CP3 for MVP

The NBA playoffs are in full swing and the Western first rounds are all actually at the brink of elimination while Boston and Detroit are tanged up at 2-2 in both their series. Orlando eliminated Toronto and Lakers took care of Denver. But surprisingly the other 3 western series are all at 3-1 with San Antonio and New Orleans going back home. The marquee match-ups have not lived up to the hype. The only thing that can spice things up is if the Suns take this series back to Phoenix. They are playing game 5 in the Alamo tomorrow night after crushing them at home yesterday. Dallas has had problems against the Hornets and I would be surprised if this series goes back to Dallas. That foul by J-Kidd yesterday on Jannero Pargo was really bad. I am surprised Kidd wasn't suspended. That would have sealed the Mavs fate who are having all kinds of problem defending Chris Paul even with Kidd.

Speaking of CP3, the hottest debate in the NBA is about who's going to win the MVP - Kobe or CP3. My vote is for CP3. Kobe is the best player in the league. But he has an awesome team. Kobe has been in the midst of the prime of his career for the last 2 or 3 years and I don't think he has been any better this year than the last 2 if not 3 or 4 years. He just has a much better record than in the past because Andrew Bynum exploded this season. The other Lakers youngsters improved dramatically this season as well. Plus they added Pau Gasol, an all-star caliber player. You shouldn't even call Pau, Lamar and Bynum as Kobe's "supporting cast". They are much, much more than that. Chris Paul has quite a bit of talent (Peja, Chandler, David West) around him as well but it's not Laker good. Plus he makes his teammates go much more than Kobe. Kobe is getting a lot of credit for making his teammates better, but the teammates have gotten better all by themselves. All Kobe has done this season is that he has given up a few shots and not hogged the ball like he usually does.

Again, Kobe is the best player in the league, but to me there are 2 criterion for the MVP award. One, is your team an elite team? If your team can't win enough games with you, how can you be the MVP of the entire league? You are barely contributing to your team. Secondly, can your team win without you? in other words, how indispensable are you for your team? This is why I supported Nash winning 2 back-to-back MVPs and wouldn't have minded him winning another one last year and even be in the running for this year's MVP if only the Suns were ranked in the top 4in the West. Kobe actually scores high on both accounts, but so does CP3. I would rank CP3 just a little higher in the "indispensable" scale. Plus Kobe has much better talent around him like I said earlier. So CP3 is my MVP. Lot of journalists are openly saying they voted for Kobe more as a "lifetime achievement" award. Kobe, for all his talents, has never won the MVP and this is bothering some people. He probably could have won a MVP or two in the past if only the talent around him was any better, but he never made them any better until this year and this year, the talent is just way too good for me to give Kobe all the credit.

So I vote for CP3.