MVP Watch 2008... Part 3.

[Black Sheep]

last night kg was #1 now kobe is #1 for me

its too close, will be an exciting finish

[CBS7]

Chris Paul deserves it, but I'd still give it to Kobe because Paul has his entire career ahead of him to win one. Or two. Or ten.

[INKtastic]

last night kg was #1 now kobe is #1 for me

its too close, will be an exciting finish

How did Kobe move up after doing almost nothing as his team nearly blew a 25 point lead?

[etopn23]

Chris Paul deserves it, but I'd still give it to Kobe because Paul has his entire career ahead of him to win one. Or two. Or ten.

[Dirk_diggler_41]

Chris Paul deserves it, but I'd still give it to Kobe because Paul has his entire career ahead of him to win one. Or two. Or ten.

You can never predict what will happen in the future.

[tracey_nice]

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How did Kobe move up after doing almost nothing as his team nearly blew a 25 point lead?

How is scoring 29pts 7 asst on 52% shooting doing nothing, also if you watched the game it was after Kobe got his 4th foul when Dallas made their run to comeback. In the 5 min Kobe was off for; the Lakers only scored once out of their 12 possessions.

[Slava]

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How did Kobe move up after doing almost nothing as his team nearly blew a 25 point lead?

someone's been reading the game recap on ESPN.

[og15]

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My bad, I didn't mean Chandler, I meant West. And West IS an all star. So you have a former all star, a current all star, and an automatic double double.

Kobe has a former all star and a potential all star.

Where's the huge discrepancy that people are writing about?

Oh okay, I was going to say, Chandler? Wow, I guess I was the only one that didn't get the memo about him becoming an All-Star caliber player. Anyways, yea, West is an All-Star type player.

Calling Gasol a former All-Star seems to imply that he's some past prime guy who isn't playing at an All-Star level anymore. Gasol is a better player overall than David West, and is an All-Star if he's on a good team in the league. The fact that he didn't make the All-Star team this year does not remove him from being an All-Star caliber player. It's like comparing Brandon Roy to Deron Williams and saying, well Brandon Roy is an All-Star and Deron Williams is not. Or if someone was to say Monta Ellis has less help than Mike Bibby because Mike Bibby has an All-Star in Joe Johnson while Monta has a former All-Star in Baron Davis. Not a valid argument by any means.

Looking at the Lakers, Bynum and Odom could both be considered "automatic double doubles", but of course when Bynum returns and Odom, Gasol and Bynum are in the frontcourt, the Lakers won't have three guys averaging 9+ RPG. Bynum will be the double double guy.

Gasol is better than West
Bynum is better than Chandler
Odom and Peja we can say are the same though I think most woud actually argue Odom is better overall, but team need would determine who helps a team more. Odom of course rebounds, passes and defends better, but Peja is the better scorer and shooter and has been big down the stretch again this year like he used to be (now seeming like a long time ago).
If we want to look at the more "role" player starters, well Derek Fisher is also better than Morris Peterson.

The Lakers according to Kobe have the best bench in the league, and statistically have very good bench production, Top 5 I think was what it was. New Orleans, well, not so much, though they have been doing better lately, they're in the bottom in terms of production from the bench.

If we're comparing these teams being healthy, the players around Kobe are definately better than the ones around Paul in the starting lineup and on the bench. I don't know about a "huge" discrepancy though, but they would not be equal on a pure talent standpoint.

[og15]

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You can never predict what will happen in the future.

I think Shaq lost some MVP votes through the years due to "being an MVP candidate every year". He ended up only winning one, so if Paul is the right choice in someone's mind, I don't want them picking Kobe because Paul "has many more years ahead of him". Kobe isn't that old either, and who knows what happens in the future.

[INKtastic]

No, I didn't even read the reacap, I watched the last 4 minutes - I turned it on when the score was getting close. Kobe let them take him out of the game while they came back. The 3rd time in the last couple of weeks I watched Kobe do little down the stretch of what was a close game. First time of the 3 times they were able to get a win, partly because Dallas made bad decisions once they cut it to 4.

And Kobe had 20 points at halftime, was at 24/7/2 when they went up by 25 with 5:43 left in the 3rd. He scored all of 5 points the rest of the way, had no rebounds and no assists.

Kobe's play during the comeback. 5 points on 2-6 shooting including an airball, 1-2 from the line, 2 fouls, a turnover.

I've seen MVP candidates lead teams back from down 20+ points, it's pretty rare to see them on the wrong end of the near comeback.

[INKtastic]

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How is scoring 29pts 7 asst on 52% shooting doing nothing, also if you watched the game it was after Kobe got his 4th foul when Dallas made their run to comeback. In the 5 min Kobe was off for; the Lakers only scored once out of their 12 possessions.

