We have a new leader!! http://www.nba.com/article/2019/01/04/kia-mvp-ladder-week-12-2018-19?collection=news I contacted the author earlier in the week to point out some of heyPs stats about Harden playing at an unprecedented level (He had Harden at 5 last week). He thanked me for the info in his reply and said "let's see where Harden is next week" - number 1 with a bullet!
I can't rememebr exactly - it was a week ago!! But all the little randoms that you point out that Harden is doing that nobody else has done before. It's worth calmly making a case to any media persona we can contact. Not emotional argumentation of 'u r marron for not knowing' - but just rationally pointimg out the greatness. Only way to change the narratuive
So scoring over 40 in a close loss to one of the best teams in the league—while your own team is short 2 of their best 6 players—is reason for demotion. Harden will either have to average 40 a game from here on out or get the Rockets to the #1 seed to have a realistic chance at repeating as MVP. Probably even both.
Take Harden off this current roster he has been on a run with and they are worse than the Suns. Take Giannis off the Bucks and they still make the playoffs
Listening to yesterday’s ringer podcast and I don’t know who this chick is or what her credentials are but they are talking about Harden as MVP and she said if you didn’t vote for Russ two years ago then you can’t vote for Harden this year. I guess trying to say that the 2 seasons are similar? She also said that even without Paul and Gordon, Harden has GREAT 3 point shooting to surround him. Then listed House, Rivers and Tucker as our 3 point assassins. My dear lord...
The Ringer podcast hates Harden and it's a running joke they are even self conscious about. Point is record and standings will matter this year for Harden but if the Bucks finish 1st in the east or even 2nd with a better record than the Rockets Harden has zero chance of beating Giannis out for MVP. That narrative is too good and the MVP is all about narrative.
You have to remember that running columns like that are driven by the immediate media narrative. It's easy to give credit to Giannis this one week after the Bucks beat Houston, but the rankings are going to constantly change over the course of the season after little moments like that. In the long run, voters won't go back to this one performance in early January to make their votes. They're going to pay more attention to total resume and how they play in these kinds of games later in the season. I wouldn't freak out just yet. Harden has every bit as much of a chance to win the MVP this week as he did last week.
Yeah heard this too and it’s obvious that she doesn’t understand the difference between harden this year and Westbrook that year. Fortunately her Co-hosts were kind enough to drop some knowledge to educate her. It was pretty hilarious hearing her take on our roster quality when compared to Russ who had to work with that scrub Oladipo!
Giannis is a great player and certainly deserves to finish in the top 3, but what Harden is doing right now and if we end up with 50+ wins, I just don't see how you can't give it to him. As always, they change the narrative. The year he lost to Curry was because Curry's team had more wins. The year he lost to Russ was because Russ averaged a triple double lol. Last year they finally gave it to him and the Rockets had to be ****ing great for him to actually get the nod over underachieving Bron. This year, is similar to the Curry season, it seems like Giannis will win as long as the Bucks keep the top record and he keeps producing at the rate he is producing. Hopefully Harden and the Rockets keep it up with the stats and the wins.
TEAM WINS is going to be crucial for the MVP voting. Harden and the Rockets have done a good job, EARLY, to bubble up Harden's name in the MVP talk in the "narrative" portion of the award. But there is a lot more to do. If you want Harden to win another MVP, gotta hope the Bucks don't finish 1st in the East. I doubt they will fall to 3rd and that might be tough to overcome.
