Friday, February 3, 2012

MVP Update (2/3): Chris Paul Enters the Discussion



Chris Paul doesn't take head taps lightly. 


In previous weeks it has been noted that this year’s MVP award is a four-man race between LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose. LeBron has been putting on an efficiency showdown and is having one of the best statistical seasons in NBA history. Kevin Durant is leading the Thunder to the best record in the league while grabbing more rebounds. Kobe has gotten back to being Kobe by leading the league in scoring and fighting for ownership of the Staples Center with the Clippers. And then there is Derrick Rose, who is doing whatever it takes to keep the Bulls atop the Eastern Conference[1]. But this week a fifth man enters the discussion. I bring to your attention, Mr. Chris Paul.

            We all already know Chris Paul is the leagues best “pure” point guard. He does exactly what you want a point guard to do. He makes everyone around him better, sets up shots perfectly, uses out-of-this-world passing angles and keeps the defense on its toes with his own shot and driving ability. In the 2007-’08 season, when he had his best statistical season of his career, he led the Hornets to the second best record in the West, falling one game behind none other than Kobe’s Lakers. And if you’re catching onto the trend here, yes, Kobe, not Chris Paul won the MVP award that year. Jump forward to 2012 and now Chris Paul and Kobe share the same building, though not on the same team like many had speculated[2]. Instead, Paul now leads a Clippers team that has been irrelevant for most of its existence, but as of Friday morning leads the Lakers by one game for the Pacific Division crown.
            For those of you that have been paying attention to the divisional standings since the start of the season, you probably have noticed that the Clippers have been up on the Lakers for most of the season. A fact that may have you wondering why it has taken until this point in the season to enter Chris Paul as a serious MVP candidate, considering he is the clear leader of the revamped Clippers. To put it simply, it took some time for the dust to settle.
            Okay, that wasn’t very simple, actually rather vague. The dust I’m getting at is the vetoed trade of Paul to the Lakers and the excessive excitement of the Paul/Griffin pairing that has formed the newly dubbed term “Lob City.” Thanks to the lockout it has also taken some time for the Clippers to gel, but to be fair, if it weren’t for the lockout Paul probably would not have wound up with the Clippers in the first place. Through the first nine games of the season it was unclear who was the leader of the Clippers. What was clear was that Paul was their best player, but unless you live under a rock, you know that Blake Griffin has more star appeal. Then Chris Paul missed five games and then the Clippers became his team.
            In Paul’s absence the Clippers didn’t play poorly[3], but lacked a foundation to their efforts. They had to rely on shear athleticism to churn out their wins and it was clear that they missed Paul’s leadership. On January 25th, Paul returned for Round 2 of Clippers vs. Lakers, a game that got about as physical as the NBA will allow these days, the defining moment being when Pau Gasol attempted to pat Chris Paul on the head as if to console him for the loss. Gasol’s friendly tap was met with a fierce swipe from Paul and a look that read, “You may have won the game, but the war isn’t over.”
            Since that loss to the Lakers, Paul has lead to Clippers to impressive wins over the Grizzlies, Nuggets, Thunder and Jazz. In those games Paul has gone for 18 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists; 25 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists; 26 points, 14 assists; and 34 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists. And in last night’s loss to the Nuggets, the Clippers decided to sit their starters in the fourth quarter[4]; call it a lockout loss. Since that loss to the Lakers, Paul has been averaging 23.6 points, 9.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds, a pace that could put him on track to win the MVP and put the Clippers on track to win not only the battle of the Staples Center, but also the West.

MVP Rankings

1.    LeBron James- He is closing in on Kobe for the scoring title and still has a wide margin when it comes to PER. LW: 1
2.    Kevin Durant- The Thunder have only lost four games on the season thanks to the consistent play of Durant. Though his overall scoring output has not been as impressive as last season, he has shown improvement on the boards, averaging 8.1 per game, a career high. In his past three games he is averaging 32 points and 13.3 rebounds. LW: 2
3.    Derrick Rose- Though the Bulls lost to the Heat, he is the reason they were even in position to win. Rose made sure to take care of the Knicks last night though with his “Houdini” layup. LW: 4
4.    Kobe Bryant- It’s hard to build MVP momentum when you’re last two games have been against the upstart Wolves and spiraling out of control Bobcats. A quite week for Mr. Mamba. LW: 3
5.    Chris Paul- Paul is heating up and has the Clippers poised for a deep run into the playoffs. LW: 7
6.    Dwight Howard- The Magic have been playing horribly, but it’s hard to ignore 20.1 points, 15.4 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. LW: 8
7.    Kevin Love- His 25.3 points and 13.6 rebounds per game are arguably more valuable than Howard’s stats, sans the blocks. On a down note, the Wolves lost two of three this week. A trend that will keep them just out of the playoffs if it continues. LW: 6
8.    Russell Westbrook- The Robin to Durant’s Batman if you’re into that sort of thing, Westbrook has gone for 30.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds in his past three games. LW: 10
9.    Paul Pierce- You might be shaking your head right now, but if you’re a Celtics fan I know you’re not. The Celtics have seemingly risen from the dead (and above .500,) winning seven of their last ten, eight of which have been without Rondo. You can thank Paul Pierce for that. LW: UR
10.  Danny Granger- The Pacers are quietly still nipping at the heals of the Bulls for the Central Division crown. Granger is their leader and he deserves some credit. LW: U


[1] Except make FTs.
[2] Some guy named David Stern made sure of that.
[3] They actually won 3 of 5.
[4] Paul still had 15 points and 9 assists in 31 minutes of action.


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