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Mike Monroe: Nash deserves another MVP
Web Posted: 04/14/2007 09:32 PM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...p.2c940af.html
San Antonio Express-News
Kobe Bryant believes no player on a team as mediocre as the Lakers should be considered for NBA Most Valuable Player.
Who am I to disagree? Kobe, you just moved yourself down a notch on my MVP ballot.
Bryant's logic is wrapped around the definition of the award. If a player is the league's most valuable, shouldn't his team be a le contender? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was MVP in 1975-76 when the Lakers went 40-42 and failed to make the playoffs. It was the worst record for an MVP's team, but, at the time, voters seemed to favor picking the best player in the league rather than the most valuable. No doubt the emphasis has evolved into voting for a player most responsible for making his team a le contender.
If Abdul-Jabbar, who in '75-76 led the league in rebounds and blocks and was second in scoring, is the lone exception to what has been the rule over the 51 years since the award was first bestowed, the rule still seems sacred.
The guess here, though, is that Bryant will get a few first-place votes despite "Al Gore-ing" himself — his words — from the race last week.
He will not, however, occupy one of the top four spots on my MVP ballot. The league asks voters to rank their MVPs in order, one through five, with 10 points awarded for a first-place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth. Bryant's streak of 50-point and 40-point games late in the season kept the Lakers in contention for a playoff berth despite a rash of injuries and a roster that still does not include a legitimate starting point guard. Kobe will get my fifth-place MVP nod.
I'm not sure there is a legitimate MVP candidate in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons already have locked up the East's best record, but they have not had the sort of dominant season they did in 2005-06, when they had the best record in the league at 64-18. Chauncey Billups remains their key player, but he has not been Mr. Big Shot this season. His 3-point percentage (34.7) is his lowest in seven seasons.
It's hard even to know which of the Bulls is his team's most valuable player — Ben Gordon, Luol Deng or Kirk Hinrich — so count all of them out.
Dwyane Wade would have been a legitimate candidate had he not missed 30 games with injuries. If the Heat successfully defend their championship, it will be because Wade once again is MVP of the NBA Finals. But 52 games do not qualify him for the regular-season award.
I love Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas' game and his bravado, and his 74 pre-injury games is plenty enough to qualify him for consideration. It's his field-goal percentage that makes one pause. When you average 21.2 shots, making only 41.8 percent of them diminishes your value, even when you're making 35 percent of your 3-pointers.
LeBron James averages 27.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists for a Cavaliers team that likely will win 50 games. He will go on my ballot in the No. 4 position, mostly so nobody can accuse me of regional bias.
I believe there are three truly legitimate MVP candidates. Suns point guard Steve Nash, Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki and Spurs power forward Tim Duncan either have led their teams to 60-win seasons, or, in Duncan's case, is about to.
It was refreshing to hear what Baron Davis had to say about Duncan after the Spurs defeated the Warriors last week. The Warriors' most dangerous player called Duncan the MVP "... hands down. He's the ultimate team player that goes unnoticed. I mean, yeah, he fills up the stat sheet, but it's all the little stuff he does and does not allow to happen."
Davis is right about Duncan going relatively unnoticed. Few media types seem to include him in MVP discussion. That is because Tony Parker has continued to mature as a high-scoring point guard and because Manu Ginobili deserves consideration for the Sixth Man Award.
In fact, Duncan has had his best season since his 2002-03 MVP campaign. His scoring average is up from last season's career-low 18.6, back to 20.0 points despite the fact that Gregg Popovich monitors his minutes from Game 1 through 82. By design, Duncan plays fewer minutes than either Nash or Nowitzki. Nevertheless, he ranks 10th in the league in rebounds and fifth in blocked shots. His shooting percentage (54.7) is the highest since his rookie season despite his being double-teamed nearly every time he catches the ball in the low post. He already has more assists (267) than in his previous three seasons.
Davis' observation about "all the little things" Duncan does is both accurate and astute, especially when it comes to defense. Duncan does more than block and change shots. He discourages shots and drives to the basket.
If Duncan had cured his one major fault — his free-throw shooting is at 63.6 percent, and some teams have even taken to intentionally fouling him in the fourth quarters of close games — he would be higher than the third line on my MVP ballot.
Nowitzki is the presumed winner of this season's award because he is the best player on a team that could finish the season with 68 victories, one of the best records in league history. He averages 24.7 points and 9.0 rebounds and shoots 50.1 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from 3-point range. He also is a 90 percent free-throw shooter, which is a huge factor in ranking him ahead of Duncan. He gets the second line of my ballot.
Only two players ever have won three consecutive MVPs, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. I believe Nash deserves to be the third.
That's because I believe he is the best team player in the game today, more so than Duncan only because he is a point guard. His numbers are amazing: 18.9 points a game on 53.5 percent shooting, almost unheard-of for a point guard. He makes 46 percent of his 3-point shots and 90 percent of his free throws.
What makes him the MVP, though, is what he does for his Suns teammates. His league-best 11.5 assists per game don't begin to tell the story, either.
Nash thinks through the game better than any player since Magic Johnson. He has even improved as a defender and leads the league in charges taken, an unofficial category, but an important one.
