Hey Chris Paul fans, Hey Zander - You wanna be a man?
Then own up to the fact that Kobe Bryant is the 2008 NBA MVP!
You heard me. Stop griping and get on!
First couple of lines that come out of Zander Freund's article talks about this being 2008, yet, he revisits Steve Nash's MVP numbers to make his point on why Chris Paul should be this year's 2008 MVP.
Since this guy has absolutely no clue as to what constitutes an MVP, I thought I would educate.
He goes on to say that Chris Paul's numbers 21 points 11.6 assists, 4 rebounds, 2.7 steals shooting .488 percent.
Makes Kobe Bryant's numbers, 28.3 points 6.3 rebounds 5.4 assists. 1.8 steals, shooting .459% look like "Tractor Traylor's" playbook. The "out of shape" version.
Then it dawned on me. This article was written originally in crayon, at recess.
Because no adult with half a brain would write something that asinine.
If we look at those stats side by side it looks like Paul is better in assists, steals, and field goal percentage. But here's a quick lesson.
True Shooting Percentage says Paul and Bryant are even at .576 percent. And since I know Zander has no clue as to what True Shooting Percentage is, let me educate.
TS% True Shooting Percentage calculates what a player’s shooting percentage would be if we accounted for free throws and 3-pointers. True Shooting Percentage = (Total points x 50) divided by [(FGA + (FTA x 0.44)]
It is PROVEN to be more accurate than FG% in measuring a player's efficiency.
So when it comes to TS% Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul are even.
Next is steals. Well, steals in NO WAY means you are a good defender. In fact it could prove quite the opposite because there is a lot of risk involved.
Example. Allen Iverson was always a leader in steals, yet not once was he ever an All-NBA Defender. NOT ONCE.
In fact Chris Paul is a defensive liability. According to Wyc Grousbeck in a TrueHoop article;
With Paul on the court, the Hornets give up 106.37 points every 100 possessions; with him off the court they're much better defensively, giving up only 99.94 points every 100 possessions. It's worth noting that Paul's on-off disparity is the worst of all Hornets players (starters or subs), so it cannot be a mere artifact of his being on the court with other poor defensive players. (By way of comparison, for example, the Hornets are 1.5 points better defensively with David West on the court).
Read full article: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-45/The-World-s-Most-Unlikely-MVP-Showdown.html
And since defense is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT fundamentals a player can have. I would say Kobe Bryant being a FAR better defender is very significant to this debate. Chris Paul will not be a First Team Defender, but Kobe will, of course.
So that's two down and one to go, assists. Chris Paul wins. Won't argue that!
Don't get me wrong Chris Paul is a very deserving candidate, he just wasn't the MVP.
- Paul had better players for most of the season.
- Paul had an almost injury free roster.
Today's Must Reads
- Paul didn't have a better record than Bryant.
- Paul didn't have better stats than Bryant. (Might have been close but not better)
- Kobe kept his team atop the West playing without a starting center for 30 games.
- The Lakers were plagued with injuries yet won the West and that's what an MVP does when his team is hurt.
- Bryant himself was injured and to this day STILL needs surgery.
And I'm not even going into the fact that Kobe was a better closer, better in the clutch this season and guarded the other teams best perimeter player.
Oh and here's another little fact. Kobe Bryant is the greatest player in the world. I think that might have something to do with it as well.
And since the MVP award has absolutely nothing to do with past winners. It absolutely doesn’t matter why Nash won it. Nash turned the Phoenix Suns into a championship caliber team since day one.
As for Kobe's teammates.
Gasol was a SUBSTITUTION not an ADDITION. It’s not as though Bynum, Gasol, Bryant, and Odom were ever on the court at the same time. And pre-Gasol the Lakers were on pace to win 56 and guess how many they won?..........Tah Dah 57 games.
While Chris Paul had the privilege of a nearly injury free season, Kobe had to deal with losing Bynum. Remember, if Bynum doesn’t get hurt, NO GASOL! Kobe was without a starting center for 30 games this season which meant Kwame and Turiaf started in 30 games. Radmanovic missed 17 games and Walton and Gasol each missed 10. And of course Ariza. Yet Kobe still kept his team atop the West.
Did I mention that Paul plays with TWO other All Stars? And before you try and tell me that Chris Paul was the reason, remember last season the Hornets went 11 and 19 without West. That is less than a 30 win season pace. Yet pre-Gasol the Lakers were on pace to win 56.
Two more quick points before I dismiss you from your lesson Zander.
