afb@pucc-i (Michael Lewis) (02/27/86)
Just looking through the statistics in TSN's NBA section and thinking about
who should be MVP this year. I've narrowed it down to the following group:
Player PPG RPG APG Stl FG% FT% Team W-L%
Dominique Wilkins 28.4 7.8 2.6 89 .475 .797 .577
Larry Bird 24.6 9.8 6.2 111 .464 .908 .820
Alex English 29.1 5.0 4.1 45 .506 .848 .574
Akeem Olajuwon 23.6 11.2 2.0 91 .516 .663 .654
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.5 5.8 3.6 36 .569 .790 .750
Moses Malone 23.0 11.8 1.2 45 .445 .777 .642
Adrian Dantley 29.0 5.3 3.3 45 .559 .814 .473
This is a tough call. I think I can narrow it down further to Wilkins,
Bird, and Olajuwon. From there it gets tougher. I might be tempted to go with
Bird were it not for my innate dislike for the Celtics and the fact that he won
it the last two years. He said he thought Michael Jordan deserved it last year.
I disagree, but I think Bernard King deserved it the year before.
Wilkins has had a huge role in turning the Hawks into a winner. The Hawks
are not stocked with superstars at every position, so Dominique draws a crowd
every night on Offense. He still scores. He is definitely one of the most
exciting players to come along in a while.
Olajuwon was my pick until his recent knee injury. Now I'm not entirely
sure. This man is going to dominate the league for years to come. Ewing is
great and will get better, but I'd rather have Akeem. If he misses very few
games because of this injury, he's my pick. Otherwise, I have to go with
Wilkins because of the way he's turned the Hawks around.
What does everyone else think about it? Any other candidates you think I
neglected? I know there are some Boston fans out there who take umbrage at my
snubbing of Bird. He's great, easily the best all-around player since Wilt.
I just think that Wilkins and Olajuwon have made outstanding contributions
toward winning records on teams that aren't nearly as loaded as the Celts,
and deserve to be recognized for this.
Michael Lewis @ Purdue Universityccalille@ihlpf.UUCP (Calille) (02/27/86)
> > Just looking through the statistics in TSN's NBA section and thinking about > who should be MVP this year. I've narrowed it down to the following group: > > Player PPG RPG APG Stl FG% FT% Team W-L% > > Dominique Wilkins 28.4 7.8 2.6 89 .475 .797 .577 > > Larry Bird 24.6 9.8 6.2 111 .464 .908 .820 > > Alex English 29.1 5.0 4.1 45 .506 .848 .574 > > Akeem Olajuwon 23.6 11.2 2.0 91 .516 .663 .654 > > Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.5 5.8 3.6 36 .569 .790 .750 > > Moses Malone 23.0 11.8 1.2 45 .445 .777 .642 > > Adrian Dantley 29.0 5.3 3.3 45 .559 .814 .473 > Even though your list is pretty accurate, I think you have left out the man that will win the MVP. This person is ISIAH THOMAS, who is second in the league in assists and is scoring around 23.0 points per game. He has single handedly turned the team around since they lost 17 out of 20 games. The Detroit Pistons have now won 13 games in a row at home and have only lost one game in all of February and this can be attributed to Thomas. The way the team is playing now they should be able to go a long way in the playoffs as long as Thomas is healthy. If you look at Thomas stats during the teams winning streak, you will notice that he is scoring around 30 pts a game and 13 assists a game. He has also won the MVP in the All-Star if you will recall. I think that it is about time that Thomas gets recognized as an All Star by winning the MVP since he has never won the award before. Chris Calille ..ihlpf!ccalille
plw@panda.UUCP (Pete Williamson) (02/28/86)
> > Player PPG RPG APG Stl FG% FT% Team W-L% > >Dominique Wilkins 28.4 7.8 2.6 89 .475 .797 .577 >Larry Bird 24.6 9.8 6.2 111 .464 .908 .820 >Alex English 29.1 5.0 4.1 45 .506 .848 .574 >Akeem Olajuwon 23.6 11.2 2.0 91 .516 .663 .654 >Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.5 5.8 3.6 36 .569 .790 .750 >Moses Malone 23.0 11.8 1.2 45 .445 .777 .642 >Adrian Dantley 29.0 5.3 3.3 45 .559 .814 .473 > Assuming the MVP Award is really interpreted as PLAYER OF THE YEAR, I honestly believe that Larry should get it again. (Incidently, at this stage of the season, I'd expect that he will get the neccesary ballots if they voted now.) Your above list really includes some GREAT PLAYERS. I would pass over Akeem for a .663 free throw percentage and the fact that Kareem, in his waning years, can still apparently outplay him. Free throws, on the other hand, are such an important part of the overall