The MVP race!
Who deserves it more? Who's going to win? We'll we ever have a set criteria for how the MVP is picked? The answer is the same for all questions--we don't know until it happens.
A possible candidate at one time was LeBron James, but his stock has fallen a bit after not being able to claim the three spot from the Orlando Magic. I'd feel a bit more comfortable picking him for MVP if he was able to steal Dwight Howard's thunder after the All-Star break. But he didn't, and his punishment is to potentially face the best team in the league in the second round, and that's depending on if they can even beat the Wizards in the first. That's a bad place to be if you're trying to be MVP. But as far as pure stats go, Bron Bron definitely gets the individual crown. He's arguably the best player in the league (the argument being between King James and Kobe Bryant), but does little to make his players around him better. That being said, he does make his coach Mike Brown look good from time to time, but in the sense that if LeBron says "screw it" and barrels through four defenders for a power dunk, Brown can say he wrote that play up. On the plus side, LeBron is my pick for MVP next year. We can only assume he'll get better, which means next season is going to be a monster for the big guy.
Recently it seems like everybody, from ESPN talking heads to water cooler chatters, has narrowed the MVP race to two players--Bryant and Chris Paul. Both players have put up awesome numbers, as well as led their teams through a tough conference to the top. Paul's Hornets have to be the most surprising team, if not or the fact that they were nowhere near the top of the conference last year. Wait a minute, neither were Kobe's Lakers. But aren't the Lakers expected to do good every year? And that's why the Hornets are the bigger surprise. However, Paul has an advantage over Kobe because he actually makes his players better. CP3, as a point guard, has that ability to create plays and spread shots across to all players. Would Peja or Tyson have those monster numbers if Paul wasn't there? You can't say the same for Kobe, who has the reputation of being a ball hog, as well as a guy who stays rather detached from his team, both on and off the court. Yet I can't say Paul's the best player in the league. That credit goes to Kobe.
One thing that people talk about in terms of Bryant's MVP candidacy is the fact he got his team to the top seed in the conference under very unfavorable circumstances. For starters, he played the last half of the season without a pinky. JUST ONE PINKY! I don't know what I'd do with one pinky--all I know is there's no way in hell I'd be playing ball. But Li'l Bean knows how to do it. Let's also not forget that Kobe was playing a good chunk of the season with other players on the team injured. First it was Andrew Bynum going down after a great beginning to the season (and hasn't returned from), then it was Pau Gasol who was injured for two weeks, which occurred shortly after his trade to the team. Kobe, for all intents and purposes, is The Man this season and it's hard to vote against him in the MVP ballots.But this is where the other half of The Boozy disagrees. ESPN's Bill Simmons makes a stellar point to give the MVP award to Kevin Garnett, which I, Doozy, have to agree with. Keep in mind I also thought Shaquille O'Neal should have won the MVP his first year with the Heat for the same reason. KG singlehandedly turned a 24-win team into a 66-win team, making basketball relevant in Boston again. There hasn't been this much excitement going into the playoffs for the city of Boston in over 15 years. Shouldn't this account for something? And shouldn't we also include the whole KG phenomenon that swept the league in the beginning of the season thanks in part to that lovely NBA marketing campaign? And we can't forget that the KG trade is the single reason why all the other massive trades started happening, first with Pau Gasol and then with Shaq and Jason Kidd. I could even argue that KG has made this NBA season the most exciting one since the first Bulls championship years. He's that important to the league. How could we not give him the MVP award?
So there you have it; the MVP race in a nutshell. On to the Eastern Conference match-ups.
1. Boston Celtics v. 8. Atlanta Hawks
So we have, in terms of records, the best team in the league against the worst team in the playoffs. Did we mention the Hawks are under .500? C's in four.
