If Rose gets the MVP then by all means, he deserves it. The way the Bulls surged past the pre-season EC faves Celtics, Heat, and Magic, surely one can’t say they’re flukes. Rose is the glue that holistically binds the Bulls team — at both ends of the floor.

There are certain intangibles that stat lines don’t show. Sadly, if you want to be empirical about it, it would be difficult to quantify these factors. The only numbers I can see that would support the intangibles are the numbers under the Win column.

Not to sound condescending nor being a hypocrite, I wouldn’t mind Kobe not getting the season MVP. Others could have them as it is a means to appreciate other players’ contributions to the sport. What matters the most for me is who takes home the trophy in June. Besides, Finals MVP for me is more rewarding.

I present to you Lamar Odom. His team has needed him to start 31 games while Bynum was out and during that period they managed to play .697 ball and maintained a division lead. More importantly he was having a great year up to that point, had led the league in both field goal and three-point percentage (still leads his team in the former), but most important of all, he immediately went back to his role on the bench where he has carried that group up to now. When Bynum got suspended recently, they won both games he started – in no small part due to his all around play.

And please, when criticizing my idea, please don’t come at me with, “He should be judged like a starter…” The fact is, he humbly goes where his team needs him most and never complains or otherwise poisons the chemistry of the team. Take a look around the league and tell me that’s not a valuable quality. What would LA do without him?

Perusing the last two decades of MVPs I recognize a trend of inside the box thinking. Yet folks always say that it’s not a “best player” award. Then why do we tend to give it to the year’s best performer? I’ll tell you why: because in the back of the voters’ minds is always “Who’s the best?” Well that’s not what the award is about.

No, this is Kobe’s last hurrah (at least if he remains a Laker). The Lakers are a slow, mostly over 30 laden team and this year neither the Spurs nor the Thunder (now that they have stud C Kendrick Perkins who will simply toss either Gasol and/or Bynum away like a rag doll should they meet in the playoffs), unlike the traditional cake walk matchups that the Lakers have enjoyed in the recent past.

If the aging Lakers can manage to survive running the playoff gauntlet of the NL West this year, then they still have to go through a much a younger, faster, high energy team that is Chicago, an equally deep and experienced Boston or of course the “Three Prima Donna’s” in Miami. Good luck with that!

Two months ago you were saying Rose is not the MVP because he is not even in the “Elite Player” category and the Bulls have enjoyed the easiest first half schedule. One month ago you said his PER was not high enough. Now you are saying his defense isn’t good enough.

What’s your reason going to be tomorrow—Rose’s bad breath???

At some point, you have to be willing to concede that you have a bias against the Chicago Bulls.

The reality is, if you were to read through every post you’ve made about the Bulls and, say, the Heat, Spurs, Celtics, or Lakers, you’d see you have a remarkable tendency of throwing in snide or backhanded compliments towards the Bulls that you simply don’t subject the others to.

For whatever reason, you cannot help yourself. And if I were so inclined to really make a point, I would point to your most recent post digging at Jordan in the midst of his putting support behind Rose. Oddly enough, I assume you would have trumpeted the Greatest Player of All Time’s thoughts on the current NBA landscape had he agreed with you that Howard or James deserved the trophy.

Yet, because Jordan’s opinion went against everything you’ve been so vociferously campaigning for, you ridicule the statements.

Which, in turn, is laughable.

Your post here makes you sound, unfortunately, like a b*tch. You do understand that it is far more likely a widespread group of individuals could read your posts and deduce that you have a bias against the Bulls which in turn annoys said individuals than it is likely that an entire fan of millions would be made up entirely of crybabies, right?

I highly doubt other media personnel are crying on their own comment’s section about how an entire fan base can’t handle criticism.

Kurt – the truth is, Chicago fans welcome the criticism. When it makes sense…and when it appears the individual levying that criticism isn’t simply doing so thanks to a long ago acquired personal bias.

If you wan’t to reward Lebron or Dwight Howard for Most Complete Player – that’s fine.

But usually, when a player’s game takes a huge leap forward and they push their team to the top of the standings…and when the other key components have a difficulty staying healthy, the pressure intensifies for that one star. That one linchpin.

Crunch all the numbers you want Doctor.

82 games don’t lie. And neither does your placement within the shrinking minority of individuals who think Rose doesn’t deserve the MVP.

Keep up the hating.

I can’t wait to hear your snide remarks about the foliage in Grant Park come June.

1) hrnio.. is right from the respect that he can oftentimes simply park his big arse down in the paint and doesn’t have to work that hard just to cover teams that only have plodders; and

2) Can’t you see by now that borderline1988 is hopelessly in love with Howard? In other words, using logic to rebutt his points about Howard simply won’t work because one never sees (or at least admits to), their sweethearts flaws!

Exactly!
Last time I checked, Braynt shoots 45% from the floor. Assuming that shots near the basket increase his FG%, his shooting% from 15+ feet, off the dribble, is probably around 40%, if not less. That isn’t terrible defense against Kobe.
This is exactly what you want to do to a good offensive player. Force him away from the paint, to take contested 15+ foot jump shots off the dribble.

Players like Durant or Bryant can really go off when they mix things up. If they get to the basket a couple of times and score, then it forces defenders to take a step back on them, which opens up good looks at the basket after only one quick move on the perimeter. They feast off those looks.

But if the threat of the drive is mitigated, defenders can be more aggressive on Bryant or Durant on the perimeter. What ends up happening is what I described before – those players take contested jumpers, which are not efficient shots. That’s when you get Bryant or Durant shooting 9/25 or something. Believe me, they’re not shooting 35% because they’re missing layups. It’s the 15-20 foot jumpers that aren’t going down.

