Great article on Harden and why he's the MVP: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/listen-to-your-heart-james-harden-is-the-mvp/
Terrible article. I have no problem for people to praise the beard, but not the way that Sharp used to trash the whole Rockets teams. Harden is playing at an amazing level this year, but ignoring the facts that this whole Rockets team is a much improved roster than many people think is just stupid. Dmo's development, Josh and Brewer's signing, Mchale (JB)'s coaching, defense improving, ect. Without these factors, the Rockets won't be in the same place now.
^this. without these acquisitions to buoy the pressure and alleviate the high minutes Harden and Ariza were doing we would have never made it this far. Dmo and Jones also have taking a huge step forward on there respective developmental track and as deep as anyone in the front court, wait until Howard rounds into form.
Hated it. Really can't stand that writer. He truly believes that most of what Harden does is just a shameless, flopping circus who relies mainly on the refs. Just can't take a guy like that seriously. If you can't understand that the reason Harden and WB live at the line is because they can EASILY blow by their man and relentlessly attack the rim then I just don't know what to say. And just because a guy knows that most of the time defenders are gonna reach and looks to take advantage of their mistake doesn't change the fact that 95% of the time he actually IS fouled. And the continued spouting of his free throw numbers with absolute zero context just kills me. If WB and Cousins played as many games as Harden, Hardens lead would be minuscule in attempts and makes. In fact, per minute, WB goes to the line MORE than Harden. Also have to agree that the rest of the roster, the coaching staff and our offensive philosophy continue to be under rated. Harden doesn't have the help that Curry has, nor the health luck his help has, but it doesn't make what we have a pile of trash. I Like to see articles praising what Harden has done, but that back handed compliment piece of trash article isn't the type I like to read.
You want a simple algorithm? Just add up all the player of the weeks and player of the months a guy has and that should be your MVP. Doesnt that make more sense? If a player was dominating in Feb and Mar why take that away from someone who has a "late surge" or whatever sways voters at the end of the year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Stephen Curry is my pick for the 2015 NBA MVP Award!</p>— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson/status/585512847255461888">April 7, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Earvin Garbage Johnson.
Sharp is just about right. The Kings are 26-50 right now. If Harden has played 0 games this year, there is no chance the Rockets would win more than 30 games.
