What excuse will they use for denying Harden MVP this season?

Absolutely NO SHAME. NONE.

 

Kyrie winning over Harden would be worse than Russ beating him last year...Russ at least did something historic and averaged a 30 point triple double...Kyrie is averaging freaking 23, 3, and 5

the Celtics have the best defense in the NBA by far, and their offense, where Kyrie’s impact is felt, is only ranked 20th

Kyrie isn’t even a top 10 player...

what a joke

Brad Stevens for MVP

 

Celtics fans are cysts. Look at the replies to Sportscenters tweets. Absolutely astonishing how the media never recognizes the **** Harden does.

 

Russell Westbrook? Has to be some sort of joke. Curry or Durant should be in there.

 

Westbrook for MVP lmao

 

LOL @ Porzingis and Westbrook.

 

Irving is a positive on offense and slightly positive on defense, which is a marked improvement over last year, based on Real Plus/Minus. His SportsVU defensive numbers are also better this year compared to last year.

So, I think it's fair to say that Irving is measurably a better defensive player. The Celtics are winning primarily with the defense, but Irving's offense is carrying them in clutch situations. That makes him pretty valuable -- more so than his raw per game numbers might suggest.

 

But he yells and scowls a lot

 

I think the switch everything strategy skews the perception a bit too while he's a good post defender when he gets in there with some of the better inside scorers he can only do so much. From what I've seen the effort has been there.

 

That's how you lead according to McHale.

 

He huffs and puffs all the time and makes the game look really exhausting and hard. Must mean he has heart, passion, work ethic, and commitment to the game.

That bearded dude looks casual on the court and makes the game look simple and easy. Scoring for him look effortless. Must mean he is lazy and doesnt respect the game.

 

His problem is on this rotation:




When Clint comes over to stop a drive Harden will fill too close to where the dunker spot is and then when the ball get passed to the corner Harden is way out of position to contest the shooter.

Chris Paul helps this by more successfully preventing middle drives which lessens the chance that the skip pass to the weak side corner is made in the first place.

 

True, but they are all pretty valuable on that squad.

I mean you start seeing things like:

* During their win streak, the Celtics have played only 1 back-to-back, played 3 teams who were in back-to-back and 3-in-4 nights, another on 3rd game in 4 nights. Their opponents have a combined record of 113-135 (not counting the 3-14 Hawks twice)

* or the fact that Kyrie has an amazing positive net rating... but the team's net rating is actually even better with him sitting

It's those type of things, combined with what they did last year, what IT did last year, all the turnover on that team, etc... that makes it PLAINLY OBVIOUS what's going on with that team. Supremely exceptional coaching. Favorable schedule. Well suited talent for today's NBA (wings that can switch, a big that can defend almost 1-5). A score first PG which is ok in that otherwise high ball movement system. Etc.

Not that Harden doesn't benefit from playing in an MDA system.

 

On that point, Ed Kupfer (https://twitter.com/EdKupfer) tweeted this nice graphic depicting opponent strength. If we think we're playing better or as well as the Warriors because we've matched their record so far, we should rethink that. Not only do they have a better point differential, they've also faced the most difficult schedule by far so far.

Are you sure about that? That's not what I'm seeing looking at basketball-reference.com On/Off and 82games.com On/Off stats. But even if so, I'd be cautious about reading too much into that without factoring in quality of opposing lineups faced. Raw On/Off numbers is really dependent on the rotation the coach uses during the course of the game.

 

Sounds like Irving is on 14-15 harden level ... Which is really good . And he has better teamates . Harden is on a totally different level now tho... And I am ecstatic to think how much better he can be now that CP3 is back

 

You're talking to the wrong guy on that front, lol. I'm a board pessimist these days. No, I don't see them playing as well as the Warriors.

saw it on reddit which linked to here:
https://i.imgur.com/Tn2Baxd.jpg

Net Rating with Kyrie = 7.6. Net without = 9.4

Horford and Jaylen Brown are way more impactful overall.

And lineups and rotations aside, anyone who has watched the Celtics more than just sporadically recognize that. They are so key to their defense.

 

Even the way they arranged that little graphic shows extreme bias. **** everyone in the national media. Literally every one of them. Even the ones who are in Harden's camp right now......you know they're going to flip flop at the most critical time.

 

Curry MVP - Team Record
Westbrook MVP- Stats
Kyrie MVP -Team Record


They will just find anyway to not give it to Harden

 

Neither his raw numbers, advanced metrics or impact stats rate him near the top players in the league. He's a level or two below Harden, Lebron, Giannis, Curry and Durant. He is very obviously not a candidate for MVP. You would think a stats guy like you would see that...unless you just enjoy playing devil's advocate.