If basketball were a game he’ll be MVP…
Published by StopMikeLupica March 30th, 2007 in NBA(The Cavalier is on an extended leave of absence. He did not write the
following, although he did agree to sing portions of this post to the beat of Take On Me.)
We seem to have some Mavs fans here in the comments section, don’t we? So who will be this season’s MVP? It’s a two-man race at this point: Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash.
There is a strong argument against Steve Nash that seems to be centered around
the historical context of Nash winning for a third straight year. Tony Mejia
over cbssportsline points out that only Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry
Bird have won three in a row. Kareem, Magic and Jordan were all denied, so why
should Nash qualify? Well, for one, I heard the same argument last season with
regards to Nash winning back-to-back MVPs (”only the truly great players have
done that”); more importantly, what relevance does any of that have on this
season?!? Can we just let this season’s MVP be determined by this season’s
play, okay?
Dirk Nowitzki has played great, and yes, he is the best player on the best team
in the NBA. But Nash is the best player on the second-best team in the NBA;
furthermore, the system and play of the team he’s on is more dependent on Nash
than the Mavs are on Dirk. And when they’ve gone head to head this season, Nash
as stepped up more than Dirk has, and you better believe that’s a huge factor in
the voters mind - Dirk needs more clutch performances to really seal the deal.
This Sunday’s Dallas at Phoenix game (3:30 on ABC) will determine who wins -
another big showing by Nash seals the deal for a third straight season; if Dirk
finally shows he’s the top dog, then you can justify awarding the MVP to
Nowitzki.
Other fun games to watch this weekend: Miami Detroit is the early ABC game on
Sunday, and you bet that will be hyped as a preview of the Eastern Conference
playoffs. SML held high expectations for the Raptors, but Jorge Garbajosa’s
injury is more damaging to the team than you think; it may come down to the Cavs
to present an alternative to the Heat-Pistons recent playoff dominance (and
sadly, we don’t see the Cavs doing that, beyond maybe stretching the Heat to a 7
game series - they just don’t have enough weapons beyond LeBron).
The also-runs in the Eastern Conference in fact play on Saturday afternoon at
3:00, when Cleveland goes against the Bulls.
The best game tonight is Denver at Phoenix. Charles Barkley hit it on the head
yesterday when he said about the Nuggets something along the lines of “they lost
the tough game at Detroit the other night, then instead of getting mad that they
blew it, they just threw up a stinker against the Sonics.” Yeah, that’s never a
good sign, but we believe in both Iverson and Anthony’s will to win; don’t
mistake a regular season loss in a game that’s hard to get pumped to play for
lack of killer instinct. The Nuggets will be a tough out in the playoffs, make
no mistake about it. How they play on the road against an equally motivated
Suns team that got its butt kicked last night will say a lot more about the
Nuggets playoff chances than the Sonic game will.
Alright, we’ll be back around 1:30ish with our special quiz and contest.
14 Responses to “If basketball were a game he'll be MVP...”
- 1 Pingback on May 14th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Dirk will win in a landslide. I love the way Nash plays, but Dirk has been the best player this season in the NBA
Most Valuable Person? Mark Cuban. Had he not let Nash go, neither one would be mentioned as MVPs. The fact that Dirk has had to mature as The Man and Nash found the run and gun offense of Phoenix to his liking has made the careers of both much better. Yeah, I know I mistakenly put this in the other post.
Nash or Dirk? Wow. Imagine if they were on the same team. That team would be uneatable.
Why the hell will this sundays game determine who wins mvp? lets say the suns win… thet gets them to 2-2 vs the mavs this season. So, you are telling me that the mavs earlier season wins dont matter? Not to mention they are 7 games ahead of them in the standings…. yah but it allll matters about this one game on sunday that means MORE for the suns so the spurs dont pass them in the standings, then is means to the mavs who are basically locked into the 1 seed…
screw that… this sunday will be fun and the media and this blog will obviously overhype it… but this game shoulkdnt determine who the mvp is… this ONE GAME… i think the mvpo is determined over 82 games.. and in that case… dirk wins it easy
and tv brain… nash and dirk had to go separate ways so both could find their greatness… if they were ont he same team.. .the mavs would probably be something like the suns today… a team that everyone had to change their pants for cuz they were so exciting… but a team that will NEVER go to the nba finals….
west finals - mavs over spurs in 7
Zack attacked! Chill, man. This Sunday’s game isn’t the only factor in the MVP race, you are correct on that, but it will have a lot of pull on the voters (which was my point). To this point Dirk has been the MVP. You should note that having the best record isn’t as important as having a great record in general - otherwise the MVP would always come from the team with the best record, right? So, yeah, those “7 games ahead” don’t matter that much; the Suns are good enough to lay claim to the MVP of the league.
