So when Harden had the stats but didn't win enough like Steph, he lost the MVP. Now it's Russ don't have the wins but OMG!!, he has the stats. Russ should win!
Hold on. This is why I mentioned mpg. Usage has a per minute component to it. All else remaining equal, if you increase your minutes with same stats, your USG% goes down. So, for five minutes of the game, Magic just tosses the ball to Jabbar and clears out, so his USG goes down, that makes his stats better....how? So, Magic (and most certainly Oscar) can have lower USG than WB, but still really the same amount of plays going through them, in a volume measurement ... which is what rpg and apg are. WB is probably still much higher even if you arbitrarily increase his minutes by 5 in the formula and recalculate, but the point is made. MPG does affect your USG% on same stats. Plus, FGA is such a huge component, the rebounding and assist part of triple double is really what I'm interested in comparing to Magic, since Magic purposefully didn't shoot as much, because he obviously didn't have to, and he scored a lot less. Again, I'm in no way saying WB is comparable to Magic...not whatsoever. Just saying that I can't really dismiss his stats nearly as much as I can dismiss Oscar Robertson's stats....which were just BS on 45 mpg.
Thing is, the people who are so enamored with Russell's stats would be justified if no one else was having a crazy season, but Harden is also putting up amazing stats with only a few pts and reb behind Westbrook AND the better team record AND he's not stat padding his rebounds. LeBron fans even have an argument with his own stats this season.
I think and might be biased but IMO I'm not, Harden should be the MVP with how he turned around the team and help make the game easier for every player on our team. Our offense is concentrated on Harden on breaking down the defense and giving his teammates the best shot possible or himself taking the shot. WB might have better stats with the triple double but it's just so tainted with me on the rebounds. His team literally blocks out so he can get the rebound. Without the DD rebounds from WB, is it even close to who's the MVP between Harden and WB? I think it's a closer MVP battle between Harden and Kawhi. Kawhi has elevated his games and put the Spurs on his back. His stats might not be as good as Harden or WB but his defense makes up for it and they might get the #1 seed. so IMO, it's Harden vs Kawhi. Not WB, while I commend on him for having so much stamina and energy to play 100 MPH at all times, I don't think he deserves it especially if they're 6th or 7th seed.
Do you even know what the usage formula is? It only uses fga , FTA,and tov. Magic didn't jack up a lot of shots or score that much so his usage is not going to be that high.
I thought it was % of team plays ran through the player. So I've always assumed it involved the amount of time the player had the possession of the ball. That's weird if it's just fga, fta, and tov. What's the point?
Russell averaging a triple double is insanely difficult in today's NBA. Its shocking because it's a feat I would have expected a 6'8 250 (w/PG skills) LeBron James to accomplish, especially on those old Cleveland teams. To be done at 6'3 is special. Harden is dwarfing Nash's MVP runs in Dantoni's system and deserves the MVP award also. It's a CO-MVP year if I've ever seen one.
Nobody says averaging triple double is easy. Otherwise more players would be doing it. The thing is, chasing stats for the sake of itself is always frowned on. The goal of the game is not stats. It's winning. If a guy just plays to win and gets those stats, that's greatness. If a guy and his teammates's goal is getting those stats, then that is despised. Many people believe that the Thunder does not really need Westbrook averaging triple double in order to win games. They might have won more game if Westbrook played in another style. But that is kind of hard to prove one way or the other.
The Thunder (38-29) are 27-6 this season when Westbrook compiles a triple-double (.818 winning percentage) and 11-23 for the rest of the year.
Correlation is not causation. That's why it is hard to prove. In fact, if it is true that he and his whole team tried to achieve triple double every game, then those games that they failed might just because they all played not as well. That does not mean that if the whole team played in another way, they would not have won more games. For the record, I am not accusing them of stat padding. I am just saying that IF they are doing it, it is still hard to prove whether it affects their winning ability, positively or negatively. But I totally understand why people don't like it.
His defense is not impressive. His defense is focused on going for defensive rebounds. He has the highest # of uncontested defensive rebounds in league. I've seen a bunch of plays of him just standing around ball watching, waiting for a shot to go up. While Roberson/Dipo are chasing guys around. Westbrook contests fewer shots than anyone in the league. He contests 3.6 per game. (while playing a ton of minutes) His opponents shooting 49% His teammates contests- Roberson- 10pg. Oladipo-7.6. Mcdermott-6. Grant-6 (all in far fewer minutes) Harden contests 8 per game. 47% Defensive FG% Kawhi 6.5pg. 45% Wall 6pg. 41% Green 14pg. 40%
Please stop saying this when the probability curves wouldn't support your assertion. The probability of it being just luck is a very very small number. If you use a binomial distribution with B(33,.818) what would be probability be that they are really a .500 team that just some how wins .818 of their games. Its a very small number. If you do the same with the negative case B(.32,34) you will end up with an equally very small number.
I didn't say it was just luck, did I? I was pointing out that there could be other factors that correlate Thunder's winning percentage and Westbrook's triple double. The causation could be the other way around. For example, it could be that when the team played well (shooting better for the assists, boxing out better for the rebounds, etc.), it's easier for him the get the triple double.
WB is mad that Harden is going to get Player's Vote for MVP Westbrook brushes off Curry's MVP prediction: 'Who's he?' By CSN Bay Area staff March 16, 2017 12:37 PM Stephen Curry believes James Harden is in line to win the prestigious award this year. Russell Westbrook is not pleased and showed the reigning back-to-back NBA MVP no respect when he responded on Thursday. "I don't care," Westbrook told reporters. "It don't matter what he says. Who's he?" Curry joined The Dan Patrick Show on Monday and said, at that point in the season, he would go with Harden. Patrick: "Who would be your MVP this year?" Curry: "I'm gonna cop out. You gotta ask me in 16 games when the 82 is over." Patrick: "How about right now though? If you're not voting for yourself or anybody on your team, just as a basketball fan..." Curry: "Ummmmm, I'd probably say James (Harden)." Patrick: "What is it about him that's different from Russell Westbrook as far as value?" Curry: "Probably not much (in) value. You gotta award the better team I would think, record-wise, as it's kind of gone in the history of the MVP award. So I think James would probably edge him out just off that."
Memphis, Thunder, and Jazz are going to gift the Thunder the 4th seed and WB probably gets MVP. Are you ****ing serious....
Yea, funny how the media made fun of Harden all last year playing phantom defense, meanwhile, Westbrook is doing the same thing this year, but media isn't making fun of WB. They ignore the fact that WB sleeps on defense, while making fun of Harden. Media wants WB to get MVP.
