Loading ...2006-2007 NBA Champion and MVP
The 2006-2007 season has been relatively devoid of surprises. Dallas and Phoenix have maintained the top two records in the West while Detroit and Cleveland have a stranglehold on the East’s top two spots.
The Western Conference has once again displayed its dominance over the East. As of Friday, March 23rd the top five seeds in the Western Conference (Dallas: 56-11, Phoenix: 52-16, San Antonio: 47-20, Utah: 44-23 and Houston: 44-25) had records greater than the number one seed in the East (Detroit: 43-24). Further proof that it’s time to undergo the change to the NBA’s regular season and playoff structure. Each team should play one another an equal amount of times so that the playoffs can be seeded 1-16 without regard to Conference and based upon regular season record. I suggested this on my blog back on December 5th of last year.
MVP
Traditionally, the Most Valuable Player Award has been given to the best player on one of the top teams in the NBA. No player whose team has won less than 50 games has won the award in the past 25 years. I suppose this makes the selection process simple for the voters but I’m not sure that it accurately awards the player who is of the greatest value to his team. For the sake of argument, we’ll focus on the top two candidates…
Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash have both played MVP caliber basketball. Dirk is the favorite to win MVP since his team currently enjoys the league’s best record while Steve Nash has done nothing but statistically improve upon his previous two MVP seasons.
So which player is more valuable to his team?
It can be argued that Steve Nash has a better supporting cast since the Suns have two genuine All-Stars in Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. Marion and Stoudemire are amazing players but Nash provides the spokes that make that wheel go round. With Steve Nash at the point guard position the Suns’ offense is a beautiful thing to watch but impossible to imitate. Nash is an unbelievably athletically gifted player. That’s right, I said athletic. Athleticism encompasses more than just running and jumping. Nash can dribble and pass equally well with either hand. He moves in angles that are impossible for other players to maneuver.
Dirk has played exceptionally well this season and seems to add another dimension to his game with each passing year. Josh Howard is not an All-Star caliber player, leaving Dirk as the Mavs’ only player deserving of star status. While Dirk has played great he is not as valuable to his team as Nash. Dirk has the luxury of playing for one of the top 3 coaches in the game and his team is more talented from top to bottom than any in the league. The Mavericks have a backcourt consisting of Jason Terry, Devin Harris, and bring Jerry Stackhouse (a player who once averaged 29 points per game for the Pistons) off the bench.
If each player was taken from his team for an extended stretch (which occurred in PHX this season and they struggled mightily) the Mavericks would be in better shape than Phoenix. This is somewhat due to each team’s style of play, subtract Nash from the Suns and the wheels fall off that fast paced attack. Steve Nash did not deserve his previous two MVP’s (they should have gone to Shaquille and then Kobe) but he rightfully deserves to add this year’s Maurice Podoloff Trophy to his mantle piece.
NBA Champion
Despite the impressive records of Phoenix and Dallas I believe the San Antonio Spurs will be this year’s NBA Champion. The media has focused on the lengthly win streaks that the both the Suns and Mavs have manufactured this season. In the background, San Antonio has quietly coasted to a 47-20 record. They are coached by a championship general in Greg Popovich. Popovich has always understood the importance of using the regular season as a tune up for the playoffs and ensures that his team peaks at the right time. Instead of playing his stars a surplus of minutes (think Mike D’Antoni) he lightens their workload so that they produce when it counts.
San Antonio is led by the greatest PF the game has ever known in Tim Duncan. Duncan has an endless offensive reportoire and is the most fundamental player in the game today. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili form the backcourt. Parker continues to improve each year and was named to this season’s All-Star team. Ginoboli is a champion. Manu has a killer instinct and is the player to whom the Spurs look to when the pressure mounts. He has delivered to the tune of two NBA titles and an Olympic Gold Medal with Argentina.
If not for a questionable call that went the Maverick’s way in last year’s Western Conference Final Game 7, the Spurs would be looking to repeat on last year’s title. The chance of a battle tested championship squad like the Spurs folding as easily as the weak spirited Mavs ultimately did to the Miami Heat are very unlikely.
Dallas’ weak fortitude is precisely the reason they will not win the championship. They lack that one individual player to defy pressure. Dirk Nowitzki is not capable of hitting the clutch baskets that will be necessary to win this year’s title. He floundered late in their recent regular season game vs. Phoenix in which both teams admitted to being the “biggest game of the year.” Nowitzki said he wouldn’t shy away from pressure situations in the future. “I love to have the ball at the end of games. That’s what it’s all about,” Nowitzki said. “We all know if you make it, you’re the hero. If you miss it, you’re the goat. That’s the position you have to be comfortable in. I guess I am.”
You guess Dirk? When the pressure mounts, and it will, the Maverick’s implosion against Miami will be too fresh in their memory, doubt will creep in to their psyches, and that will be their demise.
Phoenix has played incredibly well for long stretches of the season. They posess the offensive firepower to defeat anyone but I’m not sure that there style of basketball can produce a championship. It’s much easier to run and gun during the regular season due to the lack of effort with which many teams muster on the defensive end. Once the playoffs begin the defensive intensity drastically increases.
Opposing teams begin to make a concerted effort to get back on defense and not allow easy baskets. Championship teams do not depend upon outscoring their opponet every night as Phoenix does. Until Phoenix develops the defensive mentality to go along with their offensive prowess they will not win the title.
