James Harden forgotten by ESPN's "analysts" in their MVP forecast

That's a pretty fine feather in your cap.

 

Yeah Harden should have definitely gotten at least one

Spoiler

****ing

vote.

 

Harden is # 4, easy

 

Rockets are 4th seed, not 5th.
Dwight helped, as did finally finding a PF.
As did improvement from Parsons and Beverly.

But...

Harden has increased his PER, TS%, assist %, win share per 48, etc., etc. He's also made more clutch shots this year. Honestly, I'd LOVE to see the stats over the last 2 months to see how many players might have scored more points or shot a higher % (minimum shot requirements) in the last 3 minutes of game. His defense is still bad.

Harden was 8th last year in voting. He is better this year.

Other players are also better. Curry. Noah. LMA.
But looking at it objectively, would I take/rank Harden over Curry? Yes. Would I take/rank Harden over Noah? Yes. Would I take/rank Harden over LMA? Yes. Would I take/rank Harden over Love, Jefferson, Dirk, Goran, Duncan, George? Yes. I'd even take him over Blake. Blake is basically the same as Love. Amazing amazing player... likelihood of him "leading" a team anywhere seems low.

Harden's style, even factoring the nearly complete lack of defense, impacts winning more than Love or Griffin. Or many of those other players. You can't go to those guys with less than 3 minutes left. They don't impact the game from the free throw line the way Harden does (which imo is a big deal). You can point to the Clippers record without Paul, and to Blake's play during that stretch, but it would be a mistake to ignore the whole team's play.

Seriously does anyone think the Clippers are a worse team exchanging Griffin for Love? Of course not.

My top 5 would be Durant, James, Harden, Curry, Noah.

Harden over Curry because the Rockets have a better record. Both over Noah as both teams have better records in a MUCH tougher conference, and both players impact games more in clutch time. Though I do appreciate getting a defense first player so high up in the MVP race.

Blake moves down because as said he's Kevin Love on a better team. CP3 would be ranked higher if not for the games missed.

The rest are obvious. All Jefferson?? Goran Dragic?? C'mon. This is MVP race... not "well that was better than I thought" race.

 

No they don't. Watch them play

 

I've had the feeling all season that most people outside of H-town just do not like the Rockets. I suspect that it's a combination of several factors, but that it mainly has to do with Harden and Howard. I suppose that things like the Dwightmare fiasco & his leaving LA, as well as Harden's playing style (forcing contact to draw fouls, apathetic defense) might not sit well with a lot of people, nationally.

I think the Rockets are going to have to win a title (or at least get really close to winning a title) before we see more love and respect from a national perspective. I liken it to all the hate that LBJ received after "The Decision", where it really wasn't until after Miami won it all before he got the love back.

Anyways, that's my take on it.

 

The impact harden makes on a game is greater than everyone not named Lebron James or Keven Durant.

Although I hate Griffin, he's had a phenomenal season and I have no problem with him being ahead of harden in MVP consideration. But those 3 are the only ones who is put ahead of him.

Final MVP voting should go:
1- KD
2- LJ
3- Blake
4- Harden
5- Big Al (crazy, I know)

 

He will get some votes next season after his playoff performance.

 

Read a few posts and I have to agree with the snub being because of his D. He is a better defensive player than Curry and Dirk, but the problem is Effort. Too many times he showed zero effort on that end, just let his man have layup drills or wide open jump shots with no contest. At least as terrible as those other guys are on D, they show some resistence.

 

Considering MVP is for most VALUABLE player and not the BEST player, it makes sense that Harden is not speculated to being mentioned. The best players are what the all-NBA teams are for, and I feel he's pretty much a lock for the first team. Some things to be considered:

1. Defense. He's bad at it and it's not because he can't do it, he just doesn't try.

2. With Dwight being on the team, Harden hasn't had to carry the team on his back. While he scores like a maniac, he doesn't bring team success by himself, Howard helps immensely when it comes to wins.

3. When Harden is out, it has been shown that the team can score regardless. Harden missing a game is not the same as the other people mentioned missing a game. That doesn't mean he isn't important to the organization, but Harden missing a few games doesn't lead to an implosion of the team.

Harden is an elite talent but when it comes to the MVP talks, there are other players in line in front of him. He's on his way to achieving it one day though.

 

Guys, Harden is not only the worst defender I have ever laid eyes on due to his lazyness, besides Amare, he also got a lot of negative press about his lack of defense. While others are poor defenders, the "experts" don't mention much about it. In fact, there are articles talking about Curry's defensive ability:

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/3/1/4042996/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-profile

When it is not talked about, it gets pushed to the side.

 

Steve Nash won 2 Mvps and he was the worst defender I've ever seen in my lifetime

 

I still don't think people around the league have given him any credit for how clutch he has been. I guess he has to do it in the playoffs or be named Lebron, Kevin, or Kobe to get recognition though.

 

stop being little b****es

who the hell cares if ESPN "snubbed" him for a honorable mention?

You only get snubbed if you are actually in the No.1-3 race for the MVP, if you are not there you are irrelevant in the conversation. Stop getting panties in a knot for not getting a honorable mention, it's pathetic.

honestly, outside of the legit threats for the MVP, you are pretty much all on the same level, which is great players, but not the best in the league, there's nothing special about you.

 

There's a difference in not being good on D and not giving any effort. Too many times Harden just doesn't care. He has the ability.

 

Funny enough, Harden probably has a lot more great defensive stands than a lot of those on the list. They aren't consistent, but when he's clutch, he's shown to be clutch on both ends when the game is tight.

I mean, it's not easy to have all the responsibility of carrying the offense, generating isolation scoring, getting people involved, and being a pesky perimeter defender. And no one does it at an MVP level for a championship caliber team. Lebron doesn't have quite the load that Harden does imo.

 

lol, curry giving effort on d

 

Implying Nash gave two ****s about defense, he couldnt wait for the possesion to be over so he can inbounded full court and score

 

How is that better?

 

Are you surprised?