From my latest on HOOPSWORLD:
If you consider the point guard position spot to be the most important position in the game, than one candidate you have to consider for the award is Detroit’s Chauncey Billups. His raw numbers aren’t quite as gaudy as the likes of Paul or Steve Nash, but that’s in part because the Pistons play at the slowest pace in the league.
Instead of racking up huge fantasy numbers, Billups settles for being extremely efficient – a formula that seems to be working considering he’s guided the Detroit Pistons to the second-best record in the league. This year, despite seeing a slight dip in minutes his production has actually climbed; he’s posted a career-high 23.80 PER, which ranks second to Paul (28.84) among all point guards this year.
Billups isn’t a complete stranger to this debate: in 2004-05, he placed fifth in MVP voting, thanks in part to his team’s league-best 64 regular-season wins, and last season he placed 11th. If those voters who recognized him in the past take the time to examine his numbers again this year, they’ll see that he’s actually enjoying the best season of his career.
Do I think Chauncey Billups deserves to win the MVP over LeBron, Kobe or Chris Paul? Not at all. But as I tried to argue in the article above, I do think he deserves to be right near the top of the “others receiving votes” tier.
(Incidentally, if I had a vote for the MVP award, my pick would be Chris Paul, hands down. What he’s doing this year is simply incredible.)
I would rather he won another finals MVP. Matters more in the scheme of things, don’t you agree Dirk?
Oooo, too soon?
After realizing Kobe has never won MVP, I have to pick him to win it this year.
Chauncey is having a nice year indeed, but I agree with your last part of this post that I don’t expect him to garner any 1st place votes. My personal pecking order is something like this:
1. Kobe Bryant (begrudgingly)
2. Chris Paul
3. LeBron James
4. Dwight Howard
5. Kevin Garnett
The thing is.. there isn’t much separation in there from 1 to 5. Garnett, despite missing some games this year, is every bit deserving of the MVP award as Bryant, Paul, James and Howard.
Looking forward to what might be the best NBA playoffs in years.
Kobe should have won it the year Nash won his 2nd. That means one man shows like Paul and LeBron can wait because they’re younger. The NBA, youth discrimination!
One man show like Paul? Please explain how today’s Paul is a “one man show” over Kobe 2 years ago? That’s like calling Wilt Chamberlin’s 100 point performace great team basketball since he had 7 assists too.
I hate the kind of thinking that gives Kobe the MVP because he’s “due”. Paul has produced and won more with less. Kobe’s having an average year by his standards, and he’s had Pau Gasol put in his lap. CP3 has had one of the best point guard seasons ever, and his team has been near the tops of the West all season. People have even been penalizing Paul in this race for having a healthy team.
LeBron is also having a historical season, but he’s missed time and his team is floundering, so the odds of him winning aren’t looking great.
Billups has no shot, but his play this year has been overlooked. Some people I know would still choose Kidd over him this season just based off reputation.
How has Paul “produced and won more with less” than Kobe? Paul’s playing on a team with another current All-Star (David West), while Kobe’s got a former All-Star (two years removed) in Pau. Paul’s got Tyson Chandler (who’s turned into a beast) and Peja (who’s reverting back to his Sacramento glory days), in addition to the aforementioned West. Kobe’s got Lamar Odom (a great player but inconsistent), Pau Gasol (who’s already missed quite a few games as a Laker since the trade) and a young Andrew Bynum.
Kobe and Paul are both having great years. Statistically, Kobe’s points are down, but so are his shot attempts. His assists are the same as last year and his rebounds have gone up. He’s still putting up great numbers. As is Paul. It’s a tough call between the two of them, but I gotta give the MVP to Kobe. Not because he’s “due” but because he’s keeping the Lakers in the hunt for the top seed despite all the injuries.
The Jason Kidd that’s poised to lead not one, but two teams, to the lottery? That Jason Kidd.
I don’t think I can make a case for Chauncey in the top five, and he is clearly second fiddle at his own position, so I think any discussion ends there.
Here’s my rankings.
The deserving
1. Chris Paul - Just as dominant as LeBron James for a better team at a tougher position to fill.
2. LeBron James - I think team success makes a good tiebreaker, but we shouldn’t judge James on the basis of him having lousy teammates.
The storylines
3. Kevin Garnett - Didn’t hit the magic 20-10 plateau, but his defense has been incredible.
4. Kobe Bryant - Actually having a down year, for him, but it looks like sportswriters are ready to give him the award to make up for the one he should’ve gotten when Steve Nash won for no reason.
The not this year guys
5. Amare Stoudemire - Arguably the best player in basketball since the Shaq trade. Might be a 30-10 guy next year.
6. Tim Duncan - Yeah, he’s still playing.
If a NBA player is not pumped by ESPN, ABC and TNT for MVP then it is a waste of time to even think the deserves consideration, because it will never happen.
The unfortunate reality of it is (if you are Pistons fan) is that it is not politically correct to vote for Pistons player for MVP if you don’t cover the Pistons.
It has been that way for a very long time and will probably continue that way for a very long time.
“How has Paul “produced and won more with less” than Kobe?”
Kobe’s team has much more depth.
“Paul’s playing on a team with another current All-Star (David West), while Kobe’s got a former All-Star (two years removed) in Pau.”
West’s all-star selection was not particularly deserving. When healthy, Pau is a better player.
“Paul’s got Tyson Chandler (who’s turned into a beast)”
Beast is overstating it. He is a solid starting center.
“and Peja (who’s reverting back to his Sacramento glory days),”
No he isn’t.