Vujacic, Farmar, Odom, Bynum, Radmanovic, Turiaf, Walton.
If you were to say that those guys were a great team last year people would laugh you under the table.
Today they are considered "Superior Talent". Why do you think that is?
Not Gasol. Remember the Lakers were on pace to win 56 before Gasol.
Not Fisher. He is the locker room leader. But not a facilitator and NO he couldn’t lead the Warriors.
Not Odom. He was called "Odumb" last year on the bloggosphere and one of the most inconsistent players ever.
Not Phil. He runs a team he coaches the triangle but it still has to be executed.
That leaves Bryant. But why would anybody give Bryant credit for making his teammates better? Ahhh, the "Anybody but Kobe" attitude.
Sorry, you can't use that excuse anymore!
6 Lakers had career seasons. 4 in points and FG%, Bynum, Turiaf, Farmar, Vujacic.
Lamar in Rebounds and FG%,
Gasol in FG%. In fact Gasol went from shooting .501% being the leader of one of the worst teams in the NBA to having a career high .589% playing 2nd option to Bryant.
Derek Fisher is having the second best season of his career at 33 years old.
And 3 Lakers are in the top 20 in 3pt field goal percentage while Bryant is leading his team in assists AGAIN.
So let’s go over it.
Points per game. winner Kobe.
Assists per game. winner Chris Paul
True Shooting Percentage TS% each .576 Draw
Defense winner by a landslide Kobe
Rebounds per game winner Kobe
Team Record winner Kobe
Making their teammates play at a higher level winner Kobe
Remember Kobe didn't have Bynum for 47 games, Trevor Ariza for 47 games, Vlad Radmanovic for 17, Luke Walton for 10 games and Pau Gasol missed 10 games.
Also, remember that the Lakers didn't have a starting center (Bynum or Gasol) for 30 games this season.
Yet Kobe Bryant was still able to lead his team to the best record in the West.
Paul plays with two other All Stars, West is just as important as Paul. Like I said, the Hornets went 11 and 19 without West last season.
So the only stat or team success that Paul has over Bryant is Assists. Well, good for him!
Did I mention that Bryant led his team to the best record in the most competitive conference in NBA history?
Bryant is the only player in NBA history to lead a team to the best record in a conference with EIGHT 50 plus win teams while winning the MVP. Chalk up another record for #24
And I'm not the only one that feels Bryant is the MVP. 82 experts felt the same way.
Last point.
Kobe Bryant did it all with a torn ligament and broken finger in his shooting hand. That STILL requires surgery.
Kobe is the MVP!!!
Love it, Live it, Learn it!!!
Because it's not going to change!
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3 months ago
CP3 has never complained about not being the MVP, in fact, he's said it's an honor to be mentioned in the same class as kobe. paul has been nothing but a class act the whole season.
he has never threatened to leave the team or demand a trade b/c he's a diva. that was kobe. so attack writers who write about paul deserving the MVP, but don't attack paul because it's completely unwarranted.
3 months ago
Hey Justin go find some fucking tissues and cry in them. this man just posted undisputable facts. DEAL WITH IT!!
from 3 months ago
randall, he did not state indisputable facts when he called out CP3 for being a crybaby. he should've just called out the author of the article. CP3 has never cried about anything.
i was merely pointing that out. i probably would've voted for kobe with paul a very close second based on their team's record's.
as for your response to my comment, for your own sake, i hope you're 13 or something b/c that's something a kid would write. classy, witty, and intelligent. you truly are a triple threat.
3 months ago
GREAT write up Xris. SERIOUSLY dude I think you should submit this to ESPN. It is better than ANYTHING they have their idiot writers i.e John Hollinger, Chad Ford writing. Your write up basically puts these morons back in place. Hopefully they will crawl under the rock they deserve to be under. Funny thing is Zander (the idiot who wrote the worthless piece of garbage that led to your response) has been awfully quiet. It is sooooooooooooo funny how just about any player in the NBA makes "his teammates better" but Kobe is getting the benefit of "better" players. A bunch of garbage spewing out of the mouths of Garbage. If you hate someone because he is THE BEST much like I hated Jordan (because i am a lifelong Magic and lakers fan) then at least have the class to respect his game instead of belittling everything he's ever accomplished. Dude scores 81pts on 60% shooting and all these inbred mindless pieces of !@#$ can say is Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh but he's a ballhog. MY (insert their favorite player here) would never be such a ballhog. Guess what bubba? That's because he can't. KOBE IS SIMPLY BETTER THAN EVERYONE IN THE LEAGUE. Deal with it. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAAAAA he's a rapist I don't want to see him win MVP. It seemed like there were 30 teams in the summer (along with 99% of their fans) that wanted him last summer. OK time for me to get off my soapbox..........just wanted to say AWESOME article man.
