One on One with the "MVP"

Derrick Rose is a tremendous talent, but now that he has been eliminated by LeBron James and the Miami Heat, was he truly deserving of the Most Valuable Player label?

I do not think so.

Here's a look at LeBron James and Derrick Rose exclusively in their Eastern Conference Finals meeting. The stats do not lie.

Rose
PPG 23.4 REB 4.0 AST 6.6 BLK 0.2 STL 1.0 PF 2.6 TO 3.8 FT% .813 FG% .350 3P% .233 MIN 42.0

James
PPG 25.8  REB 7.8 AST 6.6 BLK 1.8 STL 2.4 PF 3.0 TO 3.6 FT% .864 FG% .447
3P% .389 MIN 45.2

LeBron James out performed Derrick Rose in EVERY statistical category that matters. He even played a higher minute total then Rose, so you can not use the excuse that James was more rested either. Even the categories that a Point Guard should excel in (assists, steals, fewer turnovers) did the SF James either average the same or better stats then the PG Rose. Rose could not out shine James in any category and could not squeeze by LeBron James' shut down defense.

Sure James is a good four inches taller then Rose, but Rose should be able to blow by James with his impressive speed, but it never happened. LeBron James could and did defend Rose. Derrick Rose could not and can not defend James.

Derrick Rose won the MVP because he was the new kid on the block. He deserved some attention, but after a certain point, none of the voters gave anyone else more then a second glance. If you want to argue that LeBron James had Dwyane Wade helping him, then I would say that Dwight Howard at least deserved the MVP over Rose.

Remove James from the Heat and they are not the number two seed. Sure they still make the playoffs because of Wade and Bosh, but losing James means losing a lot regardless.

Remove Rose from the Bulls and you still have a playoff team as well. They either sneak in the playoffs or are on of the lower seeds. No Rose means, the other Bulls get a lot more looks to score. Rose is still a bad shooter, and with him gone, you remove the hero ball function of the Bulls offense. Their defense is the same, if not better with Rose out of the line up. Deng, Boozer, Noah, Brewer, Gibson, and maybe even Korver and Watson help anchor this team to a first round elimination in the playoffs.

Remove Howard from the Magic and what do you have? Not a good team by any stretch of the imagination. Howard anchors the defense, and is a monster on the offensive boards for put backs. He led the team in PPG as well.

So if you want to argue that Rose was essential for the Bulls team to be good, then you would be correct, but Howard was even more essential. If that is the case then he should have the MVP award, not Rose.

If you want to argue that Rose is a better athlete that Howard, then you would have to also say that James is a better player then Rose. if that is how they justify the MVP award then James should be the three time award winner, not Rose.

In either case, Rose should not have been awarded this trophy. He was exposed in the playoffs, and that is all I am going to say about that.