First of all AI can play defense just fine. He has trouble doing so when matched up against bigger players, of course, but there's no question that he gives effort on that defensive end. Peja does not; he gets a mediocre amount of steals so I'm not sure where you got the idea that he's "the same type of defender as Iverson." The fact is Peja doesn't have AI's size disadvantage and when you watch him on the offensive end he obviously doesn't have the mobility problems that prevent a lot of 6'10" guys from being adequately quick on their feet. All this and he still doesn't play defense. Good thing there aren't a lot of threatening small forwards that he has to match up with. And comparing his defensive skill to Irk Nowitzki is...well...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ANiMuS:</div><div class="quote_post">How do you guys define "contender" for MVP? The way I see it, you're a "contender" if you have a legitimate chance of winning the award. Will Peja get votes? Of course, but there's very, very little chance that he'll get the most votes.</div> cheers to that, and the one you posted after that.
i saw some games that he plays good defense, he tries to stay in front of his man... he tries to stay close to him... that's the kind of defense that AI plays too... he tries, they try... sactown is a good defensive team and there's none weak link that I can remember, there is never an article saying that peja is their weakest link when the team is playing D... there's no outstanding one-on-one defender on that team but they play excellent team D and that's what Peja has been doing and so what AI's been doing... I'm saying he's the same type of defender as Iverson because they play pretty much similar defense, trying to stay in front of their men and get their steals off interceptions off bad passes... if AI, who played decent defense, could win it in 2001, why not Peja, who basically plays decent D too this season? <div class="quote_poster">Quoting ANiMuS:</div><div class="quote_post">Good thing there aren't a lot of threatening small forwards that he has to match up with. And comparing his defensive skill to Irk Nowitzki is...well...</div> There aren't a lot of threatening sfs? there are plenty actually... there are marion, VC, melo, maggette, jamison, artest, reef, jefferson... and it's not like these cats try to burn peja for their career nights everytime they meet him... and yeah i admit dirk comparison was bad... so i use AI now (same level of D)...
Wait , I love all the Kings haters on these boards ...This is cause for great debates... MVP is a big accomplishment, and yes you do have to put up consistant numbers night in and night out ....He has been stepping up his game while Webber has been out , and does deserve mention ....Will he posibly win MVP ??...Probally not ...But he could if he had an insane 2nd half of the season ....I'm talking game winning shots (lots of them), AND he would have to average close to 30 points a night .... About his defense ...I watch every game, and he is not a BAD defender ....He muscles down low for rebounds , and he keeps himself in front of most players he faces...He is active at swating the ball out of players ...And the important thing is ....He works his ass off every day to get better ...In fact , he spends a considerable amount of time every day working on his defense ...And IF most of you who think he plays crappy defense ...Maybe you need to pay attention more to Kings games .... Go Kings~
I really like Peja, he tries hard and plays quite well on defense if you ask me. Well he attempts to anyway, better then Dirk at least. However as much as I like him and the Kings and knowing he's a contender, I'm not really being bias, but I'm going with KG "and" Duncan. He is a contender though, no denying that but let's look at AI and TMac shall we? Both have pretty lawsy supporting casts. KG, TD and Peja all have decent to great teammates along their side. They're a major factor to their victories as well afterall. I'll just be happy to have Webber back, some more power and offense for the Kings game. Some good defense as well. Poor Divac though, he'll probably be benched and Miller will play in his spot.