2. Detroit Pistons v. 7. Philadelphia 76ers
I'm kinda sorta hoping that the Sixers pull off the upset just so we see some substantial change in the Pistons lineup. We get the impression that this could be Flip Saunder's last year in Detroit if they don't make it past the Eastern Finals again, but I said the same thing last year and the year before that and he's still around. To me, this Pistons team is the equivalent of the Sacramento Kings during the Lakers' most recent championship years--a great team that can't seem to get over that last hurdle before the NBA Finals. However, the Kings never won a title with that Bibby-Webber team, whereas the Billups-Hamilton-Wallace Pistons already won the title in 2004. You have to assume that something has to give after this season, especially if Detroit misses out on the title again for the fourth straight year. But as much as I like the resurgent Sixers, where Andre Iguodala has suddenly become the toast of Philly, this probably won't be their year. But Mo Cheeks has something great on his hands. Pistons in five.
3. Orlando Magic v. 6. Toronto Raptors
Basketball is a game of match-ups, and I don't see anybody on the Raptors matching up to Dwight Howard. And if the Raptors find a way to match up with Howard, it will be at the expense of a mismatch with either Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu. You can't underestimate the impact of Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon on the offensive end, but they'll have trouble when it comes to preventing Superman from getting his bajillion dunks per game. Magic in five.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers v. 5. Washington Wizards
The Boozy is divided on this one, but I'll give you the Doozy side of things. The Wizards, unlike the Cavs, ended the season on a high note with a stellar finish, Caron Butler's coming out party as The Man and the return of Gilbert Arenas as one heckuva sixth man. Yet I can't shake the feeling that this could be Zero's last year on the Wiz and it might show during the series. It will definitely show after the series if the Wiz can't pull the upset on the 2007 Eastern Conference champs. But this is the playoffs and I find it very hard to go against LeBron in the playoffs, especially considering what he did at this time last year and what he did this season. This is a tough one, but I'm going with Bron Bron here. Cavs in seven.
The Western Conference will be more fun to watch. There's a ton of opportunities for upsets, since any one of these match-ups can go either way, including the 1-8 game to a lesser extent. I've never been so unsure about my picks in my life. Here it goes anyway.
1. Los Angeles Lakers v. 8. Denver Nuggets
As a punishment, I think the Nuggets should be swept by the Lakers for ending with a better record than Golden State. How much more exciting would this series be if it was Kobe against the high-flying Warriors? Alas, we are stuck with a Denver team that can't defend and has no way of making it past the first round of the playoffs. As much as I like 'Melo and A.I., and as much as I hate Kobe, it's painfully clear that the Lakers have the better team. Did I mention the Nugs have nobody to stop Pau Gasol? Lakers in five.
2. New Orleans Hornets v. 7. Dallas Mavericks
I know it only pertains to the regular season, but you get the impression that if the Hornets screw this series up then Kobe's the clear-cut winner of the MVP race over CP3. But this will be a battle of the point guards as the white-hot Paul takes on the seasoned Jason Kidd. I can't wait for this one. Again, it's hard to bet money against the Mavs in this series because Dirk knows how to turn it on for the playoffs (last year aside) as well as Kidd. We can't say the same for Paul, as this will be his first postseason test. However, his other teammates on the starting lineup have made it to the playoffs before, but it won't mean much if their point guard chokes in the series. My best prediction is that this series will be entertaining. Mavs in seven.
3. San Antonio Spurs v. 6. Phoenix Suns
Who would've thought, in the beginning of the season, that the best series in the playoffs would be the 2-7 and the 3-6 in the west? Nobody, that's who. This is the dream match-up for the Suns, since the Shaq acquisition was done specifically to counter the Spurs in the playoffs. So why not kill them in the first round before Shaq gets tired going deep into the postseason? This will also be a make-or-break series for Suns GM Steve Kerr. Like he said, if the Suns make it past the Spurs, he'll be seen as a genius. If they don't make it, he'll be a moron. On top of this is the ongoing storyline of the aging Spurs, with people counting them out because so many players on the team are over 30. No doubt Ginobili will be the X-factor in the series for them. If he consistently puts up good numbers, the Spurs will win the series. But I feel that Shaq will play like the Shaq of yesteryear, if for any other reason because he wants to stick it to Kobe in the Western Conference Finals, and that will make all the difference. Suns in seven.4. Utah Jazz v. 5. Houston Rockets
I can't imagine McGrady's Rockets getting past the first round. Can you? Jazz in six.
We'll break down the conference semifinals in our next posting, along with our pick for NBA champion.
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