Your Mid-season Awards

...and Gilbert Arenas used to be a second round pick.

Yes fgrep, Smush = Arenas

Odom is not any worse than he used to be, he's more passive because he's playing with Kobe

Um... wouldn't that make him worse than he used to be.

and either way he was never a scorer. 15-9-6 is not considered bad numbers unless you're playing with Kobe, then you're "virtually garbage".

Numbers aren't everything, surely you realise that.

You need to win to get MVP, don't fool yourselves in thinking a player on a 7th seeded team is going to win MVP.

Right, so does that mean it's just going to go to whatever half decent point guard is playing on the team with the best record at the time? Nash would somewhat deserve it this season, last year he definitely didn't but Billups?

Yes fgrep, Smush = Arenas

Way to disregard the point of that. Where you start is not what matters, fact is Smush was doing some nice things defensively and hitting shots for the Lakers. You were basically saying Smush came from the D-League as to somehow downplay the fact that he's playing good now. Well Arenas and Redd started as 2nd round picks, does that even come into question when we're talking about how good they're now? Who cares where he came from, he's actually playing fairly decent for the team.

Mike James came from the CBA, look what he's doing for the Raptors now. Marquis Daniels went undrafted, and he's playing now.

I know what you were trying to get at, but that's only an excuse is the guy is actually sucking, which he's not. Weren't you one of the people saying he was MIP?

Right, so does that mean it's just going to go to whatever half decent point guard is playing on the team with the best record at the time? Nash would somewhat deserve it this season, last year he definitely didn't but Billups?

If half-decent and Top 5 players at their position can be equated to each other, then sure. MVP is not who can put up the best numbers in the season. KG is as valuable to the Wolves as Kobe is to the Lakers, even more. The Wolves without KG would lose more games than the Lakers without Kobe, we've already seen Ricky Davis with his own team in Cleveland, and then he even had better players than he would on Minny with no KG. MVP is most valuable player, but while it doesn't say it in the award name. It's most valuable player on one of the teams with a lot of wins.

Um... wouldn't that make him worse than he used to be.

He's passive as a scorer, because when you shoot and miss, Kobe gives you the glare of death as if he's a 100% shooter himself. Kobe doesn't want anyone else taking clutch shots on the team because he's the only one allowed to, that's not a positive enviroment in terms of wanting to take shots. This is not saying Odom is a great shooter or clutch scorer, but when put in that situation, and him not being a selfish player in the first place, I'm not sure what you're expecting. When Kobe is injured or even when he was suspended, you could see a difference in how Odom plays.

Numbers aren't everything, surely you realise that.

So then outside of gaudy scoring numbers why would Kobe be the MVP this season? Okay, he's valuable to his team, so is every one man star their's been on a team, that's not something unique, what else?

I think you've managed to misconstrue virtually every point I was making. I guess that's what debating is or something.

I never said Smush sucked, but he's hardly consistant and not the kind of starting point guard you want on a play-off team.

but while it doesn't say it in the award name. It's most valuable player on one of the teams with a lot of wins.

well the teams with alot of wins are generally the teams with the best players, so I don't understand why the best of a good bunch should be getting it by virtue of their own good fortune. It's a media voted award anyway, personally I don't think it's as credible as people may think. PJ Brown.

He's passive as a scorer, because when you shoot and miss, Kobe gives you the glare of death as if he's a 100% shooter himself. Kobe doesn't want anyone else taking clutch shots on the team because he's the only one allowed to, that's not a positive enviroment in terms of wanting to take shots. This is not saying Odom is a great shooter or clutch scorer, but when put in that situation, and him not being a selfish player in the first place, I'm not sure what you're expecting. When Kobe is injured or even when he was suspended, you could see a difference in how Odom plays.

If he's getting that affected by Kobe's "glare of death", he should stop being such a little bitch and grow some balls. It's ridiculous, he's a grown man and a professional basketball player.

So then outside of gaudy scoring numbers why would Kobe be the MVP this season? Okay, he's valuable to his team, so is every one man star their's been on a team, that's not something unique, what else?

You think Kobe's just numbers? It's not like he's Tracy McGrady, putting up big numbers on a team fighting for a lottery pick. Not to mention that his scoring numbers aren't just "gaudy", they're unheard of since Jordan in his younger days. If it was anyone else doing this he'd be getting everyone's backing for MVP. He doesn't just score his points and go home, he single handedly wins games for this team from the opening tip off... which is something Billups or Nash could never do on a team like this.

Either way, I'm not even endorsing him for MVP. I think someone like Brand or Nash should win, their teams aren't jam packed with talent like Detroit or San Antonio and both have had to deal with major players being out injured, but at the same time I don't think Kobe should be discarded as just a scorer on a borderline play-off team.

It's a media voted award anyway, personally I don't think it's as credible as people may think. PJ Brown.

