Race to the MVP: Stoudemire soars into top three

Last week may have marked the first Race to the MVP of the season, but the commentariat were in midseason form.

To which I have to say: thanks for coming into camp in shape. Your mental fitness is always appreciated.

Still, because we didn't do a mailbag this week, I want to address some of the e-mail real quick.

I got hammered on putting Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who still has yet to play a game because of an ankle injury, at No. 10 in the inaugural rankings. I think I did the right thing. Everyone who mentioned Williams thinks I did the wrong thing.

Two things on that: one, I'm not going to re-do Week One, so Williams will always be archived as No. 10; and two, I had noted in last week's R2MVP that the first rankings were a mix of preseason and the first week. We had, what, one or two games tops to make a judgment? Couple that rationalization with the fact we didn't do a preseason Race to the MVP and we're going to have a weird hybrid the first week. And for the first month, we'll have stock market-like volatility. This portfolio may take a hit.

As for D-Will, I believe he is the one of the top three point guards (Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash) in the game, and in a game where point guard is the most important position on the floor (watch how Denver improves with Chauncey Billups handling the rock), a dude like Williams will be in any initial top 10.

Now, will he be around this week? No, of course not. We're two weeks into the season and he hasn't played. But I'm still comfortable with him being No. 10 last week.

As for the format of the R2MVP, we're still working on getting it back to what it looked like last season. Be patient. We'll have a facelift soon.

Couple of other quick releases:

• R2MVP, now every Friday. Start your weekend right ... or with righteous fury!

• "With the Spurs starting 0-3 shouldn't Manu Ginobili be up for MVP?" Good one. (See also: Williams, Deron).

• TSpree15, it's Bosh, not Bosche, though if he were German, that may work

• Thanks for the e-mail Nicole. It's nice to see someone with an XX-chromosome pop in. Wish we had more female readers.

• Tom, Shane, Pye, Chris in the UK, thanks for the well-punctuated, well-spaced and well-reasoned e-mail. E-mail such as those will see the light more than the following: "Lebron is #1 .......... and that's it."

Line of the Week: "Mayor of Akron? I'm already mayor of Akron. I've been that for about 10 years now.'' -- LeBron James, on being asked if he ever wanted to run for mayor of Akron

Hoops Line of the Week: Tony Parker, San Antonio. Nov. 5 at Minnesota: 55 points, 10 dimes, 7 rebounds on 22-of-36 shooting and 9-of-10 from the line

Or, Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix. Nov. 5 at Indiana: 49 points, 11 boards, six assists, five steals, two blocks on 17-of-21 shooting

I can't choose. Both were so good.

All right, enough. On to the rankings.

Last week: No. 1
Stats: PPG -- 24.8; RPG -- 6.3; APG -- 3.5; SPG -- 1.75; BPG -- 0.5; FG% -- .446; FT% -- .816
Comment: A tenuous hold on No. 1. He's still here for a couple reasons: Lakers are 4-0 and he's the incumbent. Yes, being The Man who is MVP has its privileges. But as I said, tenuous. Kobe's field goal percentage is an ugly .446 and the competition this week -- Houston, at Dallas, at New Orleans, Detroit -- gets tougher.

Last week: No. 2
Stats: PPG -- 21.8; RPG -- 5.3; APG -- 11.8; SPG -- 2.5; BPG -- 0.5; FG% -- .508; FT% -- .857
Comment: Paul is entering that rarefied air of point guards shooting 50 percent or better. Oscar Robertson did it three times, Steve Nash has done it the last five seasons, Magic Johnson hit 50 percent of his shots or better for nine of his first 10 seasons and Isiah Thomas never did it. Paul is now over 50 percent from the field at .508. Amazing for a guy his size.

Last week: No. 8
Stats: PPG -- 25.8; RPG -- 9.8; APG -- 2.6; SPG -- 1.4; BPG -- 1.0; FG% -- .696; FT% -- .846
Comment: Amare made a late-season push up the top 10 in R2MVP last season. It looks as if he's rewarding his teammates, Suns fans and me (yes, me) for believing. You saw the co-Line of the Week up above, but do you see what his field goal percentage is? It's a "Holy cow -- .696!" Must be a nice feeling for the Suns to know that when STAT gets the ball, it goes in the hole. He's why the Suns have started 3-1 and, right now, as about as unstoppable a player in the league.

