I'm in the group that feels Rose is not the most deserving of MVP. The argument you make about opposing teams focusing on Rose can also be used for Dwight Howard, but Howard is the most important player in the game on the defensive end in addition to giving his team an efficient 20+ points every night.
The "they're not winning" argument is BS because it's just not true. The Magic are only eight games behind the Bulls. It's not like the Bulls are going to win 65+ games and Orlando is going to win fewer than 50. They're only separated by eight games in the standings. When you take into account the fact that Orlando overhauled their roster halfway through the season, that's pretty impressive.
A new coach, new system, main starters in and out of the line up for the whole year and is still looking to 60 win. Pretty damn impressive as well don't you think? 8 game might not be a big difference, but the bulls beat more quality team. In fact they're top in the league against the top 6 six team in the NBA. That's more telling...
The MVP award is for the whole season, not 5 cherry-picked games. For the season, his TS% is only 54.4%, lower than Kyle Lowry's.
The Bulls record against top teams is more telling about the team as a whole. It is not proof that Rose is more deserving of the MVP award than Howard. To all the Rose fans here: just relax. It really doesn't matter if he is the most deserving or not this year, he is certainly going to win it.
bron/wade/kobe/durant/howard have played without stars before and they have been MUCH more efficient shooting the ball. it's not like it's anything new for superstars in this L. what is impressive is b/c their defense and rebounding remain so dominant despite having their 2 best big men going in and out of the lineup. that's props to thibs. that is what winning them games. when you have such a strong defensive foundation, you're always going to stay competitive. in this case, they have the best defense and rebounding in the L, it's not surprising that they have been able to sustain injuries. those are very impressive numbers. unfortunately, the season is 82 games. had rose perform anywhere "close" to this level, there wouldn't be any discussion about who the MVP is.
Lebron has no chance, but he is shooting 57% since the all star game. His VA is almost 70 greater than Dhoward. He also has the best +/- in the league of people who play regularly.
like i predicted before this season started, his fg% will continue to get better. look for him to shoot like 52-53% for the year next year, if not better. his midrange jumper is so smooth right now it's crazy. a dominant post game is the next evolution in his game.
My problem with Bronbron is he hasn't adapted his game to fit his new teammates. Sure neither DH or Rose has to carry two so-called superstars on his back, but oth LBJ made his own bed with his decision. Rather than just physical, LBJ should have taken his maturity and leadership to a new level, and made DWade defer to him based on his vastly superior skillset and ability. Instead, he spent the season planning his year long b-day party and taking turns with Wade on the offense. That's not gonna fly when playoffs come.
just curious.. for an MVP candidate who belongs to a team outside the top 6 teams in the league and the team also has worse record/standing than last year, in the closing minutes of a close game, shouldn't your coach and teammates trust you enough that when they pass you the ball and the other team fouls you, that you will make your free throw?
ric bucher brought up this ft shooting thing late in the game as a way to discredit howard's MVP candidacy. then he went on to say shaq didn't deserve his MVPs either b/c of the same reason. he ought to get slapped for that idiotic logic. what howard does defensively is exponentially higher than any other MVP candidates right now. people don't seem to realize defense as a big criteria for MVP too.
You're absolutely right. It's like people think that since there is a Defensive Player of the Year award, defense shouldn't count towards the MVP. But it's not just the Offensive Player of the Year award.
so why are they 4th seed 8 1/2 games behind the bulls? can't be the coaching because SVG better defensive coach than Tom "JVG assistant" Thibs.. can't blame the players, they got Hedo back.. they had Gortat but didn't workout playing with Dwight.. they traded VC for Richardson who is playing better than VC.. I'm pretty sure dwight had a say in those moves too.
Van Gundy is not a better defensive coach than Thibs. Thibs is the best defensive coach in the game by far. You look at what the Rockets were when he was here. Then he goes to Boston and they instantly become the best defensive team in the league despite having an entirely new roster. Then he moves to Chicago and they jump from being a good defensive team to a great one. Hedo is garbage. He's over the hill now, and he wasn't even that good in his prime. Richardson is an upgrade over VC, but come on now, we're talking about VC. Even if Howard had a say in those moves, him being a poor evaluator of his team's needs does not change the fact that he contributes more to their success on the floor than any other player in the league.
it wasn't for a specifc season. bucher's assertion was that if you cannot make fts at the end of the game, you don't deserve to be an MVP (he was making a case for rose vs howard and brought shaq up) bucher is one of the dumbest ESPN analysts ever.
no b/c the bulls have great perimeter (deng, boguns, brewer) and interior defenders (noah, watson, asik). those players are better defenders than rose. what is also forgotten is the bulls' dominant rebounding. they are a +5 over their opponents, easily the best in the L.
so being the clear number 1 option/best player for the top team clearly doesn't deserve to be the mvp this year but a player from top 8 team and team has worse record than last year and can't make ft's at then end of the game deserves it hands down?
