Y. If I trade X for Y, I'm giving X away, and receiving Y. We traded Jamison FOR Stack and the pick....right?

So when I say "I really want Dirk to win the MVP, but I'll gladly trade it for a championship, I mean I want the championship.

I mean...that seems obvious to me...I guess maybe you were joking.

Yes, I was joking! (there aren't enough emotes to cover the tone of voice that is lost in the written word...)

[Flacolaco]

I'm not telling anyone how to feel thig. I apologize if it came off that way.

I hope he wins it, because I think we all know deep down that this is his year. If he's ever going to win it, it has to be this year. His best shot to win the award is the "best player on the best team" way of winning it. Guys like Kobe and LeBron can win it with the "well he's just the best player in the league" arguement, even if their team isn't the best (and you're already hearing little things about Kobe here and there this year). Dirk will never get that kind of consideration. So this is his shot, this year.

If Dirk winning the MVP means that he'll get more calls that go his way from now on, and that directly impacts the team, then hell yeah give him the MVP.

I'm annoyed with the general message sent by the NBA with the awards. They should award individual honors after the Larry Obrien trophy is won. If they need the writers to vote before the playoffs start, hey thats great. Just vote and then shove it to the side. The team game should be emphasized IMO. The TEAM that wins the championship should be praised above and before, anything else. Teams should be marketed more than individuals.

For me personally, it's not going to make me feel any better about things if a bunch of writers whom we all claim to hate decide that Dirk should win this award this year. Nash and Kobe and LeBron are always going to get more love in the media regardless. I will be happy for Dirk though. I'd be more interested in who the players would vote MVP.

[92bDad]

Sure I want Dirk to win it...as I want the Mavs to win it all!!!

The debate about the award itself could rage on regardless of who wins...so here is my own personal input, not that it matters a hole hill of beans:

First let the writers select the top 10 MVP Candidates.

Then let the GM's vote for the top 5 from the top 10

Now let the coaches get 30%, current players get 30%, former MVP's get 30% (Catch only former MVP's who have retired can vote...if you are a current player you can't vote twice)...then let the fans cast the final 10% of the vote...

The catch for the fans...it has to be mailed in with a copy of your drivers license and you only get one vote...NO ONLINE voting!!!...NO Stadium Ballot Box stacking!!!

It would make everyone feel like they are a part of the process and it could make the majority pay closer attention to the nominated MVP candidates as the season draws closer to an end.

Finally ALL individual awards should be announced no sooner than 2 weeks AFTER the Championship is over!!! If they want to get some bang for the buck...then announce and present at the start of the following season, or better yet...at the All-Star Break!!!

[endrity]

Hey, Hollinger just posted a blog with his opinion on the race. Can someone post it here. It's very interesting, it says Duncan should be 2nd.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Here it is:

Don't stereotype Dirk
by: John Hollinger
posted: Monday, March 26, 2007


When it comes to basketball, we're all fascinated by the little guys. For starters, guards have the ball in their hands for much of the game and, in addition, the buckets they make tend to be more spectacular and skillful. Moreover, we relate better to guys nearer to our own size.

For that reason, both fans and media alike have tended to make the same mistake over and over again: Overrating guards at the expense of the big guys who, invariably, are the major difference between winning and losing.

I say that by way of introduction to my assessment of the MVP race. Two guards -- Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant -- are two of the most entertaining players you'll ever see, and certainly among the game's elite. However, if you're filling out an MVP ballot and the top two names on it aren't Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, I think you've got some serious explaining to do.

While watching the latter two players quietly and methodically dominate might not be as TV-friendly as the exploits of Nash and Kobe, I don't think there's any question they've been the league's two most effective players this season.

In Duncan's case, MVP voters seem to have given themselves license to ignore the fact that the Spurs are the league's top defensive team every year (though they trail Houston by a whisker at the moment), and that he is the main reason for that. He's an easy No. 2 on my ballot, backed by stats (20.0 points, 10.8 boards, 53.5-percent shooting) that would be even more spectacular if the June-focused Spurs weren't limiting him to 34.4 minutes per game.

But the king of killing you softly is Nowitzki. He can be hard to appreciate because one of his greatest attributes is the absence of negative plays. Nowitkzi turns the ball over on only 8.1 percent of the possessions he uses, the lowest rate among the league's go-to guys (which I've defined as a Usage Rate of 25.0 or higher; Michael Redd, at 8.3 percent, is second).

Throw in averages of 50.1 percent from the floor, 90.1 percent from the line and you get a true shooting percentage of 60.6 -- again, this is the best among go-to guys (Bryant is a distant second at 58.9 percent; Nash devotees will note he leads the league in this category at 65.5 but doesn't have a high enough Usage Rate to qualify). Combined with his 41.8-percent shooting from 3-point range, and he's banging on the door of the prestigious 50-40-90 club.

