Marc Stein Should Lose His NBA Awards Vote

(I've tried my damnedest to ignore ESPN's Marc Stein this season, but it'd be disingenuous not to react to his recent Most Improved Player talk.)

In today's edition of the Weekend Dime, Stein reveals his vote for Golden State's Andris Biedrins for Most Improved Player. I've personally made the clear-cut case for Sacramento's Kevin Martin before, and Sports Illustrated's Kelly Dwyer has also eloquently noted the vast improvements in Martin's offensive arsenal.

Everyone says this race is up for grabs, but it is not. If you watch basketball and spend more than 10 seconds looking at statistics, it's an incredibly simple choice. The explanation, after the jump.

Martin's PER has risen 6 points - from average player to possible All-Star. Biedrins' has risen 3 - from edge-of-the-rotation player to just above-average. Martin's points per 40 minutes has risen 7 points. Biedrins' has risen 3. Biedrins has become a marginally better per-possession rebounder, and Martin's per-possession rebounding has slipped slightly. Martin's shooting numbers - among the best of all NBA guards last year - have risen. Biedrin's shooting numbers - among the best of all post players last year - have stayed level.

So why has Biedrins looked so improved? Here's Stein's argument:

Yet no one else in this conversation reinvented himself like Biedrins. He averaged 3.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.7 blocks last season. He's now a double-double guy for a team still challenging for a playoff spot -- unlike the Kings and Celtics ...

Reinvented himself? He's the exact same player - efficient but infrequent scorer, good rebounder, nice shotblocker. This so-called reinvention? His minutes have doubled! He played 14.6 minutes per game last year, and he's at 29.5 this season. So yeah, it's not very shocking his box-score stats have doubled, too. This is not brain surgery.

Martin's minutes have increased from 26 to 35, and his box-score stats have doubled. And playoffs? Team success may be fair game for MVP and Coach of the Year races, but Most Improved? You're kidding, right? "Don Nelson is better than Mike Montgomery, Al Harrington is better than Mike Dunleavy Jr. ... let's give the award to Biedrins!" Hedo Turkoglu with a mouth full of marbles is easier to understand than that logic.

Biedrins is a very good player, and he's probably even a top 5 Most Improved candidate. But there is only one sentient choice for 2007 MIP, and it's Kevin Martin. The bad choice alone doesn't mean Stein is incapable of a responsible postseason awards voter (or, hell, basketball writer. But his asinine reasoning makes it very clear why Sacramento fans haven't deluged him with angry emails: Marc Stein is irrelevant.

(Stein's ridiculous Defensive Player of the Year picks are the nail in the coffin of sure insanity: he doesn't even mention the best defender on the league's best defensive team (Shane Battier) or the consensus best defender on the league's best team/5th best defensive team (Josh Howard). And Tim Duncan isn't in his top 3 so he can pick a guy from his alma mater. THIS GUY ACTUALLY HAS A VOTE!)