Taking a Stand - Kobe is the MVP

The last few weeks have yielded some pretty on-the-fence debates about who the NBA
MVP should be. From what I have been able to gather, there are a lot of people who feel that there really isn't a bad argument against KG, CP3, or Kobe and that any of those three would really be a good choice. But I'm not interested in a "good" choice. I am interested in the best choice. Saying all 3 (or even 4 if you include LeBron) were possible candidates a few weeks ago was ok, but the season is over and it is time to step up and take a stand. Kobe is the MVP.

Lets start with LeBron. He has had a ridiculous statistical year which has put him in the argument, but I think one fact automatically disqualifies him from being this years winner: his team went backwards. Last year the Cavs won 50 games in the regular season (and since this is a "regular season" award, I'll stick to those facts). This year they won 45. That would be ok if the conference had somehow gotten significantly better over the last year, but the East hasn't. In fact, 7 of the 8 playoff teams had winning records last year compared with 6 of the 8 this year. The reality is they may have gotten worse. Simply for this, LeBron can't be the winner, although he deserves some dap for a great year.

Moving on to KG. I love KG. He has always been one of my favorite players and I am glad he has found his way into a great situation with a very legit chance at winning a title. With that said, I don't think he can be the MVP this year. The fact that he has missed about 15% of his teams games this season has to disqualify him. On top of that the Celtics had that 9 game stretch without KG around the All-Star game and they went 7-2 (remember, the main criteria for Nash winning the award 2 years ago was the fact his team's record stunk when he was hurt and they played without him).

KG also has to take a hit because of the East, and it is not just that the East is, as Barkley calls it, the "JV" league, but because the West this year has routinely been called the best conference the NBA has ever seen (whether that is true or not is besides the point, as the point is the West is not good, but great). Although the Celtics have a great record against the West, they played less than half of their games against Western Conference opponents. On top of that, slightly less than 20% of their games came against playoff teams from the West. All the while a team like the Lakers or the Hornets had upwards of 30% of their games against that type of competition (not including Golden State, Portland, or Sacramento AKA the Western teams that would have made the playoffs in the East). Yes the Celtics had a good record against the high caliber teams, but isn't there something to be said of the grind teams that play them night in and night out go through? I certainly think so. To compound that, John Hollinger on ESPN.com shows the Celtics as having the weakest strength of schedule of any "Top 10" team on his power rankings. On the other hand, the Lakers and the Hornets are number 1 and 2 in strength of schedule, in that order. Its not to say that KG is not great and that he hasn't had a profound impact on the Celtics, but it is to say there are guys who have had to do more for their teams to be great and were there for the whole ride.

That brings us to CP3. I am not going to debate whether CP3's 21.1 ppg, 11.6 apg, and 2.7 spg are more valuable than Kobe's 28.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 5.4 apg. Much like with KG, I love CP3. I like his attitude, I like his game, I like his leadership, and I think he has firmly established himself as the best point guard in the league right now. I read an article yesterday by some schmoe that writes for FOX Sports. He said CP3 deserved the MVP, in part, because he does more to help his team as he is, after all, the point guard. As for myself, I am partial to PGs. My favorite player ever was a PG and I always thought of myself as a wannabe PG, but saying that CP3 deserves the MVP because he is the PG is pretty absurd. After all, since the 1990's began, only two teams that won the title have done so with an All-Star PG; the Spurs won with Tony Parker and the Pistons won with Chauncey Billups (and Billups wasn't an All-Star that year). That doesn't speak volumes to the inherent "value" of a point guard in the modern era of the NBA as this writer seemed to insinuate. And as far as the Lakers go, they run an offense that doesn't use a PG in the traditional way. The triangle offense uses Kobe in the way that many traditional offense utilize a point guard. It places him as the facilitator and distributor. I just don't see the fact that CP3 is a PG as being something that should determine who wins the MVP.

There is another factor that no one has talked about and that seems pretty important to me. A lot of people are talking abut the chemistry that Hornets have had and how CP3 is the main cause for that and he very well may be. He has had a fantastic year (better than Nash's 2 MVP years) and the Hornets have far surpassed most peoples expectations. But to make my point let me paint to pictures.

