NBA MVP Rankings
Posted on 15. Jan, 2011 by Long Ball Larry in NBA
In a world where Sarah Palin is considered a viable presidential candidate, and the series Two and a Half Men is a top rated television show; it falls upon our shoulders here at Limited Playmakers to bring some much needed sanity to the world. With this in mind, I am unveiling LP’s first ever NBA MVP Rankings for the 2010-2011 season. I do so with humility and a prayer in my heart. May God bless the United States of America.
My goodness, look at that hair.
1. Deron Williams: As many of you know, Maurice Brooks ranks what he believes are the top ten MVP candidates in his weekly column “NBA Awards Watch” on espn.com. In his most recent post Deron Williams is ranked eighth. The reason he gives for his lack of respect to Williams is: “A case could be made that D-Will has been the best guard in the West, but he might need help making the All-Star team. He is currently fifth in fan voting.”
I do not understand the correlation between All-Star voting and MVP voting. Not to mention the argument is ridiculous because Deron Williams will be an All-Star this year, fan voting or not. Fan voting for the All-Star team has nothing to do with how valuable a player is to his team. If All-Star voting had any bearing on the MVP race, Yao Ming would always be in the MVP discussion. Yao will be voted in as the starting center for the Western Conference squad this year, and he will accomplish this feat after playing in just 5 games this season for the Houston Rockets.
What makes Brooks’ ranking of D-Will even more bizarre is who he ranked number one. Derrick Rose tops Brooks’ list of MVP candidates. Rose has been playing out of his mind, has inserted himself into the best point guard in the league debate, and has accomplished all of this with Carlos “Vajayjay” Boozer as his second option. I am a giant Rose fan (see who ranks #2 on this list), but Williams, to this point, has the slight edge on who has been more valuable to his team.
Take a look at how these two ballers compare statistically:
Derrick Rose: FG%:.456 FT%:.798 STL:1.1 RPG:4.5 AST:8.1 PTS:24.3 PER: 22.9
Deron Williams: FG%.458 FT%.849 STL:1.1 RPG:3.7 AST:9.3 PTS:21.8 PER: 22.9
These two floor-leaders are putting up nearly identical numbers. How Brooks can rank one of these guys number one, and then place the other at number eight, is more mind boggling than the Seattle Seahawks beating the New Orleans Saints last weekend.
There is also no way Brooks could pick one over the other based on their respective team’s record:
Chicago Bulls: 26-13
Utah Jazz: 27-13
They both play on teams with about the same amount of talent. In fact, Rose is basically playing with the team Williams led to 54 wins last year (Boozer, Korver & Brewer are all former Jazz-men). The only exception being Rose has a deeper bench (anyone ever heard of Brian Scalabrine) and a better starting center (Noah is currently out with an injury) than Williams (Okur has not played a game this season).
I would concede the fact that D-Will has the better coach if Brooks had not ranked Tom Thibodeau (#2) ahead of Jerry Sloan (tied at #5 with Erik Spoelstra. Once again showing every basketball fan the level of respect Sloan has been given throughout his career. Sloan: In the Hall of Fame. Spoelstra: Coaching 3 future Hall of Famers. The disrespect perpetrated throughout the league on behalf of Jerry Sloan has officially become laughable).
So why do I have D-Will ranked ahead of D-Rose (even their nicknames are similar) when everything looks pretty damn equal? D-Will plays in the Western Conference. It is as simple as that. The Western Conference is a much tougher conference to play in than the Eastern Conference. The Eastern Conference has just six teams over .500 (Celtics, Heat, Magic, Hawks, Bulls, Knicks). The Western Conference has eight teams over .500 (Lakers, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Spurs, Mavericks, Jazz, Hornets), and four other teams right on the verge of .500, who no one in the bottom half of the East would want to see in the first round (Grizzlies, Warriors, Suns, Rockets). Once you get past the Eastern Conference’s top six teams; there is no team the eighth seed in the Western Conference would not sweep in a seven game series.
