Marcus Banks wins an award

by Dan @ Bright Side Of The Sun on Apr 18, 2007 11:28 AM MDT in Phoenix Suns News

Well, it's not an official award and it's not very prestigious. And I'm not sure I agree with it.

But Bill Simmons is giving Marcus Banks the Least Valuable Player award. His reasoning:

You need to realize zero percent of your team's expectations, even though it traded a No. 1 pick (and a chance to take Rajon Rondo or Marcus Williams) to create enough cap space for a bench player who could save its best player's legs during the season. You need to be such a ginormous bust that your coach gave up on you within three weeks. You need to be untradable even though you have a reasonable salary ($21 million, five years). You need to become the albatross for a potential championship team that's single-handedly lowering its ceiling from an "A-plus" to an "A-minus." In other words, you need to be Marcus Banks.

By a raise of hands, how many people think the Suns should trade Marcus Banks in the offseason? Now, by another raise of hands, how many people think anyone will trade for him? Is Isaiah Thomas still speaking to the Suns after the Quentin Richardson trade? I think that is the Suns' only hope.

Poll

Will the Suns be able to trade Marcus Banks in the off-season?

Nope

11 votes

Yep

7 votes

18 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

LOL!

He also (sorta) picked Nash for MVP. Ok, what he really did was rank Nash as #2 on a long list of guys who should NOT be MVP, but he named the fans as MVP, which makes Nash his top-ranked NBA player on that list, if that makes any sense....

I still love Bill Simmons, though. His stuff is hilarious.

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 11:34 AM MDT reply actions

Darn it!

I posted the link to the story on phxsuns.net, not the real link. Sorry, here's the real one.

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 11:43 AM MDT up reply actions

BTW...

How do you do that "purple box" thing around your quotes?

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 11:35 AM MDT reply actions

method in the madness

he's watching...he's learning.

I've been thinking long term: the system is good, but Nash needs a solid passing backup.

Banks COULD be that guy. But my guess is, for all his "I'm happy to back up Steve Nash" rhetoric, he's gonna eventually get pissed that he's not starting.

That, and he's slow on the learning curve.

Right now, he seems to be Stephon Marbury: so let's trade him to the East. Atlanta would love him.

flim springfield

by DrStrom on Apr 18, 2007 11:49 AM MDT up reply actions

purple box

Are you referring to the links in text?

by jasonsuns1 on Apr 18, 2007 1:50 PM MDT up reply actions

No

I was referring to the quote box Dan put in his entry. But Travis has since explained how to do that in his latest diary, so problem solved. :)

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 1:51 PM MDT up reply actions

And here's the link to the rest of the ESPN votes

Keep in mind not all of these guys have real ballots (I remember that from last year).

Bad news: Dirk was the overwhelming favorite as MVP by their count. (10 for Dirk, 4 for Nash, one each for Duncan and Kobe).

Good news: At least they got it right for LB as 6th man. (Except for the five knuckleheads who voted for Manu Ginobili and Jerry Stackhouse).

Other news: Shawn Marion picked up a respectable number of a widely-split DPOY votes (3 vs. Marcus Camby's 4). None of our guys got any significant mention in the other categories.

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 11:50 AM MDT reply actions

Real votes vs. non-real votes

I wish I could remember from previous years which of these sports writers/columnists had "actual" votes for the NBA in-season awards. Hopefully all 4 who voted for Nash have a real vote and some who voted for Dirk don't (okay, I hope none with real votes voted for Dirk).

Not sure why I get all caught up in this MVP stuff year after year (well, actually just since Nash has been winning it) when the post season is more important, but I do.

by TwinnerA on Apr 18, 2007 12:29 PM MDT up reply actions

From what I remember...

Of the ones listed on that ESPN page, Marc Stein and Bill Walton have real votes. John Hollinger does not (thank goodness!), unless that's changed from last year. I think Tim Legler may have a real one, but I also may have him mixed up with someone else. Bill Simmons, while entertaining, does not have a real vote as far as I can remember.

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 12:58 PM MDT up reply actions

I think I had Tim Legler mixed up with Rick Bucher

But Bucher also voted for Nash, so either way it's the same...

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 2:02 PM MDT up reply actions

One other thing I remember

Is that last year, that same panel had Kobe winning MVP (or maybe LeBron). In any case, it wasn't Nash, and Nash ended up winning by a landslide. So just because the panel of ESPN "experts" overwhelmingly voted for Dirk, that doesn't guarantee he'll get it.

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 1:00 PM MDT up reply actions

BTW

All three of these votes count, according to CNNSI's web site.