You’re a bit star struck in your analysis of basketball. Defense is more about a system than one on one defending. Sure – players like Kobe take over sometimes when they get hot. But honestly, you’d rather have Kobe take 20 shots outside the paint per game, then have inside looks for Bynum, Gasol, or even Kobe.
Everyone always talks about defense on Kobe. But if you look more closely at games – Kobe always plays better against teams that don’t have shot-blocking presences in the paint. Kobe’s play doesnt usually correlate with the guy lining up against him. He could score 40 points on any given night against Phoenix, even though Grant Hill is considered a top notch defender.
But he often struggles against Boston, with Ray Allen taking him, who is a poor individual defender.
It’s not that hard to figure out why….

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Others would say that Boston is such a good defensive team, just like Chicago, because of Tom Thibodeau’s system.

Again, I’m not saying Dwight isn’t a heck of a defensive anchor for the Magic. But how important is protecting the paint when you have guys like Kobe and Durant making 15+ footers all day? Putting a lock down defender on them to make them work for their shot is a lot harder than Dwight, who’s a freak of a physical specimen, standing around the rim and contesting layups.

It’s the same thing with Boston. Do you really think Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are that good at defending the opposing team’s stars? Of course not – the reason why they’re effective is because they have Garnett and Perkins behind them (albeit Perkins is gone now). That allows Allen and Pierce to be more aggressive on their guys, because they know that if their guy beats them, they’ll be funnelled into two of the best defending big men in the NBA. Allen and Pierce were never good defenders before the 2008 Boston team.

Same thing with the Lakers.
Bryant and Fisher are both overrated defenders (well, Fisher isn’t overrated, everyone agrees he’s bad at this point). But it doesn’t matter when you have two 7footers patrolling the paint.

That’s simply how defense in basketball works. You don’t understand basketball.
It’s a very simple equation .

According to your metrics, people like Artest, Mbah a Moute or Thabo Sefalosha should win DPOY. While I would agree that Thabo is a superb one on one defender, do you actually think he makes the same defensive contribution to his team as Howard or Garnett?

Calling Howard an overrated defender is by far the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

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I never said he was overrated per se, I just don’t think he necessarily guards the best players in the league. Who are the best offensive players in the league? Rose, Bryant, James, Wade, Ray Allen, Melo, Durant, etc. Who guards those guys? Rose, Bryant, James, Wade, Ray Allen, Melo, Durant, etc. That’s why guards/swing players should be in the front running for DPOY voting because the days of Olajuwon, Ewing, etc. are long gone. There’s one elite Center in the league and that’s Howard.

Either you are incredibly naive in thinking that Howard is right now more of a difference maker than Rose, Bryant, La Bum or for that matter even Duncan, or you should be out right now selling everything you own to put your bet down on your Magic to win it all this season! (in other words, why not put your money up where your mouth is running?)!

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Do you have no reading comprehension? I said that Howard is NOT on the same defensive level as guys like Wade and LeBron because they guard the better offensive players in the league (Bryant, Pierce, Ray Allen, Rose, Durant, etc.).

As for the BS that stats somehow are different than what one sees in a game — stats are based on results, on specific outcomes, and while watching can give you perspective on why certain stats line up certain ways, the numbers are the numbers.

What do you think Deron Williams thinks about Derrick’s defense?
Have you ever watched a Bulls game or are you just watching Sports Center?
Also, how many games has he had both Noah and Boozer? And the Bulls are in 1st.
Rose is the MVP. James is a douche.

The main problem Toronto used to have was the weakness of the Looney to the US Dollar, but as of today the Looney is actually worth MORE than the US Dollar. Canadian taxes remain a problem though for retaining professional athletes, but it’s FAR better than it’s ever been in terms of Toronto being able to compete for and retain them.

Winning though just naturally breeds contempt; that’s not just a Chicago Bulls phenomenon. For example, I HATE to New England Patriots because of all the hot air their gasbag fans generate every year, not because of the team itself per se’. I also HATE University of Michigan football too, again not because of the University per se’, but because per capita they have the biggest a-hole fan base in all of sports.

Good post though; you indeed would make a mess on the street if you were able to find away to escape the cage at the top of the CN Tower in order to jump (SPLAT!)!

As for your Raptors repeated failures to get anything back in return for their free agent stars? Now that your Loonies aren’t so depressed against the US Dollar, that may change soon if new owners step forward, but in the mean time just exactly what did you expect from a basketball operation management team comprised of public service pensioners? (LOL!… again!!).

I have one of those defense first attitudes, and players like Howard should get more credit. I hate Kevin Garnett, but there’s no question that he was the key cog in Boston’s championship back in 2008.
Too often, high volume scorers in big markets on successful team wins the MVP. But in terms of overall value – I’d take Howard over Rose anyday.

The award is a popularity contest too, everyone likes Rose, so do I.

If borderline1988 lives in or near Orlando at that time, I’ll volunteer to drive him to the bridge just about a half an hour south of St. Petersburg (that way he won’t have to worry about his car or a borrowed car getting towed after he takes the plunge). It’s a great jumping off spot for the emotionally depressed and bewildered.

We’re witnessing a replay of La Bum James’ final 2 years in Cleveland (i.e., “I love playing in (insert city name here)!” Then the reality sets in that management hasn’t put enough pieces around you to make a strong championship run (much less more than one), and when that Russian billionaire who owns the Nets comes a callin’, Howard will be packing his suitcases just as La Bum did when Miami came a callin’!!!

Either you are incredibly naive in thinking that Howard is right now more of a difference maker than Rose, Bryant, La Bum or for that matter even Duncan, or you should be out right now selling everything you own to put your bet down on your Magic to win it all this season! (in other words, why not put your money up where your mouth is running?)!