"MVP(ierce)"

[campybatman]

I don't believe this article was posted, but I know the topic has been discussed before.

I just thought it was a good read and contained persuasive arguments for the writer's point. I agree that Pierce should get some mention in the media for when discussing the success of the Celtics this season more than he does.

I think it's interesting that Paul and Kevin are required do a post game press conference after each game and it's minus Ray Allen. I thought I'd read somewhere online where Garnett would refuse to do a press conference unless his teammates, Pierce and (Ray) Allen, are present as well. Perhaps, Garnett still feels this was, if true, but NBA rules possibly prohibit more than two players at a time.

The team should come before statistics but to be a MVP candidate your individual numbers have to be quite impressive. I think Garnett would get the vote if picking among he and Pierce by the national media due to his impact on the team's defense this season and with providing an emotional lift that continues to keep everyone on the same page. Well, Kevin and Tom Thibodeau deserve equal praise. Personally, I'll give the nod to Garnett for that same reason. His passion and energy is invaluable. Still, unlike the national media, I could add Pierce's name among possible candidates for his impact on victories this season and in helping his teammates improve with his unselfish play this season. I think of Pierce as an all-around player, a capable scorer and defender. I've held onto this opinion for most of his NBA career. He has raised his level of play this season. So, now national pundits have taken noticed when he's been important to the Celtics franchise for a while. I mean he isn't just now playing defense. He has more energy from being able to defer some of his scoring to teammates he can be more confident in. When you expend so much of your energy carrying a franchise on offense. You're apt to tire on defense, if you aren't already tired from the constant double teams you draw on offense. Further, I believe Paul has always been a capable defender. But, he just didn't always focus on that aspect of his game. And it doesn't mean that he couldn't...

Throughout the year the MVP talks have focused around LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul. I

[TheCelticTruth]

maybe its because im young enough that i was alive but dont remember '86, though bill russell and bob cousy are close, but paul pierce is my favorite celtic of all time. not the best (hes up there), maybe not the mvp, but i love the guy.

[Rocky5000]

Paul got some MVP chants of his own tonight, for what it's worth. In my mind Paul is the MVP of the team, but I don't really have much of an argument against KG if you know what I mean. They're both great players who are both incredibly valuable to the team. We got to see the team without Ray and we got to see the team without KG, and they were still pretty dominant. For some reason, I don't think the team would have done as well without PP.

[celticfan42487]

Garnett-MVP of defense

Pierce- MVP of consistent offense

Ray- MVP of clutch

[Rondo_Fan]

I'd go with KG, but I don't think it's ridiculous to make a case for Pierce. I think the key difference is that Garnett has more of an ability to affect an entire team with his leadership abilities, especially on the defensive end. That is no small thing.

The thing about young fans is that you get attached to a single player whose career you've had a chance to follow. I know a guy who grew up during the Don Mattingly era for the Yankees and as far as this guy is concerned, Don Mattingly is the greatest Yankee ever.

I've followed Pierce's whole career, but I'm old enough to remember Dave Cowens and John Havlicek, not to mention Larry Bird and all of the others. So for most of Pierce's career, I've been like, "Yeah, but..." But not this year. He definitely gets it now, and it's not 100% about having better players around him (although that definitely helps!). His attitude on the court now is selfless, and that's what it takes to win a championship. A couple of years ago I thought, "Well, maybe Pierce and Walker can somehow steal a championship." Now I think, "Pierce deserves a championship."

[RapidRondo]

Paul got some MVP chants of his own tonight, for what it's worth. In my mind Paul is the MVP of the team, but I don't really have much of an argument against KG if you know what I mean. They're both great players who are both incredibly valuable to the team. We got to see the team without Ray and we got to see the team without KG, and they were still pretty dominant. For some reason, I don't think the team would have done as well without PP.

I think the crowd should just chant MVP for every Celtic player that steps to the line to take a free throw...That would be really great as to reinforce the idea of team...

[ironman]

Pierce is a great player but Pierce doesn't effect the game when he is not in there. what i mean is that Garnett effects everybody by staying in the game even if we are killing a team. he plays every minute like its his last. when he is on the bench he becomes a another coach. i am not saying Pierce is not always in the game but i am saying Garnett is a player slash coach and that is hard to find in a player these days. Garnett should be MVP.

[campybatman]

This season reminds me of when in the MLB you'd Junior and A-Rod on the same team in Seattle and pundits would say they could cancel one another out for MVP votes. Clearly, one player is better overall than the other but since you can make the case that both players, Pierce and Garnett, are valid choices to have as a candidate.

