Manny Ramirez Teases Nostalgic Clevelanders
April 13, 2009Series Preview: Indians vs. Royals
April 13, 2009During halftime of yesterday’s Cavs/Celtics game, Michael Wilbon and Jon Barry were discussing various elements of the first half. With LeBron James getting it done at both ends of the floor, Wilbon mentioned that his play in a game of yesterday’s magnitude was why LeBron James “is the MVP.” Barry’s reply was:
Well, he’s in the discussion, yes.
Well isn’t that nice of Mr. Barry to put him in the discussion. And as of today, we see why Barry refused to admit that James is the MVP. ESPN published a list of a handful of ESPN, ESPN the Magazine and ESPN NBA analysts, laying out their choices for the 2009 NBA MVP award. Of the 18 panelists, only one – Jon Barry – decided to not choose LeBron James as his MVP. After the jump, we lay out the logic of all 18 ballots.
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Henry Abbott – LeBron James
When the best record in the league comes from a team revolving around an individual performance for the ages, don’t you have to pick that guy?
JA Adande – LeBron James
Believe it or not, his defining moment came in a ‘W’ versus the Clippers.
Jon Barry – Dwyane Wade
My criteria: Who has had the best season? Wade’s the one.
Maurice Brooks – LeBron James
Kudos to Kobe and D-Wade, but those two superstars don’t belong in the same breath as LeBron this season.
Chris Broussard – LeBron James
Already terrific statistics would’ve been even better if he hadn’t spent so much time on the bench in the fourth quarter of Cavs blowouts.
Ric Bucher – LeBron James
If ever there was a year I wanted to split my first-place vote, this was it. My main quibble with James is he hasn’t fully tapped his potential.
Chad Ford – LeBron James
LeBron is the best player in the game, and he’s playing on the team with the best record in the league. If he’s not the unanimous pick for MVP, it’s a crime.
LZ Granderson – LeBron James
No other player instills confidence the way LeBron does.
Jamele Hill – LeBron James
King James’ triple-double spree made this a special campaign, and he was a legitimate candidate for defensive POY.
John Hollinger – LeBron James
James has had a historic, Jordan-esque season while his team unexpectedly has posted the league’s best record, and he is an obvious choice over Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant
Tim Legler – LeBron James
No player is more directly responsible for his team’s success than LeBron.
Eric Neel – LeBron James
The dominant player in the league from day one. Continues to improve his individual game while also enabling and inspiring his supporting cast.
Chris Palmer – LeBron James
By throwing down the best individual season since MJ’s 32, 8 and 8 in 1992, James has surpassed lofty expectations and earned the right to be called the game’s best player.
Jack Ramsey – LeBron James
James pretty much carried the Cavs to best record in the NBA with tremendous play at both ends of the court.
Jalen Rose – LeBron James
His team has been getting it done from buzzer to buzzer and has lost only once at home all season.
Chris Sheridan – LeBron James
I reserve the right to change my final decisions between now and Thursday morning, yet any change would come in the 4 and 5 slots.
Marc Stein – LeBron James
When you factor in all the variables — numbers, versatility, intangibles, team success, overall stature, etc. — it’s a pretty easy choice.
David Thorpe – LeBron James
It seems clear-cut to me. James is the most efficiently productive player in basketball.
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I’m not sure if Brent Barry also hates LeBron James, but after Rick Barry made comments about James earlier this year, I think we’re just a soundbyte short of a Hater Trifecta.
For the entire roundtable, head to ESPN.com. Thanks to the wonder of the Internets, we can go back to last year’s roundtable and see the criteria that each representative claims as their foundation for selection.
As Craig pointed out, Jamele Hill appears to have changed her basis between the two years, but at least she got it right this time around. Unfortunately, Jon Barry was not invited to last years, so his vote – which obviously would have went to LeBron James based on the “best season” – did not get cast.
He’s in the “discussion.”
38 Comments
Well, Scott, not everyone can have above average intelligence. Therefore, Barry has 17+ heads with below average intelligence in gray matter for each head.
Is Berry ever coming to Cleveland?
To me, I just agree with anything Dr. Jack Ramsey says. He IS a doctor.
