Dirk for MVP

[Arne]

Nowitzki's repertoire is well-rounded for MVP
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baske...rs-table_x.htm

By David DuPree, USA TODAY

Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks has quietly made himself the front-runner in the NBA's MVP race.

Improved defensive play and a balanced Mavericks squad has Dirk Nowitzki playing like an MVP candidate.
By David Zalubowski, AP

At 7-0 and with a deft outside shot, Nowitzki has long been one of the league's most difficult matchups. His game is more rounded this season, and as a result the Mavericks have been among the league's best teams from the outset. Going into Monday's games, only the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs had better records.

It all starts with Nowitzki, as he ranks ahead of everyone else in USA TODAY's MVP index.

USA TODAY subjectively picked 10 early season MVP candidates and ranked them in five statistical categories that encompass formulas to measure every facet of the game. The player who performs best in a category gets one point down to 10 for the worst score. The player with the lowest total points in all five categories is the theoretical MVP leader.

Nowitzki, the Western Conference player of the month for December, is the only player in the top five in all five categories.

"He's improving his versatility," Dallas coach Avery Johnson says. "He's moving around the court more. He's still popping the three, but he's also at the free throw line posting up, in the mid-post and the low post."

Every opponent has to set its defense to try to contain Nowitzki, which opens up all sorts of possibilities for his teammates.

Nowitzki also isn't the defensive liability he used to be. He'd much rather talk about defense than offense, anyway.

"Defense is something you've got to try to work on every night," he says. "We just can't say we're a good defensive team and relax. You've got to go out and prove it every night."

He adds that his success this season is made possible by having a more balanced team around him so he doesn't have to try to do everything: "We have 10, 11 guys who can go out there and make things happen for us."

Nowitzki was fifth in the index after the first month of the season, when Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Elton Brand and Marcus Camby occupied the first four spots.

Duncan has been hampered by plantar fasciitis in his right foot and has fallen to fifth. As efficient as Garnett has been, Minnesota has lost 10 of its last 13 to drop a game below .500. Brand still occupies the third spot, but Camby has missed nine games because of injury, the last six after finger surgery, and is not on the current list. Cleveland's LeBron James jumped from seventh to fourth.

New to the latest index are Detroit's Chauncey Billups and Memphis' Pau Gasol.

Billups is averaging career bests of 19.8 points and 8.4 assists. He is shooting 44.4% from three-point range (eighth in the league) and 92% on free throws (fifth in the league), making him the only player in the top 10 in both categories.

Contributing: Wire reports

Ranking the MVP Candidates
Player, team Win% Rank pts. PPS Hands TD Total
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 73.5 (3) 223 (4) 0.967 (5) -2.088 (2) 37.65 (5) 19
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 48.4 (10) 158 (1) 1.009 (2) -2.194 (4) 37.65 (4) 21
Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers 54.8 (7) 205 (2) 0.960 (6) -1.452 (1) 38.10 (6) 22
LeBron James, Cleveland 64.5 (6) 229 (6) 0.981 (4) -3.032 (7) 42.90 (3) 26
Tim Duncan, San Antonio 76.5 (2) 228 (5) 0.916 (7) -2.324 (5) 35.32 (8) 27
Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 48.5 (9) 217 (3) 0.889 (9) -2.515 (6) 43.58 (2) 29
Chauncey Billups, Detroit 83.9 (1) 241 (9) 1.000 (3) -3.258 (8) 31.16 (10) 31
Pau Gasol, Memphis 65.6 (5) 239 (7) 0.877 (10) -2.094 (3) 33.59 (7) 32
Steve Nash, Phoenix 66.7 (4) 240 (8) 1.035 (1) -4.606 (10) 33.97 (9) 32
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 51.5 (8) 282 (10) 0.909 (8) -4.065 (9) 43.84 (1) 36
Category key: Win percentage — team winning percentage. Rank points — rankings among league leaders in seven categories (field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots and points) added together. PPS — points per shot (field goal attempts plus free throw attempts divided by total points scored). Hands — average steals plus blocked shots minus average turnovers plus personal fouls. TD (team dominance) — average points, rebounds and assists divided by team averages in the same categories. Rank in parentheses.