I don't think Tmac is a MVP candidate this year, but his defense is anything but pathetic. Doc Rivers has to implement a horrible 1-3-1 zone the majority of the time because on defense the rest of the Magic make Steve Francis look like Payton in his prime. "Highlight Film"......nice criteria. I guess that's why he won it last year. The reason he most likely won't win it this year is because he won it last year. The NBA is just weird about certain things like that. Jordan should have won it every year during the Bulls' run, Shaq should have won it the past 3 years, and Hakeem should have won it the year Robinson did.
He has been extremely consistent this year. He has done his part all season long, through the horrid start until now. He hasnt wavered a bit.
Why wont anyone just admit that Kobe has done more for his team's benefit than any other MVP canadiate? You simply just cannot deny that fact. If Kobe was not playing fro the Lakers, do you even think they would be this close to a playoff spot as they are now. And if he was not there at the beginning of the season, can you imagine how many loses they might have had. T-mac 's defense is really horrible to the point of where ESPN made fun of him when he was being torched by the Bulls. Did you even notice that, I guess not. And Kobe has done more for the Lakers this season than KG, Duncan, and Kidd. Do you think they could handle the pressure he probably endured at the beginning of the season to keep the 3-time champs from collapsing and missing the playoffs? He did it and he showed up every game to help his team win. Had his supporting cast had provided him with some help, they wouldnt have been in this position. I hate the Lakers and Kobe, but he deserves this award more than anyone else. And I think you guys should stop hating on Kobe for just once and atleast give him his props.
Yes it is. Yes it is. Bingo!! KG's team without Wally was worse than what TD had. I think right now the award is between these two. If TD's team stays ahead of Minn-yes TD is the likely choice--but it is close between these two, this is a regular season award. Outside candidates are JK, Kobe, and T-Mac. JK needs to get his team back to #1 in the east to have a good case, but I think he is going to have a hard time getting ahead of the Pacers. Kobe and T-Mac did a whole lot less than Duncan and KG did with equally putrid supporting casts. Neither Kobe (before Shaq was rolling) nor T-Mac could singled handely lead their teams to a 500 record like those PFs were able to do. Kobe and Tmac will have to try again next year for the league MVP, and get their team playing better throughout the year. Kobe can always try for the playoff MVP--that will be his only option for an individual honor barring a collapse by Duncan, than Garnett, than Kidd, end of story.
Are you kidding? Look at the Twolves lineup next to the Lakers: Nesterovic Joe Smith Kendal Gill Anthony Peeler Troy Hudson Rod Strickland Gary Trent Mark Jackson Now, compare it to the Lakers: Horry Shaw George Walker Fox Medvedenko Fisher Rush The supporting cast of the Twolves is much better.
Horry, Fisher & Fox would probably all start for Minnesotta (Fox/Horry would play opp KG). W/o KG you would really see how sorry those other Minn guys except for Wally--who hasn't played much this year.
Amen........atleast someone notices that Kobe has no help from that so-called "supporting cast" except Shaq. Now take away Shaq for the first half of the season and look who he has to play with for a team. Its a miralce that some of the games that the Lakers lost were even by a close margin. My point is this, KG and Duncan have help to rely on as to where Kobe didnt in the beginning of the season without Shaq. In fact, Kobe was basically a one man show in the beginning of the season. To keep this team within striking distance of a playoff spot before Shaq even arrived is an accomplishment in its own right. And as for Duncan havin a putrid supporting cast compared to Kobe and the Shaq-LESS Lakers. gimme a break. Im talkin DRob, TParker versus Rick Fox and Robert Horry!!!! No response is needed for this absent minded comment. Just see what I mean when the Spurs visit the Lakers tonight on ESPN. See who has the worst supporting cast of the two teams and see which one of the MVP canadiates show's up for tonight's clash. No more talk is needed, just sit back and watch the show, uhhh..... the late show that is of course.
uhhhh..............How can you miss Joe Smith, Furthermore, I am sure that Rockets fans didnt miss Troy Hudson, either.
Hudson is better than Fisher. Joe Smith is better than Horry (Except come playoff time) Nesterovic is better than any center on the Lakers (without shaq). Kendal Gill, Anthony Peeler, Rod Strickland and Gary Trent are decent role players. You guys gotta gimme a break here. The supporting cast of the Lakers is almost hilarious. The Twolves have much more talent in that department.
