A Very Biased Look at Derrick's MVP Case

“The way I look at it within myself, why not? Why can’t I be the MVP of the league? Why can’t I be the best player in the league? I don’t see why [not]. Why can’t I do that?"- Derrick Rose, September 28, 2010

Despite the title of this post, I'd like to look at Derrick's case for MVP as objectively as I possibly can. And that's going to be extremely hard, because as the anti-Derrick-for-MVP backlash has been hitting the ol' blogosphere this week, I've taken almost every article personally. How dare these sportswriters point out my favorite player's flaws, or suggest that anyone else is more valuable to their team?

That isn't to say I don't understand the arguments. I like to think of myself as a statistically-inclined sports fan, and am probably more comfortable than most around win shares or Hollinger's player efficiency rating. And those don't point to Derrick being more valuable than Lebron or Dwight Howard, or hell, even Kevin Love. And in baseball, I get frustrated when people try to make the argument that, say, CC Sabathia deserves the Cy Young Award over Felix Hernandez just because no one on the Mariners can hit. However, there's a very important distinction I believe a lot of these articles are forgetting:

Basketball is not baseball.

Let me explain what I mean. Baseball exists very much in a bubble. It doesn't make a huge difference whether Albert Pujols likes whoever's standing on second, he's going to try to get him in regardless. Chemistry is a laughable idea in baseball, and a team that doesn't get along can absolutely win a world series (New York Yankees = exhibit A.)

Chemistry matters in basketball. And perhaps more importantly, a player can make his teammates better. Derrick does this. I mentioned it after the Pacers game, but it matters that the Bulls best player is also their hardest worker, their most competitive player, and someone their teammates genuinely enjoy playing with. Many of the other MVP candidates have 2 of those 3 qualities, but I don't know if any of them embody all 3 like Derrick.

I have about a dozen tabs open at the top of my browser window with links to various anti-Derrick articles. One of them from an Orlando Magic blog talks about Tracy McGrady's 2003 season, and how he could have won the MVP had his teammates been better. Now, I'm coming at this with no knowledge other than a fan's perspective, but from my observation, T-Mac never was (1) the most competitive player on his team, (2) the hardest worker, and (3) certainly was not someone his teammates ever enjoyed playing with. Maybe the reason T-Mac never made it past the first round had to do just a little bit with T-Mac's mental makeup (and I know I'm not the first person to suggest this.)

All of these Anti-Derrick articles have a few things in common. First they compare Derrick statistically to his competitors (usually Russell Westbrook is featured prominently) without providing any context for these stats. Much is made of Derrick's high usage rate (2nd in the league to Kobe) with not too many mentions of the lack of Boozer and Noah for much of the season. Westbrook is an awesome player, but when teams gameplan for the Thunder, they rarely start with "Don't let Russell Westbrook beat us", whereas Derrick is seeing more and more double teams run at him as soon as he gets over halfcourt, especially in crunch time.

Second, they all give credit to the Bulls defense and bench. I love the Bench Mob, truly. But they aren't the greatest group of athletes in the world. As I watched the 76ers run lob after lob to Thaddeus Young last night, it occurred to me that I don't think I've seen the Bulls run a play like that all year. They don't have the type of long freakish athletes you find on many a NBA team (I suppose James Johnson might have qualified.) The bench beats you by outworking you. And I think that at least part of the reason the bench outworks you is the example set by Derrick. You can't take effort and heart for granted in the NBA like you can in some leagues (ask the Detroit Pistons.) It's said that organizations take on the personality of their leader, and as even the other side points out, the Bulls have the best record in the East through hard work and toughness. Derrick deserves some credit for that.

If you want to reward the player with the best stats, go with Lebron. If you want to reward the player that if you took them off their team, they'd lose the most wins, I suppose you could make the case for Howard.

But if you think the MVP should go to the player that has done the most to make their team great...

