Ben Wallace was announced this week as the defensive player of the year for the fourth time in five years.  Though Wallace is a tenacious rebounder and shot blocker he is not the player who is given the assigment of guarding the other team's best player night in and night out.

Bruce Bowen, on the other hand, not only guards the other team's best player, but consistently shuts that player down.  Though Bowen does not measure up to Wallace on the stat sheet, one must look beyond the numbers.  It is a matter of examining the numbers of an all-star player when his team faces the Spurs. 

Bowen specializes in pestering and throwing the other team's biggest offensive threat out of rythym.  His ability to do this better than almost anyone in the league makes him an invaluable asset to San Antonio.  As an on the ball defender, he was the best in the league this year.   With Ron Artest missing a large portion of the season with the situation in Indiana this left only one other logical choice for the award: Bowen.

Big Ben's season averages make the decision for the award seem to be an easy one.  However, the question isn't how good the numbers are, but simply, who is the best at shutting down the players that he is asked to defend?  The answer is Bruce Bowen.  Wallace plays a position that doesn't require the athleticism Bowen must possess.  Wallace, more or less, sits in the low post crashing the boards and getting a hand up to block shots.  Bowen is constantly using his hands while sprinting, and fighting through screens.

The difference of degree of athleticism required to defend the players that Bowen guards as opposed to Wallace is what should be the deciding factor here.  Bowen is, like I said, the best on the ball defender out there.  Not to take away from Ben Wallace or what he brings to the Pistons, but I just feel that what Bowen does makes him the man who deserves the award.

There are certain numbers in basketball, that when one hears them, they automatically equate it with someone.  Jordan's 23, Chamberlin's 13, Robinson's 50, Thomas' 11, and Russell's 6 are just a few examples of players who in essence "defined" their number.  What is in a number?  Is it something inconsequential, or is it something that defines a legacy? 

According to Sports Illustrated, Kobe Bryant received permission from the league to change his number next year from 8 to 24.  Now some might not consider this a big deal, but in a way it kind of is.  Kobe is now in his 10th season with the Lakers.  He has worn the number 8 for each of those 10 years.  He has won three titles, made numerous all star appearances, and made his mark in Laker lore, all while wearing the number 8.  Before Bryant, the number had no real significance.  Now when one hears or sees it he is the only player that comes to mind.

If Kobe does indeed change his number next season he will still be the same player.  Changing his number isn't going to change his game.  However, when the Lakers go to retire Kobe's number which will go to the rafters?  The number 8 that saw the Lakers produce some of the most productive years the franchise has ever known, or the number 24 which may never again see a championship trophy raised.

Again, the number itself may not seem important to some.  I don't even like the Lakers, but I respect Kobe as a player and, in a way, seeing him wear any other number just wouldn't be right.  Just like when Jordan came out of retirement for the first time and wore 45 for a short period of time because the Bulls wouldn't let him wear his real number.  It was a disservice for Jordan to have to wear any other number besides 23.  Now though Kobe is not at the status of a Jordan, he is at around the same point in his career that Jordan came back the first time and had to wear 45, making it a legitimate comparison. 

Regardless of whether Kobe makes the change next season or not, the thought of it is just wrong.  He would be doing himself a favor to stay with the number that we all know him as.  The number that should be raised into the rafters when he retires.

After surrendering a 12 point advantage in the fourth quarter the Spurs showed the Kings why they are the defending champs.  Sparked by consecutive layups from Bruce Bowen and Tim Duncan, the Spurs rattled off a 16-5 run in the closing minutes of the game to take a 109-98 victory and move within one win of a second round matchup with the Dallas Mavericks. 

San Antonio's biggest problem was that someone forgot to tell Bonzi Wells and Ron Artest that the Spurs have been virtually unbeatable at home this season.  The two combined for 62 of the Kings 98 points making it very clear to  San Antonio that they weren't going to go down without a fight.

The big three for the Spurs all stepped up for the first time in the series.  Manu led the way with 27, while Tim chipped in 24 and Parker 21.  On the other side Bonzi Wells was playing completely out of his mind dropping 38 and creating defensive problems for the Spurs all night.  Not even the Spurs' star defender and defensive player of the year candidate Bruce Bowen could seem to find an answer for Wells.  Even when Wells seemingly tapered off in the 4th quarter Ron Artest was there to pick up the slack.  

