Hollinger is definitely not in the group of people who cahnged their MVP vote after the Phoenix game. He had tons of love for Dirk in his ESPN chat today.
elliott smith (silverlake): did you find rasheed's no defense comment about dirk funny, considering dirk owned him in the 4th?
John Hollinger: I was kind of wondering about that too. Not the first weird thing to come out of 'Sheed's mouth, and supposedly he was upset about Flip's lineup selectiion in the fourth (imagine that).
John Hollinger: I was kind of wondering about that too. Not the first weird thing to come out of 'Sheed's mouth, and supposedly he was upset about Flip's lineup selectiion in the fourth (imagine that).
Seba (Fort Worth): Did Nash hand back the MVP race lead to Dirk with the Sun's two game skid?
John Hollinger: Nash never had anything to hand back. This has been the year of the Dirk and it would have taken a lot more than a single dramatic OT game to change it.
John Hollinger: Nash never had anything to hand back. This has been the year of the Dirk and it would have taken a lot more than a single dramatic OT game to change it.
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles, CA): 65 then 50. I am the most unstoppable player in the league. I am the MVP right?
John Hollinger: 82-game season, chief. Those were two mighty impressive games, but in the other 80 he hasn't been nearly as good as Dirk. Sorry.
John Hollinger: 82-game season, chief. Those were two mighty impressive games, but in the other 80 he hasn't been nearly as good as Dirk. Sorry.
Bob (NYC): Balkman ROY? Maybe Isaih has a draft gift, but can the Knicks get into the playoffs and make a run?
John Hollinger: OK, this wins the new award for "overreacting to the outcome of one game." Just to review, Balkman isn't ROY because he had a double-double last night, Kobe isn't the MVP because he had back-to-back 50-point games, and Nash isn't the MVP because the Suns beat the Mavs in OT last week.
John Hollinger: OK, this wins the new award for "overreacting to the outcome of one game." Just to review, Balkman isn't ROY because he had a double-double last night, Kobe isn't the MVP because he had back-to-back 50-point games, and Nash isn't the MVP because the Suns beat the Mavs in OT last week.
Brian, LA: And Dirk is the MVP because he has the deepest team? the best coach this year? what specificlly Dirk has done this year different than last year? why all hate on Nash 2 trophies (possible 3)?
John Hollinger: Dirk had the league's top PER last year and could just as easily have been the MVP a year ago too. I'm really not sure why Nash won, to be honest. This year Dirk is #2 in PER, behind only Wade, who is injured, and his team has the league's best record, and he's hit a number of big shots. But apparently we should disregard all that and base our vote on the one game out of 82 that everybody watched because it was on national TV.
John Hollinger: Dirk had the league's top PER last year and could just as easily have been the MVP a year ago too. I'm really not sure why Nash won, to be honest. This year Dirk is #2 in PER, behind only Wade, who is injured, and his team has the league's best record, and he's hit a number of big shots. But apparently we should disregard all that and base our vote on the one game out of 82 that everybody watched because it was on national TV.
Brian, LA: So the MVP is the Top Per? and the team to win the Top one of your power rankings?
John Hollinger: For some reason, I get this question a lot. No and no. But it's a useful guide. I endorsed LeBron for MVP over Dirk last year because he was close in PER and did some other things (big shots, long minutes, etc.) that I thought merited winning it. Really any one of four guys -- Dirk, Kobe, Wade or LeBron -- would have been great choices last year. As for this year, Dirk is No. 2 but he and Wade are miles ahead of the rest, and obviously Dirk has been available much more than Wade.
John Hollinger: For some reason, I get this question a lot. No and no. But it's a useful guide. I endorsed LeBron for MVP over Dirk last year because he was close in PER and did some other things (big shots, long minutes, etc.) that I thought merited winning it. Really any one of four guys -- Dirk, Kobe, Wade or LeBron -- would have been great choices last year. As for this year, Dirk is No. 2 but he and Wade are miles ahead of the rest, and obviously Dirk has been available much more than Wade.