Weekly Race to the MVP Update: T-Mac at #6

If Steve Nash wins it again im going to **** my pants.

Hope Tracy rises soon to top 3.

BTW, how could would it be if the Rockets had the jersey concept of the Raptors? Same colors.

 

Good deal. I think Tracy has a chance to pass LeBron and Gilbert (especially if the Wizards falter) later on.

 

Yeah, I'm hoping to see Tracy end up in the top 4 or 5 if he keeps up what he's been doing lately. I'm glad that others are starting to take notice, he's been playing out of his mind lately.

 

can anyone give tmac's stats since he came back after yao's injury? his FT and FG% on the season seem pretty poor, but i know he's been pretty money recently. if he had been playing like this all season he'd definitely be top 3 behind nash and dirk.

 

with a lot of luck and a lot of yao, maybe we go on a tear while the mavs and suns stumble. if the rockets end up with a better record, tmac could be #1!

 

I'm pretty sure I was on this forum about a week ago complaining about T-Mac's lack of respect regarding the MVP race. Now it appears people are finally coming to their senses. It's great to see T-Mac getting some well-deserved recognition.

P.S. LOL to LeBron and Kobe being placed ahead of T-Mac. I guess those extra couple points per game they both average over T-Mac really make up for the Rockets being hands-down better than both of their respective teams.

 

if we keep at this pace how can he not be top 3? If he can keep us in the race should be top 3! Hibachi is in the east so that does not count. I could be MVP in the east. Nash has a stacked team, Kobe shoots 30 shots a game and the mavs are stacked! Stick nash, nowitski, bryant on our squad without Yao F Ming and they would suck!!! Its time for Tmac to be the man!
For our well being! Bring us a trophy tracy!!!

 

Kobe I can understand, because he's been carrying his inexperienced bunch of teammates to 30 wins with a spectacular all around game, AND he's been doing so all season. I'm sure Brooks (the author of the MVP column) is just giving KB respect for keeping it up the entire season.

LeBron and Arenas, I do not understand at all. LeBron's game this year has regressed a bit and he clearly cannot finish games off like Kobe and T-Mac (and Arenas this year) can. His supporters can whine all they want about his busy offseason and his stubbed toe, but they would have to take into consideration Wade (who's had a busier offseason than LBJ) and Melo putting up career numbers despite going through the same amount of work LBJ went through this past summer. LeBron just flat out does not deserve that number 5 spot on the MVP list.

Arenas scores and scores and the Wizards are winning, but he should have a higher fg% than .42, what with the rules being as they are now, favoring perimeter play. if no one's allowed to touch you, that kind of fg% should be unacceptable. The Wizards are winning, but against inferior competition in the East. He should not be at number 3. PERIOD.

the end

 

Arenas is the main reason for the Wizards going from a mediocre .500 team last year to a potential 50+ win team this year. His amazing overall play and ability to hit the big shots this year has to have him up there near the top. The Wizards are the most dangerous team in the Eastern Conference with all the weapons they have and ability to put up big points against anybody. I'm not saying I think the Wizards will win the East but they certainly can beat Detroit, Miami or whoever you consider to be the favorites of the JV conference in a playoff series.

I also think your argument about his shooting is off base. If you're going to take that approach to shooting percentages then you're basically downplaying anything Iverson ever did. Iverson proved it was entirely possible for a great player to dominate the ball, shoot poorly, play decent defense and still win games. Arenas is doing that to an extent also but by taking less shots, shooting better from downtown, still averaging the same points and by involving his superior supporting cast.

As for LeBron, the numbers are still there so i'm sure he gets off the hook in the eyes of some but I can't help but be disappointed. "Disappointed" with a kid averaging almost 27 PPG -- sounds crazy, right? This guy could probably be the best player in the league with his skill set and athletic ability. For some reason though, he's not and add to that the overall mediocrity of the Cavs and I totally agree about him not being worthy of being that high in the MVP standings. In terms of "pretenders" I don't think there's a greater example in all of the NBA than the Cavs.

Last but not least -- KB24. Sure, he's still the best player in basketball and sure he's been more consistent than T-Mac but I still think T-Mac deserves the edge in the MVP department. The way he has put this team on his back (no pun intended) has simply been remarkable. We were supposed to be dead in the water with Yao out and T-Mac's ailing back bothering him again. Instead, here we were are challenging for the #3 seed with one of the highest margins of victory in the league.

 

I think Arenas is a great player, and deserving of a top 10 ranking in the race to the MVP, just not as high as 3rd. Sure, he makes big shots and performs at a high level, but then again, who from the top 10 doesn't? The Wizards are dangerous right now, and they should be, with a trio of all-stars to lead them. I agree that as of right now, his team is as good as it gets in the Eastern Conference. Still, that shouldn't merit a top 3 ranking, because there are six teams in the tougher conference that are doing better, and four of them are getting the same overwhelming performances from their respective superstars: Dallas, Phoenix, Houston, and LA. Granted, Nash and Nowitzki are getting help from much better supporting casts, but it's their play that is elevating their respective teams over the rest of the league, thus their 1-2 ranking. T-Mac and Kobe have to work their stuff in a MUCH tougher conference and with less help (T-Mac without Yao and Kobe with a pretty crappy supporting cast, sans Odom), and they STILL have a better record. In my opinion, T-Mac and Kobe deserve the 3-4 spots and Arenas the 5th. And maybe they will get it as the season progresses.

