MVP/RoY Rankings, Part IV
The fourth edition of the blogger MVP/RoY rankings has just been posted at
Sixers 4 Guidos.
Here are links to the previous three editions:
MVP/RoY rankings, Part IMVP/RoY rankings, Part IIMVP/RoY rankings, Part IIIHere is my complete ballot exactly as I submitted it (MVP and RoY votes are scored on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and 5-4-3-2-1 basis respectively, so Bryant is my top MVP pick and Durant is my top RoY pick):
MVP
10-Kobe Bryant: He has completely confounded the critics who asserted that his attitude would bring down the
Lakers this season.
The Lakers are on pace to win more than 50 games and it is time for the player who is acknowledged to be the league's best player to finally win an MVP.
9-LeBron James: He continues to put up excellent numbers but if Nash and Dirk got MVPs over Kobe because of their team's records then how can LeBron be honored over Kobe this season?
8-Dwight Howard: He is the most physically imposing post player in the NBA right now.
7-Kevin Garnett: He is not putting up the best numbers of his career--far from it--but his impact on Boston's success is obvious.
6-Tim Duncan: Two-time MVP has become the forgotten man in MVP talk in recent seasons.
5-Chris Paul: Rapidly earning recognition as perhaps the league's best point guard.
4-Dirk Nowitzki: The MVP who everybody loves to criticize, his numbers have been going up and the Mavs are rolling.
3-Steve Nash: Still highly productive but the bloom seems to be off of the rose in Phoenix--the Suns have a poor record against the best teams in the West and just recently lost to Paul's Hornets.
2-Amare Stoudemire: He is having an outstanding year and making everyone forget about his previous knee injuries.
1-Allen Iverson: Seemingly a forgotten man now, Iverson is putting up big numbers for Denver, including a career-high field goal percentage.
Dropped from the list since last time:
Tracy McGradyAdded to the list since last time:
Allen IversonROY
5-Kevin Durant: His field goal percentage has inched upwards but is still in the .400 range. His talent is obvious but his floor game is not yet as good as advertised. I still don't understand why he has been crowned already as a star in the making. He may very well become a star but it is premature to say so until his body fills out and his game expands beyond just shooting a lot.
4-Al Horford: Continues to put up good rebounding numbers and shoot a good field goal percentage.
3-Sean Williams: Rebounder/shot blocker who shoots a good field goal percentage.
2-Yi Jianlian: He hit a bit of a slump recently but his overall production to date still merits putting him on the list.
1-Luis Scola: Getting steady minutes recently and putting up solid numbers.
Labels: Al Horford, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Sean Williams
posted by David Friedman @ 10:58 PM
Early Take on the MVP/RoY Races
BrewHoop.com will be polling several NBA bloggers throughout the season to get their takes on the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year races. Contributors have been instructed to rank candidates on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and 5-4-3-2-1 point scale respectively (i.e., 10 is a person's first choice for MVP), based on the entire season to date, not who we think will be the best player by the end of the year or who has played well in a recent stretch. The results of the first poll can be found
here. Four of my top five MVP candidates finished in the top five in the overall voting; I rated Tim Duncan higher and Chris Paul lower than the consensus. Eight of my ten MVP candidates finished in the top ten; I left off Carlos Boozer and Manu Ginobili (they would be in my top 15) in favor of Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming. As for Rookie of the Year, I am not surprised that Kevin Durant finished first but I have him third right now. Three of my five Rookie of the Year selections were consensus picks; I left off Jamario Moon and Yi Jianlian in favor of Sean Williams and Luis Scola. The group is wrong to ignore Williams, who ranks in the top ten in the league (not just among rookies) in field goal percentage and blocked shots; he is a more productive player, right now, than Durant and Williams is making his contributions on a much better team. Moon and Scola are probably a wash right now but if we are talking about production to date then I would not put Yi in the top five. Here is my complete ballot exactly as I submitted it:
MVP
10-LeBron James--He is racking up "big" triple doubles (with 30-plus points) like Michael Jordan in 1989 and has improved on defense as well.
9-Kobe Bryant--He is still the best all-around, two way player in the game but the voting instructions are to select who is playing the best right now and no one is playing better than LeBron.
8-Dwight Howard: His numbers--24 ppg, 15 rpg, nearly 3 bpg--demand that he rank highly in any MVP discussion.
7-Kevin Garnett: Barring a complete collapse by the Celtics, the media will likely give him the MVP. He is putting up good numbers, which he always does, but I'd be lying if I said I'd take him over LeBron or Kobe. Honestly, I don't think that he is better than Duncan or Nowitzki but he has been more productive than either of those guys so far.
6-Tim Duncan: He's not putting up big individual numbers but does anybody believe that the Spurs would have the best record in the West without him?
5-Steve Nash: Amazingly, his shooting percentages are even higher than his off the charts numbers from last season.
4-Dirk Nowitzki: His shooting numbers are down but his assists and blocks are up.
3-Chris Paul: Career-high numbers across the board.