Moreover, the combo of rare turnovers and few misses means he gets his points while still leaving plenty of possessions on the table for other Mavs to score. That consequently explains why Dallas can have such an efficient offense even with a largely shoot-first, one-on-one crew.

Where Nowitzki suffers in the MVP chase is that he's already been stereotyped. When he came into the league he was a sieve on defense and shot mostly jumpers on offense. Despite the considerable evolution of his game since then, some voters still want to pigeonhole him.

This topic got Avery Johnson a bit fired up when I talked to him before the Mavs played in Atlanta yesterday.

"Because he's still perceived as a jump shooter some people don't ever see him post up, because they just want to be critical of his game," said Johnson. "Same thing defensively. He's made improvements defensively and I wouldn't say that if it wasn't the truth. But he's still going to be perceived as a guy that doesn't play defense."

Johnson noted that Nowitzki's defense has improved across the board this year -- on the ball, on the help side, and on the glass (where his 15.4 Rebound Rate is a career-best). And one thing I'll add, since Johnson didn't, is that Dirk has also picked up a wicked strip move when guys post him up.

But, of course, the real problem for opponents is guarding him offensively. I'll let an opposing coach explain.

"He's a big 4, but he's a mobile 4," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson. "The fact that he can shoot a jump shot with major range causes some problems for all guys that guard him. You try to go small on him, he just backs you down and shoots over you. You go big and he can go around you ... He causes match-up problems all over the floor with him being a 7-footer. He's beautiful to watch."

And when the Mavs post him up at the foul line, as they've done so successfully the past two seasons, it's pretty much a case of picking your poison.

"It's tough because you can't double in the middle of the floor. If you do that you're going to leave somebody, and the rotation patterns are so much tougher," said Woodson.

As a result, he's second in the league in Player Efficiency Rating -- trailing only the injured Dwyane Wade -- and has Dallas on top of the West with a scintillating 58-11 mark.

So while he may not be spectacular, he's devastatingly effective -- even moreso than the equally-methodical Duncan. Thus, as good as Nash and Kobe have been, I can't put either of them higher than third on my MVP ballot. Sorry.

The two big guys in Texas have been the league's two most valuable performers this season, and I'm pretty sure one of them will be walking off with the Larry O'Brien Trophy this June. If it was up to me (relax, by the way -- it isn't), Nowitzki will get another trophy about a month prior, as the league's first European MVP. Judge his overall game instead of his jump-shooting stereotype, and it's pretty clear he deserves it.

[endrity]

Thanks Doctor

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I really hate to say this with my disgust against the Spurs but my vote is Timmy for Defensive Player of the Year. Rather that than Marcus Camby who's team plays no defense.

Hollinger's backing doesn't mean much cause a lot of media don't like his stats. I don't really like them either. I agree with efficiency comments of Dirk and Duncan though....which should determine MVP but doesn't mean it will sadly.

[endrity]

I think Shane Battier should be the DPOY. He is the best defender on the best defensive team in the league. I am sure most people will not even remember him when they vote though.

[Tokey41]

Can you imagine what Dirk would be capable of if he was given more respect from the officials? An MVP gets that respect and we would become an even better team (although I would hate for even Dirk to get the calls Wade gets). I'm not sick of it at all, more MVP talk = more Mavericks talk, and i'm always up for that!

[albigensian]

If Dirk doesn't get the mvp, don't feel too bad cause in the 61-62 season, Wilt Chamberlain finished a distant second while averaging 50.4 ppg, 25.7 rpg, and 2.4 apg!

[alexamenos]

why on earth is your nic a reference 13th century heretical sect/crusade against said sect???? or is it just a part of france? or something else?

just curious

[nowhereman]

alex, i'm only assuming you had that page already bookmarked the only thing more ludicrous than the nic is that you pointed it out.

[Flacolaco]

Does there exist a public list that says "here are the first and last names of everyone who votes on the NBA MVP" ?

[left texas]

The Debate Is OVER!

[Flacolaco]

stop making me sad. Geez I need to go to sleep.

[left texas]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

stop making me sad. Geez I need to go to sleep.

Just trying to cheer you up! These are headlines you will be reading shortly.

Time to get up!

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by nowhereman

alex, i'm only assuming you had that page already bookmarked the only thing more ludicrous than the nic is that you pointed it out.

what can I say???? I know my 13th century manichean and gnostic religious sects.....i'm just curious to know why the dude alligns himself with them. Does he have a thing against sex or steak??? Just curious.....

[mary]

I wonder if Dirk will win MVP this year.

[left texas]

Originally Posted by mary

I wonder if Dirk will win MVP this year.

Absolutely, so it be said, so it be done!

Did you not read the article from the daily sporting news above?

[nowhereman]

ugh dude i really don't think Mary was being serious.

[left texas]

Originally Posted by nowhereman

ugh dude i really don't think Mary was being serious.

I was being sarcastic with Mary. Yesterday, Mary was sucrrying through the threads replying with comments from other threads. He was being such a fiend. The devilish things people do around here.