Earlier Art and I debated the MVP award. It was between LeBron and Rose. Then, Wade stepped up and, even though LeBron is the best player in the league, there is no way he can get MVP with Wade on his team playing that well.
This year, Rose has been the best player. He has led his team to the best record, and he has been ridiculous shooting, dribbling, and passing. However, he's not the most valuable. Just look at this stat line, 12 FG attempts and 33 points. What player can get 33 points from 12 FG attempts? Dwight Howard is the MVP.
He gets my vote, if I had one, because he is valuable on both ends, and clearly the best in his position in the league by far. The rules and style of basketball have changed giving guards and forwards an edge, but having Howard on your team gives your team home court in the playoffs every year. I'm not saying his supporting cast is awful, but it's not Deng, Boozer, and Noah or Bosh and Wade. Just his presence in the middle on defense prevents teams from driving the lane or passing inside. This makes the team one dimensional. Then on offense, if you don't double, he will drop 9 of 12. If you do double he will pass to wide open 3 point shooters. If you foul, then he'll go to the line where, last night, he was 15 of 19. That's better than most players including Rose and LeBron can shoot.
I think Rose will win, and he has had a great year, he deserves to win. But so does Howard, every year. His value isn't measure in statistics, but if it was, then he would still make a case with 23 PPG, 14 RPG, 60 FG%, 2.5 BPG, and the defensive player of the year. When the Bulls meet the Magic in round 2, then we will see how it plays out, but I think Howard gives the Magic a legit shot to win that series, and should win the MVP this year.
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