Yea thanks, I agree. His posts are always fun. Still wanted to mention these cos a majority here would feel very pissed when Curry wins the MVP. So let's prepare to accept it? When the rockets are no.1, Harden will deserve his, but the way he plays matters to team record, and Harden simply has a lot of room to grow to make his team better.
I do think that Curry will end up with the MVP. But I think Harden is a bit underrated in this race because his supporting cast is not nearly as good as GSW.
He's not underrated, he simply isn't as deserving as Curry at this point, not due to better or worse teammates, but due to the way they play or how they're conducive to producing wins. Harden takes too many nights off, and he's too much into personal ability rather than creating synergy with teammates which elevates everybody's level and making everybody easier to perform every game. The way Curry plays, I think he learnt it this year from Kerr. The fact you think GSW is more talented is only due to role players performing. I think rockets are more talented on paper. Bev was def 2nd team last year. Josh was an all star. Ariza was .400 3pt shooter and overall good last year. Dom was good in the middle of the season. Brewer is one of the best role player and can score 51 pts! When they all perform, you will say rockets is stacked. However, the way Mchale and Harden leads the team, role players are not maximized. Harden will have to learn to truly "trust his teammates" so to speak. Rockets records are buoyed by Harden's late game prowess, having the 2nd lowest team point differential at +3.1 among playoff teams yet sits above others with much higher number; even Dallas has a +3.7. A few times early in the season, rockets got lucky in close games, and most times harden makes clutch shots. But at the same time, the team just doesn't perform as consistently as others. I would say Curry is clutch too, esp with his deep shot, but he was usually clutch in the 3rd qtr and will sit the entire 4th qtr as a result. They blow teams away usually with curry making the run. Compared to GSW and curry, Harden's play is simply not as conducive to wins as the exemplary top spot. Keep in mind GSW has the same roster as a 52win team last year. They had found a formula to play as a unit, still Curry is at the center of it.
What? The Rockets are better on paper? How? Andrew Bogut Rookie of the Year All NBA Third Team Andrew Iguodala All Rookie 1st All Def 1st All Def 2nd All David Lee All Star All NBA 3rd Klay Thompson All Star All Rookie 1st Leandro Barbosa 6th Man
Its like no one realizes how important defense is. The Warriors are the best defensive team in the league and that has nothing to do with Curry. Yes last season the Warriors were stacked but Mark Jackson is a mediocre coach at best with zero X and Os. He is a glorified preacher thats it. Not to mention Thompson, Green and Curry are way better this season which is in part due to Kerr and due to his own self-improvement. Yes system matters. I never said otherwise but the team is stacked nevertheless. And actually the Hawks are quite stacked. In the same sense that the 04 Pistons were stacked. Good player at every position, good coach but no "superstar". However, you don't necessarily need a superstar to be a great team. Look at the Spurs. They have some all star caliber players like TD and maybe Kawhi Leonard and Parker but no superstars. Having a balanced team is undervalued. One or two stars with a mediocre bench or having weak starters does not make a stacked team. The Warriors have lots of good-great players and lots of depth.
If you think the Rockets are nearly as good as the Warriors you are either a massive Homer or don't know anything about basketball. The Warriors on paper and in reality are a better team handily and I don't like either team nor do I like Harden or Curry. Harden plays far more minutes than Curry. Curry takes nights off all the time. Fortunately, for him if he plays poorly his win can still win with a blowout. Had a horrible game against NO and won by blowout, same with Atlanta, the Lakers, the Clippers and the Pistons. Look at all his recent games. Just shows how little you know about basketball.
Exactly, defense is one issue I didn't point out yet cos this is the main rockets problem, and it starts with Harden. Morey already tried to fill the roster with DEFENSIVE and two-way players to "fit" with Harden. This only maximizes Harden's numbers, but the result is not maximizing the role players, at least with this coach and the way Harden still takes nights off and rely on personal abilities. When you cite Curry's "off games", you mean shooting. Yet he shoots 47% for the season and is the best shooter in the game. What I tried to explain is the way he approaches the game which produces wins. He is a part of a system but he is the engine in Kerr's device. His movement, ball-handling, and playmaking is the main reason for success. He is also a capable defender within the team concept. Like I said about movement, he gets to the right spots. Whereas Harden still tends to stand around. My argument is that the team record reflects how the best player plays. As far as talent and defensive abilities, the rockets are on par with the dubs imo. However, none of the rockets are performing as we expect them. Namely bev, Josh, Dmo, terry, etc. One reason is roster imbalance, blame that on morey, the main reason is mchale who doesn't reign in on Harden enough. Hence Harden is not playing inspired basketball like Curry is. Yes curry takes "night off" but only by playing well enough by 3rd qtr in order to sit in the 4th. Otherwise, nope, he doesn't take the night off like Harden does.
Curry will be the MVP. Deservedly so. Best player on the best team in the league shooting 48% FG, 42% 3P, high TS%, high PER Harden is below Curry in all the categories that matter.
How funny would it be if the NBA's MVP were to get toasted and roasted in the 1st round by a finally healthy OKC? There's a chance Ibaka and KD could both be ready and roaring to go, so long as Russellangelo can clinch that 8th spot. GS could potentially get swept as the Thunder might seek to take an entire year's worth of frustration out on the Warriors. :grin:
KD has been shut down for the season. That's why Phoenix actually gives a crap lately. If we want GS out, we are gonna have to handle it ourselves.