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 1:17 PM MDT up reply actions

Dirk argument

I know, I know, everybody is sick of the MVP argument now, that's fine... NASH MV3 is all I've been saying to anyone that will listen. I'm so completely sick of the "best player on the best team" nonsense but here's a guy who likes Dirk and gives a decent reason (not that he's swayed my vote). To my surprise, this is just the first "okay" argument that I've finally heard for Dirk:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-awardsballot041807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

If you want to take Dirk and Steve Nash side by side, the two-time defending MVP makes a compelling case that this was his best season ever - career highs in shooting percentage from the field (53.2) and three-point line (45.5) and assists (11.6). Still, Nash had Amare Stoudemire back with him this season and that went a long way to improving his production. Nash did nothing to lose out on that third straight MVP, as much as Nowitzki did everything to take it for himself.

Nowitzki was brilliant across the board - 24.6 points, 50 percent from the floor, and 41.9 percent on three-pointers. He shot 90 percent from the line, too. Night after night, Dirk found ways to deliver games late for the Mavericks. He is still the most impossible matchup in the league, a 7-footer who revolutionized the power forward position, and he has cleared a path for a generation of European big men to be utilized as true inside-outside threats in the NBA.

... gotta love the quote box!!!

by Trvs on Apr 18, 2007 3:10 PM MDT reply actions

He's got a point but..

I'm kind of partial to Bill Simmon's argument that if you take Dirk off the team and replace him with another decent power forward it would have much less impact than if you took Nash off the Suns and replaced him with another decent point guard. But yes, it's refreshing for someone to be making an argument based on the merits of the case vs. political arguments and "best player on the best team" (although the latter I kinda understand, even if I don't agree with, giving the very large margin by which Dallas has the best record).

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 3:30 PM MDT up reply actions

You are very correct!

I agree with you 1000%

At least this guy was getting a little creative with his decision though.

This was the best analogy of Nash I've heard in a while:

"But the 2007 Suns were built like a complicated Italian race car, with specific features tailored to a specific type of driver, and Nash happened to be the only person on the planet who could have driven the car without crashing into a wall. The degree of difficulty was off the charts. So yes, this was my favorite Nash season yet." - Bill Simmons

As you said for the most part, Dirk can be replaced to a degree and Nash simply cannot.

by Trvs on Apr 18, 2007 3:40 PM MDT up reply actions

I agree

Dirk is great and all, but I think Nash is more of a clutch player, and the race car driver idea is perfect for explaining Nash and the Suns vs Dirk and the Mavs

by jasonsuns1 on Apr 18, 2007 7:56 PM MDT up reply actions

And more....

For anyone who DOES put any stock into the argument about Bird, Chamberlain and Russell, here's what two of the three had to say on the subject. (Hint: Neither seemed to have a problem with it, and Russell went as far as to say that Nash should get it).

An honor, according to Russell, should go to Nash once again. An excerpt just so I can test my new-found blockquote capability (thanks, Travis!). :)

"Nothing has changed from last year," said Russell. "I think in terms of marketing [for the award], the way the Suns beat the Mavs the last two times should help sway it in his favor.

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 5:05 PM MDT reply actions

Ugh

Well, I mangled the snot out of that didn't? LOL. Hey, does anyone know if there's a way to edit comments on this board? I make silly mistakes like that all the time, and there's no way to take them back that I know of. :(

by TexSUN on Apr 18, 2007 5:07 PM MDT up reply actions

on delete

Ask Dan, website author, I know if the entries go into a database, the website can be setup to allow deletes and well as updates(our entries). But I'm almost certain this is a standard blog website, and wasn't custom done for deletes. Hope I'm wrong for you

by jasonsuns1 on Apr 18, 2007 8:01 PM MDT up reply actions

Unfortunately

You can't edit comments. What I end up doing is just copying the same text, deleting the first comment and putting the revised comment in.

by Dan @ Bright Side Of The Sun on Apr 19, 2007 10:08 AM MDT up reply actions

Ok, so how do you delete comments?

I can't figure out how to do that either.

by TexSUN on Apr 19, 2007 10:12 AM MDT up reply actions

Not very flattering

I don't really care for the sarcasm in that LVP 'award'. Marcus Banks has not worked out for the Suns and it was a bad decision on the Suns' part to sign him. I think at least a part of Bank's failure has been due to Dantoni's tight rotation, or the Suns' playing style. However, one man's trash is another's treasure. I don't see why he cannot be successful on another team with a different style.

Did Atlanta think (before the trade with Phoenix) that Boris Diaw would become such a good player (for the Suns last year) after sitting on their bench? I am sure there is a team for Marcus. The problem may be the Suns may not want to give up too much and the other team knows they can get him for a bargain price, just to take him out of the Suns' payroll.

by Vash01 @ Bright Side Of The Sun on Apr 19, 2007 9:30 AM MDT reply actions

Yes!

What a great comment... although I always appreciate a little sarcasm! The guy never gets to play... same deal with Jalen Rose. These are talented guys who've been given the shaft because of our incredibly tight rotation. Sure, Banks will never be a Steve Nash, but a player needs to be in his element and on the floor consistently to have a chance. As you said, Diaw was on the Hawks bench!

by Trvs on Apr 19, 2007 10:08 AM MDT up reply actions