#1: The season begins with moderate expectations. You and your team begin to win and the winning keeps on coming. The season went by smoothly. So smoothly in fact, that between all the starters there were only 17 missed games due to injury. Your main contributor off the bench only missed 1 game too and you acquired a few key bench guys that have done well in their limited roles.

#2: The season begins with mixed expectations after a crazy off-season. You begin 9-8; not a great start. You begin to pick up steam as a team and your second best player so far goes down with a severe knee injury and ends up missing 47 games, has yet to return, and there is no set return date. But to help stem the tide, your team makes a big trade and gets you a great player to help. There is not the luxury of adjustment time and your team rattles of 16 wins in the next 19 games. Then the new guy goes down with an injury and misses 10 games. When all is said and done, he only actually played in 27 of your 82 games. To top off all of that, you play the remaining 1/3 of the season with a shooting hand that needs surgery and your key reserves have missed numerous games due to injury as well.

It is no surprise that the first scenario is a description of CP3's task and the second is a description of Kobe's. Maybe it is just me, but keeping team chemistry alive during the first scenario seems like it would have been easier than maintaining it in the second. Some may say that the Lakers getting Gasol shouldn't be looked at as a chemistry issue at all, but look at the Mavs and the Suns. They made big trades and it took them both weeks to get their teams playing well again. That lapse in team chemistry by our previous two MVPs' teams has put them as the 6th and 7th seeds in the West. Kobe took the lead in welcoming Gasol and the Lakers did not miss a beat. They immediately played well with Gasol and Kobe carried them to a better than .500 record minus Bynum, Gasol, and others with one good hand. The Lakers came out as the best (regular season) team in the best conference the NBA has seen in at least 35 years and they did it with a slew of challenges in their way. I think the leader that held the team together and put them on his back during the times other teams would have folded should be seen as the most valuable. So without further adieu, Kobe Bryant is the MVP.

White Rappers, Politics, and History

I appreciate political banter. I am not always the first one to jump in to the conversation, but that is not to say I dislike the forum of discussion it creates. This election has grown to be more than just "another" presidential election and, because of that, the noise surrounding the election has grown as well. After all, it is an historic event. Regardless of our personal feelings about Clinton or Obama, we are witnesses to an electoral journey that has never happened before. And maybe it is just me, but I think it is a shame when people let the incessant noise emanating from this banter distract them from the aforementioned point. Yet even with all the ruckus of Obama's poor bowling skills or his controversial preacher or the feedback surrounding Clinton's wardrobe or seemingly wild-eyed husband, I think there are the proverbial roses to stop and smell. This entry is to help us sniff a few of them.

I remember a conversation I had a while back with Nate Baker. We were talking about different hip-hop artists and he made an interesting observation. To paraphrase him, he thought that rappers like Eminem, Paul Wall, and Bubba Sparxxx were some of the most proficient, creative, and innovative lyricists in the genre. From my own (and take that for what its worth) estimation and that of some hip-hop critics and fans, he is right. As he continued to wax philosophical, Nate said he believed that these rappers had to go above and beyond the normal standard used to evaluate other rappers because of the stigma that came with being white in a world where that is not the norm. In other words, he thought they had to become better at their craft than other people just to get the same recognition.

Another example (and maybe a more apropos example because it is not as racially backward, all things being considered) is that of Jackie Robinson. In 1947, he became the first black baseball player to suit up in the modern era. Some may say he was not the best black player at the time as the negro leagues were rife with talented ball players, but one thing is for sure; Jackie was no slouch. In 1947 he won Rookie of the Year. In 1949 he won the National League MVP award. He made 6 All-Star teams and was a member of 6 World Series teams. For his career he hit .311 and had over 1,500 hits. To sum all of this up, he was very, very good (Important Note: He did this all under intense, racial scrutiny, the likes of which most, including myself, will never be able to fathom). The point is this: the benefits of signing and playing Jackie had to be seen as higher than the costs and the costs of doing what the Dodgers did at that time were enormous. So, Jackie had to be good enough that some organization would take the supreme risk of signing him and playing him even though no team had ever taken that risk before.