D-Will is not the runaway MVP of the league this year, but if it comes down to a choice between him and D-Rose (my bet is neither wins the award come the end of the season); Williams gets my vote by the slightest of margins.
Fast Don't Lie
2. Derrick Rose: D-Rose ranks right behind Blake Griffin as the player I want to see live more than anyone else this season. The dude can do everything on a basketball court. I don’t know if we have ever seen a point guard throw-down with the ferocity D-Rose displays while dunking a basketball. He beat out Rajon Rondo for a spot on Team USA over the summer (anyone who beats a member of the Celtics in anything will always get major props from Long Ball Larry). In the words of Kobe Bryant, “I can tell when a player truly wants to be better and does what it takes to improve. It was a quality I had when I was growing up. I admire that about him. I could really see it from last year to this year. He’s got a long-range ball now. He can pop behind the pick and shoot the jumper. He can pull up off the dribble and shoot it, and him getting to the rim goes unquestioned. He’s putting the time in the gym, and I certainly respect that.”
Later Phoenix...
3. Amar’e Stoudemire: I have never enjoyed watching Amar’e play basketball until this year. Hell, I have never enjoyed watching the New York Knicks play basketball until this year. Amar’e has single handedly made the Knicks relevant again. He is second in the league in scoring, and fourth in the league in blocks. The best basketball game of the year, so far, happened at the Garden when the Knicks played the Celtics. I am hopeful we will get to see a Knicks-Celtics playoff series this year. I just blew my load thinking about it. Amar’e is my early favorite to win the MVP award at the end of the season (unless everyone bitches out and picks Lebron James), and as long as he continues to play the way he has been playing; I have no problem with Amar’e holding the MVP trophy.
Dirk keeping the ball right where he likes it.
4. Dirk Nowitzki: Everyone knows Dirk is a bitch, but it is hard to dismiss how valuable he is to the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs just got owned by the Spurs, and have won just two games since he went down with injury. I hate Dirk Diggler. The last time he won the MVP award, his team was bounced out of the playoffs by the eighth seeded Warriors (one of the all-time coolest moments in NBA history). Just days after the Mavericks debacle, Dirk accepted the MVP award in an awkward press conference with David Stern (one of the all-time coolest moments in NBA history). It is hard to explain why Dirk is so good at basketball. He looks like a 7-foot child molester who has been released from the pen on work release. The problem is, once he returns from injury, I expect the Mavericks to start wreaking havoc on the league once again.
...
5. Dwayne Wade/Lebron James. Lebron James is not the MVP of the league this season, but I have no problem with him and Wade sharing the award as Co-MVP’s. What these two are doing down in Miami is mind-boggling. If we forget their recent loss to Blake Griffin (second coolest game of the year), this team has been on fire. I have never seen a team turn it on, at will, like the Miami Heat. It is like they are just playing with the opposing team during the first half. Come the third quarter, the Wade-Lebron combo (yes, I have their names in the correct order) takes the game over and destroys the other team’s will to compete. The Heat have been the best team in the league, and as long as these two are healthy, I have no idea how anyone beats them in a seven game series. That last sentence could be the most depressing thing I have ever written in my life. F*#! me.
All the bitches want some Blake Griffin.
Honorable mention: I am not going to allow myself to write about the NBA for the rest of the year, without mentioning Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin is already the best power forward in the league (I don’t even feel like this statement is much of an exaggeration). The Clippers have won eight of their last eleven games, including the aforementioned game against the Heatles. Griffin has turned Clippers games into Must See TV. If Griffin can turn the Clippers into a .500 team (it’s not as crazy as you think), and get his team battling for the eighth seed in the west (this is as crazy as you think); than not only should Griffin win Rookie of the Year, but he should also win the MVP award. Griffin is going to pass Shaq for the most consecutive 20-10 games in NBA history, HIS ROOKIE YEAR!!! Shaq accomplished this feat after playing in the league for nearly a decade. A while ago the Sports Guy went out on a limb when he said Kevin Durant will be considered greater than Lebron James when his career is over. I am not even going out on a limb when I say Blake Griffin will be considered greater than both when all is said and done.