For me, it's Garnett... But, again, it would be nice to hear people in the national media give Paul his due in the same manner that Kevin feels more than welcome to acknowledge of him. Then to, Kevin doesn't want to stir the pot with the Celtics being Pierce's team and not his or Ray's. Kevin was good from day one at not stepping on Paul's feet or disrespecting him in anyway. That is to say, Garnett gave the local media no ammunition to misconstrue anything by his actions or words nor drum up any controversy over team leadership or what have you. Both Paul and Kevin like to talk to the media, so Pierce wouldn't take a backseat to Garnett's tendency to be very vocal. Why would he...? He's the team's only captain.

They're a good balance of different personalities off the court and as a forward tandem on the court. If neither player wins it. The Celtics should acknowledge all three: Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen as their team tri-MVP.

[Datruth345]

pierce and kg got mvp chants tonight

Chris Paul got "Chris Paul sucks" and "o-ver-rated" chants

[Rocky5000]

What about Ray? Does anyone feel like Ray could give this team a lot more than we've seen so far. He's really still one of the best guys in the league, as he showed in the allstar game, but he seems to get lost in the shuffle a bit on our roster. I don't know if it's because he's become too self-less, or if Paul and Kevin are more efficient options. I think we could get Ray a few more shots per game and improve our balance even more. Of course then, the other two guys may have stats that are even less impressive. Sometimes when Ray is out on the court he'll show why he's an all-star, but other times when he's playing with the starters he'll almost be forgotten on the offensive end. His defense this year has been the most impressive aspect of his game, IMO. Coming into this year, I thought Ray Allen was a bad defensive player, and that was pretty much the league consensus. He was a phenomenal scorer, but you lost a little bit on defense. This year that hasn't been the case, he's been absolutely shutting down the opposing player. He holds his opposition to a per of 12.5(considerably above average), and is the #4 SG in the league in per differential, behind only Roy, Manu, and Kobe. (Btw Pierce is second only to Lebron for SF in per differential, and is first defensively)

[TheCelticTruth]

for me the pp-kg difference is that pierce is the kind of guy players love to play with, kg is the kind of guy players play for. thats whats been so great about pp's year is that he is fitting himself into the rest of the team and taking what comes or stepping up when need be. the very nature of kevin garnett reconfigures the team. i think kg is the more talented player so i feel like the dynamic is similar to if the jordan-pippen combo had been the other way. that wasnt very well stated, but its like kg does this passively and pp actively. neither of those statements were eloquent, but im having a hard time thinking of the right words to describe it and i think those sentiments together illustrate it as well as i can right now.

as for ray, hes been no less instrumental, but i feel its been an unnatural experience for him. funny that we played against a guy like peja tonight, because ray has never been a.) just a shooter or b.) that kind of shooter. i feel like ray doesnt shoot as well now as he will because hes not used to being such a complimentary piece, whereas thats what has made peja's career. if possible, ray will probably be better next year. its interesting to note that while we havent had any problems in terms of dynamics fitting the formerly team dominant games of PP/KG/RA together, we have seen pierce and allen struggle with how to do so efficiently at times, more so ray than paul.

[campybatman]

Coming into this year, I thought Ray Allen was a bad defensive player, and that was pretty much the league consensus. He was a phenomenal scorer, but you lost a little bit on defense. This year that hasn't been the case, he's been absolutely shutting down the opposing player. He holds his opposition to a per of 12.5(considerably above average), and is the #4 SG in the league in per differential, behind only Roy, Manu, and Kobe.

That's a credit to Ray Allen's commitment to buy into playing defense. However, most of the credit belongs to one Tom Thibodeau this season.

Cassell likely would've even became an improved defender somewhat had he began the season in Boston. Thibodeau reads like he's that good if you can listen and execute as a player for him.

Thibodeau is Celtics' minister of defense

Van Gundy, who knows Thibodeau as well as anyone, called the Boston move "a great change for Tom. I think when you work for someone so long, as Tom did for me, it works a lot better for the head coach. I'm not so sure how well it works for the assistant. But he has a talent for player development, and by that I mean development on the court, off the court, film, friendship, those types of things. The work he did with Yao Ming was the epitome of player development."

There's no Yao in Boston, but there is a collection of veterans, some of them All-Stars, all of them intent on reversing the Celtics' recent pathetic ways. Rivers knew Thibodeau's message would get through to the likes of Kevin Garnett, James Posey, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce because (a) they knew what Thibodeau was saying, and (b) they believed in what Thibodeau was saying.

