The 10 Most Valuable Players in 2010-11 post season so far - Part 1
This post-season has been one action filled spectacle so far. During the last three weeks, we witnessed NBA’s best regular season team, the San Antonio Spurs, gunned down by the eighth seeded Memphis Grizzlies and we saw Chris
Paul single-handedly tear apart the mighty Los Angeles Lakers twice. It’s fair to say that there have been some impressive performances during that stretch and there have been many let downs as well. With the next playoff not kicking till Friday, we have compiled
a list of the 10 Most Valuable Players in the playoffs until now.
10. Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade is undoubtedly one of the best shooting-guard in the league. Despite the arrival of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the pre-season, Wade is still the leader of the Miami Heat. He is the man they go to with the game is
on the line, and more often than not, Wade delivers.
In Miami’s game-3 against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat needed a big performance from their leader and Wade stepped up with 32 points and 10 rebounds. The home loss put the 76ers 3 – 0 down in the series and practically out
of the playoffs. Miami won that series 4-1. Next up, were the big boys of the East, the mighty Boston Celtics.
Before the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Celtics, many question marks were raised as to whether Wade has the guts to go past the air-tight C’s defence. The concerns were raised on the back of a poor regular season
series against the Celtics. However, history did not seem to matter as Wade exploded in game-1, tearing apart Boston’s much vaunted defence with a 38 point blitz.
Wade might have been higher on the list if he hadn’t had the star support that he enjoys. He certainly won’t be complaining though.
9. Brandon Roy
After featuring in total 47 and starting in just 23 games all season, it was only natural to think that Brandon Roy would not have much of an impact in the post-season. However Roy proved it otherwise.
Complaining over the lack of playing time afforded to him against the Dallas Mavericks in the first two games of the playoff series, Roy was granted his wish with an extended run in game-3. After making a huge impact in game-3,
he responded with a magnificent performance in game-4, which saw the Portland Trailblazers come back from a 20 point deficit to record an unlikely win and level the series at 2-2.
Brandon was immense in the final stretch as he knocked down some big shots, scoring 24 points in the process, a far cry from his regular season average of just 9.3
Although the Blazers bowed out in the first round, but Roy certainly made his mark.
8. Zach Randolph
Zach Randolph is an often under-rated player. Or perhaps, he has underperformed for much of his career. This season however, we have seen a new Randolph. The forward who has a career point’s average of 17.6 has raised his game
visibly, averaging 20.1 in 2011.
In the playoffs, he has taken it a step further. The 6-foot-9 forward has pretty much carried the Memphis Grizzlies into the Western Conference semi-finals on his lone shoulders. He was the Grizzlies best player against the San
Antonio Spurs in the first round. Randolph’s 31 point performance in game-6 helped knockout the first seeds and took Memphis into the 2nd round.
Zach wasn’t done yet. He put up a tremendous show against the Oklahoma City Thunder in game-1, scoring a career play-off high 34 points along with 10 rebounds. His performance drew high praise from Kevin Durant, who labelled Randolph
as “the best power forward in the league”.
He has certainly been the best in the playoffs.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article are the writer’s own personal views and has nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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