Stay tuned.
You claim Amar’e was “much better” during the 04/05 and 07/08 season with the Phoenix Suns. This is a difficult argument to make, considering the numbers do not indicate Amar’e was “much better” at all. If anything he is playing just as well as he played those two seasons; in some categories (particularly blocks and assists) he is actually doing better (currently second in the league in scoring, with the highest scoring average of his career). I am sure you are referring to his PER those two years (04/05: 26.6 07/08: 27.6 10/11: 23.5), but I am not a fan of looking only at a player’s PER in order to judge the value they bring to their team. More importantly, neither are the people who vote for the MVP of the league (no way I place D-Will, D-Rose, Dirk, or Amar’e on this list if we were strictly talking about who is the best player in the league. There is also no way Shaq and Kobe would only have one MVP award apiece if the award was given strictly to the league’s best player). I am pleased you mentioned the 04/05 season. As you know, this is the year Steve Nash (a teammate of none other than Amar’e Stoudemire) won his first MVP award. If we judged Nash only by his PER that year, he would not even be considered the best player on his own team (Nash PER 04/05: 22.0 Amar’e PER 04/05: 26.6). Yet it was Nash who won the MVP award, and not Amar’e. I do not think Nash was the most valuable player in 04/05, but there is no way I would have picked Amar’e over him. Nash was clearly the leader of the team, changed the culture in Phoenix, and yes, he single handedly made the Suns relevant. In my opinion, this is Amar’e’s best year as a pro, and my only point in putting him on this list was to suggest a case could been made, at the time of this post (a week ago) he was the most valuable player, to his team, in the league (these ranking remain extremely fluid, and we are only half-way through the season. With the Knicks recent struggles, I would not have Amar’e at number three if I were writing the post today). The Knicks did not even make the playoffs last year. This season they are currently the 6th seed; a lock to make the playoffs in the wimpy Eastern Conference (if you think Raymond Felton deserves more credit for this fact, or even stranger, John “Friggin” Starks, than my lengthy response to your post may be more pointless than I originally imagined it would be). How is Paul vs. Rose an interesting discussion, but D-Will vs. Rose is not? An updated (again, this was posted a week ago) comparison: Derrick Rose: FG%:.449 FT%:.813 STL:1.0 RPG:4.0 AST:8.0 PTS:24.7 PER: 23.0 Deron Williams: FG%.460 FT%.855 STL:1.2 RPG:3.7 AST:9.4 PTS:21.7 PER: 23.0 Chicago Bulls: 29-14 Utah Jazz: 27-16 How on earth do you look at those numbers and say to yourself, “Derrick Rose is without a doubt the better player, and unquestionably the more valuable baller of the two”? A week ago, their win loss record was identical, now Rose’s Bulls are ahead of the Jazz by two games. I still contend the Western Conference is a more difficult conference to play in than the Eastern Conference, but if I were making the rankings today; I would probably have Rose ahead of D-Will (again, by the slightest of margins). I was talking to the Watermelon Mamba the other day about my rankings, and expressed regret over not mentioning Chris Paul when discussing Rose and D-Will. While I disagree with your statement “Paul is shitloads better” than D-Will; I do think Paul is every bit as good as Rose and D-Will. I also believe he is not getting enough credit from the media (myself included, although there is no way I could be considered media), for what he is doing in New Orleans. He is definitely playing with a lot less talent than D-Will or Rose, and still has his team 5th in the Western Conference standings (the Jazz are 6th). It was a major error on my part to omit Chris Paul from this discussion. He is having an incredible year (only critique would be his low scoring average compared to D-Will and Rose, but he makes up for it in a lot of other ways. One being he has a grown-man hair cut, unlike D-Will). Chris Paul: FG%.481 FT%.903 STL:2.68 RPG:4.0 AST:9.7 PTS:16.3 PER: 25.6 New Orleans Hornets: 28-16 I do not agree