Hawks’ Johnson have a chance at MVP?

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Hawks’ Johnson have a chance at MVP?

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday, November 07, 2008

Seats are always reserved at the MVP table for guys such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and now Chris Paul.

Might there be other players interested in crashing the MVP party this year?

Fans in Orlando, San Antonio, Toronto and even here in Atlanta have other names on the brain when the conversation turns to the early front-runners for the NBA’s most prestigious individual honor.

Some new faces to add to the mix:

Dwight Howard

• Making the case for the Magic’s All-Star center: Howard leads the league in rebounds (14.5) and blocks (4.5), and few players are capable of matching him in either category if he chooses to focus on his rebounding and defense. The key for Howard, an Atlanta native and former Southwest Atlanta Christian star, is to stick to his bread and butter. The Magic are so often confronted with either making Howard the focus on offense — which takes away from the rest of his game — or allowing Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu to be the focal point to free Howard up to dominate on the other end of the floor.

• Odds he’ll make the final cut: Great. Howard has a chance because he is arguably the league’s top big man, and the Magic should win 50-plus games again this season.

Amare Stoudemire

• Making the case for the Suns’ All-Star center/power forward: Someone always benefits from playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal. Just ask Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. Since Steve Nash already has a couple of MVP trophies in his collection, Stoudemire appears to be the Suns player most likely to reap the Shaq-dividends of playing alongside the Big Aristotle. He’s already off to a great start, averaging 25.8 points and shooting 69 percent from the floor. And the Suns high profile will make it easy for voters to keep tabs on him throughout the season.

• Odds he’ll make the final cut: Decent. Stoudemire would have to continue to score like he did in a win over Indiana on Wednesday (49 points) to keep the buzz going strong. On a team with Shaq and Nash, that’ll be tough.

Joe Johnson

• Making the case for the Hawks’ All-Star guard: MVP voters love a Cinderella story, and if Johnson can continue his torrid scoring pace (28.0 points) and the Hawks (3-0 for the first time since 1997) can keep winning, Johnson’s grass-roots campaign could gain some serious momentum. Johnson is locked in early and scoring at will against whoever is unlucky enough to draw him as an assignment. In addition, he’s playing offense and defense and rebounding as aggressively as he has since joining the Hawks. If he can keep his teammates locked in and following his lead, he’ll stay in this conversation a lot longer than might be expected.

• Odds he’ll make the final cut: Slim. The Hawks would have to play at a high level consistently, something that they haven’t been able to do in over a decade.

Tony Parker

• Making the case for the Spurs’ All-Star guard: Move over Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. The Frenchman is challenging two of his All-Star teammates for the leadership mantle of an aging Spurs team. Parker’s 55-point, 10-assist, seven-rebound outburst in the Spurs’ win over Minnesota on Wednesday is the perfect exhibition of his ability to outshine his more celebrated teammates. Duncan had 30 in the same game, but Parker, whose motor-never-stops energy never seems to wane, seems best suited to carry the load while Ginobili recovers from his injury. He made two of his three shots from beyond the 3-point line against the Spurs, showing that expansion of his game continues. He is leading the league in scoring (33.0).

• Odds he’ll make the final cut: Slim, especially if the Spurs don’t get things together, they were 0-3 before the win over the Timberwolves, and soon. But he does have name recognition and history on his side.

Chris Bosh

• Making the case for the Raptors’ All-Star forward: Bosh continues his climb to superstardom, even if people in Toronto are the only people that get witness the journey regularly. Having a new sidekick, Jermaine O’Neal, who was once among the top three for this same award, will make things a little easier for Bosh. Scoring in bunches (26.0) points) should not be a problem for Bosh, who is in a similar situation to what O’Neal was in a few years back in Indiana. Bosh is rarely appreciated for just how good really he is, namely because he’s playing on a team that gets ignored by the casual basketball public south of the Canadian border. Make no mistake about it, though, the Olympic gold medalist and former Georgia Tech star is going to be a permanent fixture among this lofty crowd.

• Odds he’ll make the final cut: Slim. Bosh needs the Raptors to get off to another huge start like the one that propelled them last season. His team’s success will be the long factor in terms of how long he stays in the race.

[HawkItus]

I think there is no chance JJ gets the MVP award let alone one vote. This is the Kobe error. Like MJ, Kobe is on the best team, with loudest name. He would have to tank and have the Lakers finish below 50 wins to not have it wrapped. And if he slips then you have Garnett and Pierce who folks will be looking to give the award to.

[crimedog]

I think there is no chance JJ gets the MVP award let alone one vote. This is the Kobe error. Like MJ, Kobe is on the best team, with loudest name. He would have to tank and have the Lakers finish below 50 wins to not have it wrapped. And if he slips then you have Garnett and Pierce who folks will be looking to give the award to.

Helps to have the name, no doubt about that. Still though, the candidates last season were Chris Paul, KG, Kobe, and Lebron who represented the two top statistical players in the league (Bron and Paul), a DPOY First Teamer who anchored a previous lottery team to 1st overall and 66 wins (KG), and Kobe who is undoubtedly overhyped as the "greatest player of his generation" (is obviously not "greater" than TD or Shaq) but was also a 27-6-5 guy on a 57 win team. Name rec or not, Joe hasn't ever been able to put up numbers like those guys for a season or get results like those guys for a season and for us to assume he'll be "snubbed," we have to assume he'll continue his current production all season.

