Dwight Howard MVP...A Theory
by MagicPhan on Jul 18, 2010 4:43 PM EDT
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Let me start with the reasons Dwight Howard was not awarded league MVP last year or the year before: Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.
So now I'm wondering, how in the world can James earn the league MVP award next season as a member of the Superfriends? I don't see any way for him to be credited with carrying a team that includes both Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Even if he rises to the top of that particular heap, he will remain one-third of the power behind the Miami punch.
So let's eliminate James from this year's MVP running. And for the same reason, Dwayne Wade. That leaves Kobe.
And since this is my theory, I throw this in against him. He's peaked. He'll turn 32 in August. He must once again carry his team through the sludge of an entire season en route to the same goal he accomplished last year. And the year before. The Lakers are known for "flipping the switch" like Boston. If that switch stays off too long while LA coasts toward the playoffs, I don't think Kobe will have the numbers by late spring to garner another MVP.
That leaves Dwight. Dwight, who worked this off-season with Hakeem Olajuwon to get better, offensively. Dwight, the best defensive presence in the league, who should also return in 2010 with more offensive weapons.
Howard already does enough to be considered "most valuable", but he gets overlooked amid the flash and talcum powder of other superstars. The Magic roster is peppered with highly-trained basketball assassins, yet would have no realistic shot at a title without him.
It's unfair, but this year he might get the nod for all the wrong reasons. The flashy guys are either aging (west coast) or lost in a crowd (east coast). This may finally allow the biggest man on the floor to be recognized as the most valuable in the league.
This FanPost was made by a member of the Orlando Pinstriped Post community, and is to be treated as the opinions and views of its author, not that of the blogger or blog community as a whole.
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I think he's got a shot. LeBron won't get it, even if he deserves it, because he's alienated the voters too much; the only way he'd win is if he averaged a triple-double.
It could come down to Kobe, Howard, Durant, and Anthony. Maybe Chris Paul if he stays healthy and the Hornets win 50+ games.
by Evan Dunlap on Jul 18, 2010 5:00 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Durant should win it,
He’s way too good to not win it.
So you can keep knocking but won't knock me down
No love lost, no love found
Averaging a Triple-Double isn't out of the question.
That’s probably the only reason I really worry about the Heat. I think LeBron has finally…uh, not quite “matured”…but he understands he can’t lead a team to victory – or wants to. He was never able to handle being “the man” who had to carry his team. Now he doesn’t have to, and he can “just play”. I think he never had the same championship drive that Wade, Kobe, Jordan, etc. had. He wants to be the best player on the court (to feed that ego), but he doesn’t have the drive to handle having it all ride on him.
I worry that he’ll thrive in Miami simply because he no longer has to worry about being that guy. He can facilitate, he can get his shots and show off…because he can now “just play” and use his raw talent to be the best on the floor, without any actual responsibility of the team on his shoulders.
10 points per game? Nothing to James – I suspect he’ll average in the high teens, maybe low 20’s.
10 assists per game? He’s one of the best passers in the league, and now has talent to pass to. I think he’ll end up being the defacto PG, not Wade. He can create space and teams have to respect his scoring ability. This will lead to lots of kick out and hand offs. This shouldn’t be to hard.
10 rebounds per game? This is the wildcard. With Big Z and Bosh, they’ll probably split the lion share of the rebounds. James can try to snag some, and might get to ten. I think Wade will almost always hang back to cover on D, and whoever they get to fill the PG spot obviously won’t be looking to rebound. If James can swallow up most of the balls that bounce beyond the paint – he could get there.
Triple-Double average? Normally it seems absurd, but I can’t imagine that it’s less than a 60/40 chance at this point.
And if that’s the way this plays out…that team is just freakin’ crazy. I really hope they can’t mesh on the court, and that James’ ego gets in the way. I love James as a basketball player, but can’t stand the person he is. My hope is that it all falls apart in spectacular fashion. James lays an ultimatum that’s it’s either him or Wade, and Miami sides with Wade. James turns to Bosh and says “let’s go” and Bosh stays put.
