LA getting some MVP love (1 Viewer)

[Natebishop3]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-131210/mvp-choices

Who is the Western Conference MVP so far?

McGuire: LaMarcus Aldridge. Chris Paul and Kevin Durant are both "better" players. But neither has meant more than Portland's superstar big man. Without Aldridge's Nowitzki-esque dominance over the midrange and defensive place-setting for Terry Stotts' smart schemes, there's absolutely no way the Blazers would be sitting in the catbird seat. Phenomenal season to date.

Who is the NBA MVP so far?

McGuire: Again, LaMarcus Aldridge. I'll be surprised if he gets any votes at all when it comes time, but the Blazers have played incredibly well against a tougher-than-advertised schedule. Aldridge is on pace to post one of his best seasons ever and seems slightly more integral to me.

Who is your dark-horse candidate for MVP?

Harris: Portland did a magnificent job in the offseason acquiring new talent, but LaMarcus Aldridge has been the beastly center of the Blazers' hot start. Naturally, he'll be the one garnering some dark-horse MVP buzz.

 

[TBpup]

Love that he is at least in the discussion.

 

[Carlito]

Hope he doesn't bolt on us next summer

 

[Natebishop3]

Hope he doesn't bolt on us next summer

He's under contract for another year after this one.

 

[magnifier661]

Hope he doesn't bolt on us next summer

Anti-jinx! Thanks mixum! Now Aldridge will surely stay

 

[THE HCP]

Hope he doesn't bolt on us next summer

Why would he do that if he'll be under contract?

Do you wake up a dumbass, or do you have to apply yourself?

 

[handiman]

LAST summer = 2013.
THIS summer = 2014.
NEXT summer = 2015.

That's a pretty common way of phrasing things.

 

[ponderguy]

LAST summer = 2013.
THIS summer = 2014.
NEXT summer = 2015.

That's a pretty common way of phrasing things.

agreed.

 

[Natebishop3]

LAST summer = 2013.
THIS summer = 2014.
NEXT summer = 2015.

That's a pretty common way of phrasing things.

So I guess it all depends on what Mixalito meant

 

[B-Roy]

LAST summer = 2013.
THIS summer = 2014.
NEXT summer = 2015.

That's a pretty common way of phrasing things.

Yeah, but do you REALLY think that's what Mixum meant?

 

[handiman]

Yeah, but do you REALLY think that's what Mixum meant?

Fair enough! I'm just sayin', he might have had a reasonable point this time. There'll be plenty of other, unquestionably legit, times for everyone to pile on him.

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

LAST summer = 2013.
THIS summer = 2014.
NEXT summer = 2015.

That's a pretty common way of phrasing things.

Do you really refer to the summer of 2014 as THIS summer? I generally use "This" to refer to the current season or the most recent until the coming season is closer than the season the prior year. By the logic above, once we hit September/October, if somebody asked us what we did "this summer", we would have to say "Duh dude - it hasn't happened yet but LAST summer....".

We are near the tipping point of whether this summer refers to 2013 or 2014 but at this time I would still consider this summer to be 2013 and next summer to be 2014.

I interpreted Mixlito's comments the same as HCP. He is locked up until the summer after next.

Of course, I may be all wrong.

Gramps...

 

[blazedanugz]

hoopsworld.com has LMA at #4 and dame at #8........

 

[BrianFromWA]

(grammar nerd alert)

I think "this" depends on the tense and context. I don't think it's wrong to say either "we traded for Lopez this summer" or "We will look for a mid-level free agent to sign this summer".

But I do think that if you use "next" summer, it's referring to 2014. If you say "last" summer, it's 2013. I don't think anyone thinks that we drafted Lillard "last summer".

 

[Nikolokolus]

Hope he doesn't bolt on us next summer

Haha. Couldn't help it could you?

 

[LameR]

Hope he doesn't bolt on us next summer

I dare you to enjoy something about this team.

 

[handiman]

Do you really refer to the summer of 2014 as THIS summer? I generally use "This" to refer to the current season or the most recent until the coming season is closer than the season the prior year.