LeBron had 30/9/6 last night on 50% shooting and I'd say the same thing about his game. He led a little surge to cut it to 5 with 7:31 left, then let the Magic take him out of his game using the same tactic Dallas used on Kobe.

Paul is moving up on my list.

[INKtastic]

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I think Shaq lost some MVP votes through the years due to "being an MVP candidate every year". He ended up only winning one, so if Paul is the right choice in someone's mind, I don't want them picking Kobe because Paul "has many more years ahead of him". Kobe isn't that old either, and who knows what happens in the future.

Shaq lost votes because he had Kobe on his team. It's the same issue KG faces this year with Pierce as a teammate. It's hard to give MVP to a guy who's team can still dominate without him.

[og15]

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Shaq lost votes because he had Kobe on his team. It's the same issue KG faces this year with Pierce as a teammate. It's hard to give MVP to a guy who's team can still dominate without him.

I think there was more than one reason he lost votes, Kobe being on his team was one, him usually missing about 15 games was possibly part of it, and also some having the idea that well he can just win it next year so let's allow this other person to get it was a factor.

[tracey_nice]

No, I didn't even read the reacap, I watched the last 4 minutes - I turned it on when the score was getting close. Kobe let them take him out of the game while they came back. The 3rd time in the last couple of weeks I watched Kobe do little down the stretch of what was a close game. First time of the 3 times they were able to get a win, partly because Dallas made bad decisions once they cut it to 4.

And Kobe had 20 points at halftime, was at 24/7/2 when they went up by 25 with 5:43 left in the 3rd. He scored all of 5 points the rest of the way, had no rebounds and no assists.

Kobe's play during the comeback. 5 points on 2-6 shooting including an airball, 1-2 from the line, 2 fouls, a turnover.

I've seen MVP candidates lead teams back from down 20+ points, it's pretty rare to see them on the wrong end of the near comeback.

If you watched the last 4 min then you saw Dallas double Kobe everytime he touched the ball and Kobe passing out of the double team to where the double team came from. Do you expect him to shoot over the double team?

[shobe_81]

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If you watched the last 4 min then you saw Dallas double Kobe everytime he touched the ball and Kobe passing out of the double team to where the double team came from. Do you expect him to shoot over the double team?

Some people just post to hate on Kobe! Some of them happen to be LBJ fans, what u gonna do? Let them hate man!

[The MVPlaya]

I thought Kobe could have been more aggressive out of the double team. It wasn't until the real last possession for the Lakers (not counting the intentional fouls) where he actually dribbled out of it and looked to create something. He was pretty much just getting the ball and passing right away. I think if he was looking to be aggressive the whole time while the doubles were coming his teammates could have got much easier looks in the closing minutes where they got a couple bad shots or turnovers instead. Not sure if that had anything to do with his hip that popped (I forgot at what point that happend). So I see LJ4MVP's point there. I also give credit to Howard and Kidd who did a solid job denying him the ball, both good defenders.

But he still played a very good overall game IMO, didn't try to force much, created for his teammates early and was efficient while doing so. I think Kobe deserves MAJOR PROPS for going into a teams building where they were 29-4 entering the game, and leading his team to victory while being shorthanded, with the help of his teammates who made some good plays down the stretch.

[INKtastic]

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Some people just post to hate on Kobe! Some of them happen to be LBJ fans, what u gonna do? Let them hate man!

did you see my followup post - I had the same criticism of LeBron last night. In both cases, the player let the other team take the ball out of his hands with aggressive double teams. The first couple of times they do that, you try to make them pay with passes. But when your teammates aren't responding and the other team keeps doing it, you have to become more aggressive if you are an MVP caliber player.

[SA37]

Chris Paul deserves it, but I'd still give it to Kobe because Paul has his entire career ahead of him to win one. Or two. Or ten.

What kind of awful logic is that?

While Kobe is a contender for MVP based on his play this year, I am quite disturbed by what seems to be a profound opinion both with fans and media, where Bryant is considered the front-runner for the MVP simply because he doesn't have one and has been considered the best player in the league for the last 4-5 years.

I think that has got to be some of the most absurd "logic." The award is based on a player's current season, not his overall play from his career or anything else.

[INKtastic]

^^ I agree completely with that. Potential to win in the future or lack of wins in the past should be completely irrelevant.

[RobertGlory]

i wonder how much kg made a statement tonight

the celtics have been off the radar a bit compared to their record, but on national TV they dominated the rockets to end their winning streak, and garnett was a big part.

he also took the chance to end the streak away from cp3, which could have been a big deal