2011-12 RealGM Player of the Year Discussion Thread

[DRK]

1) LeBron:
2) Durant:
3) Wade
4) Westbrook
5) Nash

[AnaheimRoyale]

It's a pretty "meh" top 5 this year. The only 3 I feel strongly about are the top 3, and after that it's wide open... as the playoffs go on I could see Nash dropping out, and maybe even Dwight...

[bastillon]

how the hell is Dwight top5 ? you do remember he missed the postseason because of the injury right ? in terms of winning a championship, Dwight Howard 2012 is a useless player - you need your star to play in the playoffs, doesn't matter why he didn't play. I'd rather have Andrew Bynum 2012 just because he was actually healthy. the same way Bill Walton 78, Duncan 00, KG 09 were all penalized.

I can't see a case for Wade either. he's been horribly inconsistent in the playoffs, had one of the worst playoff games ever for a superstar in game 3 vs Pacers and during the RS Heat were like 11-1 without him. I could see someone making a very strong case for Bosh being more important to the Heat than Wade right now.

Chris Paul - another overrated pick, in the same fashion as Dwight. although he was healthy at least when the postseason started, his injury became unbearable at the end of 1st round. at least he was playing, so that helps - but when you're putting up 13/9 at 37% in the 2nd round, you're not very useful as a star player. you get injured in the postseason, you're off my book.

for 2-5 there are Durant, Kobe, KG, Nash, Dirk, Parker, Westbrook, Harden all competing. in terms of impact, I'd go with:
1.LeBron
2.Durant
3.KG
4.Kobe
5.Dirk

HM: Nash

[HeartBreakKid]

how the hell is Dwight top5 ? you do remember he missed the postseason because of the injury right ? in terms of winning a championship, Dwight Howard 2012 is a useless player - you need your star to play in the playoffs, doesn't matter why he didn't play. I'd rather have Andrew Bynum 2012 just because he was actually healthy. the same way Bill Walton 78, Duncan 00, KG 09 were all penalized.

Uh, I guess? Technically speaking, wasn't Kobe Bryant and Dirk "useless" in winning a championship as well this year? I mean we're talking about who are the best players this year. Dwight played great all regular season, if he was healthy I see no reason why he wouldn't do damage. So I'd rather not pretend that he would not have made an impact, certainly would have been bigger than Kobe and Dirk if he had played.

I can't see a case for Wade either. he's been horribly inconsistent in the playoffs, had one of the worst playoff games ever for a superstar in game 3 vs Pacers and during the RS Heat were like 11-1 without him. I could see someone making a very strong case for Bosh being more important to the Heat than Wade right now.

He's had like 2 bad games maybe, I don't get how you can hate on him in the post season. He's been playing amazing since he's been called out on that bad game. Regular season he contributed a lot, the Heat going 11-1 doesn't mean that Wade isn't important (I don't understand arguments like that), and aside from that we're talking about the player of the year, not MVP.

Chris Paul - another overrated pick, in the same fashion as Dwight. although he was healthy at least when the postseason started, his injury became unbearable at the end of 1st round. at least he was playing, so that helps - but when you're putting up 13/9 at 37% in the 2nd round, you're not very useful as a star player. you get injured in the postseason, you're off my book.

You're not really rating them based on how good they are which seems to be the biggest difference. I guess I "overrated" CP3 by not eliminating all the positives and showing that he's clearly one of the best players, because he hurt his groin. Totally relevant to how good he is at ball this year. The way you talk about some of these players, you would think these guys have missed half the season!

for 2-5 there are Durant, Kobe, KG, Nash, Dirk, Parker, Westbrook, Harden all competing. in terms of impact, I'd go with:
1.LeBron
2.Durant
3.KG
4.Kobe
5.Dirk

HM: Nash

Seems more like who has the most hype rather than who is the best. Also, I don't get why you're so hard on those other players yet you have Dirk on there. You could also nitpick about Dirk's season easily too. Could even do the same for KG and Kobe.

[bastillon]

I couldn't care less if CP3 missed half of RS. but if he's ineffective in the PLAYOFFS, when it MATTERS, yeah, I do have a problem. you gotta understand that postseason isn't just a tie-breaker or that sort of thing. RS is the tiebreaker. when you don't play in the postseason because of the injury - you can't be top5. so CP3, Dwight and Rose were all fine in the RS, but that's just a tiebreaker. first you have to perform at elite level in the playoffs, to have that tiebreaker put in use. they didn't produce in the playoffs, there's no question they can't be in this discussion.

[JingoWolf]

I'd like to vote/contribute.