Dear Tom Thibodeaiouau

What THE FUCK are you doing playing CJ Watson down the stretch?
Just because Doug Collins played the match-up game all game long doesn't mean that you have to. CJ Watson handling the ball in crunch time? Don't abandon what has been working all season long.
This was a big loss. The Heat are coming strong.
Bad move Tom.
EU

Bulls-Sixers/Hawks-Red Wings Open Thread

I'm aware the Hawks need my support more right now, but I just can't resist watching the Bulls these days. Too much fun. But Hawks, I got you during the commercials.

They're Still Letting Rick Reilly Write About Basketball

Apparently I was wrong when I said Reilly met his quota for the year. I guess he has to write one NBA article and one college basketball article. So he decided to write an article about this Jimmer kid he's heard so much about, but has clearly never seen. And based on the sample size of one freaking game, he wasn't impressed.

Jimmer grows dimmer

He's not too limber. Shiver me timbers.

So that's the end of Jimmermania. Saw it for myself. Caught the closing act. Not impressed.

Maybe you should have caught the opening and middle acts too before forming an opinion, then.

Thanks to one of the worst performances of Jimmer Fredette's frabulous career -

That's not a word. I looked it up.

- and a set of teammates who looked like pizza delivery guys -- the BYU star took a hard fall in the Big Easy. BYU was bumped out of the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday, losing to Florida in a lopsided overtime, 83-74.

You can take off those "Romney-Fredette in 2012" T-shirts now.

Except for a stretch in the middle, when he was brilliant, Fredette was brutal.

It's almost like he's a streaky shooter! Or, maybe, since the rest of his teammates are pizza delivery drivers, Florida was double-teaming him from 25 feet out every time.

Yes, he scored 32 points, but he took 29 shots to do it. He seemed to be wearing a blindfold from the 3-point arc -- 3-for-15. Plus, he committed six turnovers and wandered aimlessly through the lane on defense like Moses in the desert.

Timely reference there, Reilly.

I've seen dead people play better defense. At least they occasionally trip people.

Pretty sure that's a foul in the ZBA.

If his last college game is what he's bringing to the NBA, then I'd say, in five years, he's got a really good chance to be your Provo area Isuzu dealer.

Well, yes, but I highly doubt whatever team drafts him will be looking for him to jack up 29 shots a game, or surround him with pizza-delivery guys (unless the Clippers draft him.) Also, there's the chance that the rest of his career while vary statistically from this one game you happened to see.

Great kid, though. Polite, smart (good chess player, whiz at Sudoku), studies his Bible in hotel rooms. Maybe that was the problem. Fredette and the largely Mormon BYU Nation should've never been made to come to New Orleans. You can sin just by osmosis here.

You should have seen some of them on Bourbon Street, the freshly scrubbed Cougars fans, horrified to find themselves among the window strippers, the hurricane chuggers and the bead catchers.

Then again, some of the comparisons BYU fans were making about The Jimmer this week made you think they deserved it.

Ah, the sin of pride. Hear that Mormons? God is punishing you via basketball. That's how it works, right?

"Thou shalt not know pride, nor raise a false idol of any one player over the team, lest ye be bounced in the round of 16." (Michael 23:45)

"He's a little Maravich," a guy in a BYU shirt told me.

No! No, he isn't! He's not within a mile of Mardi Gras floats of Maravich. Maravich could get his shot off from the bottom of a swimming pool. He could get 40 in handcuffs. He averaged 44 points a game in college (to Fredette's 28 this season) and that's without the 3-point shot. With it, studies of his game film have shown, he would have averaged over 55.

If Maravich played today, he would have averaged 90 easily! It's not like the game has changed in any other way besides the 3-point line, like athletes being significantly stronger and faster, and recruiting pools deeper.

Also, Maravich at LSU: 49-35, winning percentage of .583

Jimmer at BYU (with pizza-delivery teammates): 114-25, winning percentage of .820

"He's better than Danny Ainge was," a lady in a Cougars sweatshirt told me.

No! No, he isn't! Ainge was Danny Clutch (remember his Sweet 16 drive in 1981)

No, wasn't born yet. Comparisons like these always remind me of this hilarious Onion article.

