Harden to Dekker "Pass that s#!+!, Pass that s#!+!"

Only because the coaches in Brooklyn are terrible. Lin is a starter and should only sit when they're up by 20 in the fourth. Who asks the MVP of the league to come off the bench?

 

Aldridge is better than any secondary player Harden has. Leonard also has solid vets and proven champions in Parker and Ginobili to help him out. Plus, guys like Patty Mills and Danny Green who can dribble/drive/pass/shoot.

Harden only has one other guy on his team that can semi reliably create his own shot -- Eric Gordon who has been hurt recently, that's it. Every other player on the current Rockets roster has to be fed in order to score.

You could argue that the Rockets need more playmakers other than Harden and I would agree with you -- and you and I would have no issues. But to blame this recent schedule and injuries and overall lack of help on Harden is simply stupid. Yet, you do it every single night.

Stop being stupid and we can be carebear pals again. Until then, I'm going to have tinman target you for termination.

 

Doesn't matter. Just about every evidence points to the fact that Kawhi's impact, when he's on the court, has been far superior to Harden's this season. Oh, and he plays both ends, and has really developed into a great scorer/shooter in his own right.

 

Of course it doesn't matter, nothing matters because you have such a strong taste of Harden in your mouth you feel the need to wash it down even if gasoline or bleach are the only things you have available.

 

No your argument doesn't matter because every objective metric + common sense eye-test are screaming at your face that Kawhi is a more deserving MVP candidate than Harden is.

 

Ok, so i'm trying to think of the top 10 players....lebron, KD, Curry, Leonard, Davis, Harden, Westbrook, thomas, butler, boogie (list is not in order and i may be leaving one or two off. this is off the top of my head.) point is, there are three on that list besides harden (lebron, KD, and westbrook) who have the driving/passing ability to give this team the open looks it needs to be successful night after night. you can hate harden all you want, but to insinuate that you could just throw someone like kawhi on this team and say they would have the same record, that is ridiculous.

And yes dude, jimmy lin is my mvp to this point.

 

Yes yes, EVERY objective measure.

Win Shares:
Harden 10.0 (leads NBA)
Kawhi 8.1

Offensive Box +/-
Harden 8.9
Leonard 6.6

Defensive Box +/-
Harden 1.5
Leonard 1.0

Value over replacement player
Harden 5.7
Leonard 3.4

These are all objective metrics, much like points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game (Harden leads Leonard in all those categories) - so obviously your argument is a massive fail because not EVERY objective metric screams Kawhi is a more deserving MVP candidate (they seem to be saying the opposite).

Then we come to the eye test, and perhaps the easy answer is that you need glasses? If you can't even read the objective metrics the right way, there is little chance your confirmation bias will let you see who is more valuable to their team on the court.

 

Kawhi plays both ends with high efficiency, while Harden regularly commits 10+ turnovers.

 

BPM, VORP are stupid stats largely based on box score numbers. By that measure Russ should be the MVP, but notice that I didn't pick him? Also, Kahwai has better WS/48 which you've left out.

Give me shooting efficiency, great defense, great team record, and great 'real' impact stats (RPM, PT-PM, etc), and you got my MVP vote.

 

Proof of objective stats?

 

There is no doubt he is a better defender. But could he do what harden does to create for this team every night, no way. All you have to do to see that is watch the guy play......

 

You are, of course, entitled to your opinions (if you actually believe what you write here), but there has to be something wrong with someone who shows such pride and passion in playing the role of glorified internet troll. But more power to you.

 

This 'Harden is a great play-maker' argument would make sense if Harden commits less turnovers. But at this point you can no longer call Harden a great facilitator with how much times he turns it over. Also, our shooters don't play particularly well when paired with Harden. Harden doesn't miraculously make them better shooters, which is central to this team. What Harden is good at is PnR with big guys, that's the only thing he does well as a PG.

 

if his average TO/game is 5.9, then how does he "regularly" commit 10+ turnovers? to average 5.9, that means sometimes he's below 5.9/game, and sometimes he's above 5.9/game. Your math seems off.

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/201935/

Oh and by the way, Harden's assist to turnover ratio stands at 1.95, best in his career. MDA is okay with Harden's turnovers being higher this season than in previous seasons, MDA has said in essence that many of Harden's TOs are the cost of doing business.

 

Yes he turns the ball over too much. but you are overstating it when you say a guy like kawhi could do what he does for this team. so you are saying the only good thing he does is find bigs?? you know that isn't true. and he does make them better shooters. he gets them open looks regularly. its not his fault if they don't go in!

 

Soo your saying we should cherry pick stats to support ones claim and ignore ones that don't

 

Lmao!! This dude here!

 

If that's the case, why would I cherry pick stats to support Kawhi, when I can easily say Russ is the MVP all things considered? That's because I don't believe the stats where Russ and Harden are leading in really reflect their true value as players. Any stat largely based on box score numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

How many losses do you need until you say enough is enough?

 

Right, so you want Kevin Durant as your MVP then? Because his team has a better record, and his RPM (etc) is better than Kawhi's.

Whichever way you spin it, you're cherry picking a stat, making false claims, and then letting your confirmation bias steer you towards a particular guy, despite evidence to the contrary.