My current POY is Lebron with Durant behind him.

Depending on how each of them finish this post season "could" determine or change the POY for me but right now Lebron has a significant edge over D35 in my eyes.

how the hell is Dwight top5 ?

How is Kobe in your top 5 after his atrocious regular season and unimpressive post season.
Nice volume numbers he put up and some impressive isolated individual performances but if you look any deeper then that its clear he doesn't have a case to be Top 5 in any category this year.

His questionable decision making, poor efficiency/consistency, misuse of Bynum/Pau and complete ball dominance in some 4th quarters against OKC while failing to produce is something that cant be ignored either.

Top 10... maybe.

[Doctor MJ]

I'll just chime in here...

For me, LeBron has an absolutely huge lead. After him the 3 on my mind are Paul, Durant and Garnett.

Paul, I get the playoff criticisms.
Durant, feels like he has to be up there, but truly I don't know how much more important he is to OKC than Westbrook & Harden at this point.
Garnett, I'm a big believer in but I feel reluctance putting him ahead of Paul & Durant.

The 5th spot is wide open. Nash got my nod there after the RS, but it was by no means something I'm dead set on.

[bastillon]

Doc, how do you feel about Kobe vs Dirk vs Paul vs Durant, particularly in the postseason ?

[Doctor MJ]

Doc, how do you feel about Kobe vs Dirk vs Paul vs Durant, particularly in the postseason ?

Just postseason:

1. Durant
2. Kobe
3. Paul

Dirk, I have a hard time paying much stock in such a short playoff run. It certainly doesn't help his case over the other players, but I don't know if it'd really hurt him either.

As far as the whole season, I still have Durant/Paul ahead of the other two. Kobe vs Dirk open for debate.

[Not Bias]

Lebron
Durant
Dwight
Kobe
Cp3

[postertag]

I'd argue that Tony Parker deserves to be in the top 5. I think he's set himself apart as the best player on the team with the best record in the league, and until the Spurs recent collapse he was well on his way to a Finals MVP (not that it can't still happen). Career best A/TO ratio and 5th in MVP voting too.

1. LeBron
2. Durant
3. CP3
4. Parker
5. Kobe

[colts18]

How can anyone rank CP3 ahead of Durant? At best, they are tied for the regular season. But for the postseason, durant is so much more ahead. CP3 laid a massive egg against Parker (Parker should be ranked ahead of him), while Durant stepped up and played awesome basketball in the postseason including in the clutch.

[bastillon]

CP3, Dwight and Rose have no business being in the top5. they're not even top10 for this year if you include playoffs.

[colts18]

CP3, Dwight and Rose have no business being in the top5. they're not even top10 for this year if you include playoffs.

IF you include playoffs, who are the top 10 for you that doesn't include those guys?

[Doctor MJ]

I'd argue that Tony Parker deserves to be in the top 5. I think he's set himself apart as the best player on the team with the best record in the league, and until the Spurs recent collapse he was well on his way to a Finals MVP (not that it can't still happen).

Well the problem with that analysis is that you haven't actually compared his individual play to any non-Spur. In fact you're essentially saying that because he played with a better supporting cast than other stars you're unwilling to consider more than 4 other players in the league ahead of him.

I understand the thinking as a basis, and I'm sure you'd say you're not as fundamentalist as I make you out to be, but I'd say even using it as a basis is something to be done with care.

[Doctor MJ]

CP3, Dwight and Rose have no business being in the top5. they're not even top10 for this year if you include playoffs.

I dunno. From my perspective on CP3, I just think you're overreacting. This was a guy pretty much everyone saw as Top 3 while leading a team to a probable first round exit, and he leads his team to an upset with him having to move over to lead scorer due to Griffin's falloff. I don't expect anyone to raise Paul based on the performance, but I don't see it like Howard or Rose.

[Doctor MJ]

How can anyone rank CP3 ahead of Durant? At best, they are tied for the regular season.

Well I'll stop you there because there isn't a soul alive who disagrees with your opinion in general who agrees with the last sentence. Obviously any Paul>Durant argument is based on them preferring Paul in the regular season.

[RocketPower23]

KG is rising up fast. He's having one of the best Playoffs of his career.

[An Unbiased Fan]

KG is rising up fast. He's having one of the best Playoffs of his career.

True, but Rondo is still the main engine of the Celtics.

[RocketPower23]

Rondo deserves credit; some people find him overrated, I disagree. Tonight is a good example; the stats say he mostly had a crap game (shooting wise), but he was still key in the victory. He should also get some consideration. Those two are the MVP's of that team.