Most VALUABLE player not Best player to on the best team. It's an easy choice for Harden. I would even put Westbrook ahead of Curry. Its an individual award. Its not a team award that what the NBA championship is for
I can't wait to see what happens when Golden State deals with being played DIFFERENTLY in the playoffs versus the regular season..let's see what happens
He's not being penalized but he's clearly not the most valuable player in the league. You take Harden off the Rockets they are a loto team especially with all the injuries. Take curry off Golden State ( they have been healthy all year aswell) they still make the playoffs. If that doesn't scream who's the most valuable player I don't know what does.
Yeah he is. It's harder to go from good to historically great. Look at the on-off court numbers. Curry is incredible. He has better on-off impact than Harden. The way Curry distorts a defense is unique. He's become a lot better defensively. He doesn't need the ball in his hands to totally compromise the defense.
So you don't think his #s are a bit skewed due to how good Golden state is? They are blowing everyone out night in and out (even when curry is off mind you)
What if we plug Damian Lillard into Curry's spot on that the Warriors? They would still be a number one seed. I would say the same for Mike Conley or even freaking Goran Dragic would still have that team performing at a high level. Do You see where I'm going with this? Steve Kerr was the GM when Nash was MVP. Steph is Steve's Nash.
How did Curry do vs SAS today? How did Curry do vs Lebron's Cavs? If Harden plays well vs SAS, and we win even one of the next two games, Harden will be solidifying his case.
Curry played very well. Had a huge 3rd quarter but nothing much else, but still a really good stat line. Nothing absurd like Harden's today, but he was really the only Warrior who showed up today.
Harden's MVP arguments remind me much more of Nash than Curry's do. 2006 Nash, his superstar teammate is out, another very good teammate (Joe Johnson) has left for another team, and he plays fantastic basketball and leads the team to high seed regardless.
Dame Lillard and Mike Conley are all stars. Lillard is worse defensively. Conley doesn't get nearly that much of a distortion when he plays. They would be a middling playoff team. Going from a middling playoff team to an all time historically great team is pretty damn impressive. Especially, when you're replacing Curry with an all star. The on-off court numbers shouldn't be skewed that much then? I'm not sure if you understand how this works. The difference in the Warriors with Curry on the court vs Curry off the court is higher than the difference for Harden. So nope, they aren't blowing people out without Curry.
I disagree with Lillard leading the Warriors to the number 1 seed. Curry's distortion and effect on spacing makes his teammates look so much better. Same thing used to happen with Dirk and whatever guards played with him. JJ Barea looked great with Dirk in 2011 for example.
Yep, I was thinking the same. People used to say the same things about Dirk. Hey, he's playing with all stars, Josh Howard, Davin Harris, no wonder he keeps winning 60+ games.
The award is most valuable player, not best player on the best team. The argument is simple, when Curry sits the Warriors are a playoff team, without Harden we are in the lottery. You also discount that Harden has had key rotations players out for the entire year. One guy comes back, another guy gets hurt. Curry has not have that many roadblocks pt in his way, he has not had to carry the same type of workload. Plus/Minus stats are impacted by the rest of the team on the floor. You brought up minutes played...and that argument made you look like a fool. Golden State don't need to play Curry as much as we need Harden to play in order to win games. Golden State can win games with Curry sitting, they can finish games early so he can sit at the end of games. Harden has not had the luxury. When Curry is tired he can sit on the bench or rest in the corner and let Thompson carry the load...Harden has nobody like that. Harden leads the league in WAR, Win Shares, Win Shares per 48 and Offensive Real Plus/Minus this season. Our offensive rating without Harden is 96.2 and Golden State without Curry is 103.2. Most 30 point games, most 40 point games, 50 point games, top 5 in assists and steals. Next 6 minutes leaders are below the league average in per, true shooting percentage 60%. He has a better shooting percentage in the last 2 minutes of games with a 5 or less point margin. No stat can argue with this point which, was made earlier and anyone with an eye for the sport can see it. Without Harden the Houston Rockets with all the issues are a lottery team, Golden State would be with Portland and the Mavs in the middle of the pack.
Okay? It's incredible that Westbrook and Harden get penalized for not having the number one seed for lack of having the best teammates avaliable
That's a terrible argument. Without Michael Jordan, the Bulls were a playoff team - in fact, they were the #3 seed in the conference. That doesn't mean he wasn't the most valuable player - because with him, they went from a #3 seed type to a championship-level team. The same is true of most MVPs throughout league history.
