| The Warriors East Advancing, But Who Cares? Authored by Payam Jahromi - May 8, 2005 - 2:33 pm
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Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison are first-time All-Stars, and Larry Hughes enjoyed a breakout season. Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to help the Wizards past the Bulls. Warriors fans are depressed about all this right?
Think again.
If you asked every Warriors fan whether they would trade rosters with the Wizards, I suspect the majority would say no thanks. After the team’s 14-4 finish with Baron Davis, the Warriors might just be better than Washington. Heck, they might be better than a handful of playoff teams, especially in the East.
Now, had the team not made the trade for Davis, it would be a different story. Watching Arenas make game winners in the playoffs while the Warriors were still stuck with Speedy Claxton would have been depressing to Chris Webber-being-traded-after-his-rookie-year proportions.
But the future is bright in Oakland and fans don’t care what the Wizards are doing. Check that, since I can’t speak for all Warriors fans, let me say that I don’t care what the Wizards are doing.
Do I miss Arenas? Of course. Jamison and Hughes are a different story. Hughes just didn’t play this well in Oakland. Good for him and his breakout season, but the Warriors are set at shooting guard with Jason Richardson. As for Jamison, Bay Area fans know more about him than anyone.
He is an All-Star yet nobody misses him. Great guy, plays hard, but his salary and lack of defense hurt this team more than it helped. Warriors fans would rather have Mike Dunleavy or Mickael Pietrus at small forward, minus the max contract.
I’d give the Warriors East the advantage at center. Brendan Haywood is better than anything the Warriors have. But then again, he’s 25 and Andris Biedrins is 19. Who would you rather have?
And it’s not like the Wizards are contending for a title. Everyone knows that barring an injury to Shaq, that series will be short and sweet.
If the Wizards played in the West, which team would do better next season? The answer is not as obvious as it should be given what’s happening right now. And that’s the point.
Nash wins MVP, Shaq deserved it
Congrats to Steve Nash for winning the MVP. He’s a great guy and he had a tremendous season. Now let me tell you why he shouldn’t have won:
Shaq changed the balance of power in the East.
Nash was vital in the team’s success – there is no debating that – but he got all the credit for that team’s turnaround and that’s wrong. Nash benefited from Mike D’Antoni’s decision to play a small lineup and run. Amare Stoudamire turned the corner and became dominant (he would have improved with or without Nash). Shawn Marion was an all-star before he ever played with Nash. The Suns also signed Quentin Richardson as a free agent.
Nash averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 assists per game this season. John Stockton had six straight seasons of averaging at least 15 points and 12 assists. He had two straight years of at least 17 and 14. Yet he was never considered to be an MVP. That’s what great point guards do. Also, Stockton didn’t have the luxury of playing in the style of offense that Nash did to inflate his stats. Oh, and Stockton played defense.
Isiah Thomas once averaged 21 points and 14 assists per game. He averaged over 20 and 10 four straight seasons. He would take over games in the fourth (something Nash didn’t do). MVP? Never. Jason Kidd, who was better in his prime than Nash was this season, never won an MVP.
Shouldn’t the league’s MVP be the most dominating player on his own team? A point guard doesn’t dominate the game like a big man does, or a guy who scores 30 points. I had no problem with Magic Johnson winning MVPs because he could dominate a game. And he averaged over 20 points when he won it.
It was also a case of Shaq being taken for granted, and the voters voting for the guy who has never won the award. This happened when Karl Malone won the award over Michael Jordan. Nash was the “sexy” pick to win the award and everybody bought into the hype.
I know it sounds like I’m ripping Nash. I’m not. He had a fantastic season and his team has a legitimate shot to win the title. But he was not the MVP of the league. |