About the poor shooting: I'm pretty sure that had A.I. taken less of his forced shots and focused more on better shot selection (something he's been criticized about for years), he'd be a much more efficient and a better player. The fact that he was able get to the Finals with that terrible shooting percentage illustrates how good his team was as a whole (which in 00-01 was a good defensive team) and how good he was, being forced to carry his team without any other significant scorer. Arenas has two All-Stars as running mates, he doesn't need to take 30 shots a night to win. The sooner he realizes that, the better the Wizards will be, and the better he will be. Right now, he's way too focused on scoring 50 on Nate McMillan and D'Antoni as part of his "takeover".

Btw, as soon as Iverson moved to a superior Nuggets team (talent wise compared to Philly), he's been shooting 45%. The guy just needed more talent around him.

 

When push comes to shove this MVP talk will center around the two-headed-monster that is Dirk and Nash. Those are the two most deserving candidates so basically by mentioning the likes of T-Mac, Kobe, Arenas, LeBron and so forth as finalists we're really only giving them praise and recognition for an award they aren't going to win. I really think Dirk vs. Nash at 1-2 is too close to call the same way T-Mac vs. Kobe vs. Arenas is at 3-5. You can make an argument going either way for any of the players. I never said that I thought Arenas was more deserving just that I understand the media attention he's getting and that I can accept it if he's placed ahead of T-Mac.

I think you're getting a little carried away with the Arenas/ballhog argument. Every superstar that's top ten in the league in FG attempts takes at least 20 shots a game. Arenas is third overall at 22 -- Is that really a big difference compared to the likes of Wade, T-Mac, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen and Michael Redd all taking about 20 shots a game? Granted, Arenas does have some shot selection issues but plenty have said the same of T-Mac and he's winning right now too. I'm pretty sure nobody ever really calls the likes of Wade, JJ, Ray Ray or Redd "ballhogs". Arenas also essentially plays on a team with two other 20 PPG scorers so I hardly think his teammates feel neglected.

So Iverson has shot well for 1/4 of a season? Congrats to him however the only thing he has to show for that accomplishment is something like 12 losses out of 19 games since being traded and you KNOW those bricks will start piling up eventually.

 

haha! meh, in the end it's all subjective, I guess. The only thing we can really agree on is T-Mac deserves a top 5 spot, (i personally think he should be top 3) and maybe let's leave it at that.

I think you misunderstood me when I said that Brooks was just giving Kobe some props due to his season-long dragging of the Lakers to 30 wins. I don't agree with his ranking, I just suggested a possible explanation as to why Kobe is ranked that high, and if so, I'm fine with it...Kobe has been pretty spectacular the whole season. T-Mac will catch him soon enough though

I don't know about the Iverson bricks, something tells me that it'll be a lot easier to avoid tossing up hopeless shots when the league's leading scorer is standing a few feet away from you.

 

Just wonder, when was the last time that 2 players of the same team being ranked in the MVP race in different months? Yao in October and November and now TMac.

 

Probably Kobe and Shaq. There were a couple of years where those two were the best 2 players in the NBA.

 

I think it would be really hard for t-mac to win the mvp this year for two reasons.
1. the general perception of him as an aging forward who (by his own admission) can't do what he once could. given those statements it seems weird to give him the mvp this year.
2. The stigma on him for not winning a playoff series and generally not doing much for the last couple of years.

It would be nice if the MVP race was just about one year and how one player helped his team, but it isn't and for those reasons I think t-mac is out.
That is of course until he wins the championship for us this year.

 

statistically, nash is having his best year and his team is on pace to win more games.
if mvp selection this year is based on the same criteria as the last 2 years, whatever that criteria might be, there's no reason why nash wouldn't win it again...

 

I think Tmac has a slight chance of winning MVP if he keeps delivering 30 pt game performances when Yao gets back. If we get TMac with 30 pts a night and Yao with his average 25-10 we are NBA champs!

 

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2007-02-08-west-notes_x.htm

By David DuPree, USA TODAY

Houston Rockets All-Star Tracy McGrady has unceremoniously thrust himself into the already crowded NBA Most Valuable Player conversation.
His Rockets have won five games in a row and six of their last seven. McGrady has been phenomenal in that stretch, averaging 29.9 points, 5.6 assists and five rebounds. Houston plays Friday at the Dallas Mavericks.

Houston is 1-1 this season vs. the team with the best record in the league, and they will play the Mavericks for the fourth and final time during the regular season.

The Rockets have the fifth-best record in the league. With all of the talk about which teams are going to make major moves before the Feb. 22 trading deadline, the Rockets will make perhaps the biggest move: getting center Yao Ming back from a fractured leg.

Yao was having an MVP-type season before his injury 21 games ago, but the Rockets didn't collapse in his absence and have gone 15-6 without Yao. They were 34-48 last season as Yao missed 25 games.

The Rockets have taken a more wide-open offensive approach without Yao, resulting in plenty of McGrady.

"We're in a nice little groove offensively right now," McGrady said. "My teammates have been great in providing offense as well as opening things up, allowing me to play one-on-one and have single coverage."

In the 40 games McGrady has played this season, Houston is 30-10. The Rockets are 2-6 in the eight he has missed.