NBA Regular Season 2011-2012 - Page 338

On April 25 2012 07:48 XaI)CyRiC wrote:
I'm pretty sure Lin will win MIP, and deservedly so. He went from a nobody that was getting dropped by multiple teams and getting no minutes on a team that desperately needed a PG, to a legitimate MVP candidate that took a laughing stock of a roster on an insane winning streak almost overnight. Not only that, but he did so as the leader of the team while Melo and Amare were out, and elevated the games of underperforming/very average players like Fields, Jeffries, and Novak, all while being the primary focus of opposing team's defenses at the time.

Sure, he eventually came down to earth after averaging the best numbers we've ever seen from a player in their first career starts, but he came down to still-impressive numbers. Consider that he went from playing 0 minutes to averaging 30+ in a compressed schedule, without any adjustment period or practice time, and incorporating a constantly changing lineup (additions of Melo, Amare, JR and Baron), and still averaged 14.6 ppg, 6.3 apg, 1.7 spg. Further, he did all of this while playing in one of the largest media markets in the world, getting constant world-wide media coverage and scrutiny, and being labeled and treated as the representative of the most populous race in the world.

In whatever measure of value you can attribute to an NBA player, Lin went from zero to about as high as an individual player can get to a team/organization (or the league itself) in a ridiculously short amount of time. It's hard to see how anyone can compare him to players like Ryan Anderson (who is basically doing what he was doing last year when he had the PT and opportunity, and playing with the best player in the NBA for a spot up shooter to play with, i.e. D12) or Bradley (who went from rookie nobody to important role player in a team laden with HOF/Allstar-level talent) for any award, let alone MIP.

On April 25 2012 10:10 VENDIZ wrote:
Westbrook staying in the same lane as the last 7 games.. shooting 27% at the half, given his recent form it shouldn't pick up..

Edit: Also, the Celtics vs. Heat game is god awful.. I was really looking forward to the game (I thought Miami would go for the #1 seed in the East while Boston would want homecourt advantage), but both teams have thrown out... meh, people without any offensive fibres..

On April 25 2012 11:37 Whatson wrote:

The battle of the backups lol

On a related note, can anybody tell me why Ray Allen became the backup SG?

On April 25 2012 11:39 VENDIZ wrote:


Went out with injury, Celtics got on a good run, he came in from the bench to regain rhythm and so forth and is using the latter part of the season to rest up for the playoffs. If he's healthy he'll start every game in the playoffs..

On April 25 2012 12:02 Southlight wrote:


No?
Avery Bradley's solidified that spot with a bang. RA's not starting unless Bradley goes down.

On April 25 2012 10:32 MassHysteria wrote:
Well the MIP is a subjective award so I don't think "deservedly so" would be the words coming into my head if Lin does win it. The main problem I have with Lin winning it is that, what Cyric said is fine and dandy, but he still only did it for less than 30 games! That's not even half of this compressed season is it? You could also argue that Lin hasn't really improved as much as he just got a chance to finally play but that's opening another can of worms.

I could also counter-argue and say that him playing for the biggest media-market along with the race card has actually benefited him in his case for this award. Same goes for Lin playing without Amare and Carmelo, in which them getting injured gave him the opportunity to reign free in that offense (with the perfect coach for the situation I might add). How many 2-year "forgotten" players would love that situation? Ya you bet they all would, but how many actually have gotten that chance? If he had to assimilate his game into their offense I doubt we would have seen those numbers (and yes it was a terrible offense, but that is besides the point).

I just think there are other candidates, who stepped up their game to a consistent level and who actually did it throughout the whole year, but just didn't get as much hype for those 2 big weeks like Lin. In other words, he should not be the runaway winner, yet it wouldn't really surprise me.

I get that a guy like Lin transcends the game and is something bigger, but the MIP should be based on basketball skills alone. Someone like Monroe or Cousins, should not get overlooked for their improvement from last year to this one just because of their team-market and race. Lin did work, but the writers giving him the award and saying no one "was even close" would be them being influenced by the waves of his popularity more than anything. I just hope it's not a runaway victory even if he does win I guess.

Then again, it would prove consistent to the inconsistency of the NBA award voters and the bullshit that has become. But I guess that's the beauty of subjectivity.

On April 25 2012 11:07 RowdierBob wrote:
Lin a legitimate MVP candidate? C'mon Cyric...

He's up there for MIP and has shown he's a starting caliber PG on an NBA team, but let's not overrate the guy too much here.