T-Mac for MVP wrote:McGrady scored enough points, grabbed enough rebounds, and got enough assists for his team to win. He's been doing that all throughout this streak. Difference tonite is that they needed less of it from him than previous nights. But one night in which he was not the best player on the team should not discredit him for all the previous games of the streak as some people are suggesting. If he doesn't play all 48 mins the previous game against Charlotte they don't win; if he doesn't play 48 mins and score 41 points against New Orleans a few games ago they don't win, etc. Just because the Rockets were able to win one game tonight without a big performance from McGrady doesn't mean they could have done it on a regular basis. Even Miami gets a win once in a while, but their one win cannot be used to generalize how they are usually.
It's a fair point that one game should not be used to discredit a player. I probably should have given more detail, so here it goes:
The #1 seed in the West is great, but it is by no means a clincher for MVP status. For one, being a game ahead of the Lakers & Hornets, while critical for seeding, does not make the team's performance qualitatively better. Meanwhile Kobe and Paul have played amazing all year. TMac's neither played all year (he's played far less than them) nor played amazing all year. In fact, despite the fact that TMac's team has been the best to this point, the Lakers with Kobe and the Hornets with Paul have played better than the Rockets with McGrady. Then add in that the Rockets
without TMac have done better than either of those other clubs without their respective star.
While the East is weaker, by no means is it reasonable to argue the Rockets have performed better to this point than this year's Celtics or the Pistons of a couple of years ago, and people have thought nothing of voting for someone other than a guy from those teams. People should certainly have similar wariness with the Rockets.
Bottom line: Just because TMac is a superstar, and his team is doing better than other superstars, does not mean that he should be ranked ahead of them.