The dude takes his team back to the Conference Finals tonight, after gutting out TWO seven game series. He's short Amare, heck, he's missing a total of 3 starters from last year. A key bench contributor (Jim Jackson) moved on, and neither Brian Grant or Kurt Thomas materialized into effective contributors.

He's taken Shawn Marion into MVP talks (after doing the same for Amare last year), made Boris Diaw into the biggest trade steal since Wallace/Atkins for Hill, and they're back in the second biggest dance.

I wasn't sold on him being an MVP until I saw how he made WHOEVER his supporting cast was better. This guy could polish a turd so bright that people would pay like it was gold.

Does he get some damn props?

29 points, 11 assists in 38 minutes. 7 man rotation, all 7 scored in double figures. 4 of 5 from the arc, the little white dude with no hops brings big game in big games.

Raja Bell? Tim Thomas? Boris Diaw? James Jones?

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Two consecutive MVP's not enough props?

I'm not talking about the folks in the sports media (who were second guessed like crazy).

I'm talking about all the folks on this board who were knocking him when the Lakers were up in the first round. When everyone was pulling for Elton Brand and the Clip show.

What do YOU think of him? Did he get your MVP vote?

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

What he did tonight was the epitomy of what he seems to do all the time. He does make everyone on the team better and is like the energizer bunny. Even Rip appears to be lazy when it comes to Nash.

A lot of PGs do not shoot early because "they want to get everyone else involved". Steve does both at the same time better than most PGs.

When he has moved from team to team, the team he goes to becomes unbelievably better. When he left Phoenix for Dallas and when he left Dallas for Phoenix (neither of his own volition) I could not figure why the teams let him or made him leave. DUH!!!

Anyway, he deserves the MVP X 2, and more.

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Things appear to be at their darkest . . . . . . . . . just before they go totally black!!

I can't agree with that. As I posted in another thread, it doesn't make sense to me that Nash has two MVPs while JKidd/Glove/Stockton/Zeke have zero.

My MVP vote was the following (as per BROTHERHQ's MVP thread):

Kobe
Bron
CP3
Dirk
Nash

Looking back on it, I wouldn't change a thing. Nash is in my top five, and there's no question the Suns wouldn't be playing in the Conference Finals without him. But the same could be said of Dirk. As for CP3, the hapless Hornets would have been absolutely buried without his leadership, and there's no way the Cavs or the Lakers make the playoffs without their franchise guys.

It does because of the era's they played in.

Kobe and Lebron were the best players on their team, but can you honestly say that either of them made their teammates better?

You gotta remember that Nash came to PHX when the core of JJ, Amare and Matrix were already there (and sucked). The results speak for themselves.

I suppose he will have to win a title (or make a title game) to get respect. If the Suns beat the Mavs, folks seriously need to rethink their position on this.

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Not looking past the Heat.
But let's get the Texas Cubans out of there. I got no problem with Nashing the Mavs.

Nash solidified himself as the MVP today with his insane performance. The guy stepped it up when the team needed him the most.

What micro means by media attention is giving him something better than MDG Computers as a sponsor. His latest Nike commericial is good too - but not great.

And ESPN chooses to write about Dirk instead of Nash in the daily dime? For shame. Hopefully soon enough we'll start hearing more about him.

Hmm, much to address:

You lost me. Why is this important? When I look at those other guys, I see guys that are better than Nash (in my opinion, of course) and that led their teams deeper into the playoffs than Nash ever has. Anyway, maybe I should just leave them out of this discussion. What matters ultimately is my MVP ballot for this year, and as I already stated, I put him fifth.

They had their moments, but obviously they don't do it with the consistency that Nash does. But this comes back to that perennial sticking-point: what does MVP mean anyway? The best player on the best team? The best player in the league? The player who means the most to their team in terms of wins? I like the last definition best, and I marked my ballot with that criterion in mind. Personally, I think the presence of Kobe or LeBron on their respective teams added up to more wins for the Lakers/Cavs than Nash's presence did for the Suns.

They did not suck. In 2003 the Suns were a playoff team; they won 44 games, and that was with a rookie Amare that was still figuring things out -- he was much more frightening in 2004 -- and with Marbury running the point -- and I think most will agree that he has a way of actually making his teammates worse.

The Suns only won 29 in 2004, but that was a crazy year for them. Amare spent about 30 games on the injured list, and there was the midseason Marbury/Penny trade, where they got guys like McDyess -- who was still damaged goods at the time and could only play every other game -- along with Howard Eisley and Maciej Lampe. They were a trainwreck.

Then Nash shows up and they win 62, but again, let's compare to 2003 instead of 2004. If we assume (conservatively) that a vastly improved Amare is good for at least 5 more wins, then that means Nash's presence meant 13 more wins than they would have had if Marbury had stayed (62-44+5=13).

I think Dirk is good for about the same number, but I give him the edge on my ballot because I expect him to lead his team to the Finals. In my opinion, CP3, Bron, and Kobe meant at least 13 wins to each of their teams, which is why I don't think Nash is the MVP, either this year or last.

If the Suns beat the Mavs, I will reconsider. Until then, I'll stand by what I've written.

By the way, that little equation should read this way:

(62-(44+5)=13)

I forgot the extra pair of brackets in my haste to get to bed!