Groan

Of all the NBA writers on the web, my favorite has always been Jack McCallum from SI. Maybe it's because I took a journalism school class at Oregon from a former co-worker of his, or maybe it's because he has a better sense of history than most of the guys in his business, I'm not sure.

That said, his recent column about why Steve Nash should be MVP is an absolute joke. McCallum was nice enough to lay out his argument in 5 sections, so I'll destroy them point by point.

1. Nash improved his team more than Shaq improved his. FALSE.
Phoenix averaged 36 wins/season over the past 3 years and Miami averaged 34. Yes, the Heat made it to the semis of the East last year, but does anyone think they'd be this good this year without Shaq? Furthermore, let's look at how the teams both players left did without them. Dallas? 52-30 last year, on pace to win 57 this year. The Lakers? I don't even have to go into that one, do I?

2. Miami can win without Shaq. FALSE.
The Heat are 4-4 without the big man, while the Suns are 2-4 without Nash. Not much of a difference there. Or look at it this way; the Suns' 4 best players other than Nash are Stoudamire, Marion, Joe Johnson, and Quentin Richardson. The Heat's top 4 are Wade, Eddie and Damon Jones, and Udonis Haslem. Let's say you're the GM of the Heat, would you trade your 4 for the Suns' 4? If you said no, please stop reading this blog and go back to reading Bowling Monthly.

3. Nash has changed the game. FALSE.
If this was true, then what about the years he spent in Dallas? Didn't he play the exact same way there? Sorry, but the reason the NBA is scoring more has nothing to do with Steve Nash and everything to do with rule changes and David Stern's grasp of the fact that 82-75 scores do not translate to high ratings.

4. Nash can beat you in numerous ways. TRUE.
Of course, so can Shaq. McCallum lists 5 ways Nash can beat you, 4 of which are actually true (his assertion that Nash gets to the line often is a flat-out mistruth; Nash ranks behind Earl Boykins and ahead of Rafer Alston on the FTA/gm chart for guards). Well, Shaq can rebound, block shots, dunk, and get to the line. Okay, when he gets to the line he misses, but he gets there doesn't he?

5. Nash is fun. HUH?
What does that have to do with anything? Is Nash any more fun than Luke Ridnour? What about Jason Kidd? Geez, Reggie Miller's always been a favorite of mine, let's make him the MVP!

In all seriousness, if someone can give me a logical, thought-out argument for why Nash should be MVP, I'm all ears. But if your argument contains the words "intangibles," "leadership," or any other nonsense like that, I'm turning a deaf ear, because I'll take Shaq's one intangible ability that surpasses any that Nash has: To dunk on any living human being at will.

Warrior

Don't know if anyone else saw this, but Saturday night the Suns and Warriors engaged in a classic, 1980s style shootout in Oakland. You can see the box score here, but the agate doesn't do the game justice. You had Stoudamire playing like a man possessed, the arena was thundering, G.S.W. shooting 70% in the 4th quarter - it was fantastic.

Five things I learned from watching that game:

1. Steve Nash couldn't stay in front of a parade of disabled World War II vets;
2. Mickael Pietrus will never have a game like that again;
3. Zarko Cabarkapa is Vlade Radmanovic at a third the price;
4. Adonal Foyle just could be worth all the coin he's getting;
5. The Golden State Warriors are going to be fierce next year.

I've given Chris Mullin slack for some of his moves this season, but getting Baron Davis was genius. It's a shame the Warriors aren't going to make the playoffs, because they are easily one of the 3 best teams in the West right now.

Carnival of the NBA

Matt Bernhardt of the excellent Bulls Blog has started a new feature called "The Carnival of the NBA", which highlights different NBA Blogs from around the world (well, North America, anyway). Since he (and many others) have been kind enough to feature our humble Sonics Blog, I thought it was time to return the favor.

So, without further ado (whatever the hell that means), I present to you this week's CARNIVAL OF THE NBA:

- Over at Bulls Blog, Matt asks for a moment of silence for fallen rookie Luol Deng.

- Jeff from Celtics Blog speculates on Boston's possible playoff opponents.

- Over at Knickerblogger, they're comparing the Knicks recent play to the Flat Earth Society, while my other favorite Knicks blog, Larry Fleisher's "Father Knickerbocker", features a piece on Jason Kidd's recent dissing of the Knicks.

- Keven, from Maverick Blog, cranks out the stats to show who the best defenders in the NBA are.

- Kurt runs down the week in Laker-Land at Forum Blue and Gold.

- GH claims that the T-Wolves aren't dead yet!

- Matthew bemoans the loss of Tim Duncan at the Spurs Blog, while dropping lyrics from my favorite band.

- Scott (creator of the best looking basketball blog in the world, Raptor Blog) talks about Toronto's "matador defense".

- Ron Hitley, from Hornets247, has a brand new feature on his site called "Baselines". So go check it out, already!

- David Eisenberg laments the loss of Big Shaq Diesel Daddy Dude at Crazy from the Heat.

There are probably dozens of other great NBA blogs that I missed, so if I forgot your site, feel free to hit me upside the head.