2014-2015 Random NBA Thread

• Commander of Awesome

  

  I checked out harden's number post all star break, lol. Yeah curry for MVP not close.
• SportsAndLady

  

  James harden is my least favorite NBA player right now. Plays like such a bitch. And I hate that stupid ass beard
• robj55

  

  I don't understand how Harden can get so many calls by flopping, when I see other stars getting hammered and getting no calls all the time.
• Ironman92

  

  Blake Griffin just grabbed a rebound, dribbled down court, went between the legs 3 times, behind the back 3 times...spin move and lay in
• Ironman92

  

  robj55;1717725 wrote:I don't understand how Harden can get so many calls by flopping, when I see other stars getting hammered and getting no calls all the time.

  And gets bailed out by flailing his arms in the lane and getting many free throws
• Ironman92

  

  Where is Chris Paul in the MVP race?
  
  At what point does his lack of playoff success affect his rankings among the best in the game.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  Curry is ridiculous! Unreal dribble move there.
• Ironman92

  

  Damn....Curry just broke CP's ankles
• gerb131

  

  Steph Curry just killed CP. Double behind the back CP got crossed up fell curry turned around nailed the J. SC#1
• Commander of Awesome

  

  Ironman92;1717731 wrote:Where is Chris Paul in the MVP race?
  
  At what point does his lack of playoff success affect his rankings among the best in the game.

  No where near it. It's curry, lbj, and westbrook. If westbrook played more games it'd be a pretty solid race IMO between Curry and Westbrook. No one else is even in the conversation IMO.
• gerb131

  

  Commander of Awesome;1717735 wrote:No where near it. It's curry, lbj, and westbrook. If westbrook played more games it'd be a pretty solid race IMO between Curry and Westbrook. No one else is even in the conversation IMO.

  no beard?
• Ironman92

  

  I'm with you there but I must include Harden in that mix even though I can't stand him.
  
  I've always thought CP3 was slightly overrated. I'd put him about 7th this year.
• SportsAndLady

  

  That move was fucking dirty.
  
  And then he calmly splashed the jumper.
• Ironman92

  

  GS finally playing defense now and LA can't score....they miss Crawford a bit off the bench
• sleeper

  

  SportsAndLady;1717671 wrote:James harden is my least favorite NBA player right now. Plays like such a bitch. And I hate that stupid ass beard

  He's so overrated. Top 26.
• sleeper

  

  Ironman92;1717731 wrote:Where is Chris Paul in the MVP race?
  
  At what point does his lack of playoff success affect his rankings among the best in the game.

  CP3 will never win an MVP. To me it's between LBJ, Curry, and Westbrook and I think Curry is the front runner simply because of team success. Curry will win it even though Lebron is 10x better than Curry.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  gerb131;1717738 wrote:no beard?

  Ironman92;1717740 wrote:I'm with you there but I must include Harden in that mix even though I can't stand him.
  
  I've always thought CP3 was slightly overrated. I'd put him about 7th this year.

  No. Look at his numbers post all star break. Under 40% FG%. Look at his FT% reg season vs post season last year. Guy gets to the line based on shitty reffing and is chucking and not getting lucky post all star break. Not my MVP. Rockets are one of the most annoying teams to watch this season in terms of throwing up trash, arguing and getting to the line. I wasn't a Harden MVP believer before the all star break and sure ain't now. It's Curry.
• lhslep134

  

  I'm not saying James Harden is my MVP, because Steph is, but http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/31/anthony-davis-says-james-harden-should-be-mvp/
• lhslep134

  

  You guys may not appreciate Harden's prodigious ability to get to the free throw line, because it IS a skill, but guess who does? His fellow NBA players.
  
  The reason Harden gets to the line so much is because he has a ridiculous ball-handling/footwork combination that gets opponents off balance, more off balance than they are against other players, and that puts them in position for Harden to draw a foul. He absolutely does it on purpose and he is absolutely amazing at it. Considering that a set of free throws is the most valuable possession in basketball, you guys are really under-appreciating him.
  
  http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/07/21/most-valuable-shot-is-worth-one-point-free-throw/
• Commander of Awesome

  

  lhslep134;1717757 wrote:I'm not saying James Harden is my MVP, because Steph is, but http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/31/anthony-davis-says-james-harden-should-be-mvp/

  Good for Davis, Love said Westbrook should be MVP. Each hold about as much water with me (hint, not a lot).
• Commander of Awesome

  

  lhslep134;1717760 wrote:You guys may not appreciate Harden's prodigious ability to get to the free throw line, because it IS a skill, but guess who does? His fellow NBA players.
  
  The reason Harden gets to the line so much is because he has a ridiculous ball-handling/footwork combination that gets opponents off balance, more off balance than they are against other players, and that puts them in position for Harden to draw a foul. He absolutely does it on purpose and he is absolutely amazing at it. Considering that a set of free throws is the most valuable possession in basketball, you guys are really under-appreciating him.
  
  http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/07/21/most-valuable-shot-is-worth-one-point-free-throw/

  Its a skill that doesn't translate to the post season (least for Harden & Rockets).
  
