Paul Pierce For MVP?

[PierceMVP08]

I wanted to throw this out there.  Over and over again, when listening to "experts" discuss MVP candidates, I never hear Pierce's name mentioned.  Why is this?  He was the finals MVP and is the best player on the best team in the league.  He scores, defends, passes, and is a great leader.  What more do you need?  In my opinion he is much more worthy of MVP consideration than KG, yet KG always gets the recognition and Pierce gets nothing.

So that said, what do you all think about the possibility of Pierce winning the MVP this year?  I see Pierce having his best year ever.  He knows how to play in this system and is in the best shape he has been in in a long time.  Watching him on Tuesday night brought back memories of him back in 2002 and instead of losing a step this year, it looks like he has picked one up.  Those were the most effortless 27 points I have seen him score in a long time.  I think he will put up the numbers and will deserve it, but I don't think he will get the media recognition.

[Redz]

I wanted to throw this out there.  Over and over again, when listening to "experts" discuss MVP candidates, I never hear Pierce's name mentioned.  Why is this?  He was the finals MVP and is the best player on the best team in the league.  He scores, defends, passes, and is a great leader.  What more do you need?  In my opinion he is much more worthy of MVP consideration than KG, yet KG always gets the recognition and Pierce gets nothing.

So that said, what do you all think about the possibility of Pierce winning the MVP this year?  I see Pierce having his best year ever.  He knows how to play in this system and is in the best shape he has been in in a long time.  Watching him on Tuesday night brought back memories of him back in 2002 and instead of losing a step this year, it looks like he has picked one up.  Those were the most effortless 27 points I have seen him score in a long time.  I think he will put up the numbers and will deserve it, but I don't think he will get the media recognition.

I actually heard someone on ESPN mention Pierce as his choice for MVP last night.  I almost passed out.  I'm not sure who it was.  He sounded like Avery Johnson, but it wasn't him.  Anyone else see that?  It was during the Shootaround show, right before tipoff of the Spurs/Suns game.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

I agree 100% on all fronts...

[Donoghus]

Well, we're only one game into the season so its awfully early to be thinking about this.

Couple things going against Pierce would:

a) be the fact that he plays with two other bonafide superstars and the Celtics are percieved as more a team than teams such as the Lakers or Cavs which, justifiably, or not tend to get looked at more as one man shows.

b) now that he's a champ, I think we can forget this media slight that has permeated for years about Pierce.  He plays for a winner, plain and simple.  However, I think day in and day out, sports reporting authorities such as ESPN & TNT play up the individual angle (Kobe v. Lebron etc....).  The Celtics are the Big Three when advertised not Pierce v. Kobe.  Like it or not, this is driven into the national conscious, media included.  Come MVP voting time, more often than not, its going to go towards that guy who is imprinted in voters memories.

Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love to see it.  I'm just pointing out some possible reasons why it may be a struggle.

[spinz]

So that said, what do you all think about the possibility of Pierce winning the MVP this year?

For whatever reason the media just doesnt find him an interesting story, they see him as passed his prime years and is not nearly as interesting as young guys like lebron. If pierce is going to win the mvp he has to make it a clean sweep, and give an undeniable performance of dominance. But winning mvp isnt anything compared to leading your team to a championship. So i neither expect, nor demand that Pierce wins mvp.

[fairweatherfan]

Yeah, I saw the commentator pick Pierce for MVP and was as surprised as anyone.  Don't remember who it was though.

Paul's not much more likely to win the MVP than Chauncey Billups was when the Pistons were tearing it up - he's better than Billups by a good bit, but the "best player on the best team" stuff only gets you so far against individual talents with big numbers like LeBron, Kobe, and Chris Paul.  

Where he's likely to do better is on the All-NBA teams - team success will make his performance seem bigger than his numbers.  He's far more likely to make All-NBA 2nd team with an outside shot at 1st team if he is clearly the best player, or co-best with KG, on a 60+ win team.

[PistolPete]

Avery Johnson did pick Pierce as his preseason MVP choice last night on ESPN. Stewart Scott and Jon Barry were speechless. Johnson and Barry both picked the Celtics to repeat.

On a side note, I had just returned from a church meeting where we had been discussing implementing ubunto as a way of unifying and growing.

[zerophase]

you pick him for mvp after just 1 game?

[Birdbrain]

Well I would hope he would get some MVP votes if Boston dominates again this year like I believe they will. 

Just a side note I hope we don't start with the Pierce vs KG fans.  I would be so LA.

[guava_wrench]

I don't think any Celtics will have the stats for MVP. The team is too balanced.

[TheReaLPuba]

You need gaudy stats to be considered for MVP.

Pierce did have those type of stats in '01-'02 and he was in the MVP talk that year.

I don't think this team really cares of stats or awards they just want to repeat and make more history!

[wdleehi]

The Celtics stars just share to much to win the MVP when media darlings like Lebron, Kobe and Paul put up big number on top teams. 

[kw10]

Sure I think Pierce would probably have an MVP-worthy season. But he won't get it unfortunately. BTW I'm a KG fan, so I do believe KG deserves a couple more trophies  . However I also have no doubt Pierce will have a better season than KG, at least what people look at when they decide MVP (i.e. mainly offensive end). But at the end of the day, who cares who gets MVP, who cares who scores 25. It's #18 we are aiming at right here y'all!

[PierceMVP08]

I'm not trying to divide the team at all.  I just think it's interesting that Pierce is never mentioned.  And I am not picking him after one game, but if you read espn or SI, they have their preseason predictions and they give their choices for MVP.  KG was among those picked in both publications. 

I'm glad to hear somebody picked him as MVP.  I'm not saying it's the important thing because number 18 is obviously the number one thing.  But it would be great to see him get that recognition and really put him in elite company.  The 80's celtics were great but Larry Bird still won 3 MVP's.  There's nothing wrong with that or in wanting Pierce to get that recognition.

[BigAlTheFuture]

I agree with previous posters. We are too balanced of a team for any player to win MVP. I think Lebron will win the award this year. He's playing the best ball he ever has in his career and has a better team around him.