I think Beverley is the real MVP this series. Despite Westbrook going off on points, he definitely got underneath his skin. Enough to where he felt he had to be superhuman to battle. Rule #1 when dealing with a do-it-all player like Westbrook: let him have his points (but work for it) and keep his teammates cold. Then challenge a player like him when the game is on the line and watch him either jack up shots or his teammates not inspired to play.
No Dwight (hard to get control of a team with smiley face cancer), no Khloe (James lost what was left pretty early last year with that distraction), no moron head coach
Agree. He is obviously reaching because he has it bass ackward - if Westbrook was a better MVP, they would have actually won the series or at least kept it a lot closer. The fact he could not rally his team to greater things a la LeBron speaks volumes. Harden did. Smdh.
Lebron has always been in the Leastern Conference. It speaks volumes that Lebron never wanted to come to the West for obvious reasons. It would take a toll on his body just to drag his team to the WC. It is OKC's first season after the Durant exit, give them some time. Although I recommend rebuild. The media bias is unwarranted as is the hate here for Russ WB. He has his flaws like the superstar here in HTown.
The way I look at it simple. Before even considering you for MVP, you have to show me that you style of play results in your team being a contender. All of these pundits are applying hearsay when they start resorting to..."well if Westbrook had Harden's team they would be just as good...or if Harden has Westbrook's team they would be just as bad...or the Rockets system is what is more important than Harden." It 100% very well may be the case. But... I'm sorry...none of that is evidence...it should not be submissible to an MVP case. The only thing we can say for certain about Westbrook is he put up great stats, but his his play wasn't good enough to make his team a contender. End of story, on to the next candidate. Maybe some year his teammates will be good enough to help make his team a contender, or maybe he'll change his style a play a little bit in order to make his teammates better. But until the time that he can show he can lead a team to contender status, he should be ineligible for the MVP.
More time to listen to Slo Jams. More time to practice shots he won't shoot in the game. More time to go fishin for seafood in Oklahoma. More time to be a team distraction. Do you Russ. Do you. But it will be at home on your sofa.
Perfect. That is exactly how MVP consideration has gone since forever. Except for this season when winning was not a factor and hypotheticals are the foundation for votes. Getting beaten 4-1 in the first round of a playoff series justifies MVP??? I can't believe how stupid that sounds.
Westbrook, future winner of the #dirkmvp award, joins Wes Unseld, Moses Malone and Dirk as only MVPs to lose in the first round.
You're right, brother. There's something to be said about instilling confidence in your teammates. Not trusting them and doing everything yourself doesn't instill jack squat.
Legler is full of ****, let me tell you why. Besides all t he numbers which said WB went into chukign mode in the 4th quarter and shot worse than all of his teammates down the stretch and caused them wins. OKC starters were much better than Rockets starters this series. WHy do you think OKC always had the lead with the starting group. Adams>>>>>>>>>>>>>Capela Roberson>>>>>>>>>>Ariza Taj Gibson >>>>>>>>>> Rhyno Bev was better than Oladipo but that's because Oladipo is often frozen out playing alongside Russ. Rockets bench is better I agree but overall the teams are closely matched on talent. Before the series, the talk was about Rockets ahvign all of them 3 point shooters. Snipers everywhere! Everywhere you look there is gunner! newsflash: Rockets shot terribly from 3 point, terrible and yet won 4-1 Legler is another media kool aider who can't objectively think for himself
And honestly your entire system all season has been based on WB and getting him his numbers and doing everything you can as teammates to sacrifice for WB's good. And now suddenly when he is out, you are expected to produce? When all season you didn't have an opportunity to go through drills and reps and plays.... BS
That's the dumbest form of criteria because it ignores what actually happened during the season. Wish people would just admit they voted Westbrook because of his stats. That would at least be genuine.
That's weird, because Westbrook lost Game 2 for them all by himself. They win that game if you take WB and Harden off the court in the 4th.
And Moses lost best 2 out of 3 series format. And Unseld was a Rookie MVP, so you can give him more of an excuse for losing first round.
But Harden has the highest WS. A stat is a stat, you can't say that the stats created by ESPN are much better than all the other stats.
I honestly don't know why people don't get this point. Yeah, Russ's teammates play horribly without him, but what's the root cause? Adams, Oladipo, Roberson, Kanter, etc. all these players were projected to improve much more going into this season. Is it possible that Russ dominating the ball on virtually every possession is stunting the growth of other players? I'm not saying this is definitely the case, but it's a real possibility.
If I was russel wb teammate it would be hard to say he was the MVP bc that would be literally saying that I was sht and wb just carried me. U must be full on r****d to admit u are sht the whole season, which team gonna want u. Playing with wb stunts players growth and team chemistry, media just can't see it.
Dallas was a 1 seed when Dirk Nowitzki was MVP in 2007 and the Warriors beat them 4-2 as the 8-seed in the 1st round. Dallas was 67-15 during the regular season.
