I won't say best but i'll say most surprising: Capela Murray should ship him off to Miami for the summer to hang with Dwade and A-rod's crew Best, in way of consistent, was Dwight (tho if he makes his FTs we still playing)
No question it was Howard. He was the only player that brought it every single game of the postseason. Harden was astounding but only sometimes. Sometimes he sat out the famous 4th quarter comeback against the Clippers or Games 3 and 5 against Golden State. Howard brought it every game and led the playoffs in rebounding which is a direct reflection of consistent effort.
Howard was very solid but Harden once again showed why he was MVP of the league and on the team. We could not beat GS without a good Harden. Howard's dumb fouls (followed by his usual stupid smirk), turnovers, awful postups, and pathetic free throw shooting does take away from his superb defense/rebounding contributions.
Ariza is getting nowhere near the credit he should be getting for his performance. Trevor was the glue. Dude busted his butt on defense locking his man down while still hitting his 3's at a high clip. His name isn't Harden or Howard so he gets overlooked but Trevor was just as important as anybody when it comes to why we made it to the WCF. Loved his effort and play throughout. He racked up 25 steals in the second and third rounds while shooting 42% from 3 and logging 40 minutes per game. Trevor easily gets my vote, with Howard being my second.
Just because he was worse than his regular season MVP performance doesn't mean it wasn't Harden. 2nd in playoff WS; 5th in playoff PER; 7th in playoff WS/48; 3rd in scoring and 4th in assists. Dwight was definitely more consistent game to game but with his performance from the line he was tied with Monta Ellis in scoring efficiency. It would have been Dwight if he had shot 60% or so. (Dwight's defense was aces though)
Howard. Howard. Howard. I can't believe this is even up for discussion. He's not only our best player, but the player we should be building around.
For those who think it's not a discussion and a clear Howard or Harden, think again. Both mentally checked out for parts of games or even full games, cost us with TOs on post ups / over dribbling / lazy passing / just mishandling the ball. Howard cost us with silly fouls, demanding post ups and not committing to pick and roll. That lack of commitment was also on Harden's side and both relied too much on the whistle at times. Ariza could have a few off nights shooting wise, but that guy just worked hard every single game and was key to our defense every single night.
Hardens numbers were up across the board even with the really bad games. Howard's were too, and his defense was amazing, but Hardens offensive numbers were much better. Howard was also hurt by really bad free throw shooting that took him out of games and technicals/flagrants/foul trouble. Either way, both our stars performed as they should for the most part. Next year they need to clean it up and be more consistent.
I voted Ariza because even though Harden & Harden had some spectacular games, Ariza had the most consistent hustle and overall shooting improvement in comparison to the regular season.
I don't understand why someone would say Houston can't win without a good Harden as an interpretation of Harden's struggles and then go on to say Howard did well but it's overshadowed by his loss of composure and missed FT's. Flip it around and you could say Houston can't win unless Howard makes his FT's and keeps his cool and Harden's great games this post season were overshadowed by his extremely poor showings.
Yeah, every game, like 11pts and 5reb in game1 vs Dal, or 7pts and 6reb in game 4 vs LAC, or 7pts, 13reb, and 5to in game 1 vs GS.
Using the injury game? Also, the first game, he was clearly dominant; cherry picking his defensive statistics. This is not a viable argument.
Ironically enough, I cannot figure out how to close a poll. The main reasoning is that in 3 months or longer, revisionist historians will not be able to skew results.
i think a distinction needs to be made b/w your "best performer" and "best player/biggest contributor" here. otherwise, its always the #1 guy on a team w/ the best stats. there won't be any point to have a poll for, right?
