MVP RACE

There's still a lot of basketball left to be played, so a lot can change here, but this is how I see the MVP race as of today (these aren't predictions, they're my personal opinions--which are obviously more valuable than the collective voting of a bunch of jagoff sportswriters who don't know anything about anything):

5. Kevin Garnett
4. Tracy McGrady
3. Chris Paul
2. Lebron James
1. C'mon.

Look, if you're going to penalize Kobe for having shitty teammates in the years he was clearly the best player in the league, I think you sure as hell have to give it to him now when he's still the best player in the league (or at least #1 and #1a with Lebron) and is now on one of the best teams in the league on top of it.

You know how Steve Nash "makes his teammates better"? You know how he magically made Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and Leandro Barbosa better than Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown and Smush Parker? Well, now I guess Kobe is making Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom better than Larry Hughes, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace, cuz last I checked, the Lakers have the better record.

OK, enough of the retard sportswriter argument, in all honesty I'd pretty much call it a draw between James and Kobe. LBJ can do things Kobe can't, Kobe can do things LBJ can't. Kobe's playing the best ball of his career (coincidentally starting to share the ball the very second he got some quality teammates who can make some goddamn shots! It's extremely fortuitous that he stopped being a selfish, glory-hungry jerk who only cares about scoring titles right when they added/developed a bunch of good supporting talent). Meanwhile James is averaging an Oscar-like 33-9-8 since the all-star break. That's just sick.

If I have to pick one or the other, I'm giving it to Kobe as a sort-of lifetime achievement award. Lebron is going to win like 6 MVPs in his lifetime, especially since he seems to be immune from the "shitty teammate" penalty that's kept Kobe not only from winning it, but from rarely even being in the running--which basically says it all about the value of the NBA MVP award, it's an even bigger joke than the Heisman.

Chris Paul is having an amazing year on an amazing team, but I have him a hair behind the big two. People say he doesn't have that much supporting talent, but I completely disagree--are you watching these guys? David West is a no-bullshit superstar now. He's a junior Carlos Boozer. Sure, Paul makes him better, but West makes Paul better too. Half his baskets come on isolation where he either sticks his sweet J or blows past a defender, he's an impossible cover now. Tyson Chandler might be limited offensively, but his rebounding and shotblocking make him a top 5 center in the league. He's the most energetic big man in the league, and he has a nice pair of hands--that backcut alley oop from Paul is the Hornets' trademark play. Then you surround that big 3 with a bunch of good shooters led by Peja Stojakovic, who looks like the Peja of old with his ridiculous .466 3PT FG%. That's a lot of talent. They're not doing it with smoke and mirrors, this is a really good team that's going to be in the mix for many years.

So why put Paul at #3? Simple--he's not as good as Kobe or Lebron. See how I break things down for you here? Look, I know you love Chris Paul--so do I. I love him like a brother, I'm ecstatic that we have a player like him in the league. I think he has the potential to be one of the greatest PGs in NBA history. But be honest, if you're going into this year's playoffs and you can have one player, who you gonna call? You'd take Kobe or Lebron, and so would every single GM and coach in the NBA. Well, there you go, Paul's just not good enough (yet). But there's no shame being third fiddle to two of the 25 greatest players in league history.

Next I have T-Mac, who's done an unbelievable job keeping Houston among the league elites with Yao out. When is this guy going to get his due? No, he's not as good as Lebron or Kobe, but he's a really, really great player and he doesn't get half the credit he deserves. I swear to god, I'm starting to wonder about Yao as a "no-bullshit superstar", because it seems like Houston doesn't really miss a beat when he's (inevitably) injured.

Last is Garnett. I'm not penalizing him for being injured, he only missed like 8 games--but even with his outstanding leadership and all-around great game, I don't see him as being more deserving than the other 4 on the list. Yes, Boston has the best record in the league, but Garnett is also playing with 2 other superstars and the Celtics have also gotten very strong contributions from the supporting cast--Rajon Rondo in particular has been fantastic lately, I think he has a chance to do great things in the NBA.

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OTHER STUFF

Theo Ratliff, a recent signee of the Detroit Pistons, started against the Bulls for the injured Rasheed Wallace and came up with 10 & 8 with 3 blocks. See, this is why Joe Dumars is a genius, he understands the way to build a successful basketball team is "value for cost". Is Ratliff as good as Ben Wallace? Of course not. But he's half as good at 1/40th the price (literally), and that's the name of the game.

If you're a regular reader of this blog--or as regular as is possible with my sporadic posting--you know I've been pimping Monta Ellis for a while. Well, it looks like he's fully completed the jump to superstardom, what he's been doing lately is insane. Over the last month (12 games), Ellis is averaging 25-6-5 (against just 2 turnovers) and shooting .571 from the floor. For the season he's shooting .538, which puts him at #12 in the league--as a 6'2 rail-thin guard!

Yes, I think some of his success is from playing in a very stat-friendly Don Nelson offense, and I think some is due to playing with the great Baron Davis, but what this kid can do is flat-out amazing. He can penetrate and finish at the rim like Tony Parker, except that he has the athleticism of Dwyane Wade to go along with that blazing quickness. He can't shoot the 3, but his midrange game is downright deadly. He's an outstanding ballhandler (though not a natural PG), and plays tough ball-pressure defense to boot. And he's all of 22--the sky is the limit for this guy.

I'm happy to see Randy Foye back on the court after losing most of the season to injury. He struggled upon his return, he just didn't have the explosion to get to the rim and finish, but he's starting to find his groove now. In 6 March games, he's averaging a solid 15-3.5-5 and is shooting .471 from the floor and .400 from 3. If he can stay healthy, I'm expecting big things from him next year. He's just not going to be as good as Brandon Roy, for whom he was traded, that ship has sailed--but he might still end up a great player in his own right.

A player I didn't mention in my rookies/sophomores column, Julian Wright, has been getting some minutes lately with New Orleans and has looked fantastic. I loved him going into the draft, he just had the misfortune of going to a team with a lot of talent at the forward spots. But David West's recent injury opened up an opportunity, and Wright really grabbed it. In those 4 games he averaged 11.5 & 6 in just 24 minutes and shot .625 from the floor. Wright can do a lot of good things--he's got great size and athleticism, he's a tough rebounder in traffic, a solid defender, and while he's not much of a shooter, he does have some explosive moves around the rim. I love this guy, I think he might end up being the steal of the draft. Man--New Orleans is set. Put them in with the Lakers and Portland as teams that are well-positioned for the next 5 years.

Another rookie who's looking good lately is Brandan Wright on Golden State. If you'll recall, I said he was the hands-down third best player in this draft class and that teams were crazy for letting him fall to #8--and Charlotte crazy for trading him for Jason Richardson. Wright has been chained to the bench with the notoriously rookie-hating Don Nelson, but he's finally had some PT the last few weeks and has done very well with it--in 6 starts (with Webber and Biedrins sidelined), Wright put up an excellent 7 & 5 with 1.2 blocks in just 15 minutes per game. Wright has loads of potential, he's long as hell, silky smooth, and jumps out of the gym--he also shows some flashes of serious skill. He's way too skinny and weak right now, but he's 20 years old, it'll come.

(OK, so maybe I'm not the most prolific blogger in the world, but you have to admit that when I do write something, at least it's long enough to print out and take to the shitter--that's gotta count for something).