[ClutchFans] Podcast: Is James Harden leading the early MVP Race?

The Top 5, in no order, for me...

Curry
Davis
Harden
Gasol
Cousins

Davis or Cousins can't win without making the playoffs, though.

 

Bottom line is Houston won't get any love and Harden won't get any MVP talk until their stregth of schedule starts evening out and they win a few nationally televised games convincingly and that's going to require a healthy starting 5. Harden has been amazing but the voters aren't going to reward him for squeaking out ugly wins unless he can do it for 65+ games.

Honestly, NBA types are having a bromance with Seth Curry. Right now it's his race to lose unless Lebron & Durant start absolutely dominating. Davis could be there too, but he can't get outplayed by Boogie - he has to dominate every night.

 

We're back to the same concept in the mid-90's when writers decided whose "turn" it was to win the MVP after Jordan, with Jordan being played by LeBronDurant in the present era. This probably wouldn't have happened had Durant been healthy this year.

The last time this happened was in 2010 when a few writers managed to decide that it was Derrick Rose's turn after a bout of LeBron fatigue, I guess to punish him for The Decision, and maanaged the keep the narrative alive enough for it to be reality.

I guess it's Seth's turn, but Harden' Pilgrim work ethic defense redemption should win him some "turn" points. I actually thought Blake Griffin was primed for a turn, but the Clippers slow start has hurt that.

As for Davis, Cousins...sorry guys, it ain't your turn yet.

 

Harden is playing well, but he must raise his FG%. This could be a reason he's not getting more run thus far. He's currently .401... Iverson was .420 when he won in 2001. The only times an MVP posted a lower % than Allen's was pre 70's when overall %'s were low. Harden's making all-defense would be a nice feather, but Beverly might hurt his case since they're teammates.

 

In fairness that happens when there is no clear cut candidate. As good as Harden is playing, there is nothing about his performance or the team's performance that is miles better than the other candidates and in that case it becomes a popularity contest or who can draw the better sports narrative because ultimately sports writers want to write stories about redemption, or the underdog, or that we are witnessing all time greatness. There are just timeless themes and magically year after year the MVP candidate falls into one of these themes. If Harden wins an MVP, it will be based on the redemption narrative.

 

Derrick Rose didn't have one, but LeBron needed to be punished, and who better to punish him for his South Beach insolence than the halfcourt hero of Tommy T's blue collar defensive all stars.

 

Again, the voting for that award often is based on the players rep - not their recent history. Harden might get a few votes but popularly, he is still a punchline defensively regardless of how much he has improved. Take the clip that went viral from the Knicks game - it took 14 games for someone to find something egregious and as soon as they post it, everyone retweets it and makes Harden out to be the joke. No one retweets Harden't defense on Dirk to close out the Mavs game....

 

I thought he was the underdog theme - him carrying a miserable offense to the top of the NBA and leading a bunch of non-stars to a high playoff seed.

 

Yep, this is how it goes. Since no one in the national media actually pays attention to our games, they make the assumption that Harden is still one of the league's worst defenders. It would take him playing amazing defense in many high profile games (preferably in the playoffs) to get this narrative to even begin to change.

 

Last year Durant won the scoring title and had the highest win share of the candidates. Harden is going to have to boost his scoring and increase his WS this year to be considered in the top 3.

 

Sorry James!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Question we're tackling on <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter">@SportsCenter</a>: Who's Player of the Month out West? <a href="https://twitter.com/MarcGasol">@MarcGasol</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/boogiecousins">@boogiecousins</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/AntDavis23">@AntDavis23</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenCurry30">@StephenCurry30</a>?</p>&mdash; Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/537698772328148992">November 26, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

I hear the Brow is playing great, have the Pelicans had any national games? I haven't seen them yet.

 

I'm fine with someone else getting player of the month, but it's a joke if he isn't even considered as one of the top choices.

His team has a top 4 record while missing a ton of players.

He's hit some statistical benchmarks that very few if any have hit this season.

#2 in win shares

#3 in scoring

#3 among all guards in rebounding

#9 in assists

#11 in steals

#8 in PER

 

Harden is not going to get any love shooting 40% from the field, that's just the way it is. People attacked Kobe for many years because he frequently shot 45% despite the fact that he always made the shots when they mattered, it probably cost him more than a few MVP awards. Rape allegations didn't help, either.

Still, there has never been an MVP in league history that shot as low as Harden is shooting right now.

 

not surprising. it will take a national sports caster to be the first to make Harden a dark horse. because right now everyone remembers the matador style defense harden was accused of playing, even here on Clutchfans.com.

So harden has two negative stigmas, draws cheap fouls and doesn't play defense.

Harden may need to lead the team to a near 70 win season, to be seriously considered this year. if not a strong deep playoff run might break the glass ceiling for consideration next year.

 

Zero chance when he is shooting below 40% from the field and I have no problem with that.

 

Harden was beasting w/o his shot falling.

Tonight it's falling.

 

Rewind back to August when Harden answered the question "Who is the best basketball player alive?" with "Myself."
(http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...den-says-hes-the-best-basketball-player-alive)

People had a field day with that story. How awesome is it that he is now performing at a level that makes his self-confidence not seem so preposterous!

And the exciting thing is the 2nd half of that claim, that he feels he isn't even close to his full potential. He is still focused on growing. Hell, last night he pulled out a Dirk one-leg fade away that we've never seen before.

 

Hardens dominant, he impacts the game in all categories and he is a clutch closer. He's te whole package.

The only thing that was left in his development was leadership and defense. Hes shown us so far he's taken the next step.

The scary part is he's so good and being looked at as a mvp top 5 player and he hasn't even hit his stride yet offensively. Once that happens you'll really see him separate himself from the rest of the pack. Its pretty incredible to watch this guy grow he has a real chance to become a top 5 sg of all time and the 2nd best rocket ever.

 

I agree with what most ppl here are saying. Houston and Harden are not very well liked by the media, if you watch NBATV you can hear the disdain in their voice.. Show the highlights and quickly move on and when it comes to MVP races or defensive plays Hardens never even sniffs the conversation.

Hell i wouldn't be surprised if Harden doesn't even get the nod for allstar with the way they drool over Klay T... (we all know fans wont vote him in)