Derrick Rose: 10 Reasons Why Stan Van Gundy Is Right About the MVP
Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy commented recently that he expects Derrick Rose to win the NBA MVP Award. Van Gundy—unsurprisingly—would rather see his star center, Dwight Howard, take home that honor.
Is Van Gundy right? Will Rose give the Chicago Bulls their first MVP since Michael Jordan?
Here are 10 reasons (not all of Rose’s making) that the Bulls point guard likely will hoist an MVP trophy at season’s end.
10. MVP Voters Are Tired of the Same Old Candidates
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One major advantage for Rose in the voting is his status as a newcomer to the MVP discussion.
The LeBron James vs. Kobe Bryant debate has been rehashed endlessly over the last few years, and both fans and MVP voters have become jaded by the consistent brilliance of those two stars.
Rose, the exciting young star of this year’s surprise title contender, looks like a breath of fresh air.
Even if he doesn't seem to dominate every possession as Bryant and James tend to do, he gives voters a plausible candidate who hasn’t yet reached media saturation.
This factor should not, of course, have any bearing on the voting, but it’s entirely likely that it will.
9. Orlando Hasn't Been Dominant Enough
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Stan Van Gundy’s contention that Dwight Howard deserves the MVP does have its merits.
Of the leading contenders, only Howard (vying for his third-straight Defensive Player of the Year Award) routinely controls games with his defense.
Unfortunately for Howard, he’s fighting the perception that his team hasn’t been great enough.
Rose’s Bulls currently lead the East, while Kobe Bryant’s Lakers and LeBron James’ Heat stand atop their divisions.
Against that background, Orlando’s second-place status in the Southeast makes Howard’s achievements look less impressive than they really are.
Unless Orlando can overtake Miami for the division title, it’s unlikely that MVP voters will take Howard as seriously as he deserves to be in a crowded field.
8. Boston and San Antonio Are Too Well-Balanced To Produce an MVP
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Though it's nothing to do with him, Rose's MVP candidacy benefits appreciably from the lack of an obvious contender from either Boston or San Antonio.
In another context, individual Celtics stars like Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce or even Kevin Garnett might be in the MVP conversation.
However, with the collection of them playing together, it’s hard to identify a single MVP for the Celtics themselves, let alone a Celtics candidate for league MVP.
The situation is even more muddled in San Antonio, where perennial face-of-the-franchise Tim Duncan is by far on the downside of his brilliant career.
The Spurs’ ensemble cast approach makes finding an MVP contender on their roster effectively impossible.
7. Rose Has Reached a New Level This Year
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In just his third year out of Memphis, Rose is still growing as a player and his enormous improvement this season is a big part of his MVP candidacy.
He’s raised his scoring average by four points a game and his assists by two per game since last season.
More importantly, he’s added an entirely new weapon to his arsenal by extending the range on his jump shot.
When he entered the league, even mid-range jumpers were sometimes an adventure for Rose. This year, he has a chance to sink more three-pointers (112 made as of this writing) than he attempted in his first two seasons combined (132).
By forcing teams to respect his outside shot, Rose has become a complete offensive player able to take over games on a regular basis.
6. Chicago Is Peaking at the Right Time
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Chicago’s strong performance in the latter part of the season can also only help Rose with the MVP voters.
While LeBron James’ Heat dominated in December and January, the memory of that performance has lost some luster thanks to Miami’s more recent struggles.
Having won nine of their last 10, Chicago is as hot as any team in the league.
Assuming the Bulls can keep up their high level of play—and the schedule seems to favor them doing so—the voters will have Rose’s best performances fresh in their minds come balloting time.
5. Chicago's Revamped Roster Has Come Together
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One of the unusual features of this year’s MVP race has been that three leading contenders—LeBron James, Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard—play on teams whose rosters have been drastically reshaped since last season.
Of those three, Rose has been the most successful in bringing the disparate pieces together.
The Heat have, of course, shown flashes of brilliance. But their struggles after the All-Star break revealed a team that still doesn’t know how to get the most out of their individual talent.
The Magic have meshed more successfully since trading away Vince Carter, but Howard’s role in that development has been lessened—through no fault of his own—by his natural role on the team.
As a center, Howard isn’t responsible for orchestrating the offense or getting other players involved in the same way that Rose is.
Team chemistry has been one of the hallmarks of Chicago’s success all year. Rose has starred while still being a part of that chemistry, not above it.
4. Chicago Wins Against the Best Teams
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Rose’s potential-MVP standing rests heavily on the Bulls’ team success—and nowhere has that success been more striking than in their matchups with the other top teams in the NBA.
Against the other top five teams in the league—the Celtics, Heat, Spurs, Lakers and Mavericks—Rose’s Bulls are 8-4 on the season.
In contrast, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are 4-7 against the same group.
LeBron James and the Heat, of course, have had much ink spilled over their 3-9 mark in that company.
The Bulls’ ability to win against high-level opposition owes much to Rose’s individual brilliance, and lends a lot of credence to his MVP candidacy.
3. Rose Has Enabled Bulls To Weather Injuries
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That the Bulls, led by Rose’s outstanding play, have risen to the top of the East this season is surprising enough. That they’ve done it with two key starters missing significant playing time is extraordinary.
Both Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah have missed more than 20 games with injuries in 2010-11. In other words, the Bulls have lost a quarter of a season each from their top two rebounders and their second-leading scorer (Boozer).
The Bulls aren’t unique in this regard (Andrew Bynum of the Lakers has also missed significant playing time), but theirs has been the worst set of injury problems to face any of the league’s top contenders.
Rose has been the key to Chicago’s continued success in spite of those injuries.
2. Rose Has the Numbers To Be in the MVP Conversation...
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As much as the Bulls have helped Rose’s candidacy with their team performance, his own individual stats make him a very real contender for the MVP.
Rose’s per-game averages of 25 points, four rebounds and eight assists put him solidly in the company of players like LeBron James (26, seven and seven) and Kobe Bryant (25, five and five).
It doesn’t hurt that Rose is the only player in the top 10 in the league in both scoring and assists.
Dwight Howard just misses being in the top 10 in scoring and rebounding (11th in scoring, second in rebounding), making him the only other contender with a similar bullet point in his favor.
1. And It's Not Just About the Numbers
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The less tangible factors in the nature of the MVP award work strongly in Rose’s favor. Many voters will look at team performance, and the Bulls’ first-place standing in the Eastern Conference will certainly help Rose.
The quality of players around an MVP candidate can also become a factor.
Both James and Kobe Bryant have All-Star teammates, and it’s unlikely that either Miami or the Lakers would collapse if they had to play a stretch of games without those stars.
The Bulls, on the other hand, would be crippled by the loss of Rose, who has been the only thing keeping their offense running for most of the season.
The fact that Rose has elevated a middling team to the top spot in the East is perhaps the biggest factor in his MVP candidacy.