So if the Jackie-theory (I like that term better than the "white rapper-theory", although that one works too) applies to this presidential election. Some may not like Clinton or Obama, and whether that be because of political ideas, personality flaws, or whatever other real or fabricated reason matters not to this conversation. What matters is that both are extra-ordinary in their own right. They are making history each day as they try and chase the Democratic nomination for becoming President of this country and it is a shame if we don't take a step back and admire them for what they have accomplished. Dave Chappelle once said, "My Grandma told me to never be the first to do anything." His grandma most have understood the stress, persecution, and difficulty it takes to be the first __________ (Fill in blank with whatever you like, i.e. white rapper, black baseball player, etc.) So thank you to both Clinton and Obama for confronting the challenges they have faced, continually having risen to overcome them, and allowing us to have a front row seat to history.

Prophetic or Not?

Here is another link to an intersting article about Kobe's lack of respect when it comes to the MVP voting:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/080407&sportCat=nba

Maybe this article helps to illustrate part of my point from my MVP being endangered entry. Either way, it will be interesting to see if Scoop nails this one or not.

Proud To Be A Cougar

When I first arrived at BYU back in 2000 I was not pro-BYU. I didn't try and hide my disdain for the institution or the sports teams. It took me a little while to grow in my appreciation for the school and what it stands for. I was fortunate enough to get to know some of the student-athletes at BYU and came to appreciate their role in spreading what BYU stands for. From the beginning of their careers, they are told that they are more than mere student-athletes as they have the great opportunity to spread an important message through their abilities; a type of pressure and a type of blessing most colleges do not place on their student-athletes. After a few years that were more forgettable off the field than on (which is saying a lot as those were forgettable years on the field too), BYU has made amends. Today, I feel proud to say I got a significant part of my education there and will forever be a Cougar. Here is a link to a major article placed on ESPN.com:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3333765&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab7pos2

This article should make all those that stand for the same important message proud of BYU and the young men carrying it to new places.

Reading...And More Reading

I thought I would post a blog that included some of my favorite readings from this semester. And yes, I read all I was supposed to for the YEAR, not just this semester. The readings for last semester were mostly academic articles and dryer textbook types, but this semester we got into some more fun reads. I'll try and note the reason for reading these, but I recommend all the readings on this list. Think of it as a buffet full of food-for-thought. They are in no particular order.

1. Wayward Puritans by Kai T. Erickson - A historical look at the development of punishment in the Bay Colony of Mass. back in the day. Interesting history and an intriguing look at the growth of punishment and its relationship to power in our country.

2. The German Ideology by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - A classic in its own right. Tough to read, but some priceless dialogue about key concepts found in our society.

3. Punishment and Modern Society by David Garland - This is a great one if reading something like the one listed above is too daunting. Garland summarizes the key points and concisely critiques and embellishes what many of the original thinkers were trying to get across. The title pretty much encapsulates its purpose.

4. Coercion by Douglas Rushkoff - This one is a fun read, kind of on par with The Tipping Point and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I say that because it deals with some heavier (although not as empirically based like Gladwell's) topics in a way that is approachable and interesting. It is a quick read and deals with how each of us is coerced in our behaviors, attitudes, purchases, etc.

5. "Moral Panic as Ideology" by Ted Chiricos - This one will be more difficult to find as it is an article written by one of my professors. It is pretty short and easy to read, but it discusses the media's role in shaping our opinions and ultimately our policy decisions on important topics. Really a great read.

There they are. The top five. Let me know if you need help getting any of them or want to borrow them.

The NBA MVP Award is Endangered

I have become increasingly frustrated over the last few years with the distribution of the NBA MVP award. I don't want to take away from the great seasons that Dirk and Nash had, but I feel like we (NBA fanatics) have been a little bit cheated when it comes to naming an MVP. It seems a little bit like a farce when you mention Dirk in the same breath as Bird, Magic, MJ, Abdul-Jabbar, or even Duncan. Maybe I am the only one who feels this way, but I am going to vent for a minute.

