Howard was great. Ariza was great. Can't expect better performance from those two. Harden was great, but you can and do expect better performance from him and thus he's is 3rd in my book.
Ariza. Although unintentional, almost single handedly took out the splash brothers. The Warriors are all soften up by now.. Igoudala almost had dislocated shoulder and now they have to deal with knee breaker Dellavedova. A betting man should put their money on Cleveland.
And the sun is yellow and the sky is blue but that wasn't the question. Of course Harden is our best player. He's better than the best player on almost every team. And I don't understand why it's upsetting to anyone he wouldn't win this poll. It's not a knock on him; it's an acknowledgment of what Howard did in this year's incredible run. Harden was phenomenal in his good games and he had a lot of good games. He also had too many games where he played beneath his abilities and a player becomes truly great when he plays above his abilities, every night, in the playoffs. This is nothing to worry about. It's age and as a wise poster said earlier in the thread all stars go through it. That poster mentioned LeBron but it was also true of Hakeem, Jordan, Kobe, all of them. He's becoming greater before our eyes. He shouldn't be at his peak yet. He's just now turning 26.
i think some of you get it backwards. its the great players who go through it. its not you go thru and become great. the mental part, you either have it or you dont.
When we needed a great play, Josh Smith was usually the one that made it. Each series he had huge games scoring, assisting, or playing big defensively.
I voted Dwight because he was consistant, and exceeded my expectations. Harden exceeded my expectations sometimes, and sometimes he played very passive. If Harden played up to his max level every single game, who knows how much better the Rockets could have been.
Agree that nobody should be upset, if Harden doesn't win this poll. As long as people don't try to put one of the players down it's all good and that's what this BBS is for, so people can discuss things. I just feel that the expectations for Howard have been lowered substantially, since the beginning of the regular season and that is why a lot of people are claiming that he played exceptionally well. This, in my opinion is untrue. There were times, where Howard didn't defend well. Offensively he had good and not so good games. He had games where he turned the ball over a lot. His FT shooting got worse throughout the playoffs and was way worse than his regular season average (a drop of more than 10%). His rebounding was great though, for the most part! I don't think it is too much to expect him to average close to 20ppg with the touches and the amount of FTA he gets. Had he averaged 20/15 over the course of the playoffs, yeah I'd agree, it would have been a great postseason for Dwight and in that scenario he probably would have been on top of my list with Harden.
It is a knock on him. Every day, every game, the opposing team is worried about one thing, Harden. They are throwing double and triple teams at him, completely allowing any fallout that might occur, open shots to other players, put back dunks by Howard, and so on and so forth. Those opportunities for Ariza, Terry, Brewer, Howard, Jones, Smith, whomever, exist because of the mere threat of Harden with the ball. I appreciate Howard's consistency, but standing under the basket and grabbing rebounds, or waiting near the hoop to catch alley oops or get wide open dunks is not MVP material. The guy that makes all that happen is the MVP. Trueshooting, offensive rating, win shares, PER, base plus mind, take your pick. Harden blows Howard out of the water in just about every advanced metric for playoffs. Yes, Howard's production and defense was valuable, but to suggest it was moreso than Harden is just absurd.
Nobody is arguing that Dwight was a better player than Harden. But Howard stepped up his game and played with maximum effort in every single playoff game. Can you say the same of Harden? No. Nobody would. Harden is obviously an all-time great and he's already the second best player in franchise history if you ask me but he doesn't get to win this particular poll question until he actually brings max effort every night. Nobody would deny he seemed to give up on certain games before they were over. Howard never did. That plus his increased efficiency in the playoffs and the effort expressed by his leading the postseason in rebounding gets him the win. I have no doubt Harden will win this poll next year, no matter how well Howard plays. I don't argue by the way that Howard was our playoff MVP. That's a different question and I give that award to Harden happily. Obviously he is responsible for upwards of 75% of our offense which is an enormous amount to ask of him and still he delivers almost every night. I'm okay with him having a bad game. I'm not okay with him giving up. When he did that (not in one game but in about four of them), he lost the poll to the guy that didn't.
agreed Dwight was awesome but no mvp.. if he could make his free throws he would be mvp... hes no Hakeem but ill still like Howard.
Fair enough...I read the question to be 'who was the best player' - that's why - also in an earlier post - I was arguing Harden and by a wide margin (even with the bad games) Don't recall 4 games where Harden supposedly gave up but that is something I can't and won't argue against... there were games where he seemed timid and passive. No denying that!
most consistent/best all around: Howard best offensive player: Harden best defender post: Howard best defender perimeter: Ariza most pleasant surprise: Smith
Is it a different question? If many see it as different, then there maybe should be a different thread asking who the MVP is. It's definitely a divided topic, while this one is basically wrapped for Dwight.
That's very fair. When I look at this question, "Who was the best playoff performer," I impose an emphasis on "playoff" in a way I guess. To me, the best playoff performer is the one that most steps up his effort and game from the regular season and does so every night. That was obviously Dwight. Harden had exceptional games (amazing ones) but he didn't step up his game from the regular season in at least a few critical games; he had below average showings. It goes to sayings like "playoff Rondo" who never materialized or "playoff Dwight" who did. When we get to see "playoff Harden" every game -- and I don't mean he has a good shooting night; I mean he's obviously giving every ounce he's got even if his shooting is off -- there won't be any controversy over best playoff performer and I fully expect him to be the clear winner of this poll next year. He knows he let go of the rope at times. And he knows it's not okay to do that particular thing EVER. Not in the playoffs. You might get discouraged but if you're the leader you do not give up. He'll get there. He was almost there this year. And when he does (along with the small but obviously needed roster upgrades) I believe we will go all the way.
