538's Raptor metrics love James Harden. He was already the top player according to Raptor for the regular season going into the bubble. But despite the unanimous selection of Lillard as the Bubble MVP, Harden outperformed him on Offensive (15.0 rating to 13.8) and annihilated him (and most everyone else) on Defense (4.4 rating to negative 2.6). Here is what 538 had to say about the Rockets and Harden: Houston Rockets Restart record: 4-4 Elo change: -21 (10th) As we mentioned earlier, SG James Harden was RAPTOR’s most valuable player of the restart (2.78 WAR). He was also Houston’s most improved player in the bubble, elevating his rating by 9.9 points per 100. What makes that extra ridiculous is that Harden already had the highest RAPTOR of any qualified NBA player beforehand. So the most dangerous player in the league went out and doubled his rating in the most recent sample of games — ones that saw Harden average over 34 points per game with a 73 percent true shooting percentage and an assist on nearly 47 percent of teammate baskets, to go with solid defensive tracking numbers. As for Houston’s most disappointing player? That would be SG Austin Rivers, whose RAPTOR dropped by 4.4 points per 100, from a passable -1.3 to a -5.7 (nearly equally bad on offense and defense). Just another example of how the media (except for Nick Wright and 538 and a few others) will look for any reason to elevate another player over Harden, regardless of what he does or what the stats say. Here is a link to the article: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/who-made-the-most-of-the-nba-restart/
I don’t even need the data...eye test makes it obvious too yes, Lillard scored a lot, and his deep threes are exciting, but despite all that, Harden was still better while not even going all out they were raving about Lillard averaging 37 ppg in the bubble giving it his all...meanwhile, Harden was out here averaging a nonchalant 34 against better competition then he comes out in game 1 and commits child abuse against OKC...the same OKC who many pundits as well as easily frightened CF members think will beat the Rockets
Who cares about the bubble, the reign of King James II - aka The Beard King aka The Step-Back King - is about to begin.
I do find it funny that just about every year Harden ranks in the top 3ish(mostly 1st) in just about every all encompassing advanced statistic not to mention a yearly top 3 MVP candidate and yet just about every year when the websites come out with their rankings he always seems to find himself outside their top 5.
Great stuff!!! @coyotetex You really do not post enough man! There us no denying data that corroborates the eye test.
What award does the worthless bubble mvp get? free boba for life? free trip to Disney world? they already got that @Os Trigonum
Yes because they don't have much content left to talk about so they have to make something new so the fans don't get bored and fall asleep
harden is the most underrated athlete in any sport i can rememeber. I dont think their has ever been a difference of opinion of where the media ranks harden compared to his nba peers. The nba players that play againist him claim he should be a 3x mvp and easily a top 2 or 3 player, yet the media that votes on mvp claims he is not a top 5 player smh
Thanks man. I spend to much time with work and not enough time on important stuff like posting on Rockets fan boards. I'm trying to get my priorities straight!