  This is what appeared to happen last postseason, when the Rockets suffered a first-round loss to the Blazers in six games. Portland scored 670 points in that series and the Rockets scored 672. Houston’s 2013-14 regular-season free throw rate[SUP]1[/SUP] was .386, which dropped to .325 against Portland. That equaled about one fewer free throw attempt per game. So, the Rockets are screwed.
  Most playoff teams saw their free throw rate increase last postseason, with only the Rockets, Clippers, and Mavericks seeing their free throw rate drop. Dallas’s free throw rate dropped from .253 in the regular season to .217 in the playoffs. BUT! The Mavericks played the Spurs, who are experts at defending without fouling, and who were tied with the Charlotte for the fewest personal fouls per game in the regular season. Similarly, the Blazers only gave out 19.2 fouls per game during the 2013-14 season, sixth-lowest in the league.
  
  http://grantland.com/the-triangle/rockets-cavaliers-james-harden-lebron-james/
  
  Be interesting to see if that changes this post season (I doubt it, see below). Still don't think the Rockets win a 1st round match up, but that's a different conversation.
  
  
  "
  The good news for Harden is that it appears the Rockets will avoid the Blazers in the first round this season. The bad news is that (other than foul-happy Houston) only two likely West playoff teams foul at a rate higher than the average: Golden State and the Clippers. The Blazers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Mavericks and Thunder all foul at fairly low rates. Houston will likely face one or two of those teams within the first two rounds. There's a chance all three series in the West would come against low-foul teams, if Houston proceeds that far. And as it turns out, if the Rockets make the Finals, one of the teams that currently rank Nos. 1 and 3 in foul rate (Cleveland and Atlanta) are likely to be waiting.
  That's one outside force that will change for the worse for Harden in the playoffs. The other -- officials -- are a concern all the time. After all, the low-foul Grizzlies did foul Harden on Wednesday night. No dice. Why? There's a common belief that referees are less likely to blow a whistle in an uncertain moment in the most critical moments of the game because referees not named Joey Crawford would prefer not to be responsible for the result of said critical moments. Referees are encouraged by our outrage-happy sports society to be mostly invisible and let the stars determine who wins and who loses. Blowing the whistle in a crucial moment is filled with peril. So understandably, many officials fail to do so reliably.
  That meant trouble for Harden on Wednesday. And because they rely so heavily on the stripe, this is a bigger problem for Harden and Houston than any other team with O'Brien aspirations. Let's hope for the sake of fair basketball Wednesday's miscue doesn't repeat itself in the playoffs. But we'd be foolish not to anticipate it."
  
  http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/3/5/8153551/james-harden-no-call-whistle-rockets-grizzlies-nba-playoffs
  
  Seems like Harden gets to the line playing shitty teams in the shitty reffing of the reg season. Playoffs will tell. Regardless, not MVP material.
• gerb131

  

  Fun 3 rd quarter but I'm going to bed.
• lhslep134

  

  Commander of Awesome;1717763 wrote:Its a skill that doesn't translate to the post season (least for Harden & Rockets).
  

  That has absolutely nothing to do with my point though. That's the sort of rebuttal you'd expect from someone who said the MVP race is "not close" though.
  
  It is close, and just because you hate his style doesn't mean it isn't valuable. He's leading the NBA in offensive win shares for a reason.
  
  The MVP is a regular season award, not a post-season one. Don't know why you're bringing up the playoffs other than to deflect.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  lhslep134;1717765 wrote:That has absolutely nothing to do with my point though. That's the sort of rebuttal you'd expect from someone who said the MVP race is "not close" though.
  
  It is close, and just because you hate his style doesn't mean it isn't valuable. He's leading the NBA in offensive win shares for a reason.
  
  The MVP is a regular season award, not a post-season one. Don't know why you're bringing up the playoffs other than to deflect from the validity of my argument.

  Offensive win shares also has DeAndre Jordan as 10th in Offensive Wins Share, Tyson Chandler 11th. You tell me, is that stat the end all be all? Hell no, have you use in conjunction with other stats/eye test. Harden is a modern day Vince Carter/Tracy McGrady. You want him to win MVP? Fine with me, he still hasn't and wont win an nba playoff series. He also wouldn't be a top 15 pick in a GM fantasty draft, so whats that tell ya?
  
  I bring up playoffs because if you're the most valuable player in the league, you shoudl be able to win a fucking playoff match up. MVPs take their shitty teams to the finals (see Iversen, LBJ, Dirk, Durrant). Harden takes his team to a first round loss year in, year out. Great player? Absolutely. MVP? lolno
• lhslep134

  

  Again, I have Curry over Harden but it's close.