What happens when LeBron fan-boys write articles...

So, Yahoo has this idea that letting the fans of sports write articles for their Associated Content section. Good idea, get the fans to produce some content that can cover anything about every sport.

The downside?

Fan boys.

Take this article, written on the 2011 NBA MVP Race. Well written it seems, but actually read into this article and you'll find lies and misinformation left right and centre.

Impact

"Rose supporters further will make the claim all you have to do to know Rose should be the MVP is watch the games, as if those who don't agree with their view just aren't watching those games. They say that if you watch the games, it's clear Rose has had a much bigger impact on the Bulls winning than LeBron has on the Heat winning. Frankly, I can't see it from watching those games (and I have watched), so apparently I'm blind."

Let's start with this little gem of a paragraph. Clearly this man truly is blind. He claims that Derrick Rose has less impact on the Chicago Bulls' winning games than James does on the Heat. Wrong. When Rose goes out of the game, yes, the Bulls do play at a good level. This is down to the Bulls' bench that is one of, if not the best, scoring benches in the league. However, if Rose were to be unavailable for a game through injury, things would be different. The Bulls have no 3rd Point Guard and C.J Watson, the backup, is a solid 2nd unit substitute. But he would not be able to lead this Bulls team as the starting guard. Rose is Chicago's go to guy in late-game situations (scored last 8 vs Bucks on Sat. night) and when the other players are cold, Rose takes up the scoring responsibilities. Derrick has nobody else to defer to when he can't score. Boozer is good but limited from range, Deng is good but an often streaky shooter.

Compare all of that to the writer's preferred MVP choice, LeBron James of the Miami Heat.

Compare that to when LeBron is out of the game. Miami have a certain Dwyane Wade you may have heard of over the last few years. Wade is equal to LeBron scoring-wise this year, although James is better all-round, Dwyane is still one of the league's top 10, maybe even top 5 players this season and of the last 3 years. When James goes off the floor or is injured, the Heat can simply defer scoring responsibilities to Wade who is on 25.7 points-per-game (James 26.5ppg). 1 point per game less than LeBron. So when James is unavailable or not playing well, Miami has another player who is basically just as adept at scoring the ball. Look at the options surrounding Derrick Rose on the Bulls' roster. Carlos Boozer is on 17.7ppg and Luol Deng is on 17.6ppg. Neither a bad average, but a good 6 or 7 points below Rose at 25.0ppg. Even Miami's Chris Bosh is averaging almost 19 points per game (18.7). So James will have less impact when he is off the floor.

This is a worthless comparison anyway, as Rose has only missed one game all season (a loss in Denver).

Can I go on? Yes. Here he is talking about James' stat line vs Rose's.

"LeBron's stats dwarf Rose's in so many categories it's not even funny, and simply because LeBron is ranked #13 in assists rather than in the Top 10 is hardly reason to vote Rose over LeBron."

While stats make up a big part of who is in and who is out of the MVP Race, they are far from the be-all and end-all of the award. LeBron is a more prolific scorer, but by just 2 points per game. So small it is irrelevant.
Next!

Although I used PER as a main focus of my previous article, there are a number of other statistical analytics that give a clear picture why LeBron is more deserving of the award, and there's one statistic Bulls fans just can't get around; his FG percentage.

Rose or LeBron? Tough choices in
this year's MVP Race

So, he moves on to Rose's fairly average Field Goal percentage. Fair enough, it is nowhere compared to James', but remember, Wade draws two defenders to him as he is so good. Bosh demands the same double team. That leaves James wide open on some plays. Plus, LeBron does not have to do the majority of Miami scoring every night, unlike Rose. This is one reason for his lower shots-made%. Rose must take shots he doesn't like when his team-mates are struggling. While LeBron has Wade to make shots he doesn't like or isn't good at. They compliment each other. Heat fans argue that Wade is taking points away from James, but James is still scoring the same as last season. True. But again, this is because Wade draws two defenders as does Bosh. James gets more open shots and therefore easy points than he did last year in Cleveland.

So yes, James is a better all-round player. But until he has single handedly carried a team to the top of the Eastern Conference and into Championship contention, he is not the MVP. Chicago may be top through their defensive excellence. But can you think of how many games they would have lost if it were not for D-Roses ownership of the late game? I can tell you right now, if it weren't for Rose, Chicago would be on a 3-game losing streak today instead of one, and would be scrapping around the 5th-6th-7th places in the East.

Sorry LeBron fans, but this one is not going your way.