3 months ago
CP3 has been there only for 3 years to cry abt anythin.. Kobe has been here for 11+ and deserves much better...
Great article man!! Very good stats.. Lakers should be hiring you a consultant for this...
3 months ago
Justin,
If you read the article from the beginning. It says nothing about Chris Paul being a cry baby. Its the Chris Paul "fans", and the Kobe doubters that can't except Bryant winning the MVP.
Chris Paul gave Kobe a lot of credit for winning the MVP and has been a great person on and off the court. Paul is one of the most classy guys in the NBA.
The Idea of this article wasnt to say Paul wasnt a valid candidate. He is arguably the best point guard in the NBA. If he would have won the MVP I would have had no problem with it and would have wrote something congratulating him on a job well done.
I and 82 experts believe Bryant deserved it a little more. And this was just in response to an article that Zander Freund wrote in which he seemed to think CP3's and Kobe's play this season had such disparity that Kobe would be likened to Tractor Traylor. Dispraising Kobe's TEAM and individual success.
I simply pointed out facts redeeming Bryant, leveling out the debate and pointing out why Bryant deserved it in the end.
I hope that cleared it up a little. Thanks for reading the article.
3 months ago
Yeah, that was a very good article you wrote Xris. And thats coming from someone who really doesnt care at a high level for the Lakers. Paul is good, but truthfuly, Kobe was just a tad bit better. Defense for sure got him the boost on the MVP race. Its going to be a great series when the Lakers and the Hornets play in the Western Conference Championship. I cant even pick whos going to win that matchup. Should be a great one!
3 months ago
Great smack-down of that wretched Zander article. Like you, I was appalled at that "Tractor Taylor's playbook" comment, and the "reasoning" behind it. Only a zealot would do something like that, imply that not only Kobe, but by extension every other player in the league as well, is so far below Paul that it's like he exists on a different planet from his contemporaries.
Commenting on Hendrix in his prime, Neil Young said something like, "Nobody else was even in the same building as that guy". Zander's comment is similar, except: Zander ain't Neil Young, and Chris Paul isn't completely transforming the way basketball is played, the way Hendrix transformed the sound of rock music.
I'm a Cavs fan (these are difficult times, as you can well imagine), and have no great love for Kobe, just oodles of admiration. And nothing against Chris Paul, who may well go on to win all those future MVP awards that we Cavs fans thought LeBron was going to run away with. But that article needed an HUGE reality check, and you provided it. Cheers!
3 months ago
Justin he's not attacking CP3 so stop getting your panties in a wad, he's attacking CP3 fans like Zander Freud. Great article
3 months ago
Yo Xris,
You were so busy hatin' Zander and his article, and blasting others for being "wrong on a few points" that you couldn't even get your own facts straight.
You claimed that the Lakers were on pace to win 56 games before Pau Gasol was acquired and they managed to win 57 by season's end, therefore, minimizing Gasol's impact on the Lakers.
Dude, that sounded crazy to me so I had to crunch the numbers myself to know for sure.
The Lakers were 30-16 when Pau played his first game with the Kobester. This paces out to a 53.48-win season--not 56 wins as you stated.
With a healthy Pau in the lineup, the Lakers kicked ass and won 22 of 26 games. In the ten games he missed due to injury (I'm including the game he got injured and only played three minutes), the Lakers went a mediocre 5-5.
So if you extrapolate the Pau factor and exclude the ten Pau-less games, the Lakers actually were on pace to win 60.46 games with Pau--roughly a 7-game improvement. More impressively, L.A.'s winning percentage with Gasol was an astonishing .846. Without him, it was .652.
While I have no argument that Kobe is a GREAT player and he carried the Lakers, I would argue that the addition (or "substitution" or whatever you want to call it) of Gasol was the key reason why the Lakers surged and pulled out the best record in the West.
I haven't bothered to break down any of your other claims, so who knows what else you got wrong. You made some good points, but no need to trash others. This year's MVP is highly debatable, just like the selection of Dirk Nowitzki last year. Kobe is a flawed MVP. I will have to elaborate in a separate article ...
Stay tuned.
3 months ago
Yo Joon.
