MVN - Most Valuable Network

A bittersweet day for CP3

Today must be a bittersweet day for the young All-Star.  Congratulations on your twenty-third birthday, Chris Paul, but condolences as well on your runner-up finish in the MVP race. 

I’ll admit I had it wrong.  Two days before the Hornets lost consecutive road games to the Lakers and Kings in the final week of the season; I said Paul had won the MVP.  I was convinced of it.  He was the top dog on a team that had climbed its way to the top Mount Everest (the Western Conference standings) when no one even expected them to get out of base camp. 

Paul was putting the finishing touches on one of the great seasons for a point guard in NBA history and I just couldn’t see how Kobe Bryant could win the award after having the same season he’s had for the past five years, during which he never came within third of the MVP.  Nevertheless, the voters felt compelled to honor Kobe with a lifetime achievement award instead of recognizing just how special Paul’s season was. 

And some special it was. 

Before this season, 17 assists in a game was unusual to me.  Every now and then I would see Steve Nash dishing out 17 assists in a game and wonder how there was enough time in a game to rack up that many helpers.  See, I started watching the NBA right after John Stockton retired, so I grew up with watching garbage dump point guards like Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis play.  When I watched the Sixers battle the Lakers for the title in 2001, Eric Snow and Derek Fisher were the primary ball handlers.  Not exactly primetime point guards. 

So when Chris Paul started throwing up 15 dimes every third or fourth game he played, I perked up in my chair.  This kid is really doing something, I said to myself. 

I knew he could score from watching him in college, but now he was passing the ball, and passing it better than anyone in the league.  I mean 19 points and 21 assists against the Lakers on the road in only the fourth game of the season?  Are you kidding?  Is that even a real stat line, I wondered?

After a while it became commonplace.  20 points and 12 assists was average for him.  It got to the point that when he blew up for 28 and 15 I barely batted an eye.  Tell me the last time a guy on your favorite team went for 28 and 15 and you didn’t talk about it the next day with someone.

Soon he was outdueling Nash and making Jason Kidd look every bit as old as 35.  Paul was on cruise control and gaining more confidence with each game. 

Alas, in the last week of the season the Hornets fell to the Lakers and Kings, knocking the Hornets out of first place and ending Paul’s chance at an MVP.

I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it though Hornets fans.  Just think what Paul’s going to do next season now that he’s got some more doubters to prove wrong. 

I can’t even begin to imagine…     

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 9:33 pm and is filed under Swarming the Ball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.