“Kobe’s got Lamar Odom (a great player but inconsistent),”
He’s done every bit as well as Chandler.
“Pau Gasol (who’s already missed quite a few games as a Laker since the trade)”
And they are 5-5 since his injury.
“and a young Andrew Bynum.”
Young, but very good. The Lakers also go 11 deep. The Hornets are giving minutes to Melvin Ely, Hilton Armstrong, Ryan Bowen and (egads) Chris Andersen. Mo-pete is a starter, and wouldn’t even crack the Lakers rotation. There is no comparison, here.
Sheed for MVP
The very same.
West is a good player and I’ve been a fan of his since his Xavier days, but he was a bit of a stretch as an All-Star pick. It would be hard to say with a straight face that he’s better than Pau Gasol, especially given his play with the Lakers, where he’s been an offensive beast. Peja isn’t nearly as good as his days in Sacramento. He’s still a valuable player but he was more versatile and efficient in those days. Tyson’s been good as well, though he still has his flaws (turnover prone, very limited offensive player, poor shotblocker).
The benches are nowhere near comparable. The Hornets’ bench is pretty much crap except for Wright, who is inconsistent, and occasionally Bonzi. They’re giving a lot of minutes to Ryan Bowen and Rasual Butler, for God’s sake. The Lakers have viable players at most positions). Kobe has spent the majority of the season with an excellent big man in either Bynum or Gasol.
Statistically, most advanced metrics show that Paul has been more efficient than Kobe, and it’s not especially close. Bear in mind that New Orleans plays slow and the Lakers are among the leaders in pace. Kobe’s attempts and scoring are down, and he hasn’t made it up with anything else like improved shot efficiency. He’s clearly not playing as well as he has in past years, but this is the year he’s the MVP?
And because I’m slow and didn’t check this in a while, kevin s made the same basic reply.
Deserving All-Star or not, DWest is at about 20 and 10 for the year and Gasol’s at about 19 and 9. But, DWest has been giving those numbers all year long. Gasol’s been on the team for a few months and has been injured.
And Bynum was beginning to look scary, but he was still at about 13 and 10. For half the season. Ty Chandler’s been at about 11 and 12 ALL SEASON. I can’t stress that enough.
Peja and Odom - I’d have to give the edge to Odom, but he has been quite inconsistent.
Yes, the Lakers depth would run circles around the Hornets. But, you’re not taking into account the injuries. So yeah, Ronnie Turiaff is better than any bench big man the ‘nets have, but he’s not better than their starting center.
i don’t understand how people can say Paul is doing more with less? Point guards need guys to space the floor so they can drive, it helps when the defense can’t help off of Peja or West at all it does help Chris Paul a lot. He is great but he has great shooters around him as well, granted he does make his teammates much better and he ressurected Peja’s career, i think he does have a great team around him. He probably does deserve to be up there, but LeBron probably does more with less, as does Kobe right now with Bynum and Gasol out. Just imagine LeBron with David West and Peja hitting shots all the time. I’m not trying to take anything away from Paul, just saying his teammates do deserve some credit
Yes, part of the beauty of the Hornets is that they have great floor spacing with every player on the team knowing their role and performing that role to a T. They’re extremely well coached, but the whole system is still predicated on Paul’s ability to get his team the best shot possible, and he does so without hardly ever turning the ball over.
I’m not deriding the Hornets past Paul, Chandler, West, or Peja. Most of the other players probably wouldn’t crack the rotation on the Lakers. Pau and Bynum have been much more efficient than the second best player on the Hornets, and Odom, a very dynamic and versatile player, has come on strong after a slump early in the year. Beyond that, they don’t have great players, but they do have average to above average players at each position on the depth chart, which the Hornets cannot claim.
One Laker blog keeps saying that without Bynum or Gasol, the team basically reverted to their last season selves, and no one was going out of their way to give Kobe the MVP then.
I have to say that although i think billups is a great player, i honestly think that “coach sheed” is more deserving. A great defender, he can score from the post, midrange and get the 3s.
about paul, i said it once and i’ll say it again. he averages 11 apg in 37.7 mpg and the next in the stat line is pargo with 2.4 apg. This is a team based on one player passing the ball on his own ALL THE TIME. if they’d move the ball a little better he’d have aroun 7 apg? billups does that in 33 mpg.
The problem I have with the MVP award is that it’s pretty much impossible to define WHAT the MVP award is given for. It seems like every single voter has his own criteria for awarding the MVP which makes the award itself almost meaningless…
Presumably the only way one could qualify Billups as the “Most Valuable Player” is to consider where the Pistons would be without him, in which case I don’t think it’s fair to say he’s more important to us than Paul is to the Hornets or Garnett is to the Celtics. Otoh if you take the whole “most important to HIS team” out of the equation and just vote for the guy who’d normally get it each year (ie the guy putting up the most eyepopping stats for a successful championship contender) then you really can’t vote for anyone but Lebron or Kobe (Bron wins unless you consider his team a “pretender” which IMHO they are but its harder to make an arguement for Kobe based on numbers alone)…
I honestly think the NBA needs to define this award WAY better because it seems like every year there are 4-5 choices available who are in the running for ENTIRELY different reasons. Maybe just find a way to seperate “How Screwed Would Team X be without Player Y” and “Wow his numbers are just awesome” into two seperate but equally relevant awards?
Unless of course David Sterns goal is to get several million basketball fans vigorously debating the relative merits of good defence/passing/leadership/eye-popping shooting percentage/raw points during a time when half the teams in the league aren’t even TRYING to win basketball games and are thus a total bore to watch…waitaminute…….