Fredette didn't have a single game-winning shot all year. Against Florida, he didn't score a single point in the game's final eight minutes, or, for that matter, the first 13.

But dropped 32 in the middle 19 minutes. I can think of a good amount of NBA teams that can find a use for that. As for game winning shots, how many has he needed to make? BYU hasn't been in that many close games this year.

"I know from just watching him he's going to be a great NBA player," Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook said.

No! No, he isn't!

You know this like you know the Melo trade was bad for Denver? (Denver since the trade= 11-4. New York since the trade= 7-10) Just felt like rubbing that in.

Don't get me wrong. The Jimmer will make a modest living in the NBA. When he gets hot, he can drain them from the hotel coffee shop. He splits the double team as well as anybody in the league right now and he has a whole Santa bag of off-balance scoop shots with either hand. But until he shows more interest in defense than a blind man has in rainbows, he's going to spend most of his NBA life sitting on padded folding chairs.

Plenty of NBA players have made a living in the NBA without being great defenders.

To his credit, he'll have more help in the NBA than he had this season at BYU. His best rebounder, Brandon Davies, was thrown off the team for violating BYU's no-booze, no-sex, no-caffeine honor code, which meant it was pretty much Jimmer or nothing against the tall trees of Florida. He never came out once in the first 44 minutes and had to fire up shots through the tiniest cracks of light allowed to him by the Gators. He wore out. He fired up two 3s from at least six feet behind the arc in the overtime and missed them both, badly. Then again, he had a cut in his chin that looked like something George Foreman had left and his calf was killing him. But when his teammates really needed him, at the end of regulation, on defense, Jimmer really hit the dimmer.

You used that one already. Here's some more: "Jimmer's chances were getting slimmer," "Jimmer's D was like Kimmy Gibbler."

Florida missed a trey with 24 seconds to go and Fredette's man, Erving Walker, who stands only 5-6, beat him to the long rebound. It wasn't hard. Fredette was nowhere to be found. I'm not even sure Fredette knew who his man was the entire night. Florida wound up with a reset and the last shot.

CBS is good about patrolling youtube, so I can't rewatch the final ten seconds of regulation, but I remember the rebound going all the way out to the 3-point line when Florida got it. Anyone who's ever played basketball has been in a situation where they boxed their man out perfectly, but the rebound went over their head anyway. It was just bad timing for BYU, and I don't think Jimmer was more at fault than anyone else.

"If we'd have gotten it, we'd have had about eight seconds left differential," Fredette said. "I'd have had the ball in my hands at the end."

Note to Jimmer: To get the ball, one must occasionally check one's man and/or box said man out. One did neither.

Hence, based on that one play, he will never be good in the NBA ever, and be delivering pizzas with his teammates in 5 years.

"The weird thing is, [his defense] has gotten progressively worse over the year," says Fredette's own teammate, Nick Martineau.

Whoah, is throwing your teammate under the bus in the BYU honor code?

"From the start, he's never really been accountable to it, but it's just gotten looser as the year's gone on. But he can play defense. He really can. He'll definitely tighten it up for the NBA."

He'd better.

Or else God will smite him.

"I just want to take a couple weeks off and then start getting ready to try to make an NBA team," said the man who probably will be voted about five player of the year awards. "That's my dream, to make an NBA team."

Fine. That he can do. But you think this barely 6-2 kid with no speed and YMCA hops can be the next Maravich or Ainge or Westbrook?

Maravich and Westbrook? Probably not. Ainge? Quite Possibly. JJ Reddick or Stephen Curry? Most likely yes.

Also, I know you don't write for SI anymore, but at least look at their covers sometime. These ain't YMCA hops.

Fredette about it.

I hate you so much.

Official Bulls Nicknames

The playoffs are coming quickly, and we have a problem. The occasional lack of focus and cold spells on offense? The fact times when Bogans isn't helping at all but still on the floor? The fact that Kurt Thomas is still sometimes getting important minutes?