If it plays out that way, I would be the happiest guy outside of Cleveland.
by The BBQ Chicken Madness on Jul 18, 2010 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions
LeBron's out even if the Heat win 70..
Let’s say Dwight’s rebounding numbers go up just slightly to 14 a game, a realistic number given that Barnes was a slightly better rebounder than his replacement Q. I’m pretty sure after November Dwight averaged in excess of 3 blocks a game, but we’ll just say 3.0 a game.
Now with scoring, if we manage to get Dwight to shoot a career high 14 FGA’s a game, and his shooting percentage only dips slightly to 60%, and free throw attempts and percentage remain constant, that’d put him at just under 23 ppg.
A 23/14/3 would be pretty hard to ignore, especially since the Magic will (more assumptions) remain near the top of the league. It seems very doable.
"It's difficult to win when you're outscored in every quarter." -Bill Walton
by betterthanburke on Jul 18, 2010 6:26 PM EDT reply actions
Honestly I think KD wins.
Dwight doesn’t get the ball enough. Durant is going to lead the Thunder to a top 4 seed in the west I believe. He is going to score around 30 points and 7 or 8 rebounds. I think that is enough for him to win. He was really close last year but think he wins it this year. Dwight will for sure be top 3 but I really just don’t think a player will win if he isn’t the main go to guy on offense. If Dwight is that guy this year and shows the league his offense has improved then I think he does have a great chance.
It's Durant's to lose
He’s LeBron James with an alpha dog mentality. After what James just put the league through, voters will lap that up.
Does defense really matter Ben?? Doesn't look like Dwight gets that love.
I know what you mean just sayin.
Good point
MVP is all-too-often just a boxscore award. PPG, RPG, APG. W/L.
Please don't simply ignore the stats when making your case
"...your eyes lie to you sometimes..."
by magicfaninTN on Jul 19, 2010 2:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Two man race with Paul and Kobe battling for 3rd & 4th
Melo might be in the mix as well, but he never really seems to do very well in the voting for some reason.
Alex Kennedy posted this question on his Twitter account last week some time and my response to him is what I will say here again. Dwight will have the numbers to win it again, and being the 3 time defensive player of the year (likely) and 3 time rebounding/shot blocking leader (likely) will be very hard to ignore, but because KD is such a likable guy (not that Dwight isn’t, obviously) and he puts up such big numbers he is my choice for the more likely to win, although I think Dwight should. I think I agreed with everything you said Magic Phan, but they aren’t the “superfriends”. They are the nWo Wolfpac
Superfriends.
Someone else said it first, I wish I could give credit. The word just makes me laugh. It’s a very tongue-in-cheek “compliment”.
I think Dwight could win it if he get his scoring to 25 then he's seems unstoppable
otherwise Durant will win it. Durant should have won it last year
if Dwight got 25 15 3blks then that would be history and they have to vote for him
27 years ago, Moses Malone averaged 24 15 in 1983 and no one’s done since not even Hakeem, Shaq or duncan or anyone. Dwight has to do something incredible like that to win MVP, the voters just care about guards otherwise
Number 12 sure does alot for his team.
I know alot Magic fans dont even believe Howard was the MVP the last couple of years, many around the league ignore or downplay defense, but check out this page: http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics Notice the frequency of a certain players picture?
I still think James is the best player in the NBA
I’d have Dwight second. His offense isn’t good enough to topple James for MVP – Howard’s by far the best defensive player, but James is a very good defender as well and he combines that with being one of the best offensive players in the game.
by eltharion_doa on Jul 21, 2010 3:50 AM EDT up reply actions
MVP is kinda of a BS award to begin with
Its impossible to really know a players value to his team until that player is missing. You can look at all the advanced stats you want but it really comes down to that. And, no, 2 or 5 game stretches without a player dont count. Its perception that determines who the MVP is. Basketball is a high scoring sport. I think thats why I place more value on a guy that can stop the scoring more than a guy that can score…….to a certain degree anyways. That, and Im a diehard Magic fan and we happen to have the best defensive player in the world and one of the greatest ever.
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