Cousy, Magic, The Big O, and Really?!? PART TWO

You might have heard that Curt Schilling retired this week, and of course the first question being asked is, “Will Curt Schilling be elected into the Hall of Fame?” If you just look at his regular season stats, then you would be inclined to answer no. He IS a part of the 3000 strikeout club, but only has 216 wins. 216 would be one of the lowest win totals by a HOF pitcher in Curt’s era. (Just to compare, Dazzy Vance had 216 complete games! He pitched primarily for the Brooklyn Robins in the ‘20s and 30’s, very different era indeed.) But if you had the chance to watch Schilling pitch in the playoffs; you would quickly realize he is indeed worthy of the Hall. Schilling went 11-2 with a miniscule 2.23 ERA in his postseason career; this included an unbelievable run in 2001 when he went 4-0, yielding only 6 runs in 6 starts (including 3 complete games), all while striking out 56 batters in only 48 innings. Oh and there is this little story you might have heard about…



Basically when Schilling went up against the best, in the pressure cooker that is the playoffs, he dominated. The playoffs separate and reveal the good from the great, and Schilling was incredible. Steve Nash is the anti Curt Schilling.

This is not to say that Nash is not a Hall of Famer, but over the years the playoffs have revealed that Nash is not as good as his two MVPs indicate. But the MVP is a regular season award, so I must show that Nash’s regular season accomplishments did not merit him winning two MVPs.

Reason number 1: A CFLN forgot it was ok to play some offense in the NBA.
Nash burst onto the scene in Phoenix coming off of back to back years where two defensively oriented teams had won the NBA Finals. The Spurs (13th in ppg in 03) and the Pistons (26th in ppg in 04). Only 6 teams averaged over 100ppg those two years combined. 13 teams are averaging better than 100 this year. So in 05, the talking heads saw a team starting to score a lot of points, freaked out, and stupidly assumed it was because Steve Nash was redefining the point guard position.
Which point guard would you want on your team?
Player A: 15.5pts 11.5ast 3.3reb 1stl
Player B: 22.2pts 10.9ast 5.4reb 2.8stl
Player A was Nash in 05, his first MVP season. Player B is Chris Paul, this year. I know for some of you it’s hard to believe that there could possibly be an MVP candidate outside of Lebron or Kobe. In that 2005 year, Nash played with Joe Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Shawn Marion. All three are All-Stars. Paul’s only fellow All-Star, David West.

Reason number 2: D’Antoni’s system
Yes everyone plays in a system, but no one talked about how this allowed Nash to accumulate an inordinate amount of assists. Of course his stats were good, but even bad players improve their stats in a system like D’Antoni’s. For example, the Knicks are currently 4th in the NBA in ppg. They were 20th last year. Nate Robinson, David Lee, and Wilson Chandler are all averaging around 6 more ppg than they did last year.

Reason number 3: Nash plays ZERO defense
The most important player on the defensive end in basketball is the point guard. Team defense is more dependent on him than it is anyone else, even the center. Think about it, if a perimeter player is beat off the dribble, then another defender must come and help; leaving an open person to pass the ball to. The center may be able to help, but point guard penetration often leads to easy baskets. You would be hard-pressed to find a point guard in the NBA that does not have a great offensive game against Nash. He gets beat off the dribble, people shoot over him, and bigger guards post him up all day. Let’s look at the Suns rankings in opponents ppg since Nash arrived.
2005-30th, 2006-28th, 2007-23rd, 2008-25th, 2009-27th
Remember that there are only 30 teams in the NBA, so Nash was so “valuable” to his team in 05 and 06 that they were in the bottom 3 worst defensive teams in basketball. Oh and don’t blame this all on D’Antoni either. The second to last team in defense in 2004…none other then the Nash led Mavs. But for those of you who say seeing is believing…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uqXKCWghl4

So basically Nash is great player that I would never want on my team. Well, maybe if I was an owner and trying to sell tickets.

What about this year’s MVP? Let’s go back and ask the questions.
1. Who is the best player in the league?
Kobe. All these people are trying to make an argument that Lebron is better, but when the stats are close I think you have to ask, “Would you rather have Kobe or the chosen one take the last shot for your team?” From the field or from the line the obvious answer is still Kobe, in fact if it’s free throws were talking about, then I would want a whole host of people besides the chosen one taking those last two shots. I do think it is interesting however, that the CFLN is positioning the CO (chosen one) as better than Kobe. Anyone that watches the game (and watches them play against each other) can easily see that Kobe still reigns supreme.

2. Who is most valuable to their team?
Oh they are bowing down to the CO on this question. “The Cavs would be lost without their saviour!” Pretty sure that kind of talk should be reserved for church, but hey, he is supposed to bring balance to the force, right? Oh wait, that’s Star Wars…oh well. Ladies and Gentlemen your 2009 NBA MVP: (barring Kobe scoring 81 points or something crazy) Lebron James.

But what if the right question were asked? The question that should always be asked first. Who is having the best season? If this was the CFLN’s focus, then I believe the MVP race would not be between KB24 and LBJ, but rather a battle of CP3 vs. D Wade. Both are having statistically comparable seasons to the frontrunners, but Paul and Wade have far less to work with. Unfortunately for them...they are not the Chosen One, and they do not play in LA.