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      Why Chris Paul will win the MVP

      April 8, 2008 /

      ESPN’s Scoop Jackson wrote a fine piece detailing why Kobe Bryant will not win the MVP award this season.

      Truth is Kobe Bryant will never win the MVP of the league. He is hated too much. Hated by those who cast votes. Hated too much by those he plays against. And the two All-Star Game MVPs he’s won, well, they don’t count in this scenario. Voting Kobe as the best basketball player in the world for a day is one thing, honoring him with that same title for an entire season … in the infamous words of Bobby Brown’s ex-wife: “Oh, hell to the No!”

      Writers won’t honor Kobe like that, not even when in good consciousness they want to or would like to. As one writer said to me when the subject was brought up in conversation, very apropos for an election year, “Kobe’s electability quotient is zero.” In other words, he’s Ralph Nader.

      Bryant had two terrific back-to-back seasons (in ’05-’06 and ’06-’07) but wasn’t a strong MVP candidate because the Lakers didn’t win enough games. (The last player to win the MVP on a team with fewer than 50 wins was Moses Malone in the 1981-82 season.) This season, his Lakers have their 50 wins – 53 and counting, to be exact – but Jackson argues that the amount of hatred that Kobe generates from those that vote (the media) ensures that he will not be winning the award this season.

      In truth, Kobe is probably the most talented player in the NBA. But this doesn’t make him the MVP. I have a buddy who is a diehard Laker fan and we debate this endlessly. But I always come back to the same point – to be the best you can’t pull the kind of stuff Kobe pulls off the court. You have to be a good teammate, and by most accounts, Kobe is not. So, to me, being the most talented and being the best are two different things.

      This is why Chris Paul will be the NBA MVP. No one saw the Hornets’ amazing season coming and Paul is the main reason why New Orleans is so good. The Hornets currently have the best record in the West and Paul’s numbers – 21.5 ppg, 11.5 apg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg – are better than the numbers Steve Nash posted in the ’04-’05 and the ’05-’06 seasons. Moreover, Paul is universally considered a good guy, and the media likes him. (Kevin Garnett is the darkhorse, but his stats – 18.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.3 bpg – aren’t eye-popping.) If Paul’s assist numbers weren’t so gaudy or if the Hornets were in the fifth spot in the West instead of first, Kobe would have a better shot, but given Kobe’s reputation (and offseason temper tantrum), I don’t see the media awarding him with the MVP.

      Is this fair? Not entirely, but Kobe made his bed and now he has to lie in it.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Nothing like getting quality retirement advice from the media

      April 8, 2008 /

      Blogger Mike Florio wrote a recent column for SportingNews.com about 10 NFL players that should retire.

      6. Jonathan Ogden, OT, Ravens: Ogden is another guy who should quit talking about retirement and just do it. For the future Hall of Famer, however, it’s not about whether he loves the game. It’s about whether he can continue to use a constantly injured toe to push off his 345-pound frame. (Then again, it’s likely the toe is constantly injured from all those years of doing just that.)

      8. Chad Johnson, WR, Bengals: In a misguided effort to get out of town, the Bengals’ No. 1 wideout has been threatening to retire. Coach Marvin Lewis has called his bluff. Johnson should call Marvin’s bluff and pack it in. Not because it’s in Johnson’s best long-term interests to do so, but because the football-following world is sick of listening to his routine. The only problem is someone would likely hire Johnson to talk about football on television. So maybe it’s better if he doesn’t retire. Ever.

      I realize is this is supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek column and Florio is trying to be somewhat comical, but I’ve always been of the mind that no member of the media should ever tell a professional athlete when to hang it up. If athletes took retirement advice from the media, Brett Favre would have quit four years ago and football fans wouldn’t have been able to enjoy Favre and the Packers’ great run last year.

      NFL

      Chris Henry seeking Irvin’s help? Yikes.

      April 8, 2008 /

      Ryan Wilson of AOL’s FanHouse writes that former Bengals wide receiver and public menace (too over the top?) Chris Henry is seeking the advice of former Cowboys wide out Michael Irvin.

      And now recently unemployed Chris Henry wants to do the same. Via the Cowboys Blog:

      On his show on ESPN Radio Dallas moments ago, Cowboys icon Michael Irvin revealed that he recently took a phone call from embattled ex-Bengal Chris Henry. Henry, it seems, wants to make a cleaning-up-my-act appearance on Irvin’s program, the same way Pacman Jones did weeks ago.

