With 27 games left in the regular season, we are coming down the stretch of the season with a pretty tight MVP race. I figure we could have one thread where we could post relevant discussion and national reports on the matter. Forgive me if one already exists. Here's a tweet from Amick today: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>If James Harden was able to win MVP and Houston had its current winning percentage, it would be the third lowest in the last 30 years.</p>— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) <a href="https://twitter.com/sam_amick/status/569977014678999041">February 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not sure what Amick is trying to get at there. 3rd seed in what is regarded as the hardest conference ever without the team's second star player is the very relevant context to that benchmark.
He put up a list of MVP winners and their team's respective winning percentage. Seems like he is pointing out that as well as Harden is playing, it would be pretty noteworthy for a team with his winning % to produce an MVP. Aforementioned graphic:
what you just said is relevant. but what he stated is a fact. the rockets need to win and win and win. it will increase his chances obviously.
If Curry wins MVP, he'd be the first player in history to do it while not playing 35 mpg. Even Jordan's 96+ super teams had him playing 38.
It doesn't make sense for the MVP of the league to have another top 5 MVP candidate on his team. That is (basically) the case when it comes to the splash bros. NBA.com has Steph at 1 and Klay at 6. Most Valuable should be the man who is keeping his team in contention with the least help. In this case...... The Beard. Who they have at 2 Seems obvious who should win, but the Warriors having the best record is the killer. We'll see how it goes
Cherry-picking stats to build a case against the game's best player and true MVP? I think so. Funny, no one was bringing up just how not good the Pelicans were when Anthony Davis was the media darling MVP candidate.
GSW: +9.96 SRS HOU: +3.75 SRS People can say "3rd in the conference!" all they want, but the fact of the matter is that the Warriors are a level or two ahead of us this year. Curry absolutely has much more help than Harden, but he's absolutely leading them to better results. Curry: turning ok/good into amazing Harden: turning awful into good/great Harden's ability to singlehandedly carry this offense has been special. He's been awesome to watch this year. But I'd give Curry the nod for MVP because of his team's overall success this year. They've been an insanely dominant team this year in a loaded conference, and Curry is absolutely the engine of their team. I'm just happy that Harden has reached that level. Only question that remains with his is the playoffs. Although it's a big question. I want Harden to win it. But a runner-up MVP finish is nothing to laugh at. I think MVP or not, Harden has proven himself as an absolutely elite player in this league. I think there is a clear 2-tier hierarchy in the league right now that Harden is apart of. LeBron, Davis, Durant Curry, Harden, Westbrook CP3 is probably next man up and I love the way he controls the game. But he's slowly declining and just doesn't have the ability to dominate a game like those other guys anymore.
So want if GSW is clearly ahead of the pack? Number 3 in a stacked WC is still a great thing, especially with the injuries to core players that we had to deal with. MVP = Most VALUABLE Player. GSW will be in the playoffs with or without Curry. It can be argued that the Rockets would get a top 5 pick without Harden. It's the MVP award, not whose team won more IMO.
Its gonna be tough, I've seen a few Curry MVP commercials since last weekend. But Harden has also been getting a lot of love from the media as of late. I think Harden is gonna win it. But what else would you expect me to say.
avery Johnson called harden his mvp before the season began... he's been preaching it every time he's on espn nba coverage
I'm prepped for Curry to win and I will not protest. Curry played a great season, give him some f***ing credit. Harden has been magnificent and deserves the MVP shine just as much, but it's much better for all our mental health not to pit him against a media darling like Steph. We should all be rooting for the Rockets to finish with the 2 seed so the record isn't such an issue - that's the real opportunity here, not just "Harden scores 30 every night as the team continues to coast along to a 4 seed." I still hope Harden wins, and I actually have noticed he's been getting a lot more mentions as #1 instead of #2 lately (particularly over at Grantland).
If I'm reading the number correctly, the two that would be below harden in terms of winning percentage would be jordan and Nash. Seems like good company, give him the damn award!
i read in another thread that the warriors had the easiest record in the west so far. so maybe the warriors will rack up a few losses. i wish the rockets could have had at least won one against them though. that may be harden's downfall concerning an mvp award.