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Rajon Rondo
11.5PPG 9.3APG 2.6SPG 53.2FG%

Ray Allen
15.6PPG 3APG 3RPG 46.2FG%

Paul Pierce
18.1PPG 4.6RPG 3.8APG 48.8FG% 42.9 3PT%

Kevin Garnett
15.5PPG 7.3RPG 0.7BPG 56FG%

Kendrick Perkins
12PPG 7.7RPG 1.9BPG 65.4FG%


Now I raise this thread because I so surprised to see an ESPN poll asking who has been the Celtic's MVP thus far, with the results as follows:

Ray Allen: 10%
Kevin Garnett: 37%
Paul Pierce: 12%
Rajon Rondo: 41%

Paul Pierce is 3rd??? What ..........!?

It's either Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo. I would give the nod to Paul Pierce because he is so damn consistent.

Thoughts .....

Al-Haqq wrote:Rajon Rondo
11.5PPG 9.3APG 2.6SPG 53.2FG%

Ray Allen
15.6PPG 3APG 3RPG 46.2FG%

Paul Pierce
18.1PPG 4.6RPG 3.8APG 48.8FG% 42.9 3PT%

Kevin Garnett
15.5PPG 7.3RPG 0.7BPG 56FG%

Kendrick Perkins
12PPG 7.7RPG 1.9BPG 65.4FG%









Now I raise this thread because I so surprised to see an ESPN poll asking who has been the Celtic's MVP thus far, with the results as follows:

Ray Allen: 10%
Kevin Garnett: 37%
Paul Pierce: 12%
Rajon Rondo: 41%

Paul Pierce is 3rd??? What ..........!?

It's either Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo. I would give the nod to Paul Pierce because he is so damn consistent.

Thoughts .....

The team would probably give it to Rondo, due to the position is so demanding.

[quote="Al-Haqq"]Rajon Rondo
11.5PPG 9.3APG 2.6SPG 53.2FG%

Ray Allen
15.6PPG 3APG 3RPG 46.2FG%

Paul Pierce
18.1PPG 4.6RPG 3.8APG 48.8FG% 42.9 3PT%

Kevin Garnett
15.5PPG 7.3RPG 0.7BPG 56FG%

Kendrick Perkins
12PPG 7.7RPG 1.9BPG 65.4FG%

Comment by Exculpatory:

1) ESPN polls are absurd. These are casual fans who do not know ****
in general, and certainly do not watch just about every Celtic game as many of us do. It is analogous to McGrady getting serious
votes for the All Star game even though he hasn't played a game. A ridiculous popularity contest for people with a bball IQ less than 0.

2) Cs are 18-4 after 22 games. Until about 6 games ago, for about the first 16 games, the MVP was the TRUTH, hands down! Even after the last 6 games during which he has played a solid contributory role in 3 of them, and was "off" in 3 of them, as seen in the stats above, he is still shooting career highs in overall FG% (49%) and from 3 (43%). His D has been excellent overall, rebounding a little off, and assists solid. Overall, through the first 16 games, he gave the team exactly was needed, i.e. a few 30+ games, a few isolated explosive quarters, some solid 17-25 point games etc. Read Doc's comments from about 2 weeks ago in the Globe or the Herald - not only did he consider Paul the Team's MVP to date, he considered Paul the League's MVP even though he was only averaging around 20 ppg at the time.
2) For the last 6 games, the MVP is RR vs. KG - who have both been spectacular.

Overall then, the objective answer has to be the Truth because he has carried us for 2-3x longer than the Rajon Garnett combo has carried us more recently.

Paul has ALWAYS been underrated and underappreciated in general, and indeed by some of our Celtic fans on this board. I fully expect to see RR and KG get a whole bunch of votes for that reason, and because their excellence has been more recent.

I am admittedly and proudly a huge Pierce advocate, but the objective analysis presented above is what
it is!

Bottom-line: It really doesn't matter. If RR and KG continue to play like they have lately, and Paul returns to the All Pro level of play he displayed for the first 16 games (which he certainly will), this team will become a JUGGERNAUGHT!!!!!

Ex

I think the "hierarchy" still remains the same as its been since the championship-level team has been put together. Rondo is much better today than the 2007 team, IMO, and he is taking more leadership than ever, so that is obviously noticeable. He provides the buzz word "intangibles" creating turnovers, grabbing rebounds, and making some great passes offensively. He's also so fast and flashy he's just aesthetically appealing to the eye and gaining alot of popularity around the league for it. Still, in the clutch, #34 is still the man on this team. He's still the guy they should be giving the ball to in the 4th. KG is still the best all around player on both ends of the floor, the best defender on the team, and the (another buzz word) emotional leader of the team, IMO. And Ray is still someone that keeps defenses honest and can still stick in the clutch shots. So depending on what you're looking for overall, there are many ways you can describe your team MVP. Based on what I've seen so far, I'd vote for Garnett. I still believe the C's would have been in the finals and given LA hell had he been there even at 75%.

