I'll go with Lowry, though I think its more fair to collectively award the MVP to the starters. Here are the results of On/Off game-by-game splits that I looked at earlier, for those that are interested. Code: [B]player OnW OnL OnT OffW OffL OffT netWin% netWins[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Lowry 43 21 4 23 45 4 +31.3% +26 Martin 38 29 3 29 38 5 +14.0% +11 Scola 34 30 3 29 39 4 +10.5% +9 Battier 34 25 0 35 33 4 +9.0% +7 Hayes 36 25 3 35 33 4 +7.6% +6 Budinger 33 33 2 38 32 2 -4.2% -3 Miller 25 27 3 36 34 2 -4.5% -4 Lee 31 36 4 39 30 3 -10.5% -9 Patterson 17 21 3 39 32 1 -12.7% -10 Hill 24 36 4 40 28 4 -18.1% -15 Brooks 10 23 1 42 30 0 -28.9% -24 OnW, OnL, OnT show #games in which Rockets won, lost, or tied the opponent on the possessions the player was on the floor. OffW, OffL, OffT show #games in which Rockets won, lost, or tied the opponent on the possessions the player was off the floor. netWin% = OnWin% - OffWin% netWins = netWin%*82 The netWins stat, as defined above, is by no means perfect in assessing the value of the player. But I thought it was interesting to look at, nevertheless. You can see how the starters are at the top, led by Lowry. Of course, since they get so many minutes together, they benefit from the positive floor time together. Clearly, a few players have separated themselves from the pack (for good, or for bad).
Do these stats take into account the fact that Lowry was backed up by the worst rotation player on the Rockets this year, Aaron Brooks? I tend to be really hesitant to only rely on these type of numbers because the way Adelman rotates his players would play a factor in them.
http://basketballvalue.com/teamplayers.php?year=2010-2011&mode=summary&sortnumber=94&sortorder=DESC&team=HOU
i'm thankful our players aren't in a contest among themselves for most valuable on the team. Lowry is the sparkplug that makes the whole thing run. KMart is the silent MVP. He'd get his even if the car broke down. Love them both.
Adjusted +/- does "adjust" for that. But if a player is backed up by the worst rotation player on the team, that makes him all the more valuable does it not?
Adjusted plus minus takes in to account who you get to play with When you look at top two man combos for the rockets, the top 4 are all lowry, he has a positive plus minus with every player, even the god awful brooks and jordan hill http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus/plusminus_sort.jsp?pcomb=2&season=22010&split=9&team=Rockets
And if people think its just a fluke, recall this thread from last year: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=181726&highlight=Lowry
Pre-deadline it was Chuck and Martin. Post deadline the MVP is clearly Lowry. He's playing amazing on both ends of the court, locking up susperstar pgs like CP3, shooting cold-blooded 3s all over the place, and most of all providing hustle and leadership in the entire team. I'd consider him playing at an all star level already, and if he can keep this up I'll have to say Lowry has been the best acquisition Morey has made in his career thus far.
It makes him more valuable relative to other players on the team, I suppose, but that's kind of deceptive. You get into questions about what "team MVP" actually means. Is it the guy who played the best basketball on the team? Or is it the guy whose minutes were most valuable because he had crappy backup off the bench so any time he wasn't in the game the team wasn't getting production? I'd rather give the award to the guy who played the best basketball, not just the guy who technically had the most positive effect because he was the only option.
Chuck Hayes because without him there is absolutely no one to man the 5. And he has done an such an admirable job. Its not his fault that he is not half a foot taller. He has done all he can X2 with what he was given. Kyle Lowry also comes into contention. His improved/increased productivity has kept this team in ball games all season long.
A coach once told me that there were no stars on our team, the team was the star. I think the same applies to the Rockets, on any given night a different guy can go off and destroy the other team. The team is the star.
Lowry, because he's the most irreplaceable out of all the players. The team can get away with Martin being out a bit because there's still Lee and Budinger. Scola or Hayes have played great, but if either is out, we've still got Patterson/Hill/Miller. If Lowry misses games, however, Dragic/Lee/Williams just can't compensate for him.
It's KMart and it ain't even close MVP's are there producing day in and day out, lowry and hayes are way too inconsistent to be considered.
To me, MVP refers to the guy the team can least afford to lose. I don't think there's anything deceptive about that. It isn't necessarily the same thing as "best player" -- whatever that means.