Clash of the MVP canadiates: Kobe vs TD At the half in LA Kobe 11-18 24 pts "the supproting cast" 6-19 17pts Tim Duncan 3-14 10 pts 12 rbs In the first 6 minutes of the game, Kobe had 7 of the Lakers first 11 points. With 9 minutes left in the second quarter when he went to the bench for a breather, Kobe had 17 of the Lakers 28 points. With Kobe on the bench for the next four minutes, the Lakers with Shaq managed to score only 2 points! As for Tim Duncan's help, he has alot of it. Tony Parker is playing good so far and has 10 points. Manu, Stephen Jackson and Bowen have also hit some shots. But, no one can stop Kobe on defense right now. There even double and sometimes triple teaming him with Shaq on the floor and he still hits the shot. Score at the half .............SA-42.....LA-41
I think today's SA vs LA game confirmed my thought that Kobe is NOT the MVP. and it's not even because of the great performances of other players (Duncan etc). Kobe had a great game stats wise (44 pts). But I noticed there's a stretch of 4-5 minutes in the game when Shaq didn't touch the ball once and that's the main reason they lost the game (sounds familiar). I don't know if it's because Kobe's too hot that he ignored Shaq or what. But the fact is that Kobe couldn't win big games if he didn't feed the big man. Inside scoring beats outside shooting every time. A hot Shaq is unbeatable while a hot Kobe is beatable. Come on, the key to winning any big games for Lakers is clearly Shaq, not Kobe. So Kobe's not even the MVP of his own team, how can he be the MVP of the league?
SA-103........LA-95 Kobe 44 pts Shaq 21 pts "supporting cast" 30 pts Tim Duncan 28 pts Tony Parker (part of SA "supporting cast") 24 pts Kobe was hot in the first half but he cooled off in the second. He forced some of his shots against Bruce Bowen who played good defense on Kobe in the second half. Kobe did end up with 44 points, but on 41 shots taken. However the Lakers still had a chance to win this one but there was no help from "the supporting cast." Duncan had tons of help, especially from 20 year-old Tony Parker who came 6 points shy of outscoring the entire Lakers "supporting cast" by himself. Add to that with help from Ginobilli, Jackson, Bowen who all had good games tonight and you easily notice how much more help Duncan has then Kobe. Tonight, it really showed.
Maybe its because Shaq was in foul trouble. Besides Shaq was clearly out of sync tonight. He was missing dunks layups and shots he normally makes tonight. And Kobe is not the MVP of his own team? In the first half, he was the teams offense. When he went to the bench with 9 minutes left in the second, he had 17 of the Lakers 28 points. After Kobe went out, the Lakers only scored 2 points with Shaq on the floor in next 4 minutes before Phil had enough of their pathetic play and put Kobe back in. And he is still not the MVP of his own team? Gimme a freakin' break!!!!!!!!
Big man needs touches. Shaq was out of sync because he didn't get as many as touches as he used to (not only in this game but in many recent games). Big man needs touches to "get going". Big man can make easier shots for his perimeter "supporting cast" than a perimeter player. That's fact. I still say that Shaq at his best is more valuable than Kobe at his best and if the Lakers are to get a top 4-5 playoffs spot and a 4th championship, they should make an effort to get Shaq going and get him at his best than anyone else because they need that. And when Shaq is at his best, he's the MVP bar none. BTW, similar thing can be said about Yao and our Rockets making the playoffs.
Tim Duncan has a better supporting cast than Kobe? Yep, I guess that explains why Kevin Willis and Bruce Bowen both took as many shots as any Laker not named Kobe or Shaquille. Willis, Bruce Bowen, Danny Ferry, Steve Kerr, Stephen Jackson, a 20 year old Euro PG, a rookie Ginobilli and Malik Rose. Man, that's one killer supporting cast. Which one of these studs would the Lakers trade Robert Horry for? Maybe Parker and that's it. Let's get one of these super players ourselves...how about Mobley and Cato for Parker and Kerr and Bowen... 41 shots takes your entire team out of rhythm. A real MVP involves his team.
If you are saying that a real MVP shouldnt shoot 41 times then you are saying that Jordan shouldnt have won MVP.
With Francis, the Rockets lost to the Cavs. Take Francis out, and we would be much worse than the Cavs. Francis for MVP. The Magic already suck with TMac. He is an awesome talent, but he isnt carrying the team ala Garnett, Duncan, Kobe, and Kidd.