[bronnt]

JJ has a chance if the Hawks can push 50 victories. I'm not going to lay odds on THAT happening. Despite the hot start, I'm still thinking we'll be in the neighborhood of .500 by the time the season winds down. Mostly, I just don't think our top three (JJ, Smith, Horford) are going to be able to each play 80+ games this year.

But on the long odds that the Hawks ARE looking at around 50 wins, Joe is the kind of player who could really make an argument. Aside from last year, he's always shot for a solid percentage, and he could definately stay around 28-29 points per game if we needed it. Throw in about 5 boards and 6 assists, both of which he's done before, and that's a line that will get noticed.

Heck, his 2006-07 season would have made a bit of noise (meaning, he might have had one vote) if we hadn't finished with just 30 wins. EDIT: (Also if he hadn't missed 25 games. I'd forgotten about that). He'd need to improve on that, so it would basically be a career year for him, but it wouldn't take a LOT more.

In the long run, Josh Smith might actually be the Hawk who could seriously win an MVP down the road. He's really been awesome on defense, and he always puts together an impressive highlight reel. If he continues to develop his interior game and resists the urge to take 8 jumpshots per game, he'll be considered among the league's best power forwards.

Edited November 7, 2008 by bronnt

[exodus]

The Hawks would have to have a stellar record for JJ to even be considered. When was the last time the MVP didn't have at least the 3rd best record in the conference?

But the fact that he is even mentioned means he is a good bet to make another All-Star appearance. If he keeps playing well and the Hawks keep winning he definitely deserves it.

[tonegully]

The Hawks would have to have a stellar record for JJ to even be considered. When was the last time the MVP didn't have at least the 3rd best record in the conference?

But the fact that he is even mentioned means he is a good bet to make another All-Star appearance. If he keeps playing well and the Hawks keep winning he definitely deserves it.

MVP goes with winning. We have to win. The thing about someone like Kobe is that he makes everyone better. So does JJ now that we are an experienced team. I think JJ makes a serious run at MVP

[capstone21]

Getting waaaay ahead of ourselves here folks. We are only 3 games into the season.

[DrReality]

The Hawks have to have a monst year for this to even be talked about. Agreed, way tooooo early.

[Eddielives]

I think if we win 50 games, JJ will definitely draw some votes for MVP. Win it? Probably not. He's not flashy enough.

Here's something to consider though as it pertains to MVP. I know it was a long time ago and a different sport but Dale Murphy won 2 MVP's on, I believe, terrible Braves teams. I guess the point is that if you are good enough, your team can suck and you still have a chance....at least you should in my opinion.

[AHF]

The Dale Murphy example doesn't work in basketball, though, IMO. In baseball, I think there is recognition that you can be the best player in the game but the impact of the individual player is so diluted that your team can stink. Moreover, stats put up on a losing team in baseball are legit because the stats of each player are largely independent from those put up by other players. In basketball, the impact of an individual player is such that I don't think you'll ever see a losing team with an MVP candidate . Clearly, stats are more dependent in basketball so that will also be a factor and those stats will always be questioned as being the stats of a ballhog on a bad team.

[Plainview1981]

With Lebron/Kobe/Ducan/Amare/Wade in the league people can't be serious. JJ could average 30/7/5 and the Hawks could win 50 games and he still wouldn't win.

[tonegully]

a couple of national televised games wouldnt hurt either. I also think the Hawks would have to market him sort of what they did for big Al last year for ROY and a college team does for a Heisman canidate.

[BusBoyIsBack]

a couple of national televised games wouldnt hurt either. I also think the Hawks would have to market him sort of what they did for big Al last year for ROY and a college team does for a Heisman canidate.

Do we have ANY nationally televised games this year???

As far as MVP, Joe Johnson would have to put up some of the greatest numbers in NBA history for him to win. Hawks have no media exposure whatsoever, despite the fact that Atlanta should be a major market and the fact that the studios of TNT and NBA TV are in ATL.

Edited November 8, 2008 by BusBoyIsBack

[thefloydian]

Helps to have the name, no doubt about that. Still though, the candidates last season were Chris Paul, KG, Kobe, and Lebron who represented the two top statistical players in the league (Bron and Paul), a DPOY First Teamer who anchored a previous lottery team to 1st overall and 66 wins (KG), and Kobe who is undoubtedly overhyped as the "greatest player of his generation" (is obviously not "greater" than TD or Shaq) but was also a 27-6-5 guy on a 57 win team. Name rec or not, Joe hasn't ever been able to put up numbers like those guys for a season or get results like those guys for a season and for us to assume he'll be "snubbed," we have to assume he'll continue his current production all season.

If you switched Kobe and Joe last year, what would have happened differently in terms of record/playoff victories?

[mattlanta]

Johnson has a legitimate shot at this. Right now is the perfect time to make a point... when one of our key players in Josh Smith will be out for around ten games.

To me, Joe Johnson is still one of the most underrated players in the NBA. He's under-appreciated by fans outside of the fanbase. But the thing that I like about Joe Johnson is, regardless of how many minutes he's played that game, he brings his A game in crunch time. He's one of the most clutch players I've ever seen with my own eyes. He can take a game over in the fourth quarter.

He's shown this in the Celtics series where in the three wins that we won, Joe Johnson scored the majority of the points in the fourth... keep in mind he was also getting double, even triple, teamed many of the times.