My opinion is that Nash outplayed Dirk in the last game they played against each other (a big, nationally hyped and televised game), and if he does so again on Sunday, then he’ll be the leading candidate for MVP going down the stretch, not Dirk.
And I’m not telling you that “he Mavs earlier season wins dont matter” - I’m telling you that those games weren’t as hyped (hyped, yes, but hype for games only increases as the season goes on), nor nationally televised, as the last game or this game on Sunday (free TV game).
So yes, this game on Sunday is going to be a huge factor in who wins the MVP, regardless of Dallas’ motivations or interest. Dirk is going to have to step up and win that award on Sunday or Nash might just steal himself a third one in a row. And I’m not yet making my playoff predictions (that’ll come in a few weeks), I’m just letting you know what I think is going to happen in the MVP award race, which is pretty tight right now.
As much as I agree with zack k, on the fact that people are putting too much emphasis on this one game, and maybe people are forgetting about the dagger that Dirk put in my heart with a closing-seconds 18 footer, I still think that this game may determine who wins the MVP, because the MVP voters probably lack the infinite wisdom that me and my uncapitalized counterpart posess.
That being said, I still think that Nash should win, for the same reason that everyone else thinks that he should win: he is more imperative to his teams success than anyone in the league.
Not only does he completely dictate the Suns offence, he can sense when his team needs baskets, nd when they do, he knows to go away from his selfish play and hit a three or a turnaround in the lane.
Aside from all of this he is the teams unquestioned leader off the field as well.
woops! unselfish
woops! offense
ok… i am very defensive with my mavs… i love them… i dont think i get the credit for the obsessiveness/dedication i have to my team…
i think what im more mad about is that the mavs have a 9 game winning streak(again) and of course to get it to 10 is vs the suns… so that will be once again overhyped… if we lose to the suns… 9 out of 10 is GREAT… but no one will talk about those 9 wins… no one will talk about those 60 wins… it’ll just be about those 2 losses to the suns… whule they forget about the mavs 2 wins over the suns and dirks game winner over the cocky marion(idiot)
i just think regardless of sunday… dirk is the mvp… i thought he was the mvp last year… its his time… he deserves it…
There are a handful of pointguards in the league who could take Nash’s spot in an instant. He’s good, but he is playing on a team that is fairly unique right now. His assist numbers are inflated, because no other team has as many possessions or as many finishers. That, in essence, is why a playmaking PG is so vital to the Suns. They have a ton of amazing finishers, but who can make a play? Only Nash.
Not to take too much away from Nash, he is a great player. But there are other great players who could easily fill his role in Phoenix. And if you build a team that is absolutely reliant on your sole playmaker, of course he is going to appear disproportionately valuable. To me, the make up of the Suns as a team has to be accounted for when considering Nash for MVP, and I feel that the Suns are designed to use smoke and mirrors to give the appearance of an MVP where there is none.
Dirk all the way, baby!
PS - The historical context is irrelevant. It always bothers me when people argue that simply because Nash’s numbers are better this year, he automatically should get MVP. What about every other bloody player in the league? What about their numbers? What about their seasons? Logical fallacy that because his numbers are better he should get it. Just like it is irrelevant that he won it twice already. MVP should consider the current season, and any historical factors are completely and totally irrelevant.
Alex - I agree with you; believe me, I’ve made that argument in the past, over at FreeDarko. I’ve said that an number of points could do as well (or close to) what Nash is doing in Phoenix (including Andre Miller, for example). And I’ve said that since the begin of the Nash as MVP reign.
My point in this post was to express that Sunday’s game will, like it or not, have a say in the MVP race, perhaps more than any other game this season. I stand by that. If Nash outplays Dirk (the current leader in the MVP race), I think that will give Nash a lot of votes. Enough to overcome all those arguments (the historical argument, the Nash is a product of his system argument)… that’s what happened last year, too. Those same arguments applied, yet he still found a way to win, because Dirk has failed to win over the necessary support needed to be voted MVP…
As much as I hate that it works that way, I think you are probably right. A game like this, nationally televised, at this point in the season is going to be judged as more important than it really is. If for no other reason than how fresh it will be in voter’s minds.
And of course with the big deal everyone made of Dirk’s choke earlier this month, there is going to be some great commentary during the game to remind everyone of how important the game is. Heh.
Speaking of choking, if Bill Walton is calling tomorrow’s game, I may just choke myself!
“an number of points could do as well (or close to) what Nash is doing in Phoenix (including Andre Miller, for example). ”
ANDRE MILLER?
ANDRE FREAKING MILLER?
Please tell me you watched the game today.
If you honestly think that Andre Miller could make even 1/3 of the plays that Steve made today, you are plain delusional.
I think if you did watch the game today, you would notice that Nash is not just an incredible distributor, he is a great scorer as well.
As I mentioned before, he knows when the Suns need baskets, and he can get them.