How do you even define loaded. A loaded team is a team that wins a lot of games. You can't positively objectively just say a team is loading without backing it up with wins.
you can see that by seeing how the team does without its best player for stretches. the lakers went 5-1 w/o kobe last year vs great teams -> kobe has a ton of help cavs went 0-4 last year w/o lebron and sucked this year -> we really now know it was a 1-man show we sucked badly whenever tmac or yao went out during their early years before morey -> a 2-man show
That doesn't mean anything. I don't care how loaded a team is, if it doesn't win games it doesn't really mean anything. You can argue if a team is loaded till blue in the face, but if a team has the best record in the league, it is a great team.
Huh? I'm really not following you here.... I said LA is a loaded team. They won and win a lot. Cleveland wasn't as loaded, especially dring Lebron's first mvp year. They won a lot too though. My point was teams with more wins usually are better overall, or "loaded" compared to the other teams. Therefore, more often than not, their best player isn't as valuable as teams that are less loaded, but still win...like Cleveland with Lebron or Kobe when the Lakers won 45 games. Also keep in mind that was a 7th seed in the west, but in the east where cleveland is, it would have been a 5th if you just slide the record over. If they played the whole season in that conference, they are probably a 2-3 seed and win 50 plus easily, maybe 55. It's much more similar to what Lebron did than people give him credit for. Lebron's teammates were more talented than Kobe's.
so that's like a 1% exception to the rule.. does anyone this year has as ridiculously out of this world year statistically?
well, dwight howard is if you consider both ends. he's playing out of his mind this year; and i never thought he would be this good. 23 points, 14 boards, 2.4 blocks, 1.3 steals, 60%fg. and those numbers are BETTER since the all-star break. when was the last time a big man put numbers like that across the board with DPOY defense? the last time was tim duncan in 2002.
I don't think MJ was even an exception to that rule. The Bulls were third in the east, and putting up monstrous numbers on the offensive and defensive end. They were one of the best teams in the league, and MJ was by far the best player in the league. If Dwight is putting up the numbers that MJ put up, there is absolutely no question that he would be MVP.
7th best record is not one of the best teams in the league. That puts them in the top 25%. If today's MVP standards were applied to that 1988 season, I doubt Jordan would've won it. In any case, that season was 20+ years ago. MVP criteria has evolved since then.
if a player puts up 35ppg, 5.5rpg, 5.9apg on 54% fg, 3.2steals, 1.6blocks, on a top 8 team this year, he'll win the MVP. those are OUTRAGEOUS numbers that you simply cannot deny. you may bring up kobe but outside of the points, he pales in all other categories to MJ (and he finished #2 that year i believe) and he didn't have a top 5 record.
Of course I can deny it. It's pure speculation on your part. Like it or not, team record plays a big role. How can you be the league's most valuable player when you're not even on one of the league's best teams? He finished #4 behind Nash, Lebron, and Dirk, and Nash received twice as many votes as Kobe did.
Orlando Magic has the 8th best record in the league, Dwight Howard is second in the MVP ladder, and unanimously the runner up for MVP if Rose wins it. The Bulls were 7th in the League, better than the Magic. Michael Jordan was also putting up numbers that Dwight Howard could only dream of, numbers that nobody could even remotely replicate today. Dwight Howard is currently the runner up for MVP, had he put up Jordan's numbers, there is no way he could lose the award.
just like it's pure speculation on your part. we haven't seen those historic numbers yet. dwight howard will most likely finish #2 in the MVP voting and his team will finish with the 8th best record in the L and #4 in the east. . like you said, his teams are nowhere near the best in the L and yet he'll be #2 in the MVP voting. ask yourself why.
Pure speculation supported by MVP selections for more than the past 10 years... Why do I need to ask myself anything? There's no trophy for being #2.
It's not that ridiculous. Those are great stats no doubt but no way ridiculous if you look at centers that have won MVP in the past. Look at the years Hakeem, David Robinson, Shaq have won the award. Especially considering 23ppg is not the greatest considering the weak lines of centers that defends him now.
and that's why rose will win. he is winning this year pretty much by default. lebron faltered for a stretch and the heat underperformed and the magic's record isn't as good due to expectations. but had a player in a top 5-7 team put up historic stats, i wouldn't be surprised if that player wins.
he was on pace to win this year until that pathetic "unclutch" stretch. that totally took him out of the running. he'll still finish top 3-4 this year. playing with wade isn't hurting him as bad as people make it out to be b/c he's still the best player in the L and putting up the best stats in the L. like i said, that stretch of poor clutch play was rightfully magnified and took him out of the running.
lebron james. watch heat games. look who gets the most minutes, offensive and defensive responsibilities, and touches in the clutch. lebron leads in all of those categories. there's a reason he's a legit top 3-4 MVP candidate and wade isn't. now who's more loved by miami fans? that's a different story.