with your assessment of Rajon Rondo. Whenever a player has the privilege of throwing the ball to four (I include Shaq for no reason) future first-ballot hall of famers, said player’s numbers are going to be skewed. The dude loses range outside of 5 feet. The Celtics win the Finals last year if Rondo was any sort of threat to knock down a jumper. The Celtics are a dangerous team, but I can’t even imagine how much more dangerous they would be if they had D-Will, Rose, or Paul instead of Rondo. There is nothing Rondo does better than any of these three ballers. Rajon Rondo: FG%.518 FT%.460 STL:2.42 RPG:4.6 AST:13.1 PTS:10.5 PER: 19.4 Look at his free throw percentage. That is a “Holy Shit” number! How ridiculous is he as a shooter? His field goal percentage is deceiving because he only shoots shots within 5 feet of the basket (Rondo could be the worst shooter in the entire league. Yes, I understand the magnitude of such a statement). His assist numbers are also skewed because of all the off-the ball screens the Celtics set (the shot has already been created before the pass gets there), and, of course, because of the players he is able to throw the ball to (Williams, Rose, and Paul don’t have half the talent Rondo has on the Celtics). If Rajon Rondo were on the Hornets, Bulls, or Jazz, instead of the starting point guard currently on each team's roster; none of these teams would make the playoffs. Name another sports blog that responds to their reader’s comments in such detail! I appreciate the comment, Kamron. In my next MVM (Most Valuable Mother) post I will definitely place my mother at number one. After all, I did come weeping out of her vagina. She not only made me relevant, with my father’s help, she f*cking made me. Your comment reminded me I haven’t called her yet this week. I will have to make sure I do so; right after your mom is finished polishing off my knob. Your homer, -Long Ball Larry
Anyone who has Amar'e on their short-list after he had much better years in Phoenix (04-05 and 07-08) because he "single handedly made the Knicks relevant again" is such an obvious homer that no one should bother listening. Why not put Felton on their, or John friggin Starks? Why not put your mommy on the list, since you love her so much- she's made your family relevant again, after all. Dumb%#$^. Anyway- Deron Williams as MVP, that was pretty &%^*ing funny. Chris Paul is shitloads better than he is, and Paul probably isn't the MVP either. Paul v Rose is an interesting discussion. Paul or Rose v Rondo is interesting only bc Rondo's such a freak. Any of them v Deron Williams is a gimme.
SK- The first thing I want to say is feel free to use the word bitch. Curse words are not only accepted, they are encouraged here on LP. It is never a debate until someone drops the bitch-bomb. The main point of my article was to tell the basketball world how well D-Will has been playing, and explain why it is past time he start getting some of the same respect D-Rose is getting. I can assure you D-Will knows something about playing without an injured Carlos Boozer. The Bulls record against Western Conference teams is great, but so is their record against terrible Eastern Conference teams (teams they get to play more often than the Jazz). It is tough to pick one of these guys over the other. If I re-wrote this article every week, I am confident Rose would be number one as often as D-Will. Both are having incredible season's, and they both deserve to be in the MVP discussion (not just Rose). Thanks for the comment, and next time don't bitch-out when it comes to dropping the bitch-bomb. Peace, bitch.
I feel that what puts Rose above the rest of the contenders for MVP is the fact that Rose has his team head and shoulders above where they were last year, and he did this while missing Boozer for the first part of the season and now Noah for the second part! Rose has CARRIED the Bulls this season so far! Also your point about playing in the East vs the West... the Bulls have THE BEST RECORD of all East Coast teams vs. the West! We have also played AND BEATEN all of the best West Coast teams minus San Antonio who we have only played once... and payback will be a b*tch when the Bulls see them again!!! Holla...