MVP
Like most people do before they fall asleep at night, I was thinking about drawing comparisons between the NBA contenders and the movies nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.
The comparison somewhat makes sense. Best picture can easily be switched out for best team, best director = coach, best actor = MVP, best supporting actor/teammate, best screenplay/storyline etc.
It also works, because the Academy Awards really have their sights set on five or six movies, or contenders, but recently expanded the list to include 10 movies to generate more excitement for the show.
So here it goes...
The King’s Speech: Lakers- This was a strange experience for me, because the entire time I was watching Colin Firth I couldn’t help but think, “Wait, when the hell did Bill Self have enough time to film a movie?”
How is that not Bill Self in a hat?
If you saw King’s Speech, you know that this was about as perfect of a movie as you could possibly make. Was it my favorite movie of all time, no, but it really didn’t have any weaknesses. It had a great performance by Colin Firth, a great supporting performance by Geoffrey Rush (who with a beard becomes Captain Barbosa) and a great performance by the Sweeney Todd girl. It also had a great story, great directing, great lighting, the list goes on and on.
The King’s Speech is the equivalent of the Los Angeles Lakers. Going into the Oscar’s, they were the favorite to win everything. For the storyline, instead of a stammer, the Lakers are trying to overcome injuries and deliver the biggest speech, er, games of their life in the playoffs. Instead of being set in World War 2 with the evil Nazis as the bad guy, insert modern day with the Miami Heat.
True Grit: Celtics- The comparison to the Boston Celtics worked better when they had Kendrick Perkins, who is the definition of true grit in the NBA, but I still can see similarities.
Instead of the little girl finding Jeff Bridges, insert the still young Rajon Rondo hiring the services of old men Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to help him take out the bad guys. Doc Rivers represents the Coen Brothers (who directed the film), because they won an Oscar/Title before, and are one of the biggest names in the business.
Also, no matter how good the movie was, people were still going to say, “Well, you can’t beat the original John Wayne version.” The Celtics are the same way. Even if they had won in 2009, 2010 and this year, Celtics fans would still be able to say, “Well, Bill Russell won us 11.”
Toy Story 3: Thunder- The story about Andy who is finally grown up, or at least college age grown up, who has to finally part with his childhood toys and enter the adult world.
The Thunder are the young guys of this year’s playoffs. Kevin Durant, 22, Russell Westbrook, 22, Serge Ibaka, 21, are entering a new, unfamiliar adult world with new expectations on themselves. Can they finally part with their childhood?
The Fighter: Spurs- In a league filled with its fair share of negative press and occasional scandals, the San Antonio Spurs have always been able to win despite whatever mess surrounds them. Mark Wahlberg’s character, although not nearly as old as the Spurs’ guys in the movie, is able to rise above whatever mess is around him and come up victorious in the end.
(Believe it or not, Tim Duncan is actually 5 years younger than Mark Wahlberg in real life)
Inception: Heat- The reaction I had during Inception at all of the crazy effects was fairly similar to the reaction I have when Dwyane Wade or LeBron James drives to the basket and throws down a dunk leaving me with no other option than to get out of my seat and run around the room.
Take the time to appreciate how cool this photo is
Inception was awesome to watch. It didn’t always make sense (like figuring out how LeBron, Wade, Bosh can share the ball) and the question surrounding it was always, “It was exciting to watch and was well made, but can it win any awards/titles?”
Then my comparisons get a little more shaky:
Winter’s Bone: Mavericks- I don’t think I will ever actually see this film. Therefore, I’ve paired it with the Dallas Mavericks, a team that no one is giving a chance to make a run.
127 Hours: Magic- Dwight Howard is stuck on his team, just like James Franco’s character was stuck under a boulder?
The Kids Are Alright: Nuggets- After a trade that should have sent the Nuggets into rebuilding, we’ve all found out that, hey, these kids are alright.
Black Swan: Knicks- And this is where it all somewhat falls apart.
