Keep Chanting Celtics Fans

It was reported earlier, and announced today that Kobe Bryant is the NBA’s most valuable player for the 2007-2008 season.  This is the same Kobe who demanded a trade during the offseason and is known for being a great teammate, until you mess up of course, but I digress…

The real issue here is that the NBA has never defined what “Most Valuable” means.  Most valuable isn’t the guy who won the scoring title, or the guy with the best PER, or the guy everyone likes the best, or even Wilt Chamberlain when he averages 50 and 25, it’s just most valuable.  The word “valuable” means that the award can be interpreted differently by different people.  Value is what determined that Bill Russell was the MVP in 1962.  The NBA loves this.  The fact that this topic of conversation has been dominant for weeks means many things, but most importantly for the NBA it means attention.  And any attention where reporters and hoops fans alike are arguing between four real MVP candidates is good attention.

However:  Kobe Bryant should not have been this year’s MVP.

I don’t buy the “Kobe learned to trust his teammates” argument.  The numbers don’t support it.  He took two less shots per game (20 to 22), grabbed one half rebound more per game (6.3 to 5.7), and dished out the same number of assists (5.4) this year compared to last year, all while scoring three points less (28.3 to 31.6).  Where does it say that he had a better season this year?  Is it the fact that he shot a worse field goal percentage this year?  Is that he shot a worse free throw percentage this year?  Is it the fact that he shot one less three pointer every ten games this season?  Make no mistake, this is the same Kobe we’ve seen before.

So Celtics fans, even though the MVP race is technically over, don’t stop chanting for our MVP tonight.  Help me let him know, what the league should have recognized, that he helped revitalize a city and a team, and led them to one of the best regular season’s ever.

RomiezzoLegend

571 days ago

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I love the article, T Roz. Davis and I were talking about this yesterday in this lockerroom topic. Don't mind the first couple of comments, and read more about it in the bottom part of the comments. And Kobe was talked about too. KG was definitely MVP material this season, and was definitely a great leader. If I was going to the Celts/Cavs game, I'd still be chanting MVP to Kevin Garnett.

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T RozJV Squad

571 days ago

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Thanks Romi, I'll check the lockeroom later when I get the chance.

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RomiezzoLegend

571 days ago

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Funny. We were talking about the NBA's most overrated player. I kind of agreed that KG was due to the fact that he was so high ranked to the other forwards who, statistically, do better. I didn't realize how many minutes/game he played though, and how "mediocre" Ray Allen did.

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SSreportersLegend

571 days ago

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I said it before, Kobe has a catch 22.

He hogs the ball too much, he needs to pass more. His teammates can't convert, he gets the blame for not taking over.

He starts shooting 40, they lose, it's his fault.

I don't think he should've gotten the MVP outright, but if he doesn't get it this year he'll never get it. I said that the voting committee "pity-voted" for him because he has been rejected for years and years for the MVP.

Go look at his numbers throughout his career....I think he has been pretty consistent in his 12 seasons in the NBA.

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RomiezzoLegend

571 days ago

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You can have the best numbers in the world, and it wouldn't matter to me. You could have 40 points and 20 rebounds per game. That doesn't mean that you automatically get the MVP award. If there was a best player award, this would make so much more sense. If Kobe only scores 40 points, and he shoots for like... 35%, I'd say it is his fault. You know why? He's not a team player. He's a ball-hog, and he turns the ball over a LOT!

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SSreportersLegend

571 days ago

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Only 40?

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RomiezzoLegend

571 days ago

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I'm talking about something that could actually be accomplished. If you had someone scoring 100 points a game, there's a pretty good chance your team would be undefeated.

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SSreportersLegend

571 days ago

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He would be a ballhog then wouldn't he? Wilt Chamberlain must have been a ballhog because he shot a million times...and I don't care how tall he is.

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RomiezzoLegend

571 days ago

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Wilt was a dominating center. If you're that dominating down low, wouldn't you as a point guard give it to the dominating center to make him score in the key? It wasn't like Wilt was taking 3's/lower percentage made shots, and turning over the ball (like Kobe does).

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SSreportersLegend

571 days ago

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Paul turns it over 2.43 times a game, Kobe does it 2.57....not a big difference.