game, especially in close contests, that I believe that the NBA's Player of the Year must be at least better than average. Don't get me wrong, Akeem is one helluva Center! Dominique, on the other hand, though he appears to be changing somewhat, is a one on one ballplayer. Against the Celts, we've seen him take the Hawks out of the game on several occasions. I think that important attributes of the Player of the Year that don't appear in stat sheets are: * Overall game * On-court savvy * The ability to make teammates better than they are * Hustle and desire * Team leadership My vote is unquestionably for the NBA's best player: Larry. My second vote would be for the NBA's best alltime player: Kareem. -- Pete Williamson "By hook or by crook, we will !!" ... #2
plw@panda.UUCP (Pete Williamson) (02/28/86)
> I think that it is about time that >Thomas gets recognized as an All Star by winning the MVP since he has never >won the award before. Thomas is a GREAT OFFENSIVE player and he does well to compensate for his height by "playing smart" on defense, and yes, the Pistons would be in real trouble without him, but in my opinion he is simply not that good. It's real tough for a guard to be the PLAYER OF THE YEAR. For Thomas to win that title, he'd certainly have to be the NBA's best guard. Give me Cheeks, DJ, and Magic over Thomas any day. -- Pete Williamson "By hook or by crook, we will !!" ... #2
afb@pucc-i (Michael Lewis) (03/03/86)
In article <347@ihlpf.UUCP>, ccalille@ihlpf.UUCP (Calille) writes: > Even though your list is pretty accurate, I think you have left out the > man that will win the MVP. This person is ISIAH THOMAS, who is second in > the league in assists and is scoring around 23.0 points per game. He has > single handedly turned the team around since they lost 17 out of 20 games. > The Detroit Pistons have now won 13 games in a row at home and have only > lost one game in all of February and this can be attributed to Thomas. > > The way the team is playing now they should be able to go a long way in > the playoffs as long as Thomas is healthy. If you look at Thomas stats > during the teams winning streak, you will notice that he is scoring > around 30 pts a game and 13 assists a game. He has also won the MVP > in the All-Star if you will recall. I think that it is about time that > Thomas gets recognized as an All Star by winning the MVP since he has never > won the award before. > Chris Calille > ..ihlpf!ccalille "The way the team is playing now..."; "during the teams winning streak..."; the MVP award should be awarded for performance throughout the season, not in stretches. Thomas is probably the best guard in the game today, but I would award the MVP to a player who has turned his team around from last year. Detroit's record is about the same as last year, while Atlanta has significantly improved its record from last year, and is in fact leading the Pistons. Not to nit-pick too much, but Thomas' season ppg in TSN was 21.2, not 23.0 as you said. (as of February 24th or so). Michael Lewis @ Purdue University
afb@pucc-i (Michael Lewis) (03/03/86)
In article <1452@panda.UUCP>, plw@panda.UUCP (Pete Williamson) writes: > Thomas is a GREAT OFFENSIVE player and he does well to compensate for his > height by "playing smart" on defense, and yes, the Pistons would be in real > trouble without him, but in my opinion he is simply not that good. > > It's real tough for a guard to be the PLAYER OF THE YEAR. For Thomas to > win that title, he'd certainly have to be the NBA's best guard. Give > me Cheeks, DJ, and Magic over Thomas any day. > > -- > Pete Williamson > "By hook or by crook, we will !!" ... #2 If I had to choose which guard I'd like to have for one season only, Magic *MIGHT* beat out Thomas, but DJ? Where was mighty DJ in the Championships (except for game 4) when the Celtics game was crying for perimeter scoring? I think the failure of Johnson and Ainge to provide this was a big reason why the Lakers won. As for Cheeks, he's a great guard...but I'd put him a notch below Magic and Thomas. Maybe a notch above them defensively, but definitely not up to Thomas on the offensive side. If I had to choose which guard I'd like to *have*, there's no doubt that Thomas would be my choice, what with Magic's knees being in the shape they're in... The top five NBA guards, in my opinion... 1. Magic Johnson 2. Isiah Thomas 3. Maurice Cheeks 4. Sidney Moncrief 5. Alvin Robertson (you'll be hearing a lot more about this one...) Michael Lewis @ Purdue University