| 16 December 2008
Damn man, LeBron James. For the next 18+ months, the attention paid to him is only going to grow. So, how does he respond? By getting better. Every single damn day.
MVP
1. LeBron James - I keep expecting LeBron to announce that Cecil B. DeMille's been coaching him. Because this is a performance of epic, biblical proportions. Pretty much every game he plays reminds me not of MJ, but of Charlton Heston standing before Pharaoh, demanding "let my people go".2. Kobe Bryant - Bizarrely enough, the poor play recently of the Lakers has meant that #24 has had to step it up a bit. And he has.
3. Dwyane Wade - Whilst D-Wade is playing some amazing basketball at the moment (his 29.1 per leads the league), but that's not equating to more wins for Miami. Unfortunately for the Amazing Teflon Boy, he needs more around him before he'll win an MVP.
4. Chris Paul - The Hornets are playing some damn fine basketball. Problem is, so are the Spurs. Chris Paul is still the best point guard in the league, and should his Hornets fire up a bit, he'll climb.
5. Dwight Howard - Manbeast. Really cannot say anything more about him than that. The sole reason that Orlando are scary. Most of the time.
6. Dirk Nowitzki - Dirk's leading a resurgent Dallas to some pretty impressive
7. Chauncey Billups - Whilst 'Melo might be the scoring leader on the Nuggets, there's no doubting that the leader in this team is Denver-native Billups. Many derided this trade thinking that Mr Bigshot had left his best years behind him... not so, and Denver are in contention because of one man, and one man alone.
8. Tim Duncan - Timmy... he's playing like he was 5 years ago. Worth noting that it's an 'on' year for SA too!
9. Chris Bosh - Bosh might be playing well, but his inability to make Toronto into a challenger is of concern. Especially when so many neat pieces surround him.
10. Brandon Roy - Dropping a few games they could've... should've won hurt both the Trail Blazers and Roy's MVP ranking.
ROY
1. Derrick Rose - Rose is good. Surprisingly so - and that's a big thing given the expectations surrounding him before he even played a game were so very high. Amazing to be able to say that he's surpassing them.
2. OJ Mayo - The real deal. OJ Mayo is trying to drag the Grizz kicking and screaming out of the cellar and into mediocrity. From where they were, being termed 'mediocre' would be a step in the right direction.
3. Marc Gasol - At least Mayo has help in the form of Gasol.
4. Michael Beasley - May end up being better than Rose, but not now.
5. George Hill - Typical Spur. No fanfare, but this guy is better than the much-touted Fernandez.
****
The guys over at The Dream Shake have the first quarterly voting for the NBA Blogger MVP/ROY awards up. And no surprises who is at #1. There's a bit of surprise movement in the lower ranks tho' - well worth heading over there!