2-Tracy McGrady: Houston's record without him in recent seasons is terrible.
1-Yao Ming: Steady inside presence on an up and down Houston team.
ROY
5-Al Horford: Nearly averaging a double-double and shooting a much better percentage than Durant.
4-Sean Williams: Ranks in the top ten in the league (not just among rookies) in field goal percentage and blocked shots.
3-Kevin Durant: I realize that Durant will likely be a landslide winner due to the unrelenting hype but the only significant edge he has over my top two selections is ppg--and that is because he is playing a lot of minutes for a bad team and he has the green light to jack up shots despite his poor field goal percentage.
2-Juan Carlos Navarro: Logged at least 35 minutes in four straight games, played a big role in Memphis going 2-2 in those contests.
1-Luis Scola: Already has three 20 point games, ranks 11th in the NBA in field goal percentage and has emerged as a solid rebounder.
Labels: Al Horford, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Sean Williams
posted by David Friedman @ 3:03 AM
Durant Has the Hype, but Horford is Doing Work in the Paint
With Greg Oden sidelined for the season, Kevin Durant has received by far the most coverage of any NBA rookie. He has scored the most points--and missed the most shots. Here are the rookie leaders in several statistical categories:
Scoring
-------
1) Kevin Durant, SEA 19.0 (.374 FG%)
2) Jianlian Yi, MIL 9.9 (.432 FG%)
3) Jeff Green, SEA 9.8 (.453 FG%)
4) Daequan Cook, MIA 9.0 (.465 FG%)
5) Sean Williams, NJN 8.9 (.628 FG%)
Rebounding
----------
1) Al Horford, ATL 10.1
2) Jamario Moon, TOR 6.5
3) Jianlian Yi, MIL 6.1
4) Jeff Green, SEA 5.4
5) Sean Williams, NJN 4.6
Assists
-------
1) Mike Conley, MEM 4.2
2) Acie Law, ATL 3.0
3) Kevin Durant, SEA 1.8
4) Juan Carlos Navarro, MEM 1.6
5) Al Horford, ATL 1.3
Minutes
-------
1) Kevin Durant, SEA 33.8
2) Al Horford, ATL 32.5
3) Jamario Moon, TOR 27.4
4) Jianlian Yi, MIL 25.5
5) Jeff Green, SEA 22.2
NBA Efficiency Rating
---------------------
1) Al Horford, ATL 15.3
2) Jamario Moon, TOR 12.1
3) Kevin Durant, SEA 11.8
4) Jianlian Yi, MIL 11.5
5) Sean Williams, NJN 11.3
Durant continues to receive the most hype but by any objective measure he is not the best rookie. Don't be deceived by his scoring average; Durant is the only rookie who has a green light to shoot at any time from any spot on the floor--and his field goal percentage and his team's record (2-10) show that neither he nor his Seattle Supersonics are profiting from Coach P.J. Carlesimo's decision to turn Durant into "Agent 35, Licensed to Shoot."
Horford ranks in the top 20 in the league in both rebounding and blocked shots. He is averaging 8.7 ppg while shooting .481 from the field. It may be impossible to win the Rookie of the Year award while averaging less than 10 ppg but there is no doubt that he is a more effective player than Durant at both ends of the court.
Yi's shooting percentage is not great but it is better than Durant's; Yi also grabs more rebounds and blocks more shots than Durant.
Sean Williams ranks sixth in the NBA in blocked shots (2.5 bpg) and is shooting well over .600 while nearly averaging 10 ppg. That kind of production in the paint at both ends of the court is more valuable than the one-dimensional game that Durant has right now.
The NBA Efficiency Rating is hardly the definitive word on player evaluation but it is a semi-useful "quick and dirty" tool to make general comparisons. Kevin Garnett has the best NBA Efficiency Rating (31.8). Horford's rating is slightly worse than Udonis Haslem's rating. Moon's rating is virtually identical with Mehmet Okur's rating. Durant, Yi and Sean Williams are keeping company with veterans like J.R. Smith, Jordan Farmar and Kenyon Martin. The bottom line is that none of this year's rookies--including Durant--are even close to playing at an All-Star level.
As a sidenote, it is interesting to look at what has happened so far with the three Ohio State players who were drafted in the first round. With Oden out and Mike Conley struggling before he too was sidelined by injury, Miami's Daequan Cook is putting up the best numbers among Buckeye rookies. This is no doubt a major surprise to his hometown newspaper, the
Dayton Daily News, which for some inexplicable reason published a story at the start of the season that suggested that Cook would be sent to the NBA Development League, a bizarre assertion that looked even more foolish
after his performance in his very first game. Cook will no doubt have his ups and downs like most rookies, but he has already displayed enough athleticism, shooting ability and confidence to become a rotation player for the Heat.
Note: All statistics are from NBA.com
Labels: Al Horford, Daequan Cook, Kevin Durant, Sean Williams, Yi Jianlian
posted by David Friedman @ 1:12 AM
