The rest of the team needs to play above 100 percent to help James out in order to win it all. Lack of size and not enough shooting from them is still a problem. Our defense and rebounding is better, but it needs to improve more too.
At the end of the game, for the last few minutes I did not even care so much for the team to win. I just wanted the rest of the team to help out Harden so his great great game would not be ignored by the f'ers who decided long ago to give the MVP to someone else if they can possibly do so without looking like fools.
Harden will win MVP because of a few things but one of the most underrated aspects will be the package Morey and Tilman send out to the voters. Every year it’s spectactular.
This will be a very close 2-way race. Compelling arguments for both players. The next game against Milwaukee may end up deciding it.
Scaling up the stats of players who plays less than 36 minutes to 36 minutes can make some sense because one can argue that any star player can play 36 minutes per game without dropping significantly in efficiency(which I don't think is the case for Westbrook), but scaling down makes absolutely no sense. And from an eye-test point of view, I don't think per 36 minutes stat is more important than per game stat because player's performance are viewed on a per game basis, not a per minute basis. To me, Harden's capability to average 4 more minutes per game while having more per minute productivity than Giannis should be a huge plus for his MVP case, not the other way around.
MJ that year was also DPOY though, averaging 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, so I think the defense performance of MJ also played a role in his MVP case(I am not saying Harden's defense is bad this year, but it's at least not on a DPOY level). Voter's fatigue definitely also played a role, not only did Bird win MVP 3 years in a row, he also ended top 2 in MVP voting 6 years in a row. It would have been a closer race had Bird not been in the MVP conversation for so long, but MJ's performance that year was also historic.
I agree with the logic of your last sentence. It’s the per minute productivity (or per minute impact) comparison that is questionable. By the box score, Harden may have the edge, but box scores are skewed towards offense-oriented players. Overall impact on the game, possession by possession, it’s harder to say that Harden is easily ahead of Giannis. Without being able to say that one player is clearly “better” than the other in that regard, the minutes becomes more important. Giannis, right now, is just under 33 minutes a game. Some may argue that’s just because the Bucks are so dominant with him on the floor they don’t need to extend his minutes. But that’s a function of the quality of his teammates and the opponents (mostly EC) as well.
Good points. Harden’s defense this year is good in some respects, but overall I would not say it is good. It’s really hard to argue that a guard who can’t stay in front of his man on the perimeter is a plus defender. Harden accumulates a lot of steals and deflections by taking short cuts and gambling. When it works, it’s great. But it also often leads to defensive breakdowns. Jordan’s defensive disruption arose from his incredible quickness and athletic ability. He could cover more ground and recover more easily — so his teammates didn’t have to cover for him nearly as much. His teams were above average in defense every year after his first couple seasons, except I think once.
Look Giannis is an amazing player, and in any other year a frontrunner for the MVP. But what Harden is doing is amazing. The only thing people who believe Giannis should be the MVP can say is record. Yes Milwaukee has 8 more wins than us, but they play in the east. Which mean that their schedule is much much easier. Even with the injuries we have had, if we played in the east we would have a similar record (if not better) than Milwaukee. I know we all say the east is terrible (and it is) but I do not think many pundits realize how much of an influence it has on the record of the teams. We have had around 9 more games against top teams (and that is if I include Indiana and Boston as top teams, Which they are not). On top of that Milwaukee also played the terrible teams much more often (in the west only Phoenix is truly terrible, in the east we have Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and also the wizards). So if we played the schedule Milwaukee had this year we would have more than 8 more wins than we have now, and we would have had a better record than the Bucks.
I don’t get the people who say it shouldn’t even be close. You can say Harden is your MVP, and I whole heartedly agree, but it is close. It’s very close. This should be the closest MVP race ever. Best player on the best team. Best player in the conference. Also putting up ridiculous numbers. And was clearly the MVP the first third of the season. I can’t say Harden got ripped off the year Westbrook won it and turn around and say this race isn’t close.
Call me old school. I admit that he shored up his D, the switching helped him a lot. He can guard bigs now. The thing is people want him to guard the best guards, he is a guard.
Ultipoopoo can’t carry Hardens jockstraps!!! We are watching “Greatness”!!! Nuff said!!! Go Rockets!!! ....... ....... .......
PG13 has since fell out. Bucks has the best record but they play more teams in the East. Harden should be MVP. The media and NBA public is still really high on Giannis though. Harden's recent performances is moving the needle.
