Inside The NBA: Candace Parker destroys other talking heads on why James Harden should win MVP

I lost it when Baron Davis said something about the system is tailored for harden to score..

HOW IS THAT AN ARGUMENT AGAINST WINNING MVP? HOWW???

Losing 3 starters for long stretches of games and averaging 36pts a game over the season so your team is #5 (and not that far off from 3 or 4)..is not enough to win MVP?

Get the fk out of here with this non sense. I have zero respect for anyone who says ignorant stuff like that.

 

He sounds like he has a disability.

 

**** that trophy. Lets go get that ring!!!

 

Truth. This isn't even D'Antoni's system - The Rockets have been running the same thing for a while now. All D'Antoni did was play Harden more at PG, which Harden was already doing since the beginning. If that's the argument they are using, then Klay Thompson and Steph Curry are also system products because when Mark Jackson was the coach, they weren't winning ****!

 

baron davis is just jealous about Harden has a finer beard than his

 

This **** won’t ever be played by any espn host. This only we rockets fan hear no one else will hear this.

 

I do want to say first that I would like Harden to win his second MVP but I have no problem whatsoever with Giannis winning it, the only time when I felt that he was really snubbed was in 2017 with Westbrook winning.

That being said I think sometimes we all (rightfully so) get a bit to biased for our guy. Harden's carry job this season has been one of the most remarkable achievements I've seen. Personally though I feel that guys like Giannis and George (not AD dude does not deserve to be in the convo for top 5 imo let alone MVP) should not be "penalized" for their team having better health. That is something that isn't in their control and we have no real way of saying what those teams may have done if extended injuries did occur. I do believe that they would not be able to handle it better than Harden did though.

Now the Rockets despite losing some really REALLY stupid games of late are only 3 games behind OKC in the standings if they were able to overtake OKC before the end of the season (and the Rockets last game is against OKC) then PG has to be out of the conversation altogether because the Thunder have had pretty amazing health this season outside of not having Roberson and for them to still be behind Houston by the end of the season negates any potential "talking points"

This is true coach Bud has been a huge driver of positive change with the Bucks. But Giannis is putting up numbers that no one other than the Big O has done and is doing it in far few minutes than Big O. They did have to bring in some new players and adjust like Lopez, Hill and recently Mirotic. I do believe that Giannis has raised his game with career high averages in points, assists, rebounds per game this season and a career high TS% of 64 which is 4% higher than his previous career best. Guys like Middleton, Lopez, Bledsoe, have all having great years because of Giannis' improved play and the new system Bud has put in.

Much like how things changed for Harden when MDA came along Bud is doing the same for Giannis. A lot of Rockets fans kept saying how Houston was overlooked tremendously in the preseason and exceeded expectations because of Harden. A quick search for the Bucks:

SI had them ranked 13th in the preseason, NBA.com 10th, ESPN had them 9th with 47 projected wins (Which they should surpass real soon).

I find that Giannis' season this year is very similar to Harden's 2016-2017 campaign and the same arguments we made for Harden to win there can apply to Giannis here.

That year it was slightly more historical stats over historical stats and wins -- this year it may not be the case though Harden's "stats" case this year is much stronger IMO than Westbrook as he very well could still finish as a top 3 seed compared to the Thunder's 6th seed that season.


Now a big reason is I think the media will not vote for Harden again. Giannis is a "media darling" last season it felt like pulling teeth for the media to vote for Harden. I can't seem them giving him a second straight MVP despite every reason not too - you can see how they treat Harden's historical streak. Yahoo tweeted about his horrible shooting night when the streak ended but had mentioned nothing about the Rockets getting the W



And then yesterday retweeted this:



I mentioned in a previous post what a second consecutive MVP would mean for Harden's legacy and what the media would have to acknowledge and the super elite company it would put him in. I do not think the media would want to acknowledge that. I mean how salty would Shaq for example having to say Harden has more MVPs than him? All the Kobe stans out there?

 

Unrelated to my previous post - how the hell did Shelden Williams land Candace????

 

There's been quite a few games this season where Giannis has been rested and the Bucks have won comfortably. Heck, there's a lot of the games where he doesn't even get the most points. He has plenty of help, and he's in a weaker conference.

Just like Giannis, PG has plenty of help, and the OKC can win without him. There's also been a lot of games where PG hasn't had the most points in the games. Heck, PG has shot like crap in the last 2 games.... and Westbrook had to takeover to make the games competitive.

In around 95% of the Rockets games, Harden will average the most points. Harden has proved that he can win without Paul, Gordon and Capela in large spells. He also did take the Rockets from 14th to like 5th. Yeah, he'll have bad games every now and again.... but in those games, he'll still get you big points.

What Harden is doing is a lot more impressive than what PG and Giannis is doing.

 

been in love with candace since his dunk contest.... hands down top 3 prettiest female ballers.....

 

Giannis is a great player but he's not a playmaker. Take away his best teammates for any period of time and his numbers and record will drop. That's the advantage that playmakers have in this league and I think that makes you more or less valuable.

 

Exactly. Whereas Milwaukee's system is totally rigged against Giannis, yet he manages to prevail anyway! What a hero!

All we need to know about the anti-Harden bias among MVP voters is that the resisted giving him the award for a couple of years, until his body of work over a 6-year period pretty much forced their hand. They would have been shown to be total hypocrites to deny him last year. Harden had to prove his worth over an extended period of time before he was finally rewarded.

This year, though? Giannis is getting all the love in only his 2nd year of being an elite-level player.

 

Giannis has higher PER, Winshares, while having a higher TS% than Harden. He's also doing it at a much lower usage rate. Defensively Giannis gives you almost 13 boards a game and almost 2 blocks, 2 steals. All this while he only averages 1 less assist per game than Harden.

What Harden has done this season is about shooting, a lot, but his all around game is not there. He's had more all around seasons, and Giannis is having an all around season. He's providing offense and defense while on the best team in the NBA.

 

Get BOTH !!!

 

damn baron davis is dumb AF who at turner made the executive decision to put this cretin on tv?

 

all giannises accomplishments should be given less value nd significance since hes playing in the lesser conference...so he can statpad at will
look at what happened to lebron in the west.. the poor guy who was demolishing the east for a decade cant even get to playoffs now that he is in the bloodbath that is called west

cavs nicks hawks bulls ets he got to play all these easy tanking teams 4 times a season while the only easy money in the west is the suns

ITS WORLDS OF DIFFERENCE

 

is playing 1 on 1 and scoring unassisted points really a system? those idiots don't know what they're talking about.

 

Look, I think Giannis definitely has a case. Even if you deduct points for being in the East, he's got a case. Even if you deduct points for not shooting, he's got a case. He's having an MVP calibre season in terms of offense and wins. On top of that, he deserves the DPOY.

Harden is having a historic season. He needs to be having a historic season to earn this.

Right now it's close, and I don't think the race is anywhere near over. Both these guys can win it in the remaining games. If we finish the season super hot and with 3rd seed snipping at the heels of 2nd, I think Harden wins it. Giannis needs to continue doing what he's doing, I don't know that he is capable of doing anything more than all he's done already.

It's a genuinely fun and close race, unlike the Harden-Westbrook race a couple seasons ago. Right now at this particular moment in time, Giannis probably has a slightly better case. But it's so slight that it can change in a week. I'm enjoying it.