The Hawks were 3rd last year, with 2 new starters, young rotations players, a new coach and a new system until Horford got injured. I had them at worst 3rd and at best 1st if Chicago suffered its inevitable injuries and Cleveland had chemistry issues. That they weren't highly rated is more a byproduct of the control the media generates over people's thought patterns and how little attention Atlanta receives than them being shockingly good, because if you consider last year, the improvements of young players, increased chemistry and familiarity and health (and indiana's decline), objectively is it really that shocking that a team that was already that good until injury derailed them got better? They are a great example of how the media shapes people opinions, you didn't think they'd be any good because the media didn't tell you that, they've also had an incredibly good run of health, teams that only lose a handful of games from their core rotation get a lot of wins, health matters a lot, it's bolstered their wins a lot. Hell, people were picking a healthy Houston team to finish 8th, and we've been the 2nd most injured team in the playoff race. The Warriors have been the 2nd healthiest team btw (behind Dallas, go figure), again health matters. The Spurs role players look better because they target only players who perfectly fit their system and due to discounts can afford to pay them (you know, it'd be nice to be able to pay $50m worth of roleplayers and all) The largest improvement to the Warriors was Draymond's improvement, and it's not really close, Lee sucks, and was a negative on the floor. He gave points, but cost spacing and defense, in the modern nba, that's a liability. Why do you think Kerr as so desperate for a stretch 4? Draymond isn't a great scorer but he's a solid shooter, so he provides spacing and he's a legit shot at DPOY (when replacing a legit shot at NoDPOY, it shows a lot) and MIP, Thompson's maturation and increased familiarity, then comes the addition of Livingston. Curry's on/off has decreased 4 pp100 this year, because his load has become less and well, having a backup pg that isn't useless helps too. Here's a hint, when a guys minutes and stats are down, they're usually not the reason for their team's improvement. He was a great player last year, he's still much the same player. Does it not strike you as odd that no one can really point to where there's been much improvement in his game without referencing some sort of unsubstantial rhetoric? This is probably why players are so sick of the media narratives (and i tend to agree that the MVP should be a player voted award). As for our team, no one really knows just how good we are because we're heading towards 100 games missed for our starting front court, and Dwight has been at 90% for about 6 games this year, closer to 70% for 30 and out the rest (Dwight didn't leave to re-injury, he was never recovered the first time), it's not exactly easy to gauge a team when your starting C and PF are inactive most of the year. How good would we be if we lost 20 games or so from our starters rather than 90 with more expected? a lot. How much worse would Golden State be if they lost 90 instead of 20? (the average is 50-60 btw, Portland last year set a record of 12) And I really have no idea what you mean by Harden not making his team mates better, Harden has always been that guy, he was in College, he was in OKC, he made them all better, it wasn't his points but his play making that OKC lost most, even opposing players say that. Why do you think Coach K made him the primary play maker of the US team and that the team was far and away at its most dominant when he was? Curry's better at it, but I'll make Harden that guy anyway. I bet that's what he was thinking... Honestly where do people get this ****?
This. Can't expect the Thunder to beat the Warriors without Durant. The only thing we should hope for is for the Pellies to be in the lottery for the draft pick's sake.
Anyone who thinks the Rockets as currently healthy and given health throughout the year, has more talent outside of their top guy than the Warriors, should have their opinions ignored immediately. The talent difference between: Bev, Ariza, DMo, Dorsey, Terry, Smith, Brewer and Klay, Bogut, Green, Barnes, Iguodala, Lee, Livingston, Speights, Barbosa is night and day. TJones helps close the gap a bit, but he's barely played. TJones + Dwight makes it competitive, which has happened almost zero times this year - TJones, Dwight plus the guys above has actually happened 0 times in point of fact. For now: Klay >>>>>> Bev Bogut >>>> Dorsey Barnes <=> Ariza Green <=> DMo (sorry DMo lovers, I love him in the post also, but Green is also pretty good and unique) Lee > Smith Livingston > Terry Igoudala <=> Brewer You can line them up different to maybe let the Rockets pick one off... and probably with Brewer, who on night's is definitely the best bench player amongst the two teams, but has been fairly volatile But in any case, almost across the board, Curry's supporting cast is as good if not meaningfully better player by player than Harden's current supporting cast.
Listening to Bill Don't Lie...Haberstroh says that Curry hasn't played in FIFTEEN fourth quarters this season. That's just crazy.
Curry has teammates that can consistently hold a lead. When Harden sits with a lead, no matter how big, it seems like everything goes to hell.
Well, the Warriors better enjoy it while it lasts, because they've got a loaded team that is going to be very hard to keep together under the cap. I am very jealous of their depth.
Harden once again shows that Curry is not the MVP. He had to score 44 points in 43 minutes and get to the line 22 times for the Rockets to win by 10. Curry only had to play 28 minutes and got to sit out garbage time in a 31 point win.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Stephen Curry leads NBA with a +824 plus-minus, on pace for best +/- since stat began being tracked in 1996-97 (LeBron James, 2008-09, +870)</p>— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/580734690895601666">March 25, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