When Andrew Bynum went down, the Lakers were 25 and 10. They were on pace to win 56 games.
And if you remember what I said in this article. If Bynum DOESN'T GET HURT, they wouldnt have picked up Gasol! And would have won 56 games with Bynum as their Center.
So if Bynum played up until the time Pua played his 1st game, they would have still been on pace to win...........................Tah Dah 56 games. But there wouldnt have been a "1st game" for Gasol if Bynum would have been able to play.
And if you didnt get the point, you might want to read it again or remember this. The Lakers were without Bynum and Gasol for 30 games and still won 57 games.
OVER A THIRD of the season without either.
Wasnt minimizing Gasol, just logitimizing Bryant.
And what PACE do you think the Lakers would have had without Bryant?
THATS WHY HE IS THE MVP.
That was the point.
3 months ago
this has got to be the most closed minded article i'v ever read. not going to waste my time going into it, but true shooting percentage....thats the dumbest thing iv ever heard. and did i see you mention that kobes team has a better record....pfft surely your not suggesting that one win in an 82 game season should be a deciding factor.
"Making their teammates play at a higher level winner Kobe " well i supose that seeing as cp3 had far more assists, kobe must have achieved this by motivating his team mates by hanging shit on them.
from 3 months ago
You're an uneducated fool. Closed minded? Check out Zander's article, which this writer was responding to, if you want a taste of that. And for the ignorant folks out there, true shooting percentage is the more sophisticated and accurate stat than normal field goal percentage. And what kind of person says having more assists means "making your team mates better"? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Teach yourself some basketball knowledge before making uneducated comments like this.
3 months ago
actually i'm quite educated, but thats beside thhe point...what shows your closeminded is that you speak in absolutes while zander was able to make concessions and accept that he'd made some errors and then explained his intentions...that shows education or perhaps just a lack of ignorance. and kobe bryant is always in the conversation about the most sefish player in the league, you can't honestly sit there and tell me he's a frequent passer, no one who has as many shot attempts and freethrow attempts can be! what do you think in kobes games there are more minutes to water down is dominance of possesion?
from 3 months ago
Zander made concessions? He realized he had screwed up and was cornered. He had nowhere to go after making so many inconsistent statements and short sighted conclusions. That's not education, that's called impetuous thinking. Until you watch Laker games, and ignore media bias and yellow journalism, you absolutely can't claim that Kobe is not a frequent passer. That's just great education Mitch: listen to the media. I guess just because the media constantly portrays him as the selfish villain, he must be! It's actually been quite the opposite of what you're trying to say- Kobe is a frequent passer. You know what shows your ignorance? You make these definitive claims without obviously having any substantiation for them. Plus, it is absolutely possible to have as many shot attempts as Kobe and pass the ball frequently (despite the fact that he's not even the only player to attempt a similar volume of shots, nor have the highest amount). Look at Jordan as an example.
3 months ago
and handing out passes that help your team mates score more points is the DEFINITION of making your team mates better, sure their are other ways but thats the primary one. and as for this true shooing percentage crap, let me put it to you this way if kobe was down in that catagory you wouldnt even mention it. iv got this statistic called womvpa% thats worthiness of most valuable player award percentage, for thos of you who are "uneducated". kobe 35% lebron 15% garnett 5% cp3 45%.
see doesnt take much confidence to pull out some crap statistic that no ones even heard of mate.
no more neds to be said, your article mocks it's self
from 3 months ago
You see, there's your problem. That's your distorted and incorrect definition of making team mates better. Handing out passes is not the definition of making team mates better. And don't try to trivialize true shooting percentage because you personally haven't heard of it. It's not even an esoteric stat. It's a very common and established metric in basketball analysis. To compare a sound formula to an actually arbitrary and crap statistic is a red herring. Otherwise, I think I'm quite happy with the ILOTP% stat that I just conceived, the "ignorance level on this page". Congratulations, you blow the competition. mitch 100%.
from 3 months ago
And to clarify, I'm not disagreeing with the fact that making passes that help team mates score makes team mates better. What I am saying is that doing so doesn't necessarily make a player a good facilitator, nor is it the only way of making team mates better, which is what you're trying to insinuate. If you haven't noticed, the Lakers use the triangle offense (which encourages versatile and multiple passing), while the Hornets use the standard point guard model (which sticks to uni-directional passing from the point guard). That makes a huge difference in how "assists" appear in the boxscore. You can make the same amount of passes, but these two different systems will reflect them accordingly. People like you who exclusively use the box score to capture a player's effectiveness are ignorant.