No. The problem is we're not all on the same page nickname wise with this Bulls team. Let's fix that with this handy guide:

Tom Thibodeau= TT

This was originally just because I didn't feel like looking up "Thibodeau" every time I wanted to write his name (I've been calling him TT for so long I had to look it up for this post.) But I also think it's funny to call a guy so serious he apparently has no life outside of basketball a name that sounds vaguely like a gogo dancer's.

Omer Asik= Turkish Delight (Turkish D for short)

I like Stacey's "Aseek and Destroy" but that's really more of a catchphrase than a nickname, so I'd rather go with Bill Wennington's suggestion of Turkish Delight. Plus it allows for plenty of "Snatch" quotes. "Hey, how long on those sausages?" "Two minutes, Turkish." "You said two minutes five minutes ago..."

Ronnie Brewer= The Baseline Ninja (TBN for short)

Other than TT, this is the only one I can take credit for. Ronnie at least once a game scores a basket where he sneaks undetected along the baseline and someone finds him for an easy layup. Every now and then someone else tries it and fails, only Ronnie has the ninja skills necessary to make the play work.

Brian Scalabrine= White Mamba

No need for explanation here, Stacey pretty much solidified this one.

Kurt Thomas= Big Sexy (when good), Kurt Thomas (when sucking)

After a rocky start which I was very angry about, Kurt filled in adequately for whatever big man was injured, allowing Taj and Turkish to play together with the 2nd unit. And sometimes when Kurt is flopping like a ragdoll drawing charges, hitting the 17 footer, and playing decent straight-up post defense, he's earned the Big Sexy nickname Stacey he gave him when they played for the Heat together in 95-96. When he's not rotating on D and messing up offensive plays by not being athletic enough to get where he needs to be on time, though, I'm not calling him that.

Kyle Korver= Alfredo Sauce (Fredo for short)

Stacey is loving the "Hot Sauce" call, but the problem is, Hot Sauce is already taken as a nickname.



(Don't act like you didn't watch And-1 tapes back in the early 00s)

So BJ submitted "Alfredo Sauce" for reasons that I'm sure had nothing to do with race whatsoever. I like it, and endorse it fully.

Derrick= Derrick

It's too premature to start comparing Derrick to MJ...but I'm going to do it anyway. When you say the name "Derrick" in Chicago right now, even if you aren't talking about the Bulls (or sports in general), people know who you're talking about. You don't need a nickname when you've completely co-opted your first name. Derrick is simple, business-life, and doesn't need all the flash and dazzle, which is exactly why he doesn't need a ego-boosting nickname. And why we all love him.

If you have any more suggestions, leave them in the comments. I feel like Taj or CJ are due for nicknames soon.

Bulls-Hawks Open Thread

Dick Stockton just called the Bulls "surprising". Is anyone actually surprised by anything the Bulls are doing right now?

They just said 7 of the 10 starters have played in the Final Four. I know Noah, Horford, Rose, Hinrich, Marvin Williams, and Boozer are 6, I know Josh Smith and Joe Johnson didn't. Which one made it between Bogans and Deng? Going to have to look it up.

Bulls-Kings Liveblog

Booze is back, and after the way the Pacers game went, I expect Derrick to take his anger out on the Kings tonight.

They just started talking about the Kings game last year where the Kings came back from a 35 point deficit to beat the Bulls, costing me $50 (I was in Vegas at the time.) I love that Derrick is still mad about that one, too.

Sometimes a Loss is a Good Thing

The Bulls had every reason to pack this one in. Down sixteen at the start of the 4th, second game of a back-to-back, the starters absolutely looking dead tired for most of the game. They could have easily put in White Mamba and Rasual Butler and looked towards Sacramento.

But Derrick wasn't having it. I believe it was a Simmons column from last year when he says, speaking from Derrick and Joakim's perspective, "we are wired the right way." I love that Derrick is not ok with losing to the Pacers, and as a result, the Bulls aren't ok with losing to the Pacers. A team takes on the personality of its leaders, and the leaders on the Bulls are competitive as hell and incredibly hard workers. The comeback fell short, but I feel better about the Bulls chances now than I did before. The Bulls will not lose for lack of effort.