Until 1979-1980, NBA players voted on who was going to win the Maurice Podoloff trophy. After that point in time, media members voted on the award. It seems to me they did an decent job of it through the 80's and most of the 90's, but that it has become a little sketchy as of late, especially over the last three years like I said earlier. I think the increased usage of the internet and the general availability of games has screwed with the voting. Before that point in time, sports writers saw players on the big stage in the playoffs or huge nationally televised games (of which there weren't nearly as many as there are now) or when they came to their city. In other words, they were drawing conclusions and voting from the knowledge they had dropped on them by players and coaches or by reputations developed by the players. They had to take what players and coaches thought into account because the writers did not have as much exposure to as many players as they do now. Once the internet and satellite/cable kicked in, I think sports writers began to disregard the players and coaches thoughts and to vote on what they thought was best. I respect sports writers for the most part, but how do they know who the MVP is? Are they out there playing against them or staying up late at night to develop a scheme to stop them? It certainly seems like a wierd system to have people who really have nothing to do directly with the game vote on its top individual honor.

So with that said, sit down and grab a fork cause here is the rest of my beef. Since the '79-'80 change here are your winners: Abdul-Jabbar, Dr. J, Moses Malone two years in a row, Bird three years in a row, Magic, MJ, Magic, Magic, MJ, MJ, Barkley, Olajuwon, Robinson, MJ, Karl Malone, MJ, Karl Malone, Shaq, AI, Duncan two years in a row, Garnett, Nash for two years, and Dirk. (Another note, Moses Malone was the last guy to win the award on a team with less than 50 wins as he did so in '81-'82.)

That list of winners seems to be a list of "greatest ever players" until you hit the last few years. In fact, this is a great moment to turn to sports writers who can sit and debate stuff that ultimately has no consequence (something I am fine with and am patron of). Every one of these players, until the last two winners, can be argued to be in the top 5 or 6 players at their position EVER (which all have been by ESPN and others). The one exception may be Robinson, but I think he was awful close to it and the center postion may be the most stacked of all of them. Nash is great, but at the end of his career he will not even be close to cracking the top five point guards ever. Magic, The Big O, Isaiah, John Stockton, and Cousy all have him beat easily. Not to mention there are guys like J-Kidd, Payton, Frazier, and Archibald that might have him beat too (there are arguments to be had here.). As for Dirk, he may crack the top 10, but that is if he is lucky and people forget his consistent choke jobs and his ever present lack of defense and rebounding for a big guy. His is a great, great shooter and may be seen as a player ahead of his time if the league continues to get big men that can shoot, but Duncan, Malone, Barkley, McHale, Pettit, Garnett, Hayes, Debusschere, Schayes, Rodman, Kemp, Williams, Webber, Wallace, and Stoudemire might all beat him out. Undoubtedly there are arguments to be had over some of these, but I think the point is made. As great as Nash and Nowitzki have been, they haven't lived up to the greatness of their predecessors. I hope that this year the writers give the award to someone who fits the criteria left behind by the former greats who won the award. Although I am very partial to Kobe winning it this year, I would be ok with LeBron, Garnett, or Paul (I think he will go down as one of the greatest barring injury). Lets save the MVP award before it looses any more of its meaning and becomes extinct.

My All-Time NBA Team

So it I know this post is way passed due, but here it goes. I sent Nate the question, "What would your all-time NBA team look like", but I don't want my team to be just a list of obvious choices. Nate's team is pretty good and he didn't quite do that, but my team is going to be a little more obscure. I want to put in players that actually could have played together, not just on the court, but in the locker room, etc. So I am going to limit myself to two all-timers and then I am going to try and put in the role players like a real team, one of which has to be a current NBA player and I have to name a sixth man that actually is a sixth man. I am not sure how this will go, but I have an hour or so to burn before class, so here it goes.

Point Guard: Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Anyone who knows me will see this as no big surprise, and I don't think this pick needs a whole lot of justification. Magic is one of the greatest NBA players of all time (I think he is a close second to MJ) and he may be the greatest of all time if you take into account the whole body of work (High School, College, and the whole NBA career). He averaged 19.2 ppg, 11.2 apg (all-time career leader), and 7.2 rebounds per game. He was a 12 time all-star, 10 time All-NBA player, 3 time NBA MVP, and 3 time Finals MVP. Yet after all of this, he may be best known for what did that didn't appear on the stats sheet. He just won and he did it on every level for his entire career. He made 9 finals appearances in 13 years and won 5 of those in the hyper-competitive NBA of the 1980's. There will never be a better floor general, so he is my pick to run my team.

