[Media Conspiracy] "Harden has more help"...since WHEN?

You guys worry too much. Harden will win the award this year AND the Rockets will win the championship too.

 

Exactly. Imagine if Harden had Oladipo starting in the backcourt with him instead of Beverley? How good would Adams look playing next to Harden? Look at how good he makes Capela and Harrell look?

 

Not as good as you think. Capela is quicker, can jump higher, and has superior length. That's why he's such an effective pick and roll finisher.

 

For too many sportswriters, it was predetermined that Westbrook would win the MVP. The narrative wrote itself. Durant bolts. Westbrook puts up great numbers and leads his team to the playoffs. He's the MVP. End of story. And the triple double average makes it an even sweeter story.

The problem is that Harden is having an equally great season and his team is way more successful than the Thunder despite preseason expectations. So now the goalposts have to be moved. What gave Curry the edge 2 years ago(the Warriors finishing 11 games ahead of the Rockets) is suddenly moot(the Rockets are 9 games ahead of the Thunder). The Rockets roster was considered mediocre in the preseason, but now it's suddenly so good that Harden has all this help and poor Russ has none(never mind that many of these guys were on the team last year when they reached the WCF).

I think it honestly doesn't matter what Harden does at this point. If Westbrook can drag his team to a 5th seed finish, he's the MVP. If he gets them the 4th seed and division title, he's a shoo-in. I don't see that happening given the respective schedules the Jazz and Thunder have to play, but just finishing ahead of the fading Clippers may be enough for most of the voters. Now if Harden can will the Rockets to 57 or 58 wins, then maybe he edges out Westbrook. But 55 wins or less is probably not gonna cut it when so many are enamored with the triple doubles.

 

I can understand if the media said Harden has the same coach that made Jeremy Lin look great but to say he has more help is stupid.

 

Harden would make him look much better. Harrell and Nene get great looks off of the PnR with Harden as well. In OKC, Adams is relegated to the occasional post up or dump off pass from Westbrook.

 

Added one for you ...

 

People got it twisted. They think that because Harden has better complementary pieces he has a more talented supporting cast.

Fit > Talent

 

This is one of the highest compliments that could be sent James's way.

 

Since when does having better complimentary pieces count as a knock against your MVP case tho? This is the problem I have with some of these people in the media. The MVP has always been about the best player on 1 of the best teams. Now they want to switch it up.

 

Don't ever underestimate the "Harden's champions" supporting cast agenda!

Doubters and non-believers along the way =

 

OKC's team has the superior defensive talent as well. All while destroying the Spurs in the playoffs and going up 3-1 on GSW, the rise of Adams was a huge topic. That never gets mentioned. now. And Kantar is better than Anderson, simply by being more mobile and 7' tall.

Before the season our defense was going to prevent us from winning. But, Harden took the offense to such upmost, efficient heights that it didn't matter.

 

right on. Obviously they have to do that in order to excuse away WB's lack of winning at MVP levels....which by itself is switching the criteria.

 

This is the perfect rebuttal for the " Harden has better teammates" argument.

 

they've both made it known their time on the NOP wasn't great and being here is so much more preferable. As good as AD is, he is no superstar. he in no way as a big commands the same type of attention a premier perimeter player does and does not have that type of effect on the game.

 

Lots of GREAT comments/ arguments in this thread! I'm impressed! I seriously am - no joke.

But you probably had the help of hand held mobile devices and fast data plans, for Internet fact checking, auto spell check and portability to post on the go

Thus bc you have too much (tech) help i have to say you all cannot be MVP - most valuable posters.

 

Long post but I typed this up on Facebook to summarize the media bias.

Now that the season is coming to an end I wanted to address the MVP race between Harden and Westbrook. To me it's obvious that there is a media-bias against Harden. Last year harden was not voted to a single all NBA team with averages of 29ppg, 7.5 art and 6.1 reb. That's ridiculous that he didn't not get any accolades. In 2014-2015 he and Curry were battling for the MVP. Harden was averaging 27.4 ppg, 7 ast and 4.7 while Curry averaged 23.8 ppg, 7.7 ast and 4.3 rebounding. Harden had a better statistical year but the "experts" argued that curry should be MVP because he carried his team to a better record. He eventually beat out Harden to win MVP even though he had a better supporting class. Flash forward to this year. Harden is currently averaging 29.4 ppg, leading the NBA with 11.3 apg, with 8 rebounds. Westbrook currently is averaging 31 ppg with 10.4 assists and 10.5 rebounds. The rockets currently have a 9 game advantage over the thunder, but people argue that Russell is doing more with less, so wins don't matter. If he media had the same rule two years ago Harden would have easily won the MVP. People are in love with the triple double average of Westbrook but are his 2.5 more rebounds a game (where his bigs box out for him) make his statistics that much greater than hardens? Another argument is that the thunders supporting class is weaker than the Rockets, and that Westbrook does more with less. According to preseason predictions the Thunder's roster was ranked as the following:
Thunder roster preseason ranking:
Westbrook-5th
Adams 36tn
Oladipo-48th
Lantern-80th
Taj Gibson-96th
The Rockets roster was ranked as the following:
Harden-8th
Gordon-86th
Anderson-89th
Capela-92nd
Ariza-99th
Lou Williams 198th

The Thunder were predicted to be the 7th ranked team (4th in the west), while the rockets were predicted to be 14th (9th in the west). The narrative that Westbrook doesn't have help doesn't hold up, so either ESPNs predictions and opinions are unreliable and don't hold any water, or that James Harden does a better of making his teammates better than Westbrook does. If the media follows its rule that they created in 2015 when Curry won then Harden truly deserves the MVP over Westbrook. If Westbrook is crowned MVP this year, it shows the media's bias against the rockets and Harden.