What do you mean by PJ Brown..? Just wondering. my NBA knowledge = negative one.

PJ Brown got an MVP vote last season.

Yes, but a 5th place MVP vote, that hardly takes credibility from it, he might as well have been the MVP on the Hornets, and a 5th place vote means the person voted 4 other guys ahead of him anyways.

You think Kobe's just numbers? It's not like he's Tracy McGrady, putting up big numbers on a team fighting for a lottery pick. Not to mention that his scoring numbers aren't just "gaudy", they're unheard of since Jordan in his younger days.

I don't think Kobe is just numbers, but you're making it seem like he's heads over heels over every other guy that has had his own team. I do agree that he's playing very well.

If it was anyone else doing this he'd be getting everyone's backing for MVP. He doesn't just score his points and go home, he single handedly wins games for this team from the opening tip off... which is something Billups or Nash could never do on a team like this.

..and Kobe isn't? I'm not the voice of the world, their's many other people giving him back for MVP, I'm just telling it how it is. Iverson is putting up insane offensive number himself, arguably better overall, 33.6 PPG and 7.5 APG on good shooting, I don't see his backing for MVP.

Kobe on a team like Phoenix also wouldn't win as much because he wouldn't be able to play in the offense the same way. He wouldn't make Detroit better either. This is not an argument as to who is better between Kobe, Billups and Nash, Kobe is a Top 3 player in the league while those guys are Top 15-20 players in the league. I'm not a fan of the lower tier stars in the league winning MVP, but when the top guys are getting the numbers, but not the wins, it's what will happen.

Either way, I'm not even endorsing him for MVP. I think someone like Brand or Nash should win, their teams aren't jam packed with talent like Detroit or San Antonio and both have had to deal with major players being out injured, but at the same time I don't think Kobe should be discarded as just a scorer on a borderline play-off team.

Who said Kobe should be discarded, an MVP candidate, and the actual MVP are different. I think Kobe is a Top 5 MVP candidate, but I don't think he's the MVP because he hasn't lead his team to enough success.

It's early days, the Lakers are due for a winning run any time soon

All that aside, he only has 5 points against Golden State. This seems very deliberate.

MVP: Dirk Nowitzki
Rookie of the Year: Chris Paul
Coach of the Year: Avey Johnson
Sixth Man of the Year: Jerry Stackhouse
Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Camby
Most Improved Player of the Year: dunno~

Big Mav fan!!

MVP: Billups (best player on best team)
Rookie: Paul
Coach: Flip Saunders
6th Man: Mo Williams
DPOY: Ben Wallace or AK47, definately AK if he stays healthy for the remainder of the season
MIP: Davis West or Diaw

MVP: Steve Nash/Chauncey Billups
Rookie of the Year: Chris Paul
Coach of the Year: Flip Saunders/Mike D'Antoni
Sixth Man of the Year: Eddie House
Defensive Player of the Year: Elton Brand
Most Improved Player of the Year: Boris Diaw

Defensive Player of the Year: Elton Brand

No, Brand is a good defender, but not a DPOY, how about MVP

MVP: Billups (Best @fulfilling his PG duties next to Jason Kidd)
Rookie: Chris Paul (unanimous decision)
Coach: Flip Saunders (coaching leagues most efficient team)
6th Man: Mo Williams
DPOY: Camby/Kirilenko/B Wallace..... this one depends on injuries as usual.
MIP: Bosh!!! he's playing like a superstar.

Marcus Camby has missed 19 games this year... that's almost half his teams games! How can he be the defensive player of the year?

Well, there's still half a season left.

That proves that Kobe is the MVP of the Lakers, but not the MVP of the League.

lol if u prevent ur team from getting a 4-78 record to a 44-38 record, that's a 40 game improvement... if that doesn't get u a mvp.. what does???

And the Rocket's wouldn't have a win without T-Mac.

Like Dex said:

More W's. In most of the teams, if you take the superstar out, they will probably lose. IMO, Kobe won't get the MVP with a record barely above .500.

Sixth Man of the Year: Jamal Crawford

I'm a Knick fan and no way would I vote for JC as a candidate for that award, let alone the winner.

Who are the other candidates? Billups, Nash, LeBron etc... their teams are vastly superior to the Lakers so of course they're going to win. I don't think team records should take as much importance as some people want to put on it.

Take Nash off the Suns and we've seen how good they've done. They're a bottom of the barrell team.

Billups has a great team, and has had an All-star season, but I wouldn't give him MVP either.

LeBron's in the same boat as Kobe to me. Has crappy players around him. An MVP candidate, but won't win it until his team wins more games.

Nash would somewhat deserve it this season, last year he definitely didn't but Billups?

Nash's team went from a bottom feeder draft ready team to the best record in the league. They lost the majority of few games they had without him. How was he not deserving of the MVP?

