Comments on: Podoloff’s Box? Part I.

By: SLAM ONLINE | » The Death of Max Airington

SLAM ONLINE | » The Death of Max Airington — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:13:41 +0000

[...] going to be one of our online columnists. (Oh my God was his MVP piece for The Starting Five THOROUGH!). The name Max Airington will live on in other places, but on slamonline it will disappear [...]

By: hnic

hnic — Sun, 13 May 2007 01:06:01 +0000

This is gonna be a tough act to follow folks. Outstanding work.

By: Top Posts « WordPress.com

Top Posts « WordPress.com — Sun, 13 May 2007 00:02:29 +0000

[...] Podoloff’s Box? Part I. [image]val·u·a·ble [val-yoo-uh-buhl]–adjective 1. having considerable monetary worth; costing or bringing a […] [...]

By: maxairington

maxairington — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:38:12 +0000

Thanks LastP and STN.

I was thinking the same thing about the difference in elite players and then I remembered the illustrious words of Jake Shuttlesworth, “It aint the skill of the man, it’s the will of the man!”

Bird & Magic were hardly revolutionry athletes, but they were phenomenal basketball players because of their tenacity, intelligence and dedication. THey spent so much more time than their contemporaries tailoring thier games that they had that sixth sense. The gaudiest part of their numbers to me were Magic’s boards and Bird’s assists. Those are statistics that have little to nothing to do with athleticism and are more relfective of a high hoop IQ.

Jordan had the same characteristics and an athleticism a decade before it’s time.
Its amazing to me how many players were completely earthbound in those days. I honestly feel like with the numbers he had he couldve gone 0-82 and still been MVP. He was as valuable to the lig as he was to his own team. He was a latest and greatest reflection of the games progression.

By: TheLastPoet

TheLastPoet — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:03:38 +0000

Maxair, this is fantastic. Why does it seem like those players (those who won MVP, as well as those, like Nique and Zeke, who should’ve) were so much better than today’s players? Is it because I was younger then, and thus more impressionable? Is it the gaudy statistics that will never be matched (but in truth are mostly the result of the different way the game was played back then)?

I don’t know. whatever it was, I really enjoyed this article. Ahh memories.

I don’t know what kind of argument anyone could make to convince me that either Nash or Dirk belong among great names like those, but I’ll be interested to see what these dick-riders have to say. One thing you said toward the beginning of the article, however, would seem to undermine the efforts of many who support Dirk/Nash, you said:

“Players in contention [for MVP] are expected to take their teams to the postseason, and yet postseason play doesn’t factor into the award?”

Wiser words have never been spoken.

What say you all, Dirk-riders and Nash-men?

By: Signal to Noise

Signal to Noise — Fri, 11 May 2007 18:12:11 +0000

Very good stuff.

By: 10FootBongz

10FootBongz — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:30:28 +0000

Haven’t had the chance to read the post yet (I am saving that for my train home), but two things struck me from the Jordan/Celts clips:
1) I don’t think that MJ took one dribble with his left hand in the game 1 compilation, and was still incredible (some of the moves make his defenders look like they are in slo-mo)
2) The classic MJ jump-shot form that I remember from his last heroic moment (game 6, Utah), is nowhere to be seen. In these clips, he could still obviously hit the shot, but his form on his shots from outside of 10 feet was pretty interesting, and not in a beautiful way. Only makes me appreciate the evolution of the man as a player.

By: Jason S.

Jason S. — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:20:53 +0000

Thanks for the knowledge.

It’s often asked who will be the next Jordan.

Let me know when the next Magic comes along.

By: maxairington

maxairington — Fri, 11 May 2007 15:31:33 +0000

I’m glad everyone has enjoyed the opening of Podoloff’s Box so far and I hope that when this project reaches it conclusion we will have come to understand the definitive qualities of an MVP.

As Mizzo said, TSF has taken on this endeavour to spur a healthy debate and I encourage those interested to partake in the conversation…

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:33:04 +0000

This is a long and very interesting read. If you are looking for things to confirm your personal opinion, you better look elsewhere. This article tells why I love good writers of history so much. Thank You!

Since the MVP is voted by the media, not the people who know the game best, and the guidelines are intentionally vague, There is no way it can be anything but a media popularity contest.

By: Phoenix Woman

Phoenix Woman — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:52:29 +0000

Sigh. All this is academic to me — I live in the Twin Cities, where Kevin McHale has run the franchise into the ground (note to Kevin: It wasn’t Flip who should have been fired) and where we will have no hope unless there is serious regime change. (Lots of people also ding Kevin Garnett for asking for a huge contract at the outset, one that made it difficult for the T-Wolves to get other players. But Flip Saunders was able to work around that. The real problem is McHale and the people protecting him.)

By: DaveyWayne

DaveyWayne — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:27:40 +0000

How you can give out an MVP award before the SEASON is over is beyond me.

I admire the work that went into this piece…But this is a problem that could be so easily rectified.

By: mizzo

mizzo — Fri, 11 May 2007 12:48:50 +0000

Magic Johnson 18.6 9.6 9.5
Larry Bird 22.9 10.9 5.8

Magic’s line says it all there.

MA this shit is definitive and should create healthy debate. Very nice work. I’m proud to have you as a colleague.

Good lookin’ on committing to do the research.