Race to MVP: Week two
The talk around the NBA recently has been about point guards, point guards and more point guards.
It’s not a surprise really. Considering the amount of talented point guards there are in the NBA talk about the position is going to be natural. And obviously the question ‘who is the best point guard?’ will be asked, so let’s try to answer this question sensibly.
Firstly you have to understand what a point guard needs to be successful, and the first thing obviously is going to be passing. As the main ball handler and the player who runs the offence, distribution must be number one asset a point guard has.
Defence would come second given how important it is to disrupt the opposition’s offence. For instance, good defence will normally lead to a high amount of steals and steals lead to easy points and clearly give you extra possessions. The ability to defend from the point gives a team a huge advantage against the other team.
Shooting/scoring would be the last thing to look at in a point guard. Essentially your point guard is there to make everyone better and help them get easy baskets, scoring comes last. That’s not to say a point guard shouldn’t score points but it shouldn’t be his main attribute – Derrick Rose comes to mind.
Without going into too much detail those are the three main attributes to look for in a point guard and the one player that stands out in all three categories is Chris Paul. He’s the best passer in the league, along with Steve Nash, he excels on the defensive side of the game and has the ability to score 40 points when needed.
With that being said let’s have a look where the point guards have made it in the race for the MVP.
1 – Chris Paul 17.9 PPG, 9.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds, .511 FG%, steal 2.4
He might not be leading the league in assists but he’s led his New Orleans Hornets to a 7-0 start no one would have predicted and he’s showing everyone exactly why he’s considered the best point guard in the league. Consider that he’s putting up these numbers in just 34 minutes of play and it’s even more impressive, not to mention his assist/turnover ratio is off the scale at 5.75.
2 - Rajon Rondo 11.1 PPG, 14.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds, .470 FG%, 3.13 steals
His assist numbers are crazy and he’s averaging over three steals per game and he’s slightly increased his scoring stats. But despite these things Paul is doing more with less which means unfortunately Rondo slips down to the two spot. Also consider that he turnovers the ball four times per game and the slip to two wasn’t a tough decision.
3 – Monta Ellis 27.9 PPG, 4.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, .521 FG%, 2.71 steals
It might be strange to see Ellis in the MVP talk but he’s been that good so far this season. Renowned for taking too many shots and being a ball hog, Ellis is trying to turn that around, albeit slowly. He’s leading the league in points scored and he’s doing it shooting over 50 per cent. Add the fact that Golden State are 5-2 and Ellis fully deserves to be in the race.
4 - Kevin Durant 27.7 PPG, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, .394 FG%, 1.50 steals
So his Oklahoma City Thunder are 3-3 and looking like they’ll struggle for consistency this season but Durant is still putting up impressive numbers so far this season. His shooting percentage isn’t where it should be and he hasn’t quite been lights out this past week, but he’s still been good enough to claim fourth in the race.
5 – Pau Gasol 23.4 PPG, 10.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, .551 FG%, 1.5 blocks
We had Lamar Odom here last week but Gasol has taken his game to another level, especially with the triple-double he put up against Portland. It might be shocking not to have Kobe Bryant in the race but Bryant is accepting that he’s getting older and has let others take the limelight. He continues to dominate on both ends of the court and you could argue he’s the best big-man in the NBA today.
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