ESPN's Marc Stein will vote Yao for ROY and 3rd Team all NBA

Interesting...no Steve Francis.

 

You know a position is weak when a player with the offensive firepower of a bobblehead doll gets all NBA second team...

Gawd, hopefully Tim Duncan gets re-classified as a Center after David Robinson retires....

 

But you have to admit that he is the best defensive player in the NBA. He leads the league in rebounds and blocks and he is only 6'8". Remember offense comes easy, defense is hard to come by.

 

Hard to argue with those teams. I would like to see Mooch with the 1st team, BTW. Then they wouldn't have been the best!

 

This reporter from New Jersey also put Yao in the third Team.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr...lRUV5eTYzNjU3NzYmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

Duncan the choice for MVP, Murphy for most improved

Sunday, April 13, 2003

By STEVE ADAMEK
STAFF WRITER



Guess times are tough in the NBA, for with award ballots due this week, the most imaginative graft so far has been a "KG for MVP" souvenir license plate on behalf of Kevin Garnett.

No bobbleheads and no clothing or meal offers to influence badly dressed and always-hungry sportswriters. Conducting an e-mail campaign, it seems, is the method of choice this season.

Thus, the following selections are made based upon pure merit, not undue influence, meaning they've actually been given significant thought, considering how difficult the choices are in almost every category:

MVP: We'll stick with Tim Duncan over Garnett and Tracy McGrady, leaving Kobe Bryant fourth and Jason Kidd filling out the final spot on the ballot, if only to give him some home-state props. Duncan, Garnett, and McGrady have all carried lousy rosters to great lengths, but Duncan has simply carried the Spurs farther.

Most Overrated Player: Antoine Walker by a nose over Jerry Stackhouse. Rod Strickland doesn't play enough to qualify any more.

Most Disappointing Player: Andre Miller.

Coach of the Year: For the same reason Duncan is the MVP, Gregg Popovich is the guy here, even if he isn't the most fashionable head guy in the league. If nothing else, he made a player out of Stephen Jackson. Give Portland's Maurice Cheeks his due for his job as warden of the Jail-Blazers, Golden State's Eric Musselman and Utah's Jerry Sloan some mention, and Hubie Brown kudos for proving he's still got it.

Anti-coach of the Year: Deposed Clippers' head guy Alvin Gentry. All that talent and another trip to the lottery.

Rookie of the Year: Yao Ming is second among rookie scorers, Amare Stoudemire fourth. Stoudemire leads rookie rebounders and Yao is second. Yao is third in field goal percentage, Stoudemire fourth. This isn't easy, but because Stoudemire's Suns made the playoffs and Yao's Rockets didn't, we'll give it to Stoudemire and ignore not only Yao's status as an icon-in-training, but also those in Miami who think the top rookie scorer, Caron Butler, deserves consideration. Caron may be a player some day, but someone has to score points for a bad team.

Rookie Bust of the Year: Chicago's Jay Williams.

Most Improved Player: Names such as the Nets' Richard Jefferson, Memphis' Jason Williams, Philly's Eric Snow, and not only Jackson in San Antonio, but also second-year point man Tony Parker are being mentioned. Yet here, it's a four-man race.

Utah's Matt Harpring has bumped his scoring average up by almost six points playing virtually the same minutes he did last season in Philly. Detroit's Chauncey Billups, with his fifth team, has become a productive point for one of the top two teams in the East. Golden State's Gilbert Arenas has been a revelation, scoring better than 18 a game.

Yet Arenas' teammate, Troy Murphy, has quietly averaged a double-double (points, rebounds) for the most improved team in the league, almost doubling his scoring average and tripling his rebound total. He may not win, but we'll give the Sparta guy a home-state vote.

Most Improved Doofus of the Year: Cleveland's Ricky Davis.

Defensive Player of the Year: One of the few no-brainers, Ben Wallace to repeat.

All-Defense Team: This is always a reputation team. Yet to watch Kenyon Martin all season is to know he belongs here - although voters elsewhere may still see him as a thug. That may cost Indiana's Ron Artest, but he also belongs. Wallace, of course, is a given, and let's give the Spurs' Bruce Bowen his props after all these years and fill it out with Sacramento's Doug Christie.

Sixth Man Award: Milwaukee's Michael Redd is the scorer, averaging more than 15 points and shooting 40-plus percent from three-point range. Malik Rose is an intangibles guy who's often on the floor instead of David Robinson in key situations. Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, though, is both productive (almost 12 points and more than five boards per game) and does a lot of little things, so in another tough call, he's it.

All-NBA: Detroit lists Wallace as a forward, not a center -but we're calling him a center because he plays like one. Orlando calls McGrady a guard, which bumps Kidd and Allen Iverson out of first-team consideration.

First team: Wallace, Duncan, Garnett, Bryant, McGrady.

Second team: Shaquille O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal, Dirk Nowitzki, Kidd, Iverson.

Third team: Yao, Chris Webber, Shawn Marion, Allan Houston (some hometown props), Steve Nash.

 

So they think ROY award should be given to the player not on any of their three all-nba team? Besides, it is not Amare's Suns, it's Marbury, Marion's. But you can say it's Francis and Yao's rockets....

 

???

Okay. I like Marc Stein now!

And that reporter from NJ...he put Wallace over Shaq in his team things. What?!? Shaq is still the most dominant.