      Irvin and co-host Kevin Kiley discussed the merits of providing Henry with such a stage. There was some reluctance on their part in becoming known as the “Boystown” of sports radio.

      God help us all.

      NFL

      Favre’s second career

      April 8, 2008 /

      Lang Whitaker of SI.com lays out five possibilities for Brett Favre as the retired quarterback searches for a new career.

      1. Republican Presidential Candidate: McCain’s been on autopilot for a while now, so maybe Brett could shake things up.

      2. NFL Head Coach: Favre’s rep as a gunslinger might diminish his credibility with his players, but he’s always been a leader and a favorite on his teams.

      3. Host of an ESPN Outdoors Show: Hunting isn’t for everyone, but it’s definitely for Favre.

      4. MLS: Not sure what position he’s best suited for — along the back, perhaps? — but David Beckham can’t carry MLS on his own forever.

      5. Chairman of Federal Reserve: Favre’s always specialized in Hail Mary’s and making the impossible possible. Maybe Brett can help America avoid the dreaded “R” word.

      Pretty weak, Lang.

      Someone wrote this in the comments section: Why not pharmacist? It’s an area he knows a lot about…

      Ouch.

      NFL

      They’re called “free” throws for a reason…

      April 8, 2008 /

      Wow, what a game!

      Truth be told, I was rooting for Kansas. I picked them to win my bracket, so with the victory, some second place money is coming my way. (That damn Louisville/Tennessee game still haunts me!) I was also rooting for them because I think they’re the better-coached team. John Calipari has done a terrific job over the years in compiling loads of talent, but I’ve never liked the style of play he teaches. There is virtually no discernable structure on offense and when the pressure is really on, things tend to fall apart.

      Memphis was plagued all year by poor free throw shooting, but had shot the ball well from the charity stripe during the tournament. Even deep into the second half, things were looking pretty good. Memphis was 9 of 12 from the line before Chris Douglas-Roberts missed three straight free throws to let Kansas back into the game with under 75 seconds to play. Then Derrick Rose failed to convert two free throws that would have sealed the game with 0:10 to play. If not for those misses, Mario Chalmers’ magnificent shot wouldn’t have mattered.

      If I were a coach, I’d record the last three minutes of regulation and play it for my team at the beginning of each season. The lesson? When you’re shooting free throws in practice, concentrate! Imagine you’re at the Final Four and the game is on the line. Imagine the fans in the stands rooting against you.

      Good free throw shooting is one of the areas of basketball that is often overlooked. It’s not as sexy as working on that double crossover move or pushing that three-point range out to 23 feet. It’s boring to shoot free throws, but more than anything else in basketball, you’ll see results in free throw shooting if you focus when you practice.

      Bo Ryan would always have us shoot free throws to end the practice. We would run some lines and then five guys would step up to shoot. We had to make four out of five to get off the court. If we failed, we ran more lines and start the process all over again. Truth be told, the pressure I felt shooting those free throws almost matched that of a game. If I missed, I knew that I’d get all kinds of shit from my teammates. Calipari probably does something similar, but I doubt that he makes it as big of a priority as some of the other things he does in practice.

      After the game, Clark Kellogg criticized Calipari for not fouling with under five seconds to play in regulation. The thinking is, when you’re up three, if you put a team to the line to shoot two free throws, you make it very difficult for the team to tie or win the game. In general, I agree with this strategy and in his post game interview, Calipari said that they did try to foul but were unsuccessful. It was a difficult situation because he wasn’t sure what position his team would be in because Rose was at the line. That’s why it’s so important to practice end-of-game situations.

      Lastly, I didn’t like Calipari saying in his post-game interview that he didn’t like the fact that the refs were able to go to the video to change Rose’s desperation three-point bank shot to a two-point field goal. He said he wanted to see if he could change the rule. Was he joking? Maybe, but the overall tone of the interview was that “we should have won that game.” If Rose doesn’t bank in that shot, Kansas has the ball, down five, with more than four minutes to play. That’s hardly a comfortable margin for Memphis, a team that has struggled all year with their free throws.

      Anyway, it was a terrific game, an amazing comeback, and a dominant overtime – a perfect end to another great NCAA tourney.

      College Basketball, March Madness

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