On a separate note, please get better soon, Boozer. I have no idea why TT chose to play Big Sexy over Jo and Turkish D in crunch time, but he just wasn't getting it done on the boards, and Hanborough made them pay for it. I'm not doing a blame game, and lord knows Korver, TBN, and Bogans would all get a good chunk themselves, but I think the Kurt and TT show would lead the way.

I Need 5 TVs Open Thread

Bulls! Hawks! March Madness! Community! Parks and Rec! Oh, and it's about 70 degrees outside.

Bulls-Wizards Open Thread

No Boozer. No Noah. So what's it going to be, TT? 30 minutes a piece for Taj, Big Sexy, and Turkish D? Meaningful minutes for White Mamba? Or a lot of Luol Deng at the 4? I'm thinking the likelihood of each is 49/1/50 respectively. Either way, let's show how deep this frontcourt is tonight and take hold of that #1 seed.

Cliff Lee: Javier Vasquez:: Potato: Potahto

Sorry this post isn't about Chicago, but John Kruk just said something so colossally stupid I can't let it go. RE: Florida Marlins and the NL East:
"Talent-wise, I don't know if any team can match the talent on this team."

Yes, you're old team, the one with Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Raul Ibanez, can't match the talent on the Florida Marlins. Okaaaaaaayyyy....

Now back to your regularly scheduled Bulls dominance.

Get Out the Brooms! Bulls-Heat Liveblog

I don't like the Heat losing by 30 last game. The Heat are one of those teams that can flip a switch. I know they should have enough motivation to play hard against the team they're fighting for the #2 seed right now, but I don't need them having extra motivation. The Bulls will be fine, though, as long as they stay focused, limit turnovers, and be patient in finding decent shots.

First time? After you comment, be patient. I have to approve the comment, then you'll be able to comment at will.

Credit Where Credit is Due- Bulls/Magic 3/4

Haven't had a chance to give the Bulls a little credit in some time, and they certainly deserve it for the way they've played lately (Hawks game notwithstanding).

The 2nd Unit- 40%
The starting 5 was -24 total (although Keith Bogans was -13 of that himself.) Korver/Watson/Brewer/Gibson/Asik? +64. They outhustled the Magic on every posession, took smart shots, closed out on every shot the Magic took, and kept Dwight Howard off the glass. Blogabull called this group something like the "can't buy a bucket unit" (can't find the quote, but it was disparaging the bench's offense) but the defense that group plays is outstanding. Hollinger pointed it out in an article (that you have to be an "ESPN insider" to read, which is fucking stupid) how the secret to the Bulls' success is the 2nd unit's defense. I don't need to pay $5 a month or something dumb like that to know, all I have to do is watch the first half of the 2nd and 4th quarter.

82games.com has that five at -14, which kind of surprises me, and defends Blogabull's point by showing they have the lowest ppp (points per possession) of the top 20 5 man units at 0.84. But they have one of the best defensive ppps at 0.91, and any of those 5s with Deng in for one of the forwards is a positive +/-.

Ronnie "The Baseline Ninja" Brewer- 20%
Now that Big Sexy is back in the role he was signed to play, I need something else to be mad about, so here it is: Ronnie Brewer can be a legit starting 2 guard on a championship team. Not one where they need the 2-guard to put up a lot of points, but this Bulls team doesn't need that. They need the shots coming from Derrick, Boozer, and Deng, with maybe some Joakim pick-and-roll action mixed in. They need the 2-guard to play solid defense on other team's best offensive backcourt player, and maybe stretch the floor for Derrick in the process. Yes, Ronnie doesn't do the latter so much, but what he brings to the team is exactly what helps the Bulls the most. I think if the proposed Ronnie and 3 picks for OJ Mayo deal had gone through, the Bulls would be a worse team right now, let alone the 3 picks down the road.

Also, Ronnie is officially to be called "The Baseline Ninja" from here on out, for his ability to sneak along undetected until it's too late for the defense to do anything about it.