Although the Spurs took away a double digit victory that was in no way a measure of how close the game really was.  The Kings, who trailed by only 2 with less than 2 minutes to play, were not able to get it done down the stretch.  Pop and his playoff-seasoned squad gave the much younger and far more inexperienced Kings team a lesson in how to win games in the clutch.  Ginobili and Michael Finley combined to sink 8 of 8 freethrows in the final minute sealing the victory for San Antonio.

The difference in experience was no more evident than in the closing minutes.  While the Spurs remained calm and collected under the pressure the Kings suffered a defensive lapse in the final two minutes which proved to be the difference maker.  The Spurs made it clear that they didn't win three titles in the last seven years for no reason.  The Kings, however, showed that they are still not on the level of a team like San Antonio.

Kings fans shouldn't be too worried.  With the home team winning every game so far in this series Sacramento obviously has a distinct advantage going into game 6.  The question will be whether or not the Kings will step up when the pressure is on in an elimination game or  fold as they did in the final minutes of game 5.  The Spurs will undoubtedly approach game 6 with a "business as usual" attitude.  Whether the Kings can step up to the challenge remains to be seen.

If the generally held stigma that offense wins games but defense wins championships is true, than the Memphis Grizzlies are an exception to the rule.  The team that led the league during the regular season in PPG allowed failed to even when a single game in the postseason, again.  Memphis' fans saw nothing but brooms for the third straight year and were left to wonder what they have to look forward to.

Steve Nash does not deserve the MVP award.  In fact I dont even know how he could be in consideration for it.  People are saying that his stats are ridiculous and that the Suns won 54 games this year after losing Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson and having Amare out all year with his knee.  Steve Nash is the prime example of a product of the system.  When your team scores an average of 108 points a game of course your numbers are going to be inflated.  Yes hes a good jump shooter and knows how to run his offense to perfection but so do a lot of other players. 

The argument that Nash carried that team with little to no help is just plain silly.  Remember that guy Shawn Marion? I guess hes just chopped liver to most people.  There is also most improved player candidate Boris Diaw. So six or seven guys had career years this year playing with Nash.  So what?  Hes excels at the fastbreak and finding the open man.  John Stockton was the same way.  How many MVP's did he ever win?  The fact of the matter is that Nash is just a product of coaching and a system that excels at utilizing his skills.  The Suns are a run and gun team that puts up big numbers and Nash benefits from that.  

Just for kicks and giggles let me throw a scenario out there.   Lets say Nash was traded to the Spurs.  Now do you think Nash's numbers would be anywhere near what they are in Phoenix .  Of course he would most likely still lead the league in assists because he is very skilled at finding who needs the ball and getting it to them.  Like I mentioned before so was John Stockton.  However, his numbers would undoubtedly be less inflated than they are in Phoenix being that San Antonio is so much more adept to playing a slowed-down half court type of game.  He would also of course have Timmy overshadowing him as the face of the franchise.  Now in the type of offense that the Spurs run Nash wouldn't put up the numbers he does for Phoenix and would not ever be considered an MVP candidate.  Like I said, product of the system. 

Nash puts up big numbers because the system that Mike D'Antoni has in place allows him to do so.  Nash was never considered a legit MVP candidate when he played in Dallas. 
Same player, but a different team and a different system.  There are a select few of MVP-caliber players who could go play for any team and have an equal impact.  Nash is not one of those types of players.  Oh and i didn't even mention the fact that he doesn't play defense at all.  Should that not be an important factor in MVP consideration?  Does this league really only care about uptempo games with lots of fastbreaks and scoring that generate ratings?  Funny because the teams that win the title every year are the ones that play the complete opposite of that.

How about that guy up in Cleveland.  I haven't heard him get much serious consideration.  The Suns were a playoff team before Nash joined them.  When LeBron got to Cleveland they were the worst team in the league.  In 3 years he has already turned them into a playoff team.  I won't even throw his stats out there because everyone knows how good they are and they are just as impressive as Steve Nash's.

My question is are we talking about the player that is most valuable for his team or the guy who benefits from the system?  If Nash was gone the Suns might not have quite as good of a record as they did with him but with D'Antoni's system in place they would still be a playoff team.  Where would the Cavs be without LeBron?