Top 20 NLL Player Ranking: Week 11

March 12th, 2008 by Paul Tutka

What makes an MVP?

Heard the hockey insiders on TSN debating who they thought this year’s NHL MVP was gonna be and they basically came to this conclusion… is the MVP the overall, pound-for-pound best player in the league, or is the MVP the guy most valuable to his team?

From lookin’ at how the NLL has handed out their most valubale nod, I’d tend to think they’ve always gone the route of picking the guy most important to his team. Always no doubt a skilled guy, but always a guy on one of if not the best regular season teams. Never have they given a ball player on a crappy team the hardware. But should an amazing baller playing on a garbage team, which he has no real control over, not be given a fair look?

For me at least, right now, Bob Watson might be the most important player to his respective club. I kinda look at it like, if I take a certain guy off a team’s roster, how would they float? I think you take Whipper out of the Rock equation, and that pretty impressive 5-3 record could easily be inverted, if not worse. But does that make Watson the MVP this year?

Even though the likes of Edmonton or Chicago are way down in the standings, how much worse would they be if you took say Rory Glaves or Chris McElroy off the Rush roster, or Mat Giles off the Rox’s lineup? Trust me, without those guys, those teams are a ton worse off and probably takin’ even worse beatings most nights.

Definitely something that should be up for debate, right? Yeah, I know sometimes the best player is also the most important to his team, but that’s not always the case. What should the criteria be?

Anyways, my little pea brain (which apparently can’t cover this level of lacrosse, but did just buy some STX fiddlesticks and only took an hour to figure out where the ball goes,so I should be in better shape shortly), is starting to hurt and needs some down time, so here’s this week’s top 20…

RK	PLAYER	LAST	+/-	TOTAL	CONS.	HIGH
1	Athan Iannucci	1	-	9	9	1
1	Still everyone’s consensus MVP, including ours. Should be interesting to see how he does now that Philly dropped their first game. It’s the sign of a true leader.
2	John Tavares	2	-	10	10	2
2	Played some solid MVP caliber ball again in another big defeat of Minnesota. One slip up by Nooch and JT goes to the head of the class.
3	Colin Doyle	3	-	10	10	3
3	Sounds like fans are lovin’ Zywicki’s eye poppin’ game, but Doyle is pullin’ the strings on that O and it was pretty clear how big he is in that win over the Mammoth.
4	Jeff Zywicki	6	2	9	9	4
4	Not sure there is anyone right now that does better at creating space and opening up shooting lanes than Zywicki. He’s like a bull (with finish) in a china shop.
5	Casey Powell	8	3	10	10	5
5	With a few guys not living up to the hype last weekend, CP moves up kinda by default. But his 08 has been a helluva lot more than default or average. This guys motivated to prove everyone wrong!!
6	Ryan Ward	6	-	9	9	4
6	Even though they play a team oriented O, Wardo still runs the show and has gotta get this ship movin’ again. He made it look easy to start. Has gotta get back to that mode.
7	Gavin Prout	4	-3	10	10	1
7	See above, just replace Wardo for Prouto, or maybe just Prout. Doubt anyone calls him Prouto.
8	Dan Dawson	7	-1	10	10	2
8	Had a decent individual showing but another big L for the Jax. Will the league hand out an MVP to a losing team??? Where would Portland be without him?
9	Bob Watson	9	-	8	8	8
9	He’s money this year and sounds like everyone in the league has finally caught on to that again. Should have his hands full against a Titans team that hava been pretty dangerous lately.
10	John Grant	12	2	10	10	1
10	I’ve been gettin’ a bunch of flack from players and other media for havin’ Jr. this low, but until he has an off the charts game against the L’s best, think he’s just on the outside lookin’ in. Definitely hasn’t been the same Grant as last year.
11	Brodie Merrill	10	-1	5	4	10
11	Like Daws, a good individual showing (including droppin’ the mitts against a legit heavy!!), but hasn’t been able to take his boys to the heights some of the guys in our top five have. Still the best two-way guy this year though.
12	Jake Bergey	13	1	7	7	12
12	Think we saw how important Bergs is to that Wings’ lineup when, well, when he’s not in the lineup. I’d say expect a big showing this weekend against the Stealth.
13	Mark Steenhuis	16	3	3	3	13
13	The best O first tranny in the game today and played his usual slick game in that win over Minnesota. He’s the kinda flashy, do anything kinda baller this league needs and they should be marketing the hell outta him to the masses.
14	Ryan Cousins	11	-3	10	10	2
14	Still sounds like he’s still most people’s fave for best D guy, but this 0-3 slide (44 goals against) isn’t helping his cause, but sure the Minny cap could care less about individual hardware as long as they start winning again.
15	Eric Martin	19	4	5	5	15
15	Another big game for Martin and that Stealth D, keeping every big dawg on Colorado’s O in check. He’s one of the guys in this year’s All-Star game that could make things a little more interesting than normal (aka, I mean beating the sh** outta someone!!).
16	Peter Lough	18	2	4	4	16
16	Whipper is gettin’ a lot of praise, but Lough is right up there too for why Toronto keeps inching out games with their O sleepin’ on most nights. What the heck would TO have done had they not inked him in the off-season? He’s beyond a big part of this year’s team.
17	Nick Patterson	15	-2	10	10	9
17	Kinda in the same boat as Cousins. Playing good lacrosse but without the results, unlikely the NLL will give him many props if this slide keeps up. Hard to blame him for much during this 0-3 run.
18	Jordan Hall	20	2	2	2	18
18	He’s definitely my favorite at this point for ROTY. With Point kinda hurt and not posting the same kinda numbers he was early on, think Hall could pass him in most people’s eyes with a big game this weekend in TO.
19	Anthony Cosmo	-	-	5	1	6
19	Think he’s back to his usual self with a couple strong showings back-to-back, which included some big money saves against the Mammoth. Can he hold off that Wings’ O this weekend? Will be his toughest test this year for sure.
20	Lewis Ratcliff	-	-	9	1	5
20	Wanted to stick TK here, but with his lack of games played, think Ratcliff deserves to be the next in line to get back on the charts.