Garnett validating MVP honors

By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, May 12
Updated: May 12
12:22 PM ET

Power forwards aren't made nowadays in the NBA.

They're born with frames that extend to 7-feet in length, to shoot 3-point jumpers while still grabbing 10 or so boards a game and square up to guard someone just like them on the other team.

This year's MVP is a power forward. Last year's MVP was a power forward. This year's top-seeded team in the West is led by a power forward. This year's top-seeded team in the East is lead by a power forward.

So what happens when we strip away all the extraneous point guards, shooting guards, centers and swingmen?

We come up with a list of the top power forwards remaining in the NBA when compared in head-to-head statistical competition with their counterparts.

In this special edition of Playoff Power Outage, we took the starting power forward from each active team, compiled his stats and then lined him up with the opposing team's power forward. We then found the difference and ranked them.

If your favorite power forward scored 20 points per game and the power forward on the team he was playing scored 10 points per game, then your guy had a +10 and so on with rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and triples.

Here's how they stand midway through the second round:

1. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves
Numbers: +13.9 ppg, +8.7 rpg, +2.8 apg, +0.1 spg, +2.2 bpg, 0 3pg
If you thought Da Kid was tough during the regular season, you should see the MVP during the playoffs. He has boosted his numbers in every one of these statistical categories against what is supposed to be superior competition. Of course, the current list of victims includes the young Nene Hilario of the Denver Nuggets and the hobbled Chris Webber of the Sacramento Kings. But 14 points? Nearly nine boards? Every time he steps on the floor and, at some point, lets loose that primordial scream, Garnett ups the ante that few are willing and even less are able to match.

2. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
Numbers: +9.3 ppg, +3.5 rpg, +0.3 apg, 0 spg, +1.1 bpg, 0 3pg
Duncan averaged 22.3 points per game during the regular season. He's averaged 22.8 points per game over his career. So far in the playoffs, he's averaging 22.5 points per game. The monotony is his magnificence. He doesn't win one NBA title. He doesn't win one MVP trophy. He consistently does the same thing game in and game out . . . but you've heard all of this already ad nauseum. So we'll slip in the new names and be done. Last year, Bruce Bowen sank 101 3-pointers at 44 percent. This year, Hedo Turkoglu made 262 3-pointers on 42 percent shooting after making 165 last year for the Kings at 37 percent. We're not talking about guys like Ray Allen or Peja Stojakovic. The former has shot 55 percent from the free-throw line over his career. The latter has shot 41 percent from the field over his career. But with Duncan in the middle, they have become equally marvelous in their roles and we wonder how the Spurs are still so good when the only name and numbers we can come up with are Tim Duncan and 22 points per game.

3. Kenyon Martin, New Jersey Nets
Numbers: +7.8 ppg, +3.8 rpg, +0.2 apg, +0.7 spg, +0.2 bpg, -0.3 3pg
Say something about his momma. Make fun of his haircut or his shoes or even his red-headed coach. Call him a name. OK, the guy needs motivation here and there. But he's been in the playoffs a total of three times and been to two NBA Finals with a chance to make it three. Let's just say he's inspired. He went toe-to-toe with the rough and tumble Kurt Thomas and shot 64 percent against him. He's playing mind games with the enigmatic Rasheed Wallace and winning hands down. On Tuesday night, some unsuspecting Detroit Piston lobbed an innocent finger roll towards the basket with the game already decided. K-mart didn't foul him. K-Mart didn't block him. He waited until the ball clearly peaked and started on its downward motion towards two irrelevant points. K-Mart then snatched it out of the air and tucked it under his arm as if insulted by the gesture. Most likely, he was.

4. Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana Pacers
Numbers: +8.9 ppg, +1.2 rpg, -0.5 apg, +0.1 spg, +1.7 bpg, -1.0 3pg
Shame on Jermaine. If he wants to be a true MVP candidate . . . If he wants to be a member of the All-NBA first team . . . If he wants to be considered one of the best players in the NBA, much less his position, then he's going to have to do a lot better than this against the likes of wafer-thin Walter McCarty of the Boston Celtics and Lamar Odom in decoy (see below). He began the playoffs by shooting 44 percent against the Celtics. He is now shooting 35 percent against the Heat. He has yet to score more than 29 in a game or grab more than 11 boards. And yet to make us think this team doesn't belong to Ron Artest.

5. Lamar Odom, Miami Heat
Numbers: +4 ppg, -1 rpg, +1.3 apg, +0.7 apg, -0.9 bpg, +0.6 3pg
Not bad for a small forward shouldering point guard duties and franchise aspirations. He is playing the undersized power forward because the team's regular power forward, Brian Grant, is playing the undersized center. That makes these numbers stand out even more. Odom can be seen leading his team on the break against Jermaine O'Neal and the Pacers. He can be seen hitting big 3-pointers against P.J. Brown and the Hornets. He can be seen creating matchup problems against almost any team in the league while having to endure the repercussions on the other end of the court. He is not a pure power forward. But the fact that the Heat have a rebounding edge on both the offensive and defensive ends in both the first and second rounds proves that Odom will more than do in a pinch, push and shove.

6. Karl Malone, Los Angeles Lakers
Numbers: +2.6 ppg, +1.1 rpg, +2.5 apg, +0.3 spg, -0.9 bpg, 0 3pg
Don't make me use names like A.C. Green and Samaki Walker to impart the significance of these numbers. Malone may rank seventh on this list, but in playoff runs past, Laker powerless forwards have fallen right off the bottom of this chart. Currently, he is in the process of holding Duncan to 50 percent shooting on 14.5 shots per game after the two-timer shot 59 percent from the field on 17 shots per game against the Grizzlies and 50 percent shooting on 17.1 shots per game during the regular season. At 40 years of age he is averaging 40 minutes per playoff game at the same position played by Garnett and Duncan. The fact that the Lakers can even submit a name in that previous sentence says it all.

7. Rasheed Wallace, Detroit Pistons
Numbers: +1.6 ppg, +1.2 rpg, +0.8 apg, -1.2 spg, +0.9 bpg, +0.6 3pg
They're calling it a bruised left arch. But the Pistons better add ego, turnaround jumper and any hope of getting out of the second round to that list of supposed black and blue parts. What's worse, the six points he scored Tuesday night, the two rebounds he grabbed the game before or the three feet he demanded of reporters in the locker room while being interviewed? Just imagine how ornery he'd be if he didn't get to bully Keith Van Horn around in the first series. But believe it or not, this guy is better when he's tired and grouchy and surrounded by men in dark suits and sunglasses who want to take away his Bill of Rights. Wallace is more dangerous to opponents getting technicals with his back against the wall and obscenities spewing out of his mouth. He is focused and explosive and even 20 minutes of unbridled passion followed by an ejection is better than what we're seeing presently. As it stands now, he is sitting on the bench for an average of 14 minutes per game pre-occupied with plantar fasciatis and whether it is some kind of conspiracy or new calling for the spiritually enhanced.

8. Chris Webber, Sacramento Kings
Numbers: -7 ppg, -4 rpg, +1.4 apg, -0.3 spg, -2 bpg, -0.8 3pg
Webber coulda, shoulda, woulda been the MVP once upon a time, but now he's left wondering how to guard the actual article now that he's walking with a limp and his head is still spinning after Dirk Nowitzki became the top scorer in the playoffs last round. And the question, instead, is coulda, shoulda, woulda he sat out these playoffs for the good of the team resulting in a different, more dynamic hierarchy on the floor. Logic says the Kings are still better with an injured Webber in the lineup. Individual stats and team standings say otherwise.