That's just false. http://www.nba.com/article/2018/04/...rs-lead-most-popular-merchandise-list-2017-18 Giannis last season had the no.4 top selling jersey, Harden was no.9. Bucks were no.6 in merchandise sales, Rockets were no.10. Blame the chinese style tableclothes that passes for Rockets jerseys these days.
That's so weird, I had opened an article with the exact same headline to check those figures. Must have been an older version or my eyes playing tricks. Thanks for the correction.
Looking at Harden's stats: Out of the top 6 people right now based on Basketball Reference's predictions: Harden ranks: 1st in PPG 1st in APG 6th in RPG 2nd in SPG 3rd in BPG 2nd in 3p% 5th in 2p% 2nd in FT% 3rd in eFG% 1st in PER 3rd in TS% 2nd in TO% (not a good thing) 1st in AST% 5th in DWS 1st in OWS 2nd in TWS 1st in BPM 1st in VORP 6th in ORTG Tied for 6th in DRTG
And yet…the wins aren’t there in comparison to his other MVP contender. Harden is the best player in the league this season but the Rockets as a team have failed him this season.
Yeah I agree. IMO he is the MVP if you take the words Most Valuable Player very literal. Take Giannis off the Bucks, and they're still a playoff team (not a contender but still a competitor). Same with KD, same with PG, same with Kawhi. Only one you can argue makes as big of a difference is maybe Jokic, and even he has an incredibly deep team around him. Take Harden off the Rockets.... we're bottom feeders. Even with the shell of CP, his injuries would just make us worse. We'd be running a starting 5 of Austin Rivers, EG, Green, Tucker, and Faried for majority of the season, and that is a disgusting idea. EDIT: Never finished what my OG point was lol. Giannis is the MVP this year so far. Doing incredible things, winning, and is only 24. I'm fine with it. He's a likable guy and after seeing the Finding Giannis special and reading up on him more, I've become a Giannis supporter. I'd rather have him take the MVP from Harden than previous years with Westbrook and Curry. Hopefully the Rockets turn things around and start winning more when Capela is healthy. Maybe that boosts Harden's chances.
If the team was better, likely Harden's stats - at least any that are "volume" related, or carrying the team related - aren't there. If the Rockets had the same record as the Bucks right not, with Giannis playing as he's playing, it's still probably Giannis #1, Harden #2 at the moment. Harden's obviously crazy good. But so is Giannis. Now Harden with these stats, and say the Rockets finish 20-5 to go 53-29, and finish 3rd or better... and the Bucks "limp" home at 15-10 and finish 58-24, then I think Harden is #1. But that seems unlikely. The Bucks have a relatively easy SOS remaining, and the Rockets are 6 games behind Denver and 4 behind OKC (who doesn't appear like they'll "slow down" since they can always rely on their defense).
Whether or not he deserves it, Harden isn't going to win this year. The narrative has been written. "Giannis is winning with his post dominance" "Harden is a ball hog chasing stats" Etc... Don't get your hopes up for the MVP. Instead, get your hopes up for a deep playoff run and pretend it's 1995 again. Life is so disappointing sometimes
It's time to undercut his reputation. We pay our PR team to get dirty at times. And this is one of those times.
why should we get our hopes up for the playoffs. Did you not see how the refs screwed us out of a finals appearance last year. The NBA is just a bad product, i only watch for harden
I was at game 7, and want my money back after that ref job. That being said, we have a shot as long as we have Beard
Objectively, Harden should have won in '17. That is according to the basketball reference mvp tracker in the OP, which is objective.
BB Ref's MVP tool pulls HEAVILY on TEAM WINS. Bucks have the most wins. Bucks are #1 in the East and #1 in the NBA. Harden can't catch those wins. His best bet is to "close the win gap" to the point where his STATS and the Historic Nature of his stats has more "narrative sway" than Team Wins.
Before the 61 point performance against the Spurs: I have a really hard time accepting 1) Anthony Davis will be in the top 10 and 2) Lebron James not being in the top 10. Other observations, Harden's probability of winning hasn't moved much, and Giannis continues to have a 50+% probability. Only Jokic clears 5% as the field as cleared a bit.
I don't care what basketball reference says. I don't care what Vegas odds say. I don't care what casual NBA fans say. I'd put money on it that Harden will win the MVP this year. He will not be denied. Giannis' name is thrown around to keep things interesting, but anyone who knows two licks about basketball knows that Harden has it on lock.
You assume that the voters know two licks about basketball. Voters include Reggie Miller, Ramona Shelburne, Chris Broussard, Brian Windhorst. Last year's voters. https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/wp-co...NBA-Most-Valuable-Player-Voter-Selections.pdf
I know what you're saying, I hear you. My "two licks" comment maybe not so much on point. Majority of clutchfans members know more basketball than guys like windbag. But I do believe Harden will win MVP and I'd put money on that. The man won't be denied. I can't wait until Tuesday's Bucks game. It'll have so much weight in how media heads vote.
Harden can officially seal the deal on Tuesday this thing should be wrap right now anyways, but Harden probably has to do a little more in order to sway the more dumb voters who are still leaning towards Giannis please end this MVP convo on Tuesday Harden so we can toss Greek Freak’s MVP resume in the trash where it belongs
This is the 2016-17 one: http://web.archive.org/web/20170507194242/https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/mvp.html He should be going for a three-peat.
