MVP WATCH - Week 9

	TEAM	WHY	WHY NOT	STATS
Kevin Durant PER 33.91 MVP	-	Not much to say about Kevin, that wasn't said before. He's in his 4th year in Boston (top teams keep their stars for a long long time) and it looks like he'll stay there. Team found success with him and any solid team with KD is a perennial contender. Celtics are doing well, looking to finish over 55 again and KD is doing what he does best, scoring a lot and efficiently, 28 points (5th) on 64% ts% (might be 1st among forwards).	Is there a trend where the biggest stars miss a lot of time? Is there? KD was out for two weeks. Boston, like other teams , didn't do to well, going 5 of 11. Another issue, KD might cost a lot at the end of the year. Or not, he's not leaving his BAE alone in the Bay.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Stephen Curry PER 40.47 MVP	-	Curry is back for week 10 and Daz had a baby boy (allegedly not Steph), Jessi is still a number one fan. Happiness all around in Windy City. Bulls really struggled last couple of weeks without him. Klay stepped up, earned a trophy or two for himself in that time span, but wasn't enough to play with big boys. But now the splash brothers will harras the opposing backcourts. Steph has a new goal now, get 10 or more threes in a game to catch Klay at the top of the league (Klay also had 9 threes twice, freedom from Steph sure is a nice thing).	The unstoppable scoring machine was injured last two weeks and Bulls fell hard. He's more then half of that team. Bulls are barely above water without Curry, 9-8, 3-7 in last 10, and doing better with him on the court 14-7. Curry is another guy that isn't eligible for league leaders at the moment, as he only managed 5 healthy weeks. His 32.5 ppg will be at the topp soon again, as will his 6.7 three pointers made per game (at 50%!)	PTS REB AST STL BLK
DeMarcus Cousins PER 18.23 MVP	-	Boogie rules! He started as agreat scoring option, but developed into a real force on the other end of the court too. He's currently 2nd in league in blocks. DMC has always been on solid teams, but was any better then this reincarnation of Timberwolwes? They're holding the top spot on the weekly power rankings, beating strong team after strong team. After a slow start (4-10 at one point), they're the best team of the league , 12-1 in last 3 weeks. Boogie and his side kick CJ are the reason for this.	Cousins is like a hot potato, he can't stay anywhere long. There was once a moment when league brass blocked an Aldridge for a rookie (or sophomore) Boogie + trade. In the end he was traded from Bucks to Nets, a well worn path that is. Stayed there for a season and a half, moved to Jazz and after a couple of months made his way to Wolves (could be wrong but the trade history says Boogie and Gallo for Valanciunas and Matthews - that can't be right, right?). Stars stay, but DMC moves? Is the volatile nature of this superstar the reason for his low fidelity?	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Hassan Whiteside PER 19.78 MVP	-	Hasan is back! Finally healthy, Hasan plays a big role for Houston this season. He leads that team in most categories, scoring, rebounding, stealing, blocking, PER, shot attempts. But it hasn't translate in wins yet. Houston is struggling with Hasan, 9-11 so far , though they're struggling without him even more (6-11). Durability is a big issue for this team. And some questionable moves, specially the recent move away from IT, just as the team got healthy and ready for the playoff push.	Durability is a serious issue for Whiteside. He only played 5 weeks this year. Team is better with him on the floor and he has to find a way to stay on the court. he's not eligible for league leaders yet, but when he'll get there game wise, he'll lead the league in fouling. Of course, he'll also lead the league in rebounding, stealing, PER and be in top 10 in blocking and scoring. Guess someone has to do all that for the lottery bound Rockets.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Anthony Davis PER 28.28 MVP	-	Spurs have two guys here, AD and Embiid, the modern twin towers. Many teams try to emulate this formula this year, but none really has the firepower of Spurs (Bucks maybe?) Unibrow is surprisingly stable this year, hasn't miss a game yet and he meshed great with Embiid. Both can play down low, both can light it form further out (kinda, Davis is at low 4/17 from three this year.), both run, both defend. Just a perfect giant combination.	Will Spurs pay both their big man down the line? Embiid will get 30+ soon, and Davis, already a highly payed guy, will get 40+ on his next contract (or it might be 50+ by then). Who cares at the moment. Spurs are a step behind the top dogs in the West at the moment, but they really made their run in the second part of last year, so don't count them out just yet.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Andre Drummond PER 24.99 MVP	-	Andre Drummond is on a mission to prove that calssic back to the basket athletic centers of yesteryear still dominate NLL. It might come as surprise, but he's by far the best player on the perennial powerhouse Cavs. Best scorer (23 on 0.62 beats that other guy's 30 on 0.60), best rebounder, best at steals and rebounds. It looks like it's really a big man's league.	He's really really good, his stats are fantastic, but he's a step behind the top dogs. He's not top 5 in any category this year, even fell in rebounding (8th) and fg%(12). It might be more a sign of times , but Drummond is not all NLL center this season (unless some of the big dogs get downgraded to PF). The competition at center spot is silly this year.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Joel Embiid PER 29.76 MVP	-	It's the land of the unicorns, right? Embiid is coming of his best week, 32 points, 18 rebounds, which should be enough for player of the week award in the West (who are we kidding, KP runs away with this in the East!). Embiid is also a serious candidate for DPOY - Spurs are a solid defensive team (but but how can you only be 8th in the league with Embiid, Davis and a bunch of defensive wings?) and Embiid leads the league in blocking and is top 5 in stealing and rebounding. It's his trophy to lose.	Durability is an issue with Embiid... in theory. He only missed 2 weeks, conveniently playing on fridays, probably missing saturday back to backs. There was a report he doesn't practice with the team. Which only makes his on court efforts more awesome.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Karl-Anthony Towns PER 25.97 MVP	-	Bucks are on top of the East, 2nd in NLL and their top player has a big role in team success. There's some help, but you can't get far in NLL without a stucked roster as there's a match up with a top team every week. Karl is at the top in a lot of statistical fields this year (4th in rebounds, 10th in scoring, 8th in free throws), but excels most in fouling, where'he's third in entire NLL. KAT leads the league in on court plus minus (might be a team effort as Bucks dominate the top of that list). Funfact, Bucks haven't won a game without Towns yet!	There were times when Bucks had three guys on this list, but Giannis and Russell faded, or the rest of guys stepped up. Even Towns started extremely strong and leveled up a bit in later weeks. One concern with him is that his three point shot disappeared. Might be the way the Bucks play, might be his moving more under the basket. GM should found a way to make it rain from deep more as he's sitting comfortably at 41%.	PTS REB AST STL BLK
Kristaps Porzingis PER 21.42 MVP	-	Look who's sitting there at the top of the list of best scorers in NLL, none other then the unicorn. Curry's injury woes helped him get there. But he's on the upwards trend, he stepped up his game in recent weeks and is just off a ridiculous 39 point, 10 rebound week, on ridiculous efficiency 63/57/96. Not even fair for the rest of the league. Hornets finally gelled up and are probably the best team in the league in last few weeks.	Ehm... Nothing to complain about in NLL. So let's look at the other league. KP is saying he's tired, needs help and is playing rather putrid lately in NLL, still arounbd 20 points, but efficiency really dropped - he's never been particularly efficient, always a tad below league average, but his ts% dropped below 0.500 in last two months. Maybe an NLL correction follows?	PTS REB AST STL BLK