http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/awards?page=awards-081016 I am very surprised Yao is not even on the top ten of this list for MVP candidates. I am even more surprised that Elton Brand is.
That's not surprising. The Rockets have a "Big Three", and Yao's isn't clearly the best of those three. So, if the Rockets do well, credit will likely be shared amongst them.
Garnett got 3rd place last year. I'd say it's not surprising simply because Yao has never made the top 10 before, mostly due to injury. Besides, anyone can get 5th place votes due to voters trying to make a point with the last vote on their cards. I mean: Ginobody got 9, 5th place votes last year to get 10th overall in voting. Basically that means people have to vote him above Duncan at the 5th spot, or vote both Duncan and Ginobody together over one of the top 4 finishers (Kobe, Paul, Garnett, James). silly, isn't it. But people will vote that way to make a point. If Yao has a full season, there's no doubt he'll make Top 10. But it doesn't mean much unless you are a frontrunner, imo
Yao was putting up MVP numbers before he got hurt.....well so did Elton Brand...so either way pointless untill April/May.
Kinda odd to think that Alston had a better 3PT FG% last year than 4 of the 5 guards in that MVP list (only .001 behind D-Will). How are Camby and Smith ahead of Artest in that defense list? As expected, they're using stats like blocks and steals to judge how well someone is defensively.
Seems like in the coach of the year article, that ESPN writers clearly dont think that Tmac and Yao will be healthy all season. Harsh??
realistic more like it. id rather they have injuries before the post season even if it messes up our place in the standings. having all 3 healthy in playoffs and the only ones that can stop us will be lakers and celtics. but "we houngry!!!"
I like the Elton Brand pick. I always felt he was one of the more underrated big men in the league especially when he was out West with all the big men competition. I think with his recent injury people forgot about him even more.... However now that he's healthy and out of that hell hole known as Clip joint and playing for an up and coming team with more media exposure and a winning team it should emphasize his MVP candidacy. I expect around 22ppg 12 boards and 2.5 blocks. Combine that with a contending team and you have an MVP candidate.
There are a lot of non-ballsy picks on that list. I do like Brand. Williams should be higher. Wade should be ahead of Garnett. C'mon, show some balls.
See that's usually what I go to when I feel one of our players is rated too high. I don't feel he should be out of the top ten though. He was getting serious MVP consideration before he got hurt two years ago. He was overshadowed by rumblings about Tracy last year. Yao at his best is better than Brand and they have both been hurt. I am looking at this very critically too.
Yao would be top 5 if you guaranteed he'd play 80 games. Everyone is banking on the fact that he'll miss a lot of time...because it's happened a lot, and always with the feet...so it's viewed (rightly so) as chronic. Brand had 1 major injury, and he's been pretty durable aside from that. He's on a team that was desperate for low-post scoring, and with the talent there, they will be competing at the top of the East. I'd def. agree with Brand being in and Yao not at this point. Though obviously I'd love to assume Yao will play all year...I just can't put a >50% chance on that..
oh, I don't like Duncan on this list...I don't think he's gonna have anything close to an MVP-type year..
actually, he is hated everywhere besides houston and china :] here in Poland, they still have him as a big stiff who got blocked by nate
Yao had his chance a couple of years ago, now BronBron, Flash, CP3, Mamba, DWill, and even DHo will own it for years to come.
