12-29-2005, 09:34 AM
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#2 (permalink)
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HoopsAddict.com
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,359
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Re: Mvp!
Quote:
East MVP of the Trimester
Chauncey Billups, PG, Detroit Pistons
It'll probably be harder for Billups to win the league's MVP trophy than it was to win the NBA Finals MVP.
Someone from the winning team is guaranteed to win that trophy, even when it's a champ fueled by the collective effectiveness of its five starters as opposed to the dominance of two or three stars. In the regular season, fair or not, even the most productive player from the team with the best record is bound to miss with some voters, especially when that team is known for winning as an ensemble.
Billups shouldn't be disappointed, though. He's finally getting the recognition that has been long overdue and playing such a well-rounded game that he'll surely crack the top five in MVP balloting if this keeps up. To go along with the usual handful of big shots he's known for draining, Billups is also running his team better than ever: He is No. 3 in the league in assists per game at a career-best 8.6, and No. 1 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.67-to-1.
Folks forget that the Pistons' original interest in Billups was spawned by the playoff punishment he inflicted on Dallas for Minnesota in 2002 ... under a coach named Flip Saunders. The reunion with Saunders' free-flowing system, on top of the maturity he gained from Larry Brown's constant nudging, has taken Billups to a new level.
That should explain why he's the East's obvious leader in this category, even with Allen Iverson and LeBron James scoring better than 30 points a game.
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