James Harden is gonna get screwed over again in MVP Voting

You can't really complain if he doesn't get it now.

 

Who says I can't!?

 

Whilst I agree he is playing himself out of the MVP race with his recent stretch, I think it's absolutely ludicrous that a stretch of a few games can erase an entire season's worth of mostly greatness.

No one would give a sh*t and remove him as the MVP if he had a few horrible games to start the year.

But because it's towards the end of the season it's the thing most fresh in voters' minds.

All the vocal supporters of Westbrook have their reasons for voting Westbrook for MVP easily refuted, yet they don't seem to care about the common sense things. Or they don't even realise it. For some of the guys I think they don't have an actual understanding of the game of basketball it would be the latter.

At this point I've talked myself into acknowledging he isn't winning the MVP, just to ease the fury I'll have when he isn't named.

Bottom line is I get way, way too angry thinking that the narrative for Westbrook winning is basically the premise the exact same voters used as to not give Harden the MVP two years ago.

 

Harden's team is the 3rd best team in the NBA, record wise.

This was after a complete year of Harden bashing. Saying he's a sorry leader. Plays no defense. Ball hogs. That he did Dwight wrong...

He proved all these suckas wrong. After slurping on Curry for 2 years and giving him all the praise for his team's success suddenly Harden gets no praise for his team's success while Westbrook gets praised for underachieving with his team..

[spoilers]
ESPN was already on Triple double watch before a game was even played...


Sports Illustrated didn't have much between both teams, but this invalidates the whole "Westbrook playing with trash." argument.


[/spoilers]

Alright, Fox sports and NBA did have the Rockets above the Thunder. Fox Sports actually seemed the only ones able to call them being a good team. NBA.com had them over the Thunder by one spot, clearly not the huge difference the media would have you believe now. All the whole "Westbrook playing with scrubs!" narrative.

Obvious conspiracy going on here.

 

Only if they think the Rox are important enough for them to conspire against.

In the past they did not even try to take us seriously.

 

I think we can whine whenever...

 

Harden and the Rockets brass are stupid. He should have sat out this entire road trip and would have had a week + rest and 6 games to sharpen up before the playoffs. we are locked into the #3 seed. These games dont matter in the grand scheme of things.. Now.... he has hurt his MVP case and he has hurt his team with this poor play... and his wrist hasnt healed up... shame on him.

 

Think if he does win this year, how will he ever lose it. The guy is going to be getting a triple double the rest of his career.

 

Are we talking about MVP or media coverage? It is historic and it will be talked about forever as the 2nd person to average a triple double..... and also not win MVP, just like the 1st guy.

Historical precedence says James Harden will win and really it's not close. Equally impressive numbers and more wins. Westbrook is in the conversation because he averages 10.4 rebounds and not 9.9.

 

Agreed. I think Harden lobbies to play regardless of the MVP situation but that certainly plays a factor. The team has a responsibility to sit him down regardless of what he wants. He is clearly not the same player right now and resting due to legit injury probably hurts his stock a lot less than playing through it and looking like ass.

 

Momentum absokuteky matters. Its not always how you start that matters but how you finish absoluteky matters

WB had monster games in their comeback wins against Mavs and Magic and had people creaming over him. Fair enough

Then Harden had a chance in two games on National TV to regain the momentum but failed to do so. Two bad peerformaces and two L's.

You have his most vocal supporters like Steven A Smith finally put WB joint MVP after months of saying Harden MVP.

Lets hope for a Trump here.

 

no way harden wins it now. it's over.

 

Rockets will finish with the 3 seed, Russ will finish with a triple double. average The only real variable left is where the Thunder are seeded. If they are a 4 or 5, I think it Russ gets it. A 6 or a 7, I think it is Hardens. The question is, where do you all think the Thunder finish? To me it is going to be THE tiebreaker. I need people with better knowledge of the NBA to break down the likelihood of the different places OKC could finish.

 

The gap is closing.

 

Easy, the narrative changes.

Steve Nash had it exactly correct, the award says more about the voters than the players in contention.

 

media conspiracy

 

call a waaambulance

 

Harden has never once been injured in his career, and a late wrist injury is what cost him the MVP.

Houston sports man...

 

Harden will get his chance next year if he can keep up this level of production and the Rockets win 56+ games. The media will probably be looking to give the award to Kawhi heading into next season. They won't reward Westbrook twice for putting up stats on a bottom seed playoff team. Lebron won't have the historical stats, and I don't see Cleveland getting any better in the upcoming years. Steph won't be a 3x MVP, and KD probably won't get enough support.

Harden will have to focus on lowering his turnovers and improving his 3 point shooting. Something like 28 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assist, 4-5 turnovers per game, and 45-37-86 shooting splits on a 56+ win team should be enough.