Recently on Twitter, I was asked my opinion of Derrick Rose's MVP merits for this season, specifically how they compared to the two MVPs Nash won. I used this opportunity to re-visit the 2006 season, which I mostly missed due to post-Katrina priority shifting. I also pored over the '05 season -- which I mostly remember, unlike at least one of my followers -- and tried to properly place Nash's impact in his first two years in Phoenix with Rose's impact in this, his third year in Chicago.

Before I proceed I would like to remind everyone who will read this that the definition of "most valuable" is intentionally a fluid one. It's up to each observer to weigh what they feel is most important and apply it to a definition they create within themselves. By the time this post is finished, you will have at least a working grasp of how I value tangibles, intangibles, and the demonstrated ability to play a particular position (in this case, point guard). I will make a case for a different MVP one season, and could re-write every MVP vote between '05 and '08 to fortify my point, but for all intents and purposes I'm simply answering a question as it was asked.

Now to set the table. A bit about '05 Nash, '06 Nash, and '11 Rose:

Rose, '11: 69 games, 25-4-8, 1.1 steals, 20 double-doubles, improvements in 3pt%, FT%; more TOPG; team currently first in East (proj. 59 wins + top seed)

BEST 3 TEAMMATES
- Carlos Boozer (18-9, 52% shooting, 24 double-doubles, inside presence on offense, missed 23 games)
- Luol Deng (18-5, 2.7 assists, defends best wing player on opposing team)
- Joakim Noah (12-11, 2.3 stocks, 18 double-doubles, inside presence on defense, missed 31 games)

Supporting Cast: Kyle Korver (pure shooter), Ronnie Brewer (pure defense)**, Taj Gibson, Kurt Thomas (both did an admirable job filling in for injured bigs), Keith Bogans (well... he's started all 70 games)

** - think of these two like using the Magic on the original NBA Jam - Skiles had all shot and no dunks, Anderson had all dunks and no shot

Nash, '05: 75 games, 15.5-11.5, 50-43-88 FG-3P-FT, 49 double-doubles, best player on top seed in playoffs, league leader: assists

BEST 3 TEAMMATES
- Shawn Marion (19-11, 3.5 stocks, world-class defender, battled bigger PFs all season)
- Amare Stoudemire (26-9, 2.6 stocks, world-class defensive liability battling Cs all season)
- Joe Johnson (17-5-3, 47.8% 3PT, secondary facilitator in SSOL system, defended best wing player)

Supporting Cast: Quentin Richardson (deadly from 3), Leandro Barbosa (super sixth man), Steven Hunter (only semi-appropriate backup for Amare on roster), Jim Jackson (gave Richardson/Johnson a breather)

Nash, '06: 79 games, 19-4-10, 51-43-92 FG-3PT-FT, 43 double-doubles, league leader: assists, second-best '05 teammate hurt entire season, third-best '05 teammate asked to not re-sign with team

BEST 3 TEAMMATES
- Shawn Marion (21-11, 3.7 stocks, defended best wing player)
- Boris Diaw (13-7-6, secondary facilitator on offense, played out of position all year)
- Raja Bell (14-3, 44% 3PT)

Supporting Cast: Leandro Barbosa (not-as-super sixth man, missed 25 games), Kurt Thomas (8-8, best big man on team), Eddie House, James Jones (Bell/Marion relief, sharpshooters)


What a nose-dive that '06 Suns team took! Terrible management decisions shut the door on that Suns team as quickly as it opened. Misfortune with injuries didn't help, but I spent a good 20 minutes trying to decide who to put as Nash's top '06 teammates, and who to relegate to supporting cast status. That '05 nucleus should have stayed together through the end of the decade. We can't fault Nash for them breaking up, but I can say that there was plenty of credit to spread for that '05 team's prosperity. They were simply a better team, on paper AND on the court. As I've said many times before, I think the '05 MVP should have gone to Shaq (73 games, 23-10, 2.3 blocks, .601 FG%). His old team won 34 games and finished fourth in their division just one year after losing in the Finals, whereas his new team jumped from a fringe .500 team the previous two seasons to 59 wins and the top seed in the East. Had Wade not gotten hurt, that Miami team may have gone to the '05 Finals, and that Finals just may have actually wound up being interesting. Either way, Shaq swung the fortunes of two teams by a combined 40 games (+17 for Miami, -23 for LA) and took his new team to a new level. That has to count for something.

Now look at that '06 Suns team again. Nash's numbers improved significantly, meaning that he answered the bell and wound up carrying a weaker team to a second seed in the playoffs. His assists dipped (again, his premier big man was missing all season, his non-Marion wings just weren't as good, and Diaw averaged six assists playing the most unorthodox PF/C the league has ever seen) but all of his shooting percentages jumped, which means he wound up scoring more in a more efficient way. I have not mentioned defense because Nash never did get steals in his career and was/is a known liability in that department, although it should be noted now that Rose also doesn't get steals for reasons I'll discuss later. The only case I have against Nash's '06 MVP award is the fact that Kobe scored 35 points per game (second-highest post-merger average in NBA history) and led a Lakers team embarrassingly devoid of talent to 45 wins and a spot in the playoffs, but that choice wouldn't be vindicated because that Lakers team went on to squander a 3-1 lead in the series, culminated by Kobe's best Karl Malone impersonation in Game 7 -- only he avoided the ball for an entire half, and his team lost by 31.

'11 Rose has become a threat out to 25 feet; opposing PGs can't sag off of him anymore. Even with his improved long-range shooting, he's still at his best when he's attacking the rim, hitting cutters or spot-up shooters, or dropping the biscuit to a post player for an easy lay-in or dunk. '06 Nash didn't quite have that second luxury; many of his drives to the goal ended with him shooting one of those quirky runners or floaters, a clear indication that Nash was comfortable shouldering more of the scoring load without losing his ability to create.

Defensively, Rose isn't getting steals (1.1 per game as of writing this) any more than Nash does, but Tom Thibodeau's system teaches players to play sharp man-to-man defense and make your guy work for his shots. Nash at any point in his career would absolutely flounder in such a system, whereas Rose has made a leap on both ends of the floor as a result of buying into Thibodeau's defense-into-offense system.

Overall, I would say '11 Rose is right between those Nash seasons. I don't have a problem putting him above '05 Nash because that season, Nash was more of a table-setter than premier creator. You flanked him with 3 shooters and one low-post option, let him find the open player, and that player did their thing. '06 Nash embodied true leadership and adopted a strong never-say-quit attitude. Rose '11? Considering that the Bulls are looking at home-court advantage and are being projected to reach the Finals by many fans and analysts, one could make a strong case for this season manifesting as stronger historically than Nash's '06 season. Today I still give the slightest edge to '06 Nash, but will have no problem re-visiting this as the years pass and Rose's career arc continues to take shape.

We were told it was his birthday.

He was blatantly misquoted.

He had his name butchered.

Let's just hope that the 15th anniversary of Notorious B.I.G.'s passing is more properly commemorated on Twitter. Reading these things, while mostly hilarious, had to be embarrassing for the folks who screwed these things up. I don't claim to be a huge Biggie fan, though I appreciate both of his albums (and the fact that there haven't been years of posthumous works released)... and even I knew that March 9th is the date on which Biggie was murdered.

I was told that I'm probably a good writer so I'll try to post on here more and my opinions on Twitter less. Wait, that's not true. I'll still post on there but I'll go into more elaborate detail here. This'll be pretty good catharsis for me, I think. Onward!