Two notes:
1. Tell Jon Barry if you cannot find the sucker at the poker table, it’s probably you.
2. Rick Barry is actually pretty smart and loves LBJ. He made factual statements on LBJ’s mechanics. He was right and let’s face it – you aren’t going to see the “Nike presents Shooting Fundamentals DVD featuring Lebron James” for a reason.
Rick Barry’s comments are here:
http://blog.cleveland.com/bransonwright/2009/01/_one_of_the_50.html
Yea, I probably shouldn’t have added Rick into the mix. I also agreed with his statement to a point.
I love how some analysts are trying to compare Lebron and Wade’s numbers. The problem is, there have been a number of games during the season where Lebron sat all or the majority of the 4th quarter because the Cavs were up by so much. The Heat rarely, if ever have a blowout win so that Wade can sit in the 4th Quarter.
It would be amazing to see Lebron’s stats if he got to play his regular minutes every game because the race wouldn’t even be close. He would get all of the 1st place votes along with the 2nd and 3rd votes.
I never thought this would be possible but it seems like Jon Barry’s analyst career is going to be worst than his NBA career.
I wonder if Brent Barry hates LeBron, too.
I’ve despised Jon Barry ever since the 2007 Finals when he and Grant Hill continually dogged the Cavs, funny considering that neither of them made it past to the Finals in their careers.
I refuse to comment until we hear Bertrand Berry’s take on the situation.
What about Halle Berry?
To #6’s point, I’d also love to see what LeBron’s numbers would look like if he got the amount of foul calls that Wade gets when he flings himself toward the vicinity of the basket every night.
“The problem is, there have been a number of games during the season where Lebron sat all or the majority of the 4th quarter because the Cavs were up by so much. The Heat rarely, if ever have a blowout win so that Wade can sit in the 4th Quarter. ”
Per 36 minutes:
Wade averages 28.2 pts, 4.7 reb, 7.0 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk
James averages 27.1 pts, 7.3 reb, 6.9 ast, 1.6 stl, 1 blk
To DPs points, James averages 8.9 FTAs/36; Wade averages 9.1 FTA/36
Scott, I have to point something out here. You say you feel compelled to listen to Jack Ramsey because he’s a doctor.
Sometime within the next two years I’ll be a doctor. These labels are meaningless.
Are you more prone to listen to JR because as you said prior to the weekend, he’s a knight?
Way to fall into the hype, sucka.
So, John Clayton isn’t really a professor?
To #11 Scott,
I think the fouls that are called on Wade, i.e. the ‘quality’ of fouls, are much lower than what are called on LeBron. If LeBron got all the ticky-tacky touch foul calls that Wade got, he’d be shooting 13 FTs/36 minutes. As it stands now, LeBron doesn’t even get calls when he gets hammered, much less when he’s barely touched a la D-Whistle.
I love D-Whistle too, by the way. I’m not knocking him or anything, but I just don’t think the way he and LBJ are reffed is in the same league.
Thanks, Jordan. That’s what I meant.
Leave it to Scott to disprove my rants with actual “stats”.
Never mind this individual award sideshow, anyone see this just over the wire from Tom Withers/AP?:
“Cavaliers forward Ben Wallace has a strained tendon in his left knee, putting his availability in doubt for the playoffs.”
Apparently, MRI showed patella tendon strain. Not good news at all.
ESPN=Joke
Scott – i’m glad you caught this…i read it today and expected it…
i wonder though, if he really means it, or if he’s just doing it to be controversial?
You guys sound like babies every time somewhat “slights” the Cavs or a Cavs player/coach/fan/ball boy/Joe Tait you guys resort to ad hominem attacks. So b/c Barry decided to go against the grain, he has an “agenda?”
Take a step back and relax. He didn’t sleep with your wife, he didn’t rape your children. Yet.
After last year’s explanations that LBJ’s team didn’t have a good enough record, and during the most phenomenal run in the Cavaliers’ history, you will have to excuse our desire to overreact, Cursed…
It would be just like the writers in the world to say one thing one year to keep the award away from LBJ and then change their subjective rules the next in order to give it to D Wade. This is the NBA. I am just happy people are out front speaking up for the Cavs right now since this is such a great team and doesn’t play football.
