http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=WestOffseasonPredictions LOL!!! No mention of Lamar! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Awards-080901 - award predictions Lol at this also! what does 'struggling in the olympics and in the finals' have to do with winning the REGULAR SEASON MVP? The Olympics has nothing to do with the Finals so even if LBJ showcased his talent it still doesnt count LOL (on a side note, i thought Wade was team USA's mvp) LOL again at the 4th, what does past ranking have to do with it? I dont think the Cavs will improve that much... they're at most a 4th seed in the east. They have a good team but there are a couple of eastern teams that are flat out better (Boston, Orlando, 76ers, Raptors, Pistons) *im not hating on LBJ, in fact i love him as a player, i just wanted to point out the absurd reasons ESPN pointed out for him to win the MVP haha
this is all preception by the voters, it does affect many of them as they do write about it. Obviously it SHOULDN'T have anything to do with next years MVP, but as we've all read different writers/voters have different criteria as to what the MVP should be about. If the Cavs win their division and 50 games, I think LeBron gets it, unless the Lakers win 65 plus and run away with the West. Which is fine by me.. I just want the C's to win back to back titles
It will be difficult for Lebron to win the MVP. I think that a guy like Chris Bosh has just as much chance of winning it this year depending on how his team does. KG and PP will both be in the running, and a guy like Amare could easily emerge if his team is atop the west. Realistically I think that CP3, Kobe, and maybe Paul Pierce are players that would finish ahead of Lebron. I think the article's point of mentioning that Kobe struggled in the finals and olympics is that he is slowing down. Their opinion not necessarily mine.
I think this years MVP race will be exactly the same as last years. I think New Orleans gets fewer wins than last year due to the fact that it seemed like they shocked the NBA in the first half of the year and teams didnt really know what to expect when they faced them. Towards the end of last season they started losing a few games here and there. I know this is a stupid reason, but it's my gut feeling
Even if LeBron becomes the best player next season, he still needs to win a fairly decent amount of games based on past criteria. CP3 should be pretty solid again too. Not that I have a problem with Bron getting it anyway.
i agree with dynastythe rest of the league is going to be ready for the hornets, yes they have CP3, and he is a great PG, but the rest of the squad is just okay. They brought in posey, but posey aint much of a big change in terms of other teams having to contain him. The rest of the league thinks they'll be ready for the lakers, as they know how good we were last season, but next season is going to be a big change. We've got back Bynum at center, which means Pau can move back to PF (his natural position, see how well he did in the olympics at PF!) and odom back to SF, where his ability to overpower other SF's will prove very handy. This means more high percentage shots with bynum and pau down low, better passing from the perimeter and most importantly, because we have big bynum down low on D, as well as Pau, our perimeter defense will improve, as players will be a little more tentative to drive to the basket in fear of getting blocked, plus how you gonna get through odom, bynum and pau? The Lakers will also have back a healthy Ariza, a player who could have very useful as a backup, late in the season, an improved Sasha, he's been working his butt off the whole offseason, and if Sun Yue makes the team, we will have yet another player with great olympic experience (Sun showed us that he can play against the big boys of the nba, it shows that he'll be useful down the track). I beleive that the Hornets are the second best team in the west, but the lakers are far better, and have much more experience, which is the key come playoff time, so in that case Kobe is ahead of Cp3 in the MVP candidates. As far as LeBron goes, if he performs better than his previous seasons, and his team reaches 2nd or 1st in the east, then he'll be a top candidate over CP3, but i dont see that happening.
Just a gut feeling really lol I could very well be wrong, and I'm prepared for that And to clear up what I said, when I said they'd do worse, I don't mean dropping like let's say the Mavs did over a 2yr period. I think NOH will be a great team, I just think they have a worse record than they did last year. I think NO will feel Posey's effect come playoff time. Those close games will be won by some of his hustle and shots. The hard thing to gauge about the West is that it's top 3 teams are so good, and they can be moved around anywhere in the top 3. The next 5 aren't far off, and all their records will probably have a difference of 5-6 at most. Then the next 2 are close to getting the 8th seed by like a game or two. It's tricky out West.
Right, because Posey is more of a defensive open shot hitting player. The Hornets made a pretty big move in getting him. I don't really see the Lakers or Spurs making any moves so even if the Hornets lose less games I think they will be atop the west.
Well the Lakers didn't play an entire season with Bynum or Pau, so they could easily be atop the West as well.
Why do we have to make a roster move to be the top seed? i think its stupid, the hornets got posey, so fukin what? Posey was playing with garnett, rayray and Paul Peirce, i think htat would have made it a little easier on him, dont you? The lakers were the top last year, and we still have the same roster, the hornets are almost identical, so what are you guys trying to say, that the addition of posey (of all people) is going to make the hornets top of the west, over the spurs, phoenix, houston and the Lakers? all those teams are better then them, hornets had a good year last year, but it didnt last did it. i think it is so stupid to say that posey can effect a team in the way some of you are saying he does, yes he's good at D, but is he going to defend, kobe, odom, Pau and bynum all at once? jeez.
The addition of Bynum alone is a bigger addition than Posey IMO. And that's not also mentioning moving Gasol to his natural power forward position. That way he can utilize his mid-range game instead of being forced into playing in the paint every minute.
Right now I have the West at Lakers Houston New Orleans Utah San Antonio Phoenix Dallas Portland Don't ask me for an explanation, and don't rip me for this. I'm going to write an article for the NBA General forum with the explanations so just hold onto your questions and comments, I'd be glad to address them later. Plus I'm a pretty easy guy to debate with so at least you won't have to moan and groan about this
We think alike. That's my exact bracket as well. Although I'm not sure how I feel about the seeding, I'm not too upbeat about the possibility of facing Portland in the first round, because we ALWAYS struggle against them (although their inexperience will give us an advantage). I'd much rather play the Mavs because Kobe just owns that team.
Boy do we know how hard it is to play Portland....man, we have like 3yrs together in every game thread, and I swear all the frustration of the year culminates in a game vs Portland lol Like I said, I'll explain the bracket later, I have my East bracket too if yall want a preview, but only if you ask me nicely people will hate me for it, especially the LeBron fans
For the mvp... i think what last season's MVP (kobe) did to get it will be the same for this coming year Get monster stats (i.e. lead league in scoring, and be an all around player haha) and be on top the conference (kobe edged out paul bec. of this).
The Olympics don't have anything to do with the NBA regular season, this article is retarded. I thought LeBron taking Cleveland to the NBA Finals by himself a few seasons ago was a justifiable reason for putting him in the MVP discussions. Chris Bosh is an interesting name to throw out there, but he's not going to have the supporting cast he had during the Olympics to take the focus off him. JO will need to play at least 85% of the teams games this year and one other player will need to step up offensively. Otherwise Bosh will see double and triple teams again next season. Right I have Kobe as the MVP front-runner again. Unfortunately, the Lakers have high expectations this season and are expected to win a lot and be the #1 or #2 seed in the West. If the Lakers finish tops again in the West and Kobe has another strong season he has to be next year's MVP winner.
