The Most Valuable Player award is not a Brownlow Medal. It should not necessarily be awarded to the player adjudged the best in the competition, it should be as the name says, the most valuable player to their club.

The 2019/20 list of fifteen potential recipients are as follows;

• Andrew Bogut (Sydney)
• Bryce Cotton (Perth)
• Cam Oliver (Cairns)
• Casper Ware (Sydney)
• Daniel Johnson (Adelaide)
• DJ Newbill (Cairns)
• Jerome Randle (Adelaide)
• John Roberson (South East Melbourne)
• Jae’Sean Tate (Sydney)
• Lamar Patterson (Brisbane)
• Mitch Creek (South East Melbourne)
• Nick Kay (Perth)
• Scotty Hopson (New Zealand)
• Shawn Long (Melbourne)
• Scott Machado (Cairns)

All of these candidates are worthy winners of the highest individual award in the NBL, but are all of them are necessarily the most valuable for their club?

The favourite to take out this prestigious award is Bryce Cotton, and for good reason. In season 2019/20 Cotton has been unbelievable with averages of 22.38 points, 3.65 assists, 3.85 rebounds and consistently plays 30-35 minutes every game.

He is an extraordinary talent and a past MVP winner, but is he the most valuable to his team? Hypothetically, if he were to be removed from the Wildcats’ lineup, would they still perform well? With the talents of a healthy Clint Steindl, Damian Martin, Miles Plumlee, Nick Kay and Terrico White still on the roster, it would still be likely to see Perth playing competitive and championship-potential basketball, even without their superstar. 

The same could be said for the Kings Andrew Bogut, while he certainly is one of the premier players in this competition and no doubt a worthy 2018/19 MVP, he has had to play under injury and has been held back this season which has meant a slight drop in form. His averages have dropped from his MVP efforts last season;

Minutes: 29.65 – 21.68

Points: 11.64 – 8.33

Rebounds: 11.75 – 8.79

Assists: 3.5 – 279

Blocks: 2.75 – 1.21

As well as his minor form slump and injury issues, he also has a lot of talent surrounding him to lighten the load. Brad Newley, Caspar Ware (MVP candidate), Craig Moller, Didi Louzada, Jae’Sean Tate (MVP candidate), Kevin Lisch and Shaun Bruce are all able to chip in and do their part for the Kings, they have a sensational team style and the reliance on one or two individuals is no longer an issue under Will Weaver.

This is why it’s unlikely Andre Bogut will win a second consecutive award this season.

These examples stand to reason the Most Valuable Player award should, in theory, be awarded to the player who is the most Valuable to their team and its overall success. That player has to be Scott Machado of the Cairns Tiapans.

He has come across to the NBL from the Los Angeles Lakers and in his first season down under, has taken the competition by storm. The point-guards’ stats are fantastic over 25 games (17 points, 8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game), but more so his impact on the Taipans is why he is the most deserving of this award.

While he does have two major talents to go to work with in Cameron Oliver and DJ Newbill, both have also been nominated for the award, the Snakes would simply not be the same team without they number 3.

After winning the wooden spoon in 2018/19 and losing the opening three games this season, it looked to be another disaster brewing for the Cairns Taipans. With the play-offs nearly upon us, they now sit third and have been the surprise package of the season under Mike Kelly. 

Scott Machado has been one of the biggest pieces of this exciting puzzle.

Scott Machado is the ultimate playmaker, his assists are among the best in the competition, he hits the scoreboard and brings the best out of his teammates. If one were to take Machado out of Cairns’ lineup, they would not work as fluently and the likes of Majok Deng, Kouat Noi, Mirko Djeric and Nathan Jawai would not only need to play more minutes, they would be expected to deliver in Machado’s absence. While they are certainly great players, they unfortunately aren’t quite at that level. 

The MVP award is not about being the best player. It is about being the most valuable to your team. Scott Machado is just that for the Taipans. They would be a totally different outfit without him, chances are they would not have had the underdog season they have without his magic on the court. and in the coming weeks could not only be a league MVP, but a championship winner as well.