3 months ago
let me just pre-empt your response: your uneducated, your an idiot...kobes the greatest player ever...even though hes a ball hog he still makes his team mates better because hes kobe bryant...even though everyother team has injuries the lakers are more significant because...well...they just are idiot...kobe for president.
ps: xris + kobe= for ever
from 3 months ago
Nice to see your prejudices alive and well. No further proof necessary. Ignorant fool here.
3 months ago
dont forget uneducated and idiotic,
"And to clarify, I'm not disagreeing with the fact that making passes that help team mates score makes team mates better. What I am saying is that doing so doesn't necessarily make a player a good facilitator"
i'd be interested to know what you consider facilitation, if it isnt passing, i obviously must be way of the page?
"nor is it the only way of making team mates better, which is what you're trying to insinuate".
actually i wasn't "trying to insinuate" i literally said "handing out passes...is the DEFINITION of making your team mates better, sure there are other ways but thats the primary one."
but hey if it makes you feel better i agree with you...youv convinced me by merely attacking my arguments with marginally insulting names...ignorant fool here!
--am i ignorant for nor sharing your views, thats an oxymoron if iv ever heard one
i guess you were trying to insinuate that your love for kobe bryant blinds your comprehension and judgement.
from 3 months ago
Glad to see ignorant fool back, apparently unable to make any accurate claims again.
"i'd be interested to know what you consider facilitation, if it isnt passing, i obviously must be way of the page?"
Shall we review how you ended up with the above statement? 1) You claimed that because Chris had more assists than Kobe, he was more "successful" in making his team mates better 2) I countered that assists are a poor reflection of how a player makes his team mates better 3) You returned by saying passing to help your team mates score is the definition of making players better
Now, I admit my wording was vague in some places, which caused them to be susceptible to misunderstandings, so you and I were debating different arguments. It's also the case that you're oblivious to your own inconsistent definitions. In 1, you claimed that having more assists is the primary form of facilitation, and then in 3 you said passing in to help team mates score in general is the definition of making players better. My rebuttal was to your claim in 1, not in 3, hence our mix up. Second, if you stand by your claim that making passes to help your team score is the definition of making players better, then both Kobe and Chris are excellent facilitators since the principle in 1 is a subset of that in 3. Like I said above, the Lakers utilize the triangle offense, which eliminates the need for a point guard because it promotes varied ball movement until the defense collapses and the opportune moment to shoot is taken. So Kobe, although he primarily controls the ball, is a part of a dynamic offensive system which requires multiple extra passes. However, the Hornets utilize Chris as a point guard in the truest sense, which means that most of the time when he passes, it is expected that the receiving player should shoot. You can see why Chris would have more assists and Kobe would have more "hockey assists", and hence why assists are a poor measure for facilitation ability (look at Iverson or Arenas for another example, who usually have more assists than Kobe, yet are never true facilitators like Chris and, to a lesser extent, Kobe are) I'm not saying Kobe is facilitator in the same spirit as Chris is. That's absurb, Chris is a point guard and Kobe is a shooting guard. But both play a critical facilitation role in each of their teams.
"actually i wasn't "trying to insinuate" i literally said "handing out passes...is the DEFINITION of making your team mates better, sure there are other ways but thats the primary one.""
Hey, I know when I make a mistake and I'm man enough to own up to it (unlike someone here. I wonder who). I was rushing during lunch so I missed your second clause of "other ways", which I'm glad to know you're aware such do exist to improve one's team's production. But your incorrect position still stands since you believe that Kobe is barely a passer and primarily a shooter, which is completely false.
"but hey if it makes you feel better i agree with you...youv convinced me by merely attacking my arguments with marginally insulting names...ignorant fool here!"
It's pretty comical that you view corrections to your skewed view of Kobe as "merely attacking my arguments with marginally insulting names." Strip my comments of those "insulting names" (I don't see how they're insulting in the first place when they're perfectly accurate in their reflection of your claims), and you're left with a straight rebuttal to your comments.
"am i ignorant for nor sharing your views, thats an oxymoron if iv ever heard one"
First, learn the definition of oxymoron. Second, I never called you ignorant on the basis that you shared a divergent opinion from me on Kobe. I'm not shallow. I labeled you that, as any intelligent reader would have, on the basis of your incorrect information and flawed reasoning.
Forgive me. I admit I made another mistake. You're not ignorant. You're just plain dense.
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