You cannot give MVP to a player on a team that doesn't make the playoffs, especially in the East. AI and TMac are not candidates in my opinion. Right now, KG seems to have it locked down. 45 double doubles in 51 games! Averages 25 ppg, leads the league in rebounding at 14 per game, shoots 50 percent from the floor, dishes out 5 assists a game, averages over 2 blocks a game and over 1 steal a game. KG is the most versatile player in the NBA. He is the only guy who can play all 5 spots on the court legitly. Plus his team is atop of the conference. Peja is a great shooter, but thats it. He is not a great defender, no matter how much effort he puts into it, and is not a great rebounder. He's done a great job while Webber was out. Iverson is not a great one on one defender either. He plays passing lanes and gets steals. Thats how he has always done it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mydi619:</div><div class="quote_post">yeah that was my opinion, if you disagree then say you disagree, instead of hypocritically calling me an idiot. KG-obsessed fans... tsk tsk.</div> Yea when you tell me you Garnett doesnt deserve the MVP because you "dont like him" ... then you can be thrown in to the idiotic fan group... the MVP is not a popularity contest... this isnt like voting from prom queen or some crap. If you are gunna tell me why Peja deserves it more, you need to give me more than that. You are certaininly intitled to your opinion, but give me facts, explaintions... I think we could all care less your reasoning for MVP based on popularity. And before you even say, I have Peja 4th on my MVP list... on a very tight ballot... he is most defaintly a candidate and very worthy.
Regardless of how you feel about Peja's defense (some may question it, some may applaud it for what it is), there shouldn't be any question that he doesn't do it anywhere near as well as Garnett or Duncan. And when he does have to play D he's rarely required to do so on the opposition's best swingman (whether that be a SG or SF). Christie takes care of that for him (he's that "outstanding 1-on-1 defender on the Kings" that you forgot about by the way). If they're going against Boston, Peja gets to guard the much more guardable Jiri Welsch, while Christie gets the fun in guarding Pierce. And if they're going against Toronto, Peja again draws the easier defensive assignment (i.e. not Vince Carter). So NO, there aren't a lot of threatening SF's in the league as far as what Peja has to deal with. When it comes to bigmen, again, Peja gets lucky because Sacramento has the benefit of having two 7-footers that aren't afraid to play a physical game. They have this and Christie, and the Kings are still 25th in the league in both points allowed and FG% defense, so please don't tell me Peja is an integral part of an "excellent team defense". Lastly, Iverson's defensive skills in his MVP season were quite noticeably better than Peja's, and one of the things that contributed to his award that year, by the way, was that Iverson was severely banged-up that whole year and the Sixers still finished 4 games ahead of the #2 seed. Peja is an average rebounder, an average passer, and an average defender. He will get votes for MVP but any realistic observer knows that there's very little chance of Peja finishing 1st in the ballot.
It doesn't take the oldest senior citizen in my city to see that KG or TD plays better defense than Peja... but hey, this is no defensive player of the year award that we're talking about... this is most valuable player award, which means a player that carries his team to wins the most... i'd say Peja should beat KG (despite his crazy numbers) this year because KG has Cassell and it seems Cassell (and spree) has been the difference for the wolves's success... Peja has made way more big plays than KG counting this season alone, check out when it matters the most, the kings give the ball to him and watch him play like he was on the Playstation2... when it matters the most for Twolves though the ball seems to be in Cassell's hands almost every time... that's why he's one of the best 4th quarter performers this season... does KG carry his team? yeah, but not as much as Peja does. Defense should be considered as a factor too in the voting but it shouldn't overshadow what other things (such as bringing wins) a player accomplished for his team. If all these players (Peja, KG, Duncan) keep playing in the second half the way they played in the first IMO KG should finish third in MVP voting behind Peja this year, but I guess Duncan will finish first again because he also carries his team like Peja does. As much as I wanna see someone else win it, you bet TD will win it again. Edit: Just saw Kings-Pistons, Peja's last second shot gave Kings a win at Detroit.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mydi619:</div><div class="quote_post">they both deserve it, or no... peja deserves it more. he's carrying the team... KG has cassell and sprewell now.. oh yeah he has hoiberg too... ha! maybe he deserves something for dealing with fred.</div> Peja Stojakovic has a legitimate chance, I don't know why everyone is writing him off. You say Garnett has Spree and Cassell, well have you ever heard of Mike Bibby or Brad Miller? Both teams have a hell of a cast, you can't put down either player for that. It's irrelevant when comparing them for MVP. Currently, I'd take KG for MVP only because he has more weapons in his game. He could have a double double at the half every night, unreal. Peja has improved this season. His scoring is up by 6 points, and he's rebounding the basketball better. It will be interesting to see how he plays once Webber returns to the lineup. Both players play an important role for their team, they hit clutch shots, and win ball games. Don't write off Peja yet, he has the Kings standing first in the pacific.
