http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/66938/who-is-the-nba-mvp ESPN's Amin Elhassan was asked to give his top 5 MVP candidates. He ranked Howard #5, behind Noah, Griffin, Lebron and Durant. He also opined that Howard, more than Harden, Parsons or anyone else, is the reason why Houston has been so good this year. Do you agree? Between Howard and Harden, who is a better MVP candidate?
Harden will be the man at the end of the day but Howard has been a beast on offense and DEFENSE for many games this year... that reflects what our record is moreso this year. I believe when it comes to close games Harden is the man that takes us to promise land and comes up with points throughout the game when we need it most.
The Harden/Howard dynamic is the same as T-Mac/Yao. Harden and McGrady were the better players, but they're both leading treadmill teams without the legitimate inside-outside threat that a dominant big man provides. That said, I suppose how you vote will depend upon the semantics of it all. I voted Harden.
Harden no doubt. But you can't excuse the skills of Howard. Those sharp passes and great finish are something to talk about.
The Rockets are going to end up winning about 10 more games this year than last year. You would expect the team to improve about 5 games just from an extra year of playing together. But the Rockets started a little slower due to Howard being new to the team. All-in-all, were the improvements because of Howard or were they because you added another good player? If Asik started and Howard was his back-up, would the Rockets' record be much different?
I think this team is a 60/61 win team minus the twin-towers experiment and and a lil more luck without injuries. Without Howard, I see it more as a Portland/W's 52-53 win type team. Asik is solid in extended minutes as we know. Having said that, still think Harden is the biggest catalyst behind this team.
Harden is a better player but Howard has more of effect on winning because of the position he plays. Any team a healthy Howard is on is going to the playoffs.
I love Howard's play this season but I have to look at it as would the team be better with Harden and without Howard or visa versa. I don't think we would be NEARLY as good with Howard and no Harden. That's no disrespect to Howard, it's just that Harden is playing on a whole different level this season. I haven't seen any Rocket play on this level since the glory years, frankly.
Is the better record specifically because of Howard, or is it the addition of Howard as an extra player that the Rockets didn't have last year? In other words, the Rockets didn't replace Asik with Howard. They have both Asik AND Howard. So I'm asking, how well would the team do if Asik got the starters minutes and Howard played back-up? What would the Rockets' record be in that case?
Harden easily. Howard has been huge for this team, but James is the reason the Rockets have been playing out of their minds since the new year.
I think Howard is a victim of being on a new team, with players who are still learning how to play with him, and a team that is still trying to utilize him effectively. That being said, when this team needs a basket, who would you be most comfortable giving the ball to? Harden dominates this category by far in comparison to the rest of this team. He could create for himself with isolation, he could create for others, he draws double teams and handles it a lot better than Howard, and he could get to the free throw line.
If this team didn't have Howard, we'd still be in the playoff race. If this team didn't have Harden, we'd be in the lottery. I don't think Dwight is quite capable of carrying a team on his back anymore. And I could be wrong on the stats, but his Magic team that made it to the Finals was more of a threat from the 3 point line than this current Rockets team (minus Harden, ofc)
i tentatively agree. I know James has been on fire lately, but if you look at the season as a whole, I will give it to Dwight, he has been healthier, played more games than Harden, played both end well...
totally wrong, Harden was absent for 9 games this season, what was our record in those games? and those were quality teams, including back to back to Spurs and Mavericks.
Harden is the MVP of this team and its becoming more obvious as we head into the playoffs. Howard presence has helped catapult this team into more serious contention but because of his limitations on offense, Howard can't be counted upon to take this team ultimately to where they want to go.
I think Dwight makes the team 7-8 games better than if Asik were the full time starter. If Dwight played like Asik on offense--hard screening, P&Rs and limited posting up, the team could potentially be even better [i'll take the pros w the cons tho] don't know about your second question; that's a hypothetical that's only played out a couple times but Asik wasn't necessarily available (i'm thinking of the comeback win vs the Grizzlies where Dmo shinned).
Harden's value is much more difficult to be duplicated elsewhere. Howard's value lies in (in order of effectiveness): 1. Defense (Asik) 2. Rebounding (Asik) 3. Rim finishing (Jones) 4. Post play (DMo) All these can be found in one or more players we have, just not all rolled in one player like Howard. But nobody on our roster can do what Harden does.
