I have speculated many times in other threads about how I assume(d) KG would not become this season's MVP for various reasons, the main ones being
~ the assumption that KG's scoring would drop with Pierce an Allen taking away shots.
~ the assumption that KG's overall statistics would drop slightly, because of reduced playing time when Boston would want to preserve their thirtysomethings for the playoffs.
~ the assumption that the deciding committe would not want to single one of Boston's \"magic triangle\" out, because they feed from each other both mentally as statistically.
But so far, my (how I thought, reasonable) assumptions are not coming true.
Yes, Garnett's averages \"only\" 20,9 ppg, which is a drop from the 22,4 ppg he has averaged in his last season with the Wolves and a considerable change from the 24,2 ppg in his last MVP-Season, but compared to the last 10 years of his career, where he averaged 21,9 ppg, this does not seem that much of a difference. He still score over 20 per game, while I had expected a drop to 18,5 or something in that category. Same goes for his other statistics: Playing a considerable 37,8 minutes per game, it is hard to find a reasonable decrease in any of the relevant statistics compared to his career averages and his MVP-Season '03-'04. Offensive rebounds are down to almost a half, but he has only once grabbed this much denfensive boards in his career and is making more steals than at any time before. So his statistics are still there to legitimate an MVP vote.
And for my opinion, he won't be singled out from Boston's three star players (much like Stockalone won All-Star's MVP honors once), I will have to get used to the idea that I might be pretty much alone with my opinion.
Kiki Vandeweghe in today's
ESPN's Daily Dime, making his early MVP-Predictions:
1. Kevin Garnett, Celtics forward -- Right now, the best player on the best team in the league. He's extremely dominant on both ends of the court. Basically a double-double machine (20.9 ppg, 12.7 rpg). What I love about him is he's so unselfish on the offensive and defensive end. He'll clearly look to pass first, and does all the dirty work on the defensive end. It's one thing to be a dominant player on a weak team, but to be a dominant player on a great team, which the Celtics are, that's saying something.
But I would also like to note, that Paul Pierce is Number 10 on Vendeweghe's Top-10 list.