If it's Tuesday, does "this weekend" refer to the upcoming weekend or the past one? "Next" introduces some gray area, for sure.

 

[Natebishop3]

Another thread successfully derailed by Mixalito.

 

[Kaydow]

LA & Blazers would have to play like this for 82 games for serious consideration. Lebron not looking good tonight in final minutes of huge game vs Indiana. Missing layups, missed free throws, turnovers, air balled wide open 3. He had many chances to impact the end of the game tonight and made poor plays every time. I don't even dislike Lebron, but he does this a lot vs good teams.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

The only thing that bothers me about the MVP conversation is the guys that only look at stats, with no consideration for playing in the weakest division or conference, and no consideration for the correlation to team success. If Portland ends up finishing a top the West, you can't make an argument that someone other than LA should get MVP unless you ignore those other factors.

 

[RR7]

I mentioned in a previous thread, but I have always felt MVP consideration was like getting a ball rolling down a hill. It'll take a lot to succesfully get it down the hill, but once it gets going, people will continue to repeat it. It gets repeated enough, and then writers start to look at it more and more seriously. And then there's times where guys do it because it's not casting a vote for the same old guy as before.
That being said, he and our team obviously need continue some semblance of this play through the season for him to get any sort of serious consideration.

 

[handiman]

Another thread successfully derailed by Mixalito.

Says the first guy who responded to him in the thread. Way to moderate.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Doug Gottlieb gave LMA some MVP love on his radio show today, focusing primarily on the fact that he's the best player on a winning team, but also mentioning how consistently good he's been. Which, BTW, is a really good point. According to basketball-reference's game log, he's only had 2 games so far with a "game score" below 10, he's scored in double figures every game, only had fewer than 6 boards 3 times, only shot below 40% for a game 4 times, only 4 games above 3 turnovers. His 30-20 games are what have gotten him noticed, but his consistency is more impressive to me.

 

[handiman]

Consistency has always been the name of the game with LMA. He rarely misses a game and always puts up solid numbers. The difference is now, "solid" has become borderline great every game.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

you forgot reputation, they have half of their minds made up before the season...

The only thing that bothers me about the MVP conversation is the guys that only look at stats, with no consideration for playing in the weakest division or conference, and no consideration for the correlation to team success. If Portland ends up finishing a top the West, you can't make an argument that someone other than LA should get MVP unless you ignore those other factors.

 

[Further]

I love that he's getting some love, and he should be on the list of dark horse contenders, but let's be serious, as good as he's been there are better candidates.

player comp of Aldridge, James, Durant, George, love and Paul

http://imgflip.com/memegenerator

http://bkref.com/tiny/QBo6x

 

[magnifier661]

I love that he's getting some love, and he should be on the list of dark horse contenders, but let's be serious, as good as he's been there are better candidates.

player comp of Aldridge, James, Durant, George, love and Paul

http://imgflip.com/memegenerator

Steve Nash won it twice and he didn't even break 20 in scoring.

 

[Further]

Steve Nash won it twice and he didn't even break 20 in scoring.

I had Paul on that list also, who isn't at 20ppg either. But a PG (Paul or Nash) is often measured in assists. PFs are usually measured in ppg, rpg and bpg.

I'm not saying he shouldn't get considered, but James is ahead by a mile. Then, far back, are the others on the list. If I had to rank I would put LMA 4th.

 

[RR7]

I love that he's getting some love, and he should be on the list of dark horse contenders, but let's be serious, as good as he's been there are better candidates.

player comp of Aldridge, James, Durant, George, love and Paul

http://imgflip.com/memegenerator

http://bkref.com/tiny/QBo6x

Love's team is under .500. He is in no way a better candidate.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

I love that he's getting some love, and he should be on the list of dark horse contenders, but let's be serious, as good as he's been there are better candidates.

player comp of Aldridge, James, Durant, George, love and Paul

http://imgflip.com/memegenerator

http://bkref.com/tiny/QBo6x