Were you absent during the 10 curry commercials in a row we were given during every AS weekend break? How the warriors are such a "good, likeable team"? The slurping is absolutely ridiculous.
The media can only make so much of a case for a guy shooting 23/8/4. Great numbers, no doubt, but nothing special. Harden's playing so well they are forced to recognize what he's doing. In a vacuum, his individual season is quite obviously better than Curry's (as is Westbrook's, and potentially Lebron's). The only thing that's keeping Curry in the race is the fact that the rest of his team is so good and the "exciting to watch" factor.
Just listened to ESPNs nba podcast. The very end they talked about MVP and one said Harden has probably been the best player then proceeded to say Curry would get his MVP vote and the other guy agreed. They then went on to say that they wouldn't be surprised if at some point they change their vote to Lebron or Westbrook. There are still guys out there that are still on Curry and only seriously consider Lebron or possibly Westbrook as the guys to knock him off, not Harden. I think it's going to be a very close vote unless 1 of the 4 really outshines the others to close the season.
Jalen Rose & Doug Collins say he is the MVP [today]. Jalen Rose, today, who is your MVP? Rose: First and foremost, LeBron James is the best player. He's established that and he's recruited people to come to Cleveland, which he previously couldn't do which is why he went to Miami to get that championship... Steele: However... Rose: James Harden is this year's MVP. He's the only guy besides LeBron James or Michael Jordan since they've kept steals to average over 27, 7, and 6 with 2 steals. That's pretty elite company. He's carrying this team. They're one of the top teams in the Western Conference. If they finish in top 4, he WILL win MVP. Collins: I'm with him. 40-18 the record. Dwight Howard has missed 26 games and we forget Terrence Jones and all the games he's missed. That was their starting front-line. What he's done in their absence to keep this team where they are in the playoff race is sensational. I spent 2 years at Arizona State with James Harden. I would go down watch practice, mentor him, talk to him about the NBA. There is no way in the world I would have ever thought he would be the player he is right now. You know what really saved him and really helped him, he went to a franchise, Oklahoma City, he got with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green and those guys taught him how to work every single day. He should thank them. That's why it's so important sometimes to go certain places to where you'll go in your career. Those 3 guys taught this guy what it's all about. Steele: How different would it be if he stayed there? Collins: They would win a championship probably. What he did in his growth there. I saw him in college. He was never in shape to play the way he does now. Rose: They have multiple awards for multiple reasons. Harden is MVP. LeBron is the best player. Curry is on the best team with the best backcourt. They all deserve their acknowledgement. Harden has had to do more. Steele: With Steph Jalen, he has been the front-runner so far. Has he fallen off that much? Rose: When you play on a team where all of the guys are having career years, his production doesn't have to be take-over worthy on a given night. Being a part of a team having a terrific season, the Warriors deserved to be mentioned as does Steph Curry. ... Collins: When you say MVP, there is no criteria. If I have to win a game tomorrow, I'm taking LeBron James. Rose: I think the definition has been the person that has percieved to have to do more with the media considers is doing with less.
Curry's raw numbers might be worse, but his PER's higher, apparently. That was the case of Ethan Sherwood Strauss on why Curry is the obvious MVP. Strauss is a writer who covers the GSW, btw. I disagree with him completely! Harden for MVP!
That guys a hack he's hated Harden so hard till this year, finally giving him a little respect only because he would look stupid if he didn't.
There are two reasons you play less minutes Your team doesn't need you to, or you can't In Curry's case i suspect it's both, his increased effort on defense is a byproduct of his reduced minutes.
Delivering us to the Promised land??? Spoiler Someone should combine these two...considering I lack photoshop skillz...lol
After today's showing you gotta think Harden is the frontrunner, right? Steph went off to, but Harden just went head to head with Lebron, and beat him. HUGE game for him.
This game is going to be a huge part of Harden's MVP campaign. Dude outplayed LBJ. This coming right after Steph Curry choked against LBJ a few days ago.
You know I somewhat disagree with this. I agree it helped him, but I think the Olympics were really the big reason why he is so much better this year. I believe the olympics does that for a lot of players. IIRC, It helped Lebron years ago watching Kobe's work ethic. Also those videos on Harden's terrible D, the Lillard shot, and all the bad talk about Harden probably helped motivate the hell outta Harden too.
The Olympic experience helped LeBron, but it wasn't because he got to watch Kobe. LeBron already had a great work ethic and had led his team to the Finals.
