Bulls without Rose this season: 12-4 (Missed one game last year, 1 point loss to Denver) Heat without LBJ this season: 1-0 (Were 1-2 without him last year)
Have you seen the Bulls this year with basically the same cast? Rip Hamilton, their biggest acquisition, hasn't played much. The Bulls have gone 12-4 without Rose, beating some great teams convincingly too. Last year, Rose won because he was a "good story." Nobody expected the Bulls to be that good, and Rose won b/c he was the team's best player. But this year shows it's ALL defense and rebounding, and Thibs is their most valuable piece in the entire organization. You have seen how the Heat haven't been the same recently, b/c LBJ hasn't been the same recently. The Bulls don't miss a beat without Rose.
Actually, if I were starting an expansion team from scratch, I'd probably take Durant and Rose over LeBron, just because James would be all but certain to leave after 2 years when his contract is up and my crappy expansion team hadn't spoonfed him a ring, and Seattle is too cold without enough nightlife. Durant and Rose definitely seem like guys who have that Kobe-like focus on basketball exclusively, and don't really care where they play. But as for MVP, yes, based on on-court impact there is no reason why LeBron shouldn't be challenging Kareem's record of 6.
No, but Rose won't win the MVP just b/c his team has the best record now in the foreseeable future. He actually has to play like one, and put up the ridiculous stats usually given to MVPs (Steve Nash were exceptions).
Obviously you can't do that, just that Rose might not have been as important as believed. Thibodeau is the man.
Steve Nash was an exception because his team was 2-8 without him across those 2 seasons. Steve Nash made everyone better while putting up good stats.
That, and his on-court, off-court +/- was just absolutely ridiculous. You could just see that high-powered offense grind to a halt every time he went to the bench.
