khandor’s sports blog

It is simply astounding that a nonsensical perspective like this one:

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Vote Derrick Rose for love of the game

Players like Derrick Rose should be rewarded.

So, you MVP voters, if you just want to say that the Bulls are the best team in the NBA, and you love Derrick Rose and that’s that, I’m cool with it. Vote for the dude. To me, that’s a good enough rationale.

However, one little thing: Do not tell me that the reason you’re voting for him is because without him the Bulls would be a disaster.

That’s misguided and insulting. It’s a little insulting to Dwight Howard, who is the only candidate if that’s the rationale. (Even James is a stronger candidate by this measure.)

But mainly, it’s entirely insulting to everyone else who works for the Bulls.

The Bulls are a hot story today because they manhandled the Boston Celtics last night and are on track to finish at the top of the East. They didn’t beat the Celtics, though, because of Rose’s memorable pull-up 3s off the dribble. (Monta Ellis can do that too, and it doesn’t lead to all that many wins.)

They beat them because Paul Pierce and Ray Allen could barely get a shot off. The Celtics’ big four finished 15-of-43, and it’s not like they were missing bunnies.

Steals, shot-clock violations, fumbled passes, broken plays. The Celtics’ offense, last night, was complete and total mush — 38 percent from the floor — and that was no accident. That’s why they lost, and that’s not some gift Derrick Rose gave the Bulls.

That was because the Bulls knew exactly what to do. They do it to everybody. Tom Thibodeau took the ideas and direction that once made Boston the NBA’s best defense, and, against long odds, transported them to a new roster, where the players have bought in, in no small part because of Rose.

Defense is half the game, and at that, Thibodeau, is a wrecking crew.

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concerning the specific role which Derrick Rose has played this season for the Chicago Bulls …

should receive such widespread attention.

In review:

- The Chicago Bulls are the best team in the East, so far, this season. [Yes]

- Derrick Rose is the best player on the Bulls this season. [Yes]

- The Bulls have several other good-to-very-good players on their current roster. [Yes]

- The Bulls have the best Defensive team in the East this season. [Yes]

- Tom Thibodeau is a terrific defensive coach who has proved his mettle with the Bulls and the Boston Celtics [former Assistant Coach]. [Yes]

- The play of Derrick Rose has, somehow, NOT contributed to the Bulls’ top-rated Defensive performance this season. [Are you kidding?]

Hmmm …

As of Sat-Apr-09-2011, the IPR for Derrick Rose, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard looks like this:

1. LeBron James, +31.48

2. Dwight Howard, +28.39

3. Derrick Rose, +27.44

IPR = Individual Player Rating [i.e. kPER + TWLC]
kPER = Pts – [FGA-FGM] – [FTA-FTM] + Reb + Ast + St + Bl – TO – PF]/GP
TWLC = MPG/240 * [Team Wins - Team Losses]

The fact is:

- Statistically, LeBron James [SF, Miami Heat] has made the greatest contribution to the performance of his team this season, in comparison with the contributions of Dwight Howard [C, Orlando Magic] and Derrick Rose [PG, Chicago Bulls]

- Statistical production, in isolation, is not an accurate reflection of a single player’s contribution to the performance of his team in a given season.

When you examine each of the following rosters:

		Miami Heat		Orlando Magic		Chicago Bulls
STARTERS
1	PG	Mike Bibby	PG	Jameer Nelson *	PG	???
2	OG	Dwyane Wade *	OG	Jason Richardson *	OG	Keith Bogans
3	SF	???	SF	Hedo Turkoglu *	SF	Luol Deng
4	PF	Chris Bosh *	PG	Brandon Bass	PF	Carlos Boozer *
5	C	Zydrunas Ilgauskas	C	???	C	Joakim Noah
KEY SUBS
6	PG	Mario Chalmers	PG	Gilbert Arenas	PG	CJ Watson
7	OG	James Jones	OG	JJ Redick	OG	Kyle Korver
8	SF	Mike Miller	SF	Quentin Richardson	SF	Ronnie Brewer
9	PF	Joel Anthony	PF-C	Ryan Anderson	PF	Taj Gibson
10	C	Erick Dampier	PF-C	Earl Clark/Malik Allen	C	Kirk Thomas
RESERVES
11	OG-PG	Eddie House	PG	Chris Duhon	OG	Rasual Butler
12	PF	Juwon Howard	PF-C	Malik Allen/Earl Clark	C	Omer Asik
EXTRAS/OUTS
13	PF	Udonis Haslem	C	Daniel Orton	PG	John Lucas III
14	C	Dexter Pittman			PG	Jannero Pargo
15	C	Jamaal Magloire			PF-C	Brian Scalabrine
LEGEND: * - High end player who is capable of stepping up to carry the load for his team, in the absence of Player ???.

and consider:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1 Chicago Bulls, 59-20/.747

2-3 Miami Heat, 55-24/.696

4 Orlando Magic, 50-29/.633

A. Where each team will finish in the League Standings;

B. The games missed this season by Carlos Boozer [23] and Joakim Noah [34];

and,

C. Which OTHER players on each roster have the capacity to step up to replace the “contribution” made to their team this season by LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Derrick Rose, should they each have been removed from their respective rosters this year, then, it is fairly clear-cut who should be named the Most “Valuable” Player for 2010-2011.

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Instead of wasting time and energy saying that Derrick Rose should not get the NBA’s MVP Award this season because of the outstanding work done by Tom Thibodeau and Gar Forman [and John Paxson], or because his simple game stats have been surpassed by LeBron James and Dwight Howard …

The Main Reason Derrick Rose SHOULD win the NBA’s MVP Award this season

- Without the way Derrick Rose has played, this version of the Bulls would, in all likelihood, have finished somewhere in the middle-of-the-pack in the East.

- However, with the way Derrick Rose has played, the Bulls are going to finish as the No. 1 team in the East.

The Main Reason Tom Thibodeau SHOULD win the NBA’s COTY Award this season

- Without the way Tom Thibodeau has coached, this version of the Bulls would, in all likelihood, have finished somewhere in the middle-of-the-pack in the East.

- However, with the way Tom Thibodeau has coached, the Bulls are going to finish as the No. 1 team in the East.

The Main Reason Gar Forman [and John Paxson] SHOULD win the NBA’s EOTY Award this season

- Without the way Gar Forman has GMed, this version of the Bulls would, in all likelihood, have finished somewhere in the middle-of-the-pack in the East.

- However, with the way Gar Forman has GMed, the Bulls are going to finish as the No. 1 team in the East.

Tags: Carlos Boozer, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah, Lebron James, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, TrueHoop

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 10th, 2011 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Analytics, Basketball, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.