Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Breaking Down the NBA MVP Race
For most of the season, talk of the NBA MVP award has centered around Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns. The talk wasn't exactly unwarranted, even if incorrect, as Nash was the featured signing for Phoenix during the offseason.
Still, should Nash walk away with the hardware? The turnaround in Phoenix in amazing. From a team well below .500 to the best team in the West. How can you argue with that? By breaking it down a little further.
Nash is not the MVP because you don't put any four players on that team and find the same results. You put Nash on a team that already has quality and you let them roam. There are three other players out there that are having MVP-caliber seasons, three guys that make the difference for their team and simply can not be replaced.
It would be wrong, however, to not start this column off by mentioning what Nash has done for that Suns team.
Twenty-nine wins to 62 wins. It's a huge jump for the team and Steve Nash was the biggest acquisition during the offseason. MVP, though? Not so fast.
Amare Stoudemire has stepped up his game, but that was expected. He went from 13 points a game in his first season to 20 and now to 26. Stoudemire is quickly becoming one of the best young players in the NBA. Shawn Marion's scoring is where it was in previous seasons, but he has stepped up his rebounding a bit, which is more a product of their tempo than their point guard. Quentin Richardson wasn't with the Suns last season and is producing as expected. Joe Johnson became the player he is now when they made him a 40 minutes per game guy last season, not this season with Nash onboard.
Someone tell me where Steve Nash became the MVP in all of this?
What the Suns needed to bring in was a point guard who wouldn't didn't also feel the need to carry the team. Or want to carry the team. It was obvious that Stephon Marbury was not a proper fit in Phoenix. Getting rid of Marbury, who was out of place with the Suns and failed to recognize the talent around him, was the most valuable move that the Suns could make. After that it was simply a matter of finding the guy that could best utilize the talent around him.
That person is Nash, which doesn't instantly make him the MVP. Nash is in a great situation to succeed because of the type of game that he plays. Nash is not the MVP of the league, but that isn't a knock on him.
Plus, he doesn't play a whole lot of good defense and there's a pretty good chance that this comes back to haunt him and the Suns during the playoffs. Making Nash the MVP is jumping the gun.
With Nash, how does an MVP candidate's former team do better without him?
If you want to talk about players from the Western Conference who should be considered for the MVP award, toss Dirk Nowitzki's name around.
This year, he stepped up his scoring and the team didn't miss a beat after losing Nash. For a healthy chunk of the season, the team was unsettled at the point guard position, but still managed to win 58 games. Which was an improvement from last season and just about where they were at two seasons ago.
However, the two main MVP candidates are in the Eastern Conference. One comes from a team that is going to make a playoff run and one that will likely be done in the first round.
Starting with the guy who will be done in the first round, you look to Philadelphia and their point guard, Allen Iverson. Iverson, however, isn't your typical MVP candidate in that the Sixers finished seventh in the Conference and shouldn't make a playoff run.
Still, Philadelphia won 10 more games than last season and much of that has to do with the improved play of Iverson. Iverson is having his best season ever as a pro and is doing things this season that many of his critics thought he would never do. This isn't talk about Iverson's numbers. Yes, the points are there. Yes, the assists are there now. But, more importantly, Iverson makes his teammates better.
That is something that couldn't always be said about Iverson. When he first came into the league, it was the obvious knock on Iverson. Now it's hard to make that argument. Iverson sets the tempo for the rest of his team.
Where you really notice Iverson's impact is when he is not on the court. That sounds strange, doesn't it? Well, it's not. In the past, Sixers teams have looked lost without Iverson on the court. Now they play with a different intensity and a definite confidence. Iverson has put more trust in his teammates this season than ever before and that is the best change that he has made.
But, can you hand Iverson the hardware with Shaquille O'Neal out there? The Heat went from 42 to 59 in the win column and more importantly, made the jump from a playoff team to a team that now has a legitimate chance to win the NBA championship.
We all know what Shaq's old team is doing during the NBA playoffs ... excuse me, we know what they are not doing during the playoffs.
The Lakers sit at home while O'Neal moves on. Sure, Dwayne Wade has been a large part of the 59 wins, but Wade without Shaq would not be the same playoff threat.
And, in the end, that's what it's all about. Shaq is the MVP because without him, no one takes the Heat seriously. They could win a first-round playoff series, maybe a second, but not much else. The difference that O'Neal makes for his team is not matched by anyone else in the league.
Does O'Neal need Wade to win the NBA title? Sure, but without O'Neal, Wade isn't going to get there.