Also, considering the number of articles having been written about how LBJ is leaving, it is only natural to be a bit territorial when it comes to these guys. And even more seriously, why shouldn’t we bash guys like Legler and Barry who can barely justify their paychecks at the Worldwide Leader some weeks?
BTW I am waiting to find out what Marvin…. MARVIN BERRY thinks… I hear he has that new sound I was looking for.
Fair opinion. However, most of this is pent up over the last handful of years when there was always an excuse for why LBJ shouldnt be the MVP. Even with Bucher saying that his main “quibble” is that James hasn’t lived up to his potential. So it’s his fault that the rest of the league is not as good as he is even when he hasn’t peaked?? Thus, this year, their are zero excuses for why James should not be the unanimous MVP. And yes, he obviously has an issue with LeBron James. People that have to be that one guy that opposes all other thoughts are either dying for attention or too stubborn to admit they were wrong.
Whatever.
I just want LeBron to beat the Lakers.
I’m more worried about Franken Berry has to think
One call to Count Chocula from him and the Cavs may have an issue…
BTW, could somebody explain to why so many people prefer the Bulls as a 1st round opponent to the Pistons?
These aren’t the pistons from a few years ago. Over their last 32 games, they’re 12-20.
The bulls, on the other hand, are 16-10 since the trade.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the Cavs beat either team, but I think they take care of the Pistons quickly.
Craig, priceless.
Are you going to be listening to the “Live from the compound” show? I cannot wait.
Marion Berry thinks this is all a setup.
What are you guys talking about?
Ahem, let me try this again:
“Cavaliers forward Ben Wallace has a strained tendon in his left knee, putting his availability in doubt for the playoffs.”
And we’re still talking about some nobody dissing LeBron to get attention? This might be serious …
Yes, Harv we heard you the first time. There are about three reports floating right now. One has Ben back for the second round, one says no timetable. Pardon us if we would like to get a little confirmation about this before we write anything about it.
You are pardoned, my son.
Barack?
Wow, Harv’s gotta be old if Rick is his son.
He’s been doing this for months now. I thought him and Marc Jackson were going to get into a fight when they did a game about a month ago. Jackson said that LeBron was his Defensive Player of the year and Barry started laughing and saying “you CAN’T Be SERIOUS” and then claimed LeBRon was a terrible defender.
Every chance he gets he starts rambling about how the Cavs blow and probably wont even make it out of the east.
He predicted we’d lose in 5 games if we had HCA against the Lakers yesterday too.
i’m tired of this wade argument.
dwyane wade is not TOP 3. top freaking 3.
lebron put up a much better season last year, on a team that finished mediocre like the heat will this year and finished FOURTH.
i’m tired of espn and their crap. dwyane wade? are you serious?
jon, do you even watch basketball? do you just watch highlights?
Scott – Well said and well done. Jon Barry is out of hand.
I’m with #33 Tsunami – I wasn’t surprised when Barry said that the Lakers would win in 5 – he hasn’t been behind the Cavs all year. I can’t ignore the fact that the Lakers won in Cleveland – BUT – if both teams are healthy, I think each team holds serve at home, and it would be Cavs in 7.
if the cavs win their final game, they will have 67 victories.
That is a 22 victory increase since last season.
If Miami wins their final 2 games, they will have 44 victories.
That is a 29 victory increase since last season.
While Miami will have a greater win-total increase, I am sick of hearing people talk about them going from 15 to 44 wins, and what a gigantic leap that is.
In my opinion, the greater leap comes NOT from going from dreadful to mediocre, like the Heat, but in changing from good to near perfect, like the Cavs this season.
And, again, I must echo what i have written before:
ppg/reb/ast/blk/stl/team wins
WADE; 2009 – 30.2/5.0/7.5/1.34/2.19/44?
LEBRON; 2008 – 30.0/7.9/7.2/1.1/1.7/45
Wade’s stats are pretty close to LeBron’s from last year – well, except for the extra 3 rebounds a game. Anyways, LeBron finished fourth in the voting because they only won 45 games. At least that is what the media said. The fact is the media has always been biased against giving Bron his due – they have made him earn it. This season he forced them to listen.
I love watching D-Wade play, but he’s not this year’s MVP. That would be LeBron.
CursedCleveland is in league with Jon Barry! Boo, I say! Boooooooo!