"We got a group of guys who are trying to win and a group of veterans who understand the sense of urgency," Rivers said. "Where last year it would have been pulling teeth, frustration. I lived it, so I know it. "Veterans listen," Rivers went on. "And the talent here is better. And that's all Tom wants to do, every day - coach defense. He lives it, breathes it. He has an energy. We haven't changed a lot of our coverages, but we have more detail to them. Tom pays a greater attention to detail. And it was needed."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... f_defense/

[tlee324]

I've said before that you could make a case for all three, but I'd have no problem if Pierce were getting national attention for MVP votes. To me, he's been playing as well as he always has, but now has a team around him that he can win with.

[humblebum]

I think that Pierce should definitely be in the discussion for MVP. On the court Pierce has truly exemplified leadership in that he does anything and everything the team needs on a given night. The assists, the rebounds, the tough defense, the charges, attacking the rim, and being lethal from the perimeter. Offensively I truly believe that he's playing with the most confidence he's played with since the Eastern Conference Finals run. IMO, the guy is a mix of a Lebron, a Kobe, a TayShaun Prince... He's absolutely a tremendous basketball player. I'm glad he's getting the chance to perform on this level at this point in his career. He's easily one of the great Celtics of all time.

[TheCelticTruth]

pierce is playing better than ever before. hes playing the kind of all around game he played early in his career, but at the star level his abilities have grown to.

if you recall, his rookie and sophomore years he would score, play tight d, pass, rebound, everything, but as his scoring abilities improved our team became more reliant on that til we got to the point where it was basically PP or walker scoring on every possession and then walker was gone and it was more on pierce's shoulders. now he is back to his complete game, but at a higher skill level than before. maybe not at the same numbers because our role players all pull their weight, and we dont need the stars to automatically step it up because we can have leon step up one night, house the next, rondo another, davis, posey etc.

pierce has never had that on this team, and its had a huge impact on his ability to go out and excel all around as a basketball player, not exclusively as an offensive crutch.

[celtics543]

I was reading the Daily Dime over on ESPN, and they were listing MVP contenders, and Pierce was listed as "in the discussion" for 5th place. They went with Ginobili as 5th, but said that Pierce, Mcgrady, Dwight Howard, Nash, and Nowitzki were also in the discussion.

It was great to see Pierce finally get that kind of credit, as we've always known he was a top ten player in the league, but he's just now finally getting the national attention.

[campybatman]

I disagree with Nowitzki that the league MVP should go to Bryant. The MVP should be the most valuable player in the league (or versus the league) and not just for that team the player plays on. That is to say, is Bryant the MVP on the Lakers? Of course, they'll swim or sink with him. Is he the MVP for the league this season? It's debatable but I say no. I mean the pundits of the national media (and Jon Barry) are too focus on how dominant of a scorer Kobe is that they're losing sight of the dominance that Boston has been through most of the season. Bryant always scores a lot of points and continues to be an overrated defender. That's nothing new. I was surprised to know that Bryant has never won the league MVP and I ask myself am I really that surprised.

Nash is a two-time MVP winner for having such an impact on the Suns that he literally makes them go. So, Garnett hasn't had an alike impact on the Celtics this season? Give the award to a player in Boston. Enough said.

The winner is usually a player on the team with the most wins or second to most wins, right? One of the reasons I feel it's Garnett ahead of Pierce for being a MVP candidate is the statistics. But, sometimes the numbers have to go out the window and you could make your judgment on what you've been seeing all season long. What I see is Pierce on a mission.

Vote Pierce. Vote Garnett.

[EdSkae]

The only trophy that matters is the one David Stern is going to have to hand to Wyc, Danny, & Doc in June.

[Datruth345]

i hate all this Kobe lifetime achievement crap

the mvp award represents the most valuable player for that year

ill take kg's 18 10 in a win than kobes 53 in a loss

[campybatman]

ill take kg's 18 10 in a win than kobes 53 in a loss

The Laker starters (Bynum is out, Gasol is injured and Fisher should be out for season but remains playing in pain) are dropping like flies.

The MVP award this season is working against Garnett and/or Pierce because pundits are making the argument that James, Bryant and Paul play on teams that wouldn't be contending for the playoffs if not for them. And Garnett is on a team that can still win games without him. Thanks in part to being the league's best defensive team. They've proven it. Ditto for the absence of Ray Allen.

What I don't understand is I thought that the regular season MVP tends to be a player who plays on one of the top two teams in the standings. Then Garnett and/or Pierce should be the front runners. The Celtics have been dominant for most of the season that you wonder: How does the winner not come out of Boston?

Again, I believe it'll come down to either James or Bryant, but it probably should come down to Garnett or Paul, if the Hornets finish with the top seed in the west.