tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75708869203365533462024-10-24T05:33:07.187-05:00Basketball BrawlIf basketball were a bar brawl, we'd be the bartendersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7570886920336553346.post-44435315184826920852011-04-04T17:44:00.005-05:002011-04-04T19:14:50.716-05:00Should Derrick Rose be the MVP? (Part 1 of 3)Since the Chicago Bulls' scintillating post All-Star break run, Derrick Rose has emerged as the frontrunner for MVP. But does he deserve the award?<br />
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Past Winners</span></u></b><br />
Looking at the past 15 winners, voters have generally voted in two kinds of MVPs: the <b>Best Player</b> type and the <b>Great Story</b> type. <br />
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<b>Best Player types: </b>Think of the best two or three teams in the league. Now, who is the best player out of those teams? Vote him for MVP!<br />
<b style="font-style: italic;">Examples: </b><span style="font-style: italic;">LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan</span><br />
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</b><br />
<b>Great Story types:</b><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>Take only the great teams that did much better this season than last season. Now, who is the best player on those teams? He must be the reason they improved, vote him for MVP!<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Examples: </i><i>LeBron James (21-game improvement), </i><i>Kobe Bryant (15 games)</i>, <i>Steve Nash* (33 games), Allen Iverson (7 games), Shaquille O'Neal (lockout-adjusted 16 games)</i><br />
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Now, it's open to speculation which type of MVP is the true "Most Valuable Player" (I'm a fan of the <b>Best Player</b> approach, but that's for another post). Our question is:<br />
<br />
<b>Where is Derrick Rose in this?</b><br />
Is he one or the other, neither, or a rare <u>consensus MVP candidate</u>?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUFITDUEsHsQb3nzqttzYugUBiSjaFoCLnKGj1mFNSWb1L2SKpLRzwDcgTxONr6YerAa6YHlB6v8A76-5Gn0FBPFDvdjNyXoo7qZmhyphenhyphen_kXTBh0cLPkHkUTaOwKOk9tekhL6jWxgWsHIRQ/s1600/e66b405bf76e2839d22fcb1e82f02628-getty-103892940jd025_memphis_griz%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUFITDUEsHsQb3nzqttzYugUBiSjaFoCLnKGj1mFNSWb1L2SKpLRzwDcgTxONr6YerAa6YHlB6v8A76-5Gn0FBPFDvdjNyXoo7qZmhyphenhyphen_kXTBh0cLPkHkUTaOwKOk9tekhL6jWxgWsHIRQ/s640/e66b405bf76e2839d22fcb1e82f02628-getty-103892940jd025_memphis_griz%255B1%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derrick Rose has fan support, but is he really the most valuable player in the league?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Derrick Rose: Best Player or Great Story?</span></u></b><br />
First, the good: The Bulls are a great team, and Derrick Rose is the best player on that team.<br />
- The Bulls are 56-20 overall, first in the East<br />
- The Bulls are on pace for a <u>19-win improvement</u> over last season<br />
- Of the other top-4 seeds, only the Miami Heat have improved more from last season<br />
- Derrick Rose leads the team with 25.1 points and 7.9 assists per game<br />
- He also leads the team in PER (23.7), Win Shares (12.1) and Win Shares per 48 minutes (0.206)<br />
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Great things all around. But compared to the other 7 top-4 seeds...<br />
- Rose is 5th in points and 4th in assists per game<br />
- Rose is 5th in PER, 5th in Win Shares, and 6th in Win Shares per 48 minutes<br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
Basically, if you made a team of the best players on the best 8 teams in the league, <b>Rose would be fighting for the last spot</b>. We have to conclude that, if elected, he would be a <b>Great Story</b> and not a <b>Best Player</b>.<br />
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Or is he...?<br />
<br />
(To be continued)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1