CubanMustGo
03-28-2006, 10:30 AM
You gotta love it ... this clown says that if _irk has a good game against Detroit tonight it "would go a long way toward putting some distance between Dirk and the next two strongest candidates." Right.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/032806dnspocowlishawcol.ce9fe0d.html
Bouncing Pistons helps Dirk's MVP drive
02:28 AM CST on Tuesday, March 28, 2006
The Dirk Nowitzki-for-MVP bandwagon gets rolling at full speed tonight when the Mavericks face the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills with the stakes being ...
Wait a minute. The Who-for-What?
Perhaps we should take this thing one step at a time. These are, after all, the Dallas Mavericks.
In a quarter of a century, the Mavericks have never produced a Most Valuable Player candidate, let alone an MVP. Goodness, this team's never even had an MIP which, if you aren't paying attention, is Most Improved Player. Current Maverick Darrell Armstrong won that honor in Orlando in 1999, just so you know.
The Mavericks never had a first-team All-NBA player until Nowitzki cracked through that barrier a year ago.
A big game against Detroit, probably a big game in a Mavericks upset at Detroit, would go a long way toward putting some distance between Dirk and the next two strongest candidates, which should be Phoenix's Steve Nash and Cleveland's LeBron James.
If any one of those three wins, fine by me. If any of the others who get MVP mention, such as Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Miami's Dwyane Wade or the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, somehow win the award, then I think something has gone wrong with the process.
But one never knows because these are, after all, NBA writers casting the votes. And that means that the league's reigning MVP, who has Phoenix within six games of the Mavericks and Spurs despite lacking anything close to last year's supporting cast, may be penalized simply for being the most recent MVP.
I mean, it's not like Charles Barkley was better than Michael Jordan in 1993 or Karl Malone was better than Jordan in 1997. Voters were just looking for something new and different.
If a few voters decide to turn away from Nash, then Nowitzki has a real chance. And that wouldn't trouble Pistons coach Flip Saunders.
"He's probably the best 7-footer ever to play the game in terms of where he shoots it from," said Saunders. "I look in terms of impact around the league. For MVP, I'd put him right up there."
Here's what Dirk has going for him.
Of the three teams that have pretty much run and hidden from the league – Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio – Nowitzki is the only player who is the clear No. 1 on his team. Some nights it's Billups in Detroit, some nights it's Richard Hamilton, some nights it's Rasheed Wallace.
The Spurs' best player is Tim Duncan, but the two-time MVP is not playing to his normal standard. Tony Parker is playing way beyond his, but I still don't think opponents go into San Antonio saying, "We've got to stop Parker at all costs."
As far as the Spurs' wounded Manu Ginobili and my support for him last summer as the game's best international player ... let's just table that one for today, OK?
Nowitzki gets great support from a team that goes nine or 10 deep when healthy. But the gap between the importance of Nowitzki and Josh Howard is wider than on any of the great teams.
On a good team, the gap between James and his Cleveland teammates is even more susbstantial. But if the Cavaliers don't get to 50 wins, James probably doesn't get the award.
Although there are still those who love to blast away at Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for letting go of Nash, Nowitzki has never played on a better team in Dallas. Nor has he produced better numbers.
People noticed when Dirk dropped 51 on Golden State last week. Of course, it would have been more effective had the Mavericks held Jason Richardson to 38 so they could actually have won the game. Yeah, scoring lots of points and losing makes you an MVP candidate these days, doesn't it?
Nowitzki ranks eighth in the league in scoring. But he hits a higher percentage of free throws than all those ahead of him, a higher percentage of 3s than all those ahead of him and is fourth in field goal percentage among the NBA's top dozen scorers.
He's not Ben Wallace on defense, but he's not Irk anymore, either. The reality is you don't ask your offensive money player to expend all of his energy on the defensive end while playing 40 minutes night after night.
The Mavericks' defense comes and goes, but it is better than it has been since this became a viable team five years ago.
The Mavericks' soft image, one they believe they'll prove outdated once the playoffs begin, should not be used as an argument against Nowitzki.
There really are only two arguments against him, and those are Steve Nash and LeBron James. Anything else doesn't make much sense.
In the final three weeks of the season, Nowitzki gets no bigger stage to state his case than The Palace of Auburn Hills tonight.
E-mail [email protected]
Big three for MVP
The three players Tim Cowlishaw believes should receive most consideration for MVP:
Dirk Nowitzki: Has expanded his unorthodox game for a 7-footer [e.g. someone who has no post game] to its highest level and may lead Mavericks to NBA's best record.
Steve Nash: Is doing everything he did a year ago only without Quentin Richardson, Joe Johnson – and until last week – Amare Stoudemire.
