I strongly dislike John Hollinger. Allow me to explain. Wait, you don’t like him either? Well, let me explain anyway. Hollinger wrote a column today explaining a litany of reasons why he doesn’t believe that Derrick Rose is the MVP of the NBA this year (and actually saying Rose should finish 6th or 7th). I can take off my Bennie the Bull glasses for long enough to recognize that there are other legitimate candidates for MVP, but Hollinger misses the legitimate arguments against that candidacy. Hollinger argues that Dwight Howard is the MVP of the league this year because (1) there is no one that can replace him, (2) Howard has a worse supporting cast and (3) that he makes a team of weak defenders elite.
Howard is Irreplaceable while Rose is Replaceable
As a physical force protecting the basket, I agree. Dwight Howard is far and away the best defensive player in the league and the most imposing player since Shaq. He is absolutely the best center in the league. But we don’t give the MVP out because you can’t find another player that is the same. Otherwise, Shaq would have won every single MVP award while he was in the league AND Dwight Howard would win every MVP for the foreseeable future. Shaq and Dwight Howard, however have the same fatal flaw. You cannot run the offense through them at the end of close games. Why? The other team will put them on the line every single time the ball goes into the post. At the end of the day, basketball is still about putting a round orange ball through a basket. If you replace Howard with Lebron or Rose, I think the Magic are still the 4th or the 5th seed. Their team just looks much, much different. The argument is not “value over other guy at their position” but rather value over the other elite players. Dwight Howard is replaceable. He is replaceable with any other elite player.
As for Rose, Hollinger argues that Russell Westbrook or Deron Williams would make the Bulls just as good (a ludicrous argument - that would be like voting against Lebron for MVP last year because with Kobe the Cavs would have been a top seed in the East). (1) Comparing Westbrook to Rose is comparing apples and oranges. Westbrook plays with Kevin Durant, the league’s leading scorer. Guess who carries the scoring load and draws all the defensive attention. Could Westbrook carry the load offensively like Rose has this year? There is absolutely no way to tell. Hence, the comparison is not apt. (2) Deron. I love Deron Williams, but wasn’t Utah’s team last year essentially the Bulls this year? Substitute Okur for Noah (offense for defense) and Kirilenko for Deng (close to a wash actually). Utah grabbed a 5 seed in the West while Rose is on the doorstep of the top seed in the East.
To sum up this argument, there are more good point guards than centers in the NBA. But that is an absurd reason to give someone the MVP.
Supporting Cast
Yes. The Magic have a crappy supporting cast. But to say that Rose has an amazing supporting cast is extreme revisionist history. Last year, the Bulls were the 8 seed by the skin of their teeth. That they were not in the lottery was as much because Chris Bosh broke his face as any spectacular play by the Bulls. The difference this year: an improved Rose, the addition of Boozer, Loul Deng buying into his role as “third scorer/defensive stopper,” and an improved bench (Korver, Watson, Brewer, Asik, and Gibson beat up on other team’s second units). Is the Bulls supporting cast better than Orlando? Yes. But it is flat out wrong to imply that the Bulls have this amazing supporting cast.
Defense
Hollinger says that Howard makes a team of weak defenders an elite defensive team. This is true. Who else has done that over the past 15 years? Tim Duncan. Duncan was the best help side big man in my lifetime. He continues to make a San Antonio team that employs both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli an elite defensive unit. Admirable, yes. Is Howard better than Rose defensively? Yes (which is why Howard will win Defensive Player of the Year - again). But Rose is improving defensively (we aren’t talking about Nash in ‘05 or ‘06 on the defensive end when it was akin to giving the MVP to a DH). And he can’t be an awful defender since the Bulls are an elite defensive team. Is Howard’s defense something that pushes one candidacy over another when they are equal on the offensive end? Yes. But that is where Hollinger’s argument falls apart. If Rose and Howard (or Howard and Lebron or Kobe) were equal on the offensive end, then yes, Howard’s defense would add relevance to this debate. But Rose is light years ahead of Howard offensively. When you quantify value to a team, I’m sorry, I need a guy I can run my offense through over the last two minutes of a game. Howard draws double teams leading to open shots for his teammates, but he is an atrocious foul shooter, so when the Magic are down two with a minute to play, he isn’t getting the ball. Rose uses the last two minutes of the game to impose his will and put the other team away (see this week in Milwaukee).
Is Howard a top 5 candidate for MVP? Absolutely. If I had a ballot (shocking my credentials as writer for the Hobbserver has yet to translate to an MVP vote), my ballot would go: (1) Rose - does anyone honestly think the Bulls compete for the top seed in the East without him (other than Hollinger); (2) Lebron; (3) Kobe. I could see Lebron as MVP. I understand the argument for Howard. Calling Rose the 5th or 6th choice for MVP is just plain absurd.
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