Turkish Delight- 15%
Asik played 31 minutes of +13 ball against the best center in the NBA. Who still wants to argue that Asik isn't a legit NBA big man? Joakim played 17 minutes, and it wasn't just because of his conditioning. Mark my words: the key to an extended run in the playoffs this year will be how well Asik plays against Dwight Howard and Shaq.

Derrick Rose- 10%
Still struggling with the 3, but 45% shooting is an improvement from what's been going on of late. Nice to see him looking to drive a little more, hopefully we see more of that tomorrow.

TT- 10%
I have nothing negative to say about TT's rotations as of late. Despite my love of TBN (not always going to type out Baseline Ninja. Get used to it.) I still like Bogans starting and Brewer bringing energy around the 4:00 minute mark of the 1st and 3rd quarters. Asik and Taj are playing about as much as they should given the matchups, and aside from Korver sometimes playing over TBN late in close games when it might be more beneficial to have a defensive stopper, I have nothing to complain about. I just hope the addition of Rasual Butler doesn't get me started again (especially if TBN's minutes are affected.)

Luol Deng- 5%
Gotta give Lu a little credit. He didn't make Turkoglu his bitch like the last time we matched up with the Magic, but he took smart shots, attacked the rim, and played the solid D we've come to expect. Keep it up, Lu, so I can stop being worried about your late-game decision making.

No credit-
Boozer- 5-17? I realize Dwight Howard is down there, but come on. Also, Brandon Bass rained jumpers on you.
Bogans- I'm one of the few Bogans defenders, but I can't defend last night's performance. A couple of those 3s weren't the kind I want him taking (Only wide-open 3s fall in that category) and he didn't play good D to make up for it.

Liveblog for the Heat coming tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Random Notes- 3/3

Bulls

I'm sure if any game this season called for a blame game, it was last night. However, I didn't get to see most of it, and while I could dole out some blame for the last two minutes (even then there's plenty to go around,) but it might not be very accurate (although judging from Al Horford's 31 and 16, I'm guessing Noah deserves a good chunk.) If someone wants to write one up, be my guest.

Anyways, I'm looking for the Bulls to bounce back by beating both Florida teams over the weekend. The Bulls have been stepping up lately when the competition amps up, so hopefully they'll come to play Friday and Sunday, then stop taking nights off the rest of the way.

Hawks

On the flip side, the Hawks are playing as good as they've played all year, and I'm ready to declare the Stanley Cup hangover officially over. I love this picture of Toews as Judge Dredd. Ever since I semi-blasted him, he has taken the team on his back, and there's no reason the Hawks can't get a home playoff series in the first round. And frankly I'm not scared of the Canucks if that's the 2nd round opponent. There would be a ridiculous amount of pressure on them to finally get past the Hawks, while the Hawks have nothing to lose at this point. Most fans have already written this season off, and about when that happened, they started playing loose again. Either way it's finally all coming together, right in the nick of time.

Cubs

I don't care what Mike Wilbon says, I'm not "encouraged" by the fact that the Cubs are fighting in the dugout 4 days into spring training.

Look, I'm not trying to judge the Quade era on 4 spring training games. But to me, there seems to be 3 main jobs as a manager-
1. Don't run your players into stupid outs on the basepaths.
2. Don't leave your pitchers in too long (or take them out in the 6th inning of a tie playoff game in anticipation of a game 4 they didn't even make it to, you fucking moron.)
3. Keep your team from hating each other.

There's something to be said for fighting due to over-competitiveness. But I don't like the finger-pointing happening on March 2nd. That's a sign that your team isn't on the same page, and not working for the same goals. Quade, please get control of your team.

The Silva-for-Bradley trade was officially a win when Silva won his first game last year. I still blame Hendry a little, though, for the retarded Bradley signing in the first place, necessitating a trade for a guy who made 12.75 mil to add 1.8 wins above replacement, yet think he's entitled to a starting job without earning it.

Bears

Not much to say here, but hat tip to Tommie Harris, who went out with a little class. I always liked Tommie, and was rooting for him to succeed. It's the NFL, though, and you can't under perform your contract without consequences. Good job on Tommie for understanding that and being a professional.