The only comparison I can find for Black Swan is to the New York Knicks. Both Black Swan and the Knicks take place in New York City. Natalie Portman’s character is somewhat like Amare Stoudemire, someone who had the star role to theirself until Mila Kunis (Carmelo Anthony) came in and threatened to be the star of the show.
With a 128 foot billboard now up within blocks of Madison Square Garden, Stoudemire, who is injured (just like Portman’s character) has to be feeling a little pressure that Anthony is becoming the star.
Brief Ego Trip: I was actually on top of this bus with my tape recorder and notepad. Didn't make the picture :(
While some of the comparisons work and others fall apart, I am the most confident in saying the Chicago Bulls are The Social Network of this year’s playoffs.
The Social Network’s leading man, Jesse Eisenburg, did a phenomenal job as the star of the film. As did Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. The director, David Fincher, got the most out of the movie and created it into a legitimate contender for Best Picture. As did Head Coach Tom Thibodeau with the Chicago Bulls.
The problem that surfaced with The Social Network is the same thing we are seeing happen with the expectations of the Chicago Bulls.
It starts with Derrick Rose. He will likely get the MVP, but there’s still a sense of skepticism as to whether or not he can lead the Bulls the way Kobe Bryant or LeBron/Wade can lead their teams.
It was similar to Jesse Eisenburg in the Best Actor race. His performance was incredible, but he’s still a young actor and the only other major film to his name is Zombieland. The Academy was not ready to put him in the same group as other one time Academy Award Best Actor winners like Denzel Washington and Robert De Niro.
Fifteen years from now if Rose has three NBA titles and multiple MVP awards, we may look back at this season and say, “Why did we ever doubt him in 2011?”
But for right now, we are more comfortable giving the title to the more conventional pick, the Los Angeles “Kings Speech” Lakers, their leading man, Kobe “Colin Firth” Bryant and their director, Phil “Tom Hooper” Jackson.
This was before my time, but at one point in basketball history, Michael Jordan was yet to become the multiple champion, best player of all time man that he is today.
I might be struck by lightning for even suggesting this, but is it too soon to make comparisons between Derrick Rose and, dare I say it, Michael Jordan? (pause for thunder effect)
The answer is, yes, it is way too soon, and even though Rose will win his first MVP award faster than MJ, Jordan’s early career numbers were even more ridiculous than Rose.
Derrick Rose spent one year in college, Jordan spent two. Therefore, let’s toss out Rose’s rookie season (his college sophomore season if you will) and also toss out Jordan’s second season since he was injured and only played in 18 games. Here’s the comparison:
Rose:
Season 1: 20.8 ppg, 6 apg, 3.8 rpg, 0.7 spg
Season 2: 25.1 ppg, 7.8 apg, 4.1 rpg, 1.1 spg
MJ:
Season 1: 28.2 ppg, 5.9 apg, 6.5 rpg, 2.4 spg
Season 2: 37.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 5.2 rpg, 2.9 spg
In our obsession to find a player who we can say is better than Michael Jordan, I think we tend to forget just how dominant Jordan was. Even before he was winning titles, he was completely dominating games.
This is why, even though there are similarities between this years Bulls and 1990-91 Bulls team with Rose and Jordan both winning MVP awards, both having 0 rings, and both teams having 61 wins, let me just present you with this:
31.5 ppg, 5.5 apg, 6 rpg, 2.7 spg
That was Jordan’s stat line in his first title campaign season. That’s more scoring, more rebounding and more steals than Rose. The one category where Rose outperforms Jordan is in assists, which makes sense, since Rose is a point guard and Jordan was not.
The Chicago Bulls are a really good team just like The Social Network was a really good movie. They are legitimate contenders and they should receive some votes to win the whole thing.
However, this team is more like a 61 win Cleveland Cavaliers team than the 61 win Bulls team from 1991. They will get out of the first round, probably out of the second, but from there I tend to lean with the more proven names to go on to the Finals.