Shooting Guard: Dennis Johnson
This pick was a tough one for me. It was between Dennis Johnson and Sidney Moncrief AKA "The Squid". I wanted to choose a 2 guard that wasn't a reliability on offense and that could check the oppositions best perimeter player night in and night out. Both of these guys fit that description as they were tenacious defenders that made their livings disrupting the other teams perimeter play, but both were decent offensive players too. Moncrief actually has better offensive stats than DJ, but three things made me choose DJ anyway. First, he was an All-NBA defensive selection 9 times. To me that means he sustained his high level of D for longer than Moncrief. Second, he was listed as an inch taller which would allow him to bother some players Moncrief couldn't. And lastly, DJ was the NBA Finals MVP in 1978-1979, so he showed up to play on big stages. Not to mention, Larry Bird AKA "Basketball Jesus" called DJ, "the smartest guy he played with". High praise for DJ and a good fit next to a guy who created like Magic.

Small Forward: Michael Cooper
This was another tricky position. I didn't want to just put Larry Bird, because I wanted to try and avoid predictability. I was really tempted to put down Josh Howard or Tayshaun Prince and call him my current player because I think they are guys who can do a little of everything, are great defenders, and who don't need the ball a ton. Then I started thinking about Coop. He is what Howard and Prince shoudl aspire to be. He shot the 3 ball decently well (he was in the top 10 in the league a few years), he ran the floor extremely well, was one of the best finishers in the league, and was another absolutely lock down defender. He was an All-NBA defensive team selection 8 times and won the defensive player of the year award in 1986-87. He understood the game very well (as evidenced by his success in coaching) and was a winner of five NBA championships. In short, he wins, he can spread the floor, finish the break, and lock down the opposition.

Power Forward: Karl Malone
I never like Karl much as a player (I think it has to do with the whooping he and the Jazz put on the Lakers in the mid/late 90's), but he was an amazing 4. The dude averaged 25 ppg and 10 rpg. He was a walking double-double. He was a 14 time All-Star, a 14 time All-NBA player, a 4 time All-NBA defensive team selection, and a 2 time NBA MVP. People forget how good he was at running the floor for a big man (something important on this team) and how many times he went to the foul line. He is arguably the best player in NBA history to never win a title. I realize that is something I have been big on in selecting my other players, but I am thinking they can help compensate for this chink in Malone's otherwise super-shiny armor. He can be the guy to carry the scoring load for this team and he doesn't need to eat up the paint to do so. He also doesn't have to be the guy to come through in the clutch as Magic and DJ can take care of much of that.

Center: Dwight Howard
This may be cheating because Howard may go down as an All-Timer eventually, but he isn't so right now. I love this kid. His game has grown so much over the past few seasons and his athleticism is scary. Although that athletic ability is a big plus for this team as I envision they would run a lot, I put him here because of his defense and his rebounding. There are times when Howard doesn't defend to the best of his ability, but I think a lot of that has to do with the energy he puts in at the offensive end to get shots because his team is just mediocre. They have no real creator on their team and on this team he has the best ever, so I think he could focus his energies on the defensive end and continue to add to his career averages of 12 rpg and 2bpg. He has already lead the league in total rebounds for three seasons. He is a monster inside and he has no ego to speak of, a great quality for a center that we need to hit boards and shut down the lane.

Sixth Man: Steve Kerr
I think my team is loaded defensively, so I am going to take a guy who may be a liability and use him as my sixth man. Also, I have some decent shooters, but to bring Kerr in off the bench would be sweet. This little day-walker is the second leading 3-point shooter in NBA history at .454%. He could spread the floor so well on this team and with the focus having to be on so many other guys on the offensive end, he could eat teams up by drifting to open spots and nailing shots. Another interesting stat, according to basketball-reference.com he is the all-time leader in offensive efficiency. In toher words, he is perfect to come in and make an impact without touching the ball much. On top of all of that, he won championships with two teams and played an active role in that. Remember the shot?

That is my team. Let the debate begin.