There is no MVP on the Celtics. They are a TEAM. The basketball and soccer teams I coach I refuse to give out "MVP" awards because I feel like it singles out someone's contribution over the rest of the team. And while all players are not at the same playing level, all contribute and are an important part of a group trying to achieve the same goal. That is why I hate MVPs, all-star games, etc...Give me the title and everyone else can have their ego-stroking awards. UBUNTU

lol, you're not wrong can

MIP (Most Indespensable Player) is Rondo. Perk's been most consistent, and the Big Three are still excellent.

BadMuthaCeltic wrote:I think the "hierarchy" still remains the same as its been since the championship-level team has been put together. Rondo is much better today than the 2007 team, IMO, and he is taking more leadership than ever, so that is obviously noticeable. He provides the buzz word "intangibles" creating turnovers, grabbing rebounds, and making some great passes offensively. He's also so fast and flashy he's just aesthetically appealing to the eye and gaining alot of popularity around the league for it. Still, in the clutch, #34 is still the man on this team. He's still the guy they should be giving the ball to in the 4th. KG is still the best all around player on both ends of the floor, the best defender on the team, and the (another buzz word) emotional leader of the team, IMO. And Ray is still someone that keeps defenses honest and can still stick in the clutch shots. So depending on what you're looking for overall, there are many ways you can describe your team MVP. Based on what I've seen so far, I'd vote for Garnett. I still believe the C's would have been in the finals and given LA hell had he been there even at 75%.

And if KG had been there but Rondo hadn't, where would the team have been?

As KG said, as Rondo goes, so goes Celtics Nation.

I can only go by what was there... we were in a situation without Garnett, not Rondo. I do feel KG is the best all around player, so not having him I suppose "hurts" more, but they need everyone on the roster to go all the way.

Kids Are Alright wrote:As KG said, as Rondo goes, so goes Celtics Nation.

This basically. Rondo's not our best player, KG or Pierce is at this point, but we're a much worse team when he's not in the game.

Paul Pierce...

The team would suffer without any of our top players - FWIW I still think we would suffer the most without Garnett. He might not be the best player out there but he is impossible to replace with our roster..

I think Pierce is having the best and most consistent season on the team. He still can't hit clutch free throws, but other than that he's been great. KG is coming on strong, though, and is obviously the most important player on the team if we hope to win the championship.

GuyClinch wrote:The team would suffer without any of our top players - FWIW I still think we would suffer the most without Garnett. He might not be the best player out there but he is impossible to replace with our roster..

We still have Sheed behind him though who could step it up in his absence and we proved last year we should have beat the eventual east champs without KG. In terms of most irreplaceable, it's Rondo or Pierce for me, and I think it'd hurt worse to lose the person that's been running our entire offense.

This team is so balanced its really hard to single any individual out anyway, and as noted above it predicates itself upon the idealism that the team is as a whole component is much more noteworthy than any single individual.
With that said i believe that the mvp of our team this year is the defense, As long as we continue to play dominant on that side of the ball i could care less whos putting the ball in the basket as long as the ws continue, with all that said id vote KG but im biased. lol

We still have Sheed behind him though who could step it up in his absence and we proved last year we should have beat the eventual east champs without KG. In terms of most irreplaceable, it's Rondo or Pierce for me, and I think it'd hurt worse to lose the person that's been running our entire offense.

While I like Sheed - I don't think at this point he comes close to replacing KG. Maybe 5 years ago he does..Also almost beating a team that got bitch slapped by the Lakers isn't really saying much. The east sucked outside of the C's..so the drop off was still pretty huge.

It is hard to tell because of the difference between doesn't do and can't do ...on our team this line is blurry.

For instance, our offense now is reliant upon Rondo setting the table. The way the offense is run, Rondo sets up everything and pretty much everyone else is finishing. So if he went down and the team tried to run the same offense with Eddie House replacing him they'd be sunk. But, just because the other Celtics don't take a more active part in running the offense doesn't mean that they can't...on the contrary, with this same starting crew we know specifically that they were able to win a title with Rondo playing a much lesser role as Pierce and KG both took larger parts in running the offense.

Similarly, before Rondo it was Pierce that often had the offense run through him more often than anyone else...but again, history tells us that both KG and Allen had played similar roles for their previous teams and they had done it at high levels. So just like in the Rondo example, I have to figure that if Pierce would have gone down then KG and Allen (and now Rondo) would take on more of his offensive responsibilities and acquitted themselves well.

In other words, the Celtics have a lot of overlapping talents on offense and they choose to run the team a certain way, but in case of injury I think the offense could be reconfigured to not have a precipitous drop-off.

Where they have historically had the least redundancy has been on defense, specifically their reliance upon KG. Sheed is a better fill-in than Baby was on the defensive unit, and KG himself still isn't all the way back on defense so it's hard to tell. But it seems to me that Sheed does great on defense on the 2nd unit, but struggles a bit against aggressive scorers on the first unit.

I'm rambling, though. I still think KG is the most indispensable player on the team because of the idea that your best player often sets the ceiling for how high the team can aspire, but with all of the overlapping talents and responsibilities on the team everyone plays a vital part. Hopefully we don't have to find out this season what it's like to be without one of the main guys, and if everyone stays healthy this can just remain a conversation-starting question with no real answer.

Good reasoning, drza. I voted KG as well, because his impact on D is not replaceable and he would be able to carry a bigger load in the offense, if one of the other three stars would be injured.

rajon rondo