Take Nash off the Suns and we've seen how good they've done. They're a bottom of the barrell team.

So are the Lakers without Kobe. A Nashless Suns would beat a Kobeless Lakers, but that's besides the point. I've already said I wouldn't pick Kobe for MVP.

Nash's team went from a bottom feeder draft ready team to the best record in the league. They lost the majority of few games they had without him. How was he not deserving of the MVP?

So you don't think Q-Rich's aquisition, Joe Johnson's development, Amare's natural development had anything to do with the teams sucess at all? He was the perfect player for that situation, if anything the Suns GM should've got MVP for bringing him in. I don't think he was the sole reason for them winning so many games though. Of course they lost without him, they built their entire gameplan around Nash's playmaking. If they had another play-making pass first PG instead of Barbosa they wouldn't have lost every game they played without Nash.

This year however I'd happily give it to him.

i don't think any team with a trio of JJ-Marion-Amare are bottom of the barrell.

Actually they didn't lose every game without Nash, the first time he got injured they went 0-3, and second time they were 2-1.

i don't think any team with a trio of JJ-Marion-Amare are bottom of the barrell.

..and you're right, the problem the previous year was that D'Antoni came 21 games in and just a few days aftter Amare got injured and was out. They were actually still able to get it together at 8-13, but he could not implement the same system because he didn't have all his main players, and it's hard for a coach to implement a system 20 games into the season. The players have to buy into it first. 13 games later, Marbury was traded along with Penny, so even more problems. By the time Amare fully came back, a little more than half of the season [about 49 games] was done, and they were not in any position to make the playoffs, so their record was not really indicative of how god a team they were. That year they had a weak starting lineup, and a weak bench. They were in the position of a lot of teams where they just needed a playmaking PG to add to the scorers on the team.

Post All-Star break that year, for 27 games, Amare averaged 24.5 PPG | 10 RPG | 10 FTA/G | 47.5% FG

I also think that Nash is actually playing more like an MVP this season. I don't think last season he did anything that a guy like Mike Bibby couldn't have done. The biggest thing for him last season was that he was the bigger acquisition out of the 2 guys they got, and the team got a lot better.



Also relating to MVP:

Consider this stat: It has been 17 years since an MVP has played on a team that won fewer than 56 games in a nonshortended season. And another: Since the 1980-81 season, only one MVP has played on a team that won fewer than 50 games in a nonshortened season (Moses Malone, in 1982). History suggests one tough stretch for Bryant and the Lakers could take him out of consideration for the award altogether.

And, as usual, the well-worn debate about how you define the MVP will come into play. Should the Lakers stumble even just a little bit in the second half, the question invariably will be asked: "Can a player on a nonplayoff team be the MVP?"

There is precedent. In 1975-76, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award for a Lakers team that went 40-42 and missed the postseason. But players voted for the award back then. The media have been consistent over the years. If you want to win the MVP, your team better be pretty darn good.

Link

If people can't even make an exception for Kobe and his remarkable season then
they should def do the same for Chancey. Why? Because in Kobe's situation it
has been done before but for Billups and his numbers...i don't think so. Chauncey's
team has the best record in the league, Kobe is putting up historical numbers and his
crappy team might make the playoffs too. And are we talking about an individual award
here? Because i think this "winning" thing is getting out of hand here...BIGTIME.


PS. Nash is in the best position right now.

It has been 17 years since an MVP has played on a team that won fewer than 56 games

let's see...that mean we have Billups, Nowitzki, Duncan because they will all be on 56+ teams. Nash will probably lead a 50-53 win team. After that, i don't see any MVP's. Gotta have the W's IMO.

MVP: Chauncey Billups
Rookie of the Year: Chris Paul
Coach of the Year: Flip Saunders
Sixth Man of the Year: Mike Miller
Defensive Player of the Year: Andrei Kirilenko or Ben Wallace
Most Improved Player of the Year: David West

just give all the awards to the lakers organization

MVP's are supposed to make their teammates better, not turn them into virtual garbage

MVP: Billups
Rookie of the Year: Chris Paul
Coach of the Year: Flip Saunders
Sixth Man of the Year: Mike Miller
Defensive Player of the Year: Andrei Kirilenko
Most Improved Player of the Year: David West

close second/no one's mentioned but deserve a mention:
Coach: Byron Scott
6th- Speedy Claxton

i wish Stackhouse didn't miss so many games, he's really helping Mavs now...i think 13.5ppg 2.5 & 2.7.

another sad player.... he used to be on the pistons where he helped them into the playoffs and he was traded for rip hamilton.... and now he has fallen off quite a bit due to age, lack of playing time, and injuries

mostly injuries. He was born in 75 so that makes him 31 now. But the knees a bad, still he's good for 20-30mins a game and instant offense (or a brickfest).