Last week: No. 5
Stats: PPG -- 26.0; RPG -- 10.8; APG -- 3.0; SPG -- 0.75; BPG -- 0.75; FG% -- .514; FT% -- .800
Comment: I could have had Bosh at No. 3, but, for this week at least, I find Amare to be far more efficient at getting his points. Still, Bosh has become the most dependable and consistent big man on offense in the East. If he's not an All-Star starter, something is wrong. All you crazy Raptors fans, you know what to do.

Last week: Not ranked
Stats: PPG -- 28.5; RPG -- 3.7; APG -- 5.7; SPG -- 0.67; BPG -- 0.0; FG% -- .547; FT% -- .889
Comment: See, volatile. That, and his teammates have his back. I can see where the scout is coming from, because if you said name you're top 10 players in the league, would Joe Johnson have been on the list? (I'll wait. Still waiting. Still ... waiting. You lie. You did not have him on the list.) Johnson's play this season has changed perceptions so far. Look at that shooting percentage. Look at the Hawks' 3-0 record. Now let's see if Johnson can stay up here.

Last week: Not ranked
Stats: PPG -- 20.8; RPG -- 10.0; APG -- 2.0; SPG -- 0.5; BPG -- 0.25; FG% -- .627; FT% -- .750
Comment: Got a lot of, "What about Boozer?" e-mail last week, too. Well, here he is, the top scorer and rebounder on the 4-0 Jazz. He may not have the sparkling scoring digits the gents above have (and that's why he's here at No. 6), but right now, no one has been more consistent on one of the league's best teams.

Last week: No. 4
Stats: PPG -- 25.8; RPG -- 8.0; APG -- 7.8; SPG -- 2.2; BPG -- 0.6; FG% -- .457; FT% -- .782
Comment: I have a feeling this may be as far as the King drops this season. I need to play a little bit of "It's not you, it's me" right here. I'm just not feelin' the Cavs at 3-2 right now. As I said, it's not you, it's me. Your numbers, as always, are stellar. And look at the thefts. Also excellent. And I'm sure you'll maintain your high standards and the Cavs' record will improve, but I've got you seventh right now, LeBron. I'm sure some of your subjects will object, but as I said, this is probably as low as you go.

Last week: No. 7
Stats: PPG -- 20.2; RPG -- 13.2; APG -- 1.2; SPG -- 1.4; BPG -- 4.2; FG% -- .609; FT% -- .442
Comment: Look at those blocks -- 4.2 per game. I feel rejection just writing that line. And I believe if Howard had come along in the early '60s, thanks to the pace of play of the day, he'd average 20-plus boards per game. But I just can't move him any higher. To be seriously considered a top-five MVP candidate, Howard must -- must -- improve his free throw shooting. Even Shaq hit .524 in his lone MVP season in 1999-2000. Shaq also averaged 29.7 and 13.6 that season, another clear reason why Howard isn't in that upper echelon yet.

Last week: Not ranked
Stats: PPG -- 23.5; RPG -- 5.8; APG -- 7.3; SPG -- 3.0; BPG -- 2.0; FG% -- .455; FT% -- .739
Comment: Just look at those defensive digits -- three thefts, two rejections per. Someone asked him if he could bring that defensive intensity he had in Beijing back to South Beach (or just across Biscayne Bay). Looks like he did. Wade's all-around game hasn't been this sharp since that championship season in '06. Easy. I'm not saying the Heat are going to The Finals. I'm just saying: Flash is back. It's good to have him back.

Last week: Not ranked
Stats: PPG -- 33.3; RPG -- 3.8; APG -- 7.3; SPG -- 0.5; BPG -- 0.0; FG% -- .564; FT% -- .889
Comment: It's tough to put a guy on a 1-3 team in the top 10, but you've gotta give it up for Parker, who leads the NBA in scoring. And he's another point guard who can hit 50-plus percent of his shots, as he's done it two of the last three seasons and is doing it again. That's what happens when you leave the floor littered with guys clutching their ankles. It's Tony's eighth season in the league, and he's just 26, entering his prime. By the way, Parker needs a different nickname than TP. We need to come up with one.

(Yes, you can consider No. 10 my wild card every week.)

Dropping out: Tim Duncan (Parker's been better early), Paul Pierce (shooting .388), Deron Williams (hasn't played), Yao Ming (bad last two games)

Outside looking in, for now, in alphabetical order: Carmelo Anthony, Ron Artest, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Danny Granger, Al Jefferson, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, The Pistons

Comments? Questions? Irrational, spittle-flecked rantings? Drop us a line at RacetotheMVP@gmail.com (for now).