LeBron James: Has lived up to hype at every turn, ranks first in NBA in minutes, third in scoring and eighth in assists on a team that may win 50 games.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/032806dnspocowlishawcol.ce9fe0d.html
Bouncing Pistons helps Dirk's MVP drive
02:28 AM CST on Tuesday, March 28, 2006
The Dirk Nowitzki-for-MVP bandwagon gets rolling at full speed tonight when the Mavericks face the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills with the stakes being ...
Wait a minute. The Who-for-What?
Perhaps we should take this thing one step at a time. These are, after all, the Dallas Mavericks.
In a quarter of a century, the Mavericks have never produced a Most Valuable Player candidate, let alone an MVP. Goodness, this team's never even had an MIP which, if you aren't paying attention, is Most Improved Player. Current Maverick Darrell Armstrong won that honor in Orlando in 1999, just so you know.
The Mavericks never had a first-team All-NBA player until Nowitzki cracked through that barrier a year ago.
A big game against Detroit, probably a big game in a Mavericks upset at Detroit, would go a long way toward putting some distance between Dirk and the next two strongest candidates, which should be Phoenix's Steve Nash and Cleveland's LeBron James.
If any one of those three wins, fine by me. If any of the others who get MVP mention, such as Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Miami's Dwyane Wade or the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, somehow win the award, then I think something has gone wrong with the process.
But one never knows because these are, after all, NBA writers casting the votes. And that means that the league's reigning MVP, who has Phoenix within six games of the Mavericks and Spurs despite lacking anything close to last year's supporting cast, may be penalized simply for being the most recent MVP.
I mean, it's not like Charles Barkley was better than Michael Jordan in 1993 or Karl Malone was better than Jordan in 1997. Voters were just looking for something new and different.
If a few voters decide to turn away from Nash, then Nowitzki has a real chance. And that wouldn't trouble Pistons coach Flip Saunders.
"He's probably the best 7-footer ever to play the game in terms of where he shoots it from," said Saunders. "I look in terms of impact around the league. For MVP, I'd put him right up there."
Here's what Dirk has going for him.
Of the three teams that have pretty much run and hidden from the league – Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio – Nowitzki is the only player who is the clear No. 1 on his team. Some nights it's Billups in Detroit, some nights it's Richard Hamilton, some nights it's Rasheed Wallace.
The Spurs' best player is Tim Duncan, but the two-time MVP is not playing to his normal standard. Tony Parker is playing way beyond his, but I still don't think opponents go into San Antonio saying, "We've got to stop Parker at all costs."
As far as the Spurs' wounded Manu Ginobili and my support for him last summer as the game's best international player ... let's just table that one for today, OK?
Nowitzki gets great support from a team that goes nine or 10 deep when healthy. But the gap between the importance of Nowitzki and Josh Howard is wider than on any of the great teams.
On a good team, the gap between James and his Cleveland teammates is even more susbstantial. But if the Cavaliers don't get to 50 wins, James probably doesn't get the award.
Although there are still those who love to blast away at Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for letting go of Nash, Nowitzki has never played on a better team in Dallas. Nor has he produced better numbers.
People noticed when Dirk dropped 51 on Golden State last week. Of course, it would have been more effective had the Mavericks held Jason Richardson to 38 so they could actually have won the game. Yeah, scoring lots of points and losing makes you an MVP candidate these days, doesn't it?
Nowitzki ranks eighth in the league in scoring. But he hits a higher percentage of free throws than all those ahead of him, a higher percentage of 3s than all those ahead of him and is fourth in field goal percentage among the NBA's top dozen scorers.
He's not Ben Wallace on defense, but he's not Irk anymore, either. The reality is you don't ask your offensive money player to expend all of his energy on the defensive end while playing 40 minutes night after night.
The Mavericks' defense comes and goes, but it is better than it has been since this became a viable team five years ago.
The Mavericks' soft image, one they believe they'll prove outdated once the playoffs begin, should not be used as an argument against Nowitzki.
There really are only two arguments against him, and those are Steve Nash and LeBron James. Anything else doesn't make much sense.
In the final three weeks of the season, Nowitzki gets no bigger stage to state his case than The Palace of Auburn Hills tonight.
E-mail [email protected]
Big three for MVP
The three players Tim Cowlishaw believes should receive most consideration for MVP:
Dirk Nowitzki: Has expanded his unorthodox game for a 7-footer [e.g. someone who has no post game] to its highest level and may lead Mavericks to NBA's best record.
Steve Nash: Is doing everything he did a year ago only without Quentin Richardson, Joe Johnson – and until last week – Amare Stoudemire.
LeBron James: Has lived up to hype at every turn, ranks first in NBA in minutes, third in scoring and eighth in assists on a team that may win 50 games.