It's between KG and Tim Duncan again because Peja can shoot and thats it. He might get a steal every once in a while, but this guy sucks on defense. How are you gonna be 6'10 and don't average at least 1 block a game? Wierd...
I can see why Peja would be considered for the award. He is the best player on the best team in the NBA. Screw him being one dimensional, he has the guts to be MVP. But it will ultimately be between Duncan and KG. I hope Peja gets 1st team though, he definately won't be MVP
Fishball, there are a lot of angry words in my mind right now, but I won't say them. Fishball: "KG should finish third in MVP voting behind Peja this year" WHAT??!!! Good thing fans don't get to vote for the MVP. I'm going to put your comment in my signature. We'll see who's laughing when the MVP award is announced. CourtVision: "Screw him being one dimensional, he has the guts to be MVP." So, all the multidimensional players in the league, such as Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, have less of an MVP chance? Kevin Garnett has just as much guts as Peja. 1 more opinion of mine: Kevin Garnett had no one last year and carried Minnesota. The Timberwolves won a franchise high 51 games. If Tim Duncan and the Spurs, who're currently deeper than Minnesota was last year, only win 50-55 games, TIM DUNCAN will not be MVP. Kevin Garnett should win MVP hands down. Sam Cassell and Sprewell play off him. How do you think they able to be so open quite a lot of the times? Ever heard of teams triple-teaming Kevin Garnett? Yep, you better believe it.
Fine, we'll "consider" Peja an MVP "candidate". It's still a two-horse race between Duncan and Garnett. Same deal last year. Despite all the talk about Kobe and T-Mac being MVP candidates, anyone with minimal knowledge (ok maybe not that far...) about the '02-'03 NBA season knew that they were only there to hype up the ballot, because realistically it was going to come down to Duncan and Garnett, and only those two. Peja's in the same boat as those swingmen from last season. He'll get "considered" but he will lose. Believe it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ANiMuS:</div><div class="quote_post">How do you guys define "contender" for MVP? The way I see it, you're a "contender" if you have a legitimate chance of winning the award. Will Peja get votes? Of course, but there's very, very little chance that he'll get the most votes.</div> Exactly the point I was trying to make. I mean a non-contender as in he doesn't have a legitimate chance of winning the award, not as in he hasn't done enough to be considered for it. Well put, ANiMuS.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Romination:</div><div class="quote_post">CourtVision: "Screw him being one dimensional, he has the guts to be MVP." So, all the multidimensional players in the league, such as Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, have less of an MVP chance? Kevin Garnett has just as much guts as Peja.</div> Larry Bird for MVP? Where's the time machine?
Stojokavic is an oustanding player...the best shooter in the league who can score in a variety of ways from the perimeter...but TD and Garnett are true MVPs who play BOTH sides of the ball and have proven to be clutch scorers in the playoffs, which Stojokavic has yet to show...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">have proven to be clutch scorers in the playoffs, which Stojokavic has yet to show...</div> This isn't a lifetime achievement award. It doesn't matter what anyone has done in the previous seasons and postseasons. It's all about what has happened this season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Romination:</div><div class="quote_post"> CourtVision: "Screw him being one dimensional, he has the guts to be MVP." So, all the multidimensional players in the league, such as Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, have less of an MVP chance? Kevin Garnett has just as much guts as Peja. </div> Did you read my full quote? I said he should be considered but he won't win it. You are just regurgitating what I'm saying.
