The Josh Smith Shrine

This is a letter to Kenny Smith of Yahoo Sports. Kenny Smith of the Houston Rockets Championship era. I doubt he would read it as he probably receives thousands of mail. So I'm posting it here:

A Case for T-Mac (MVP candidacy)

Dear Kenny,

Several "analysts" are already dismissing the chants from fans that T-Mac is MVP. I disagree. And I think you would disagree too. Because for and analyst to say that the streak happened because Houston has "several MVPs" is to be an analyst who over analyzed. The simplest explanation for the streak is the superstar, the supporting cast, and the coach.

Guys are stepping up in Houston - true. But as a player you would know that everything always starts with the super star. This group of role players could not string a streak of even 5 wins without their leader, without someone telling
them before every game "we can win this one", without someone making them believe in themselves, and without someone taking and making the big time shots.

Adelman has done a great job. The team is playing well together. But talking about MVP, the super star of the hottest team should be on top of the list.

A couple of years ago we gave Steve Nash the MVP because he led, Amare and Marion, both All-Stars, to winning seasons. He won MVP twice because without his leadership the Suns couldn't rise. Why should we deny, T-Mac now, who is leading Alston, Battier, Deke, and some rookies to 22 wins, and the top spot in the West - ahead of all the other the teams, the title of MVP even before the voting has started.

Lebron and his Cavs are 7 games behind 4th place Orlando. And 3 just games ahead of the Bosh-less Raptors. In the East. Lebron might be exponentially better than T-Mac. But MVP doesn't have to mean best player on the planet. The Rocket's W's make McGrady a more valuable player right now.

Kobe and his Lakers have lost two straight with Pau Gasol out. But everyone would probably still readily give him the MVP trophy. It seems everyone has forgotten that Kobe can't win either until his supporting cast improved. Battier's consistent play, Dike's defense, Alston's great play of late shouldn't count against T-Mac.

Of course it is too early to declare T-Mac MVP. There are 16 games to go. T-Mac could falter in the coming days and so could his team. But at this very moment, at win #22, the votes should be on him.

Best Regards,
- M

P.S.
What was Jordan's Bulls' longest winning streak? Even the greatest player ever could not carry his team to more than 12 straight wins (I think).

The Houston Rocket's winning streak is still alive. They've downed the Lakers to capture the top spot of the Western Conference and more historically their 22nd win. Since win number 20, chants of MVP for Tracy McGrady are becoming louder with each celebration.

Most analysts attribute the winning streak to team play. Rightly so, Alston, Battier, Scola, and even aging Dikembe and rookies Landry and Harris are stepping up. Defense has been the key for most of the wins. And defense is definitely team effort.

But even so, with all of the Rockets stepping up, the streak wouldn't have been possible without their superstar Tracy McGrady. He is the MVP of the streak. Not only for his upped stats, and his crunch time plays, but more importantly for his polarizing leadership.

MVP is the Most Valuable Player of the team. If you take away the MVP of the team, they would struggle. If LeBron and Kobe sit out games, their teams will lose. In the case of Houston Rockets. It's a little different. If TMac wasn't playing, the role players of Houston, no matter how high they raise the level of their game, could never string up a streak of 5 wins. Everything starts with McGrady. The attention of the defense is always with him now, the ball is in his hands when crunch time comes. If TMac sits, the team could never streak because he is the reason everyone is playing better.

One analyst say that TMac's stats, efficiency rating is only good to rank 30th best player on the NBA. What he failed to mention though is that TMac's scoring is up to 25ppg even when opposing teams now double team him instead of Yao.

The Rockets are also currently sitting at the top of the Western Conference from 6th when Yao was around. Other clear MVP candidates, LeBron's Cavs are 4th in the East, just ahead of the Bosh-less Raptors. Kobe's Lakers were surging - but has lost two straight now with Pau Gasol out with injury.

These analysts says TMac isn't MVP:
Johnny Ludden's Yahoo column
Henry Abbott's Espn column

Josh Smith grabbed a career-high of 22 boards.

After two years of silence. I've resolved to pick up Josh Smith / Atlanta Hawks blogging pen.

He still hasn't made it to All-Star this year. But so did Joe Johnson. And unless the Hawks start winning, it probably won't happen.

What Smoove needs to do to crack the All-Star elite club:

• Average 20 ppg. He's still at 17+ .. But with a better point guard in Mike Bibby now on board, he has a chance to do it next year.
• Maintain his 5 cat stats stuffing play. 20 ppg - 8 reb -4 ast -1.5 stls -3 blks would sure be an eye catcher.
• Improve his FT% ... He'll crack 20 ppg easily when he does improve from the line.
• Hawks need to win a playoff series... Gilbert Arenas finally made the All-Star when the Wizards made splash during the playoffs. (or was it when he started blogging)

Current Hawks standing as of March 17, 2008:

... tied at 9 with New Jersey. The Hawks are a better talent right now they should be able to make it to the playoffs. Josh Smith usually tears it up in the second half of the season so they have a better chance.