So without further ado, the SheridanHoops MVP rankings make their 2012-13 debut. Please take a moment to cast your own vote in the poll linked to at the bottom of our Top 10 …
| RANK | PLAYER | RUNDOWN | LAST |
| 1 |  |
JAMES HARDEN, G, HOUSTON: We’ll save you a click to the Rockets’ schedule page. Their first game against the Thunder is Nov. 28 in OKC. We should get a good reading that night whether Thabo Sefolosha is as good of a defender as he has been made out to be. It says here that Russell Westbrook will be defending Harden by the time the fourth quarter arrives. Harden holds a 7-point lead over ‘Melo for NBA’s leading scorer. | – |
| 2 |  |
CARMELO ANTHONY, F, NEW YORK: He still hasn’t shown he can play effectively when teamed with Amar’e Stoudemire, but you know what? Nobody in New York cares right now. The PA announcer at MSG now calls him ‘Melo instead of Carmelo. And he is delivering exactly what he promised when I was with him in Barcelona over the summer. | – |
| 3 |  |
CHRIS PAUL, G, LA CLIPPERS: He got my MVP vote last season, much to the chagrin of LBJ’s supporters, and if I had to do it all over again I’d still have voted the same way. LeBron became a man after the regular season ended, not before. As for this season, his matchup with Steve Blake a couple nights ago was like watching Muhammad Ali vs. Jerry Quarry. | – |
| 4 |  |
TIM DUNCAN, F-C, SAN ANTONIO: You can make the case that this guy deserves to switch places with the guy below him in the rankings, but I am giving the big fella the higher ranking because he is making his free throws (77 percent) and averaging a double-double for the lone remaining undefeated team in the Western Conference. | – |
| 5 |  |
TONY PARKER, G, SAN ANTONIO: Since we are using FT percentage to differentiate between the top two Spurs, we must bring up Parker’s 71 percent mark through three games. Yet we also must point out his assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.5 is only half as good as those of Jason Kidd and Chuck Hayes (9.0). Yes, Chuck Hayes. (Sorry, Tony. Needed to needle you. Nice buzzer-beater vs. OKC). | – |
| 6 |  |
LeBRON JAMES, F, MIAMI: Stud. He won’t remain in sixth place much longer. But that’s part of the fun of having these rankings up so early in the season, eh? | – |
| 7 |  |
KYRIE IRVING, G, CLEVELAND: My preseason pick for MVP. Who was with me on that one? Shooting 51 percent for the team that was expected by most to be off the radar entirely this season. Anderson Varejao (.643) laughs at that FG pct. Too bad Uncle Drew has already jumped the shark. | – |
| 8 |  |
JAMAL CRAWFORD, G, L.A. CLIPPERS: Look, we don’t have our Sixth Man Award rankings up yet. On that one, and on a few others – Coach of the Year, Most Improved, etc. – we are going to wait until there is a larger body of work to judge guys on. For now, Crawford is worthy of a spot on this list. Let’s see if he can hold it. | – |
| 9 |  |
BRANDON JENNINGS, G, MILWAUKEE: Can he co-exist in a backcourt with another guy who looks to score first? Apparently so. He isn’t scoring as much as Monta Ellis, but he isn’t shooting 35 percent like Ellis, either, as his buzzer-beater Saturday night will attest. Plus he is leading the NBA in assists (13.0) and steals (4.0). | – |
| 10 |  |
BROOK LOPEZ, C, BROOKLYN: What, you were looking for a Laker here? Sorry, but not one of them deserves a top-10 spot after that 0-3 start. This will change, of course – unless Lopez spent a bunch of his rehab time taking self-assertiveness lessons. Sure looked that way Saturday night. | – |
You may register your agreement/disagreement in the poll after the jump. And, as always, you may register your disgust or compliments in the comments section.
Harden is the clear leader at moment on all platforms. However, it’s mighty difficult, if not impossible, to win an MVP while on a 27 to 37 win team. With that said, ‘Melo and Bron are the prime candidates.
Now I am sure that you do not watch any NBA games after 10:30pm ET. I would not find it sensible to make these sorts of judgements without watching all NBA games, which I doubt there are very many people (outside of NBA staffers) who do.
Anyway, you have not one, but two Clippers and not one, but two Spurs. If one person on the team is the MVP, then he is clearly more valuable than anyone else on the team. If there are TWO, then neither is an “MVP”, even if both are playing very well. Everyone in your list is playing well, but that is not the definition of “MVP”.
And, lastly you have two Clippers but do not have Carl Landry, which shows that you have not watched any of his games, including the one against the Clippers, which they lost, putting Landry’s team atop the Division (a couple of games ahead of media darlings Dwight, Kobe and Nash).
If you want stats, there’s 20.0 pts per game FROM THE BENCH and 7.3 rebounds per game FROM THE BENCH – compare to Jennings, if you like.
I suppose that makes Bob Myers the real MVP candidate, but does Brian Sabean get any awards ?