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KelsdadAll-Star

571 days ago

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Basketball in Wilt's time was played from the outside in, the center and #3 were the focal points of the offense. Look at Bill Russell's stats, I bet you would be surprised at the number of shots he took.

Today, the game is played backwards, the ball goes in, then comes back out for an outside shot. But whether you agree on shot attempts or not, look at it from a quality standpoint, layups have a higher percentage of success than do 20 foot jump shots.

Wilt's 30 shots a game are far different than Kobe's 30.

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SSreportersLegend

571 days ago

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Romi, in Wilt's time, the three point shot was not even invented.

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RomiezzoLegend

570 days ago

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I think we've had this discussion before, SSR. here.

I responded to the exact same statement you said about turnovers by saying this:

"Chris Paul is a point guard. Kobe is a shooting guard. it's different. Steve Nash led in TOs this year with 295. Who was next? Deron Williams? Next: Jason Kidd. Point guards need to find an open man, and sometimes, passes get deflected. Kobe, on the other hand, loses the ball due to the fact that he can't take a shot because if he does, he'll get stuffed, so he makes a sucky pass, and he ends up turning over the ball anyway."

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

571 days ago

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The MVP is one of the most difficult awards to to give out. Mainly because it comes down to the debate of is it for given to the most valuable player in the league (meaning valuable to his team) or is it given to the leagues best player.

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RomiezzoLegend

571 days ago

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True. Like I said above, if only there was a "NBA's Best Player" award.

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T RozJV Squad

571 days ago

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Exactly, I could have written an entire article on that point alone.

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KelsdadAll-Star

571 days ago

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Someone made mention to this point in the same article SS refers to above, and I wholeheartedly agree... this is a token award so Kobe can finally say "see, I can play without Shaq", then for the next ten years the NBA will give the award to someone who actually deserves it.

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JuTMSY4Legend

571 days ago

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so is it most valuable to the team or most valuable to the league...because they're different...

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Davis21wylieMVP

571 days ago

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Now are we going to have "Nielsen Points Added" as a stat? :)

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JuTMSY4Legend

571 days ago

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Jan: Well, Michael, I underestimated you. Michael: Yeah, well, maybe next time you will estimate me.

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KelsdadAll-Star

571 days ago

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In either case, JuT, Kobe is not deserving. The Lakers were dog shit before they got Gasol, which makes him Lakers MVP, and either Chris Paul or KG are clearly more deserving of league honors.

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SSreportersLegend

571 days ago

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Because they kept Kwame Brown......

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JuTMSY4Legend

571 days ago

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i made the same argument during the 2001 season with Allen Iverson...

its tricky because many teams have players you can designate as the MVP of the team...

the league always makes it difficult because its not nearly as tangible...

I personally don't like Kobe...but I'm fine with him as MVP...would have been fine with Paul too...

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Davis21wylieMVP

571 days ago

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I don't think they were exactly "dog shit" (they were 29-16 at the beginning of Feb.), but you're right, Kobe's played at the same level for years now, it's just that his teammates have improved markedly (whether it was young guys like Bynum getting better, or the front office making the huge upgrade from Brown to Gasol).

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Bt534Waterboy

570 days ago

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First of all I hate Kobe Bryant the basketball player (and i think i hate Kobe Bryant the person), I also think that CP3 should have been the MVP (i wont give reasons as they have already been given 100 times over.) I cant however argue with Kobe being selected based on the following. He had never won it before because people had always said that his team never did well enough (only the post shaq days obviously). This year however his team won maybe the most stacked conference ever and I hear the arguement that his supporting cast was too good for him to win? We (The Kobe haters) cant have it both ways. TRoz, i get your arguement that KG turned the celtics around and im not saying it isnt valid and thats why he finished in the top 3. But realistically if i look at situation A vs situation B and ignore my personal feelings i cant argue with Kobe winning the award (no matter how much i want to). Kobe's teamates hating him, and the front office doing its job doesnt change the fact that Kobe clearly was the driving force behind what the lakers did this season.

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The PipDiv-I Stud

569 days ago

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I agree, the Award should have gone to CP3.

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OvertheedgeVarsity

570 days ago

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paul should have won the award, lebron would be next because he is his entire team, kobe should be third because he had an amazing year, kg should be fourth because the rest of that team is so great that his impact gets watered down significantly

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