2018-2019 Around The NBA thread

[Phil Mixtape]

Don't really want to get into an argument over it, but I think cooler heads knew LeBron was still the best player in the NBA last year, and he put up huge numbers too while playing all 82 games. And then in the playoffs he proved it beyond a doubt. I think voters will finally be ready this year to stop voting for gimmicky stat-stuffers and simply vote for the best basketball player.

I wish these people were intelligent enough to think about it like this but i seriously doubt it. With the numbers Harden has been putting up lately he may already have this shit in the bag as much as it sickens me to say. Would absolutely love it if everyone suddenly had an epiphany and saw through his bs and voted for Giannis . . .

 

[Nathan S]

I wish these people were intelligent enough to think about it like this but i seriously doubt it. With the numbers Harden has been putting up lately he may already have this shit in the bag as much as it sickens me to say. Would absolutely love it if everyone suddenly had an epiphany and saw through his bs and voted for Giannis . . .

Well, hope they at least watched Rockets-Bucks where Giannis shat 27/21 on him in Houston.

 

[Ethan]

Why can't that shit ever happen to a Warrior.

Few years ago, I remember that one time curry was undercut at the rim and landed directly on his head.

I was expecting to see blood gushing. This dude got back up like nothing happened. Crazy

 

[Rich]

I wish these people were intelligent enough to think about it like this but i seriously doubt it. With the numbers Harden has been putting up lately he may already have this shit in the bag as much as it sickens me to say. Would absolutely love it if everyone suddenly had an epiphany and saw through his bs and voted for Giannis . . .

It's not really BS like...that's not a great team w/o Paul AND Capela. Look at that squad. He's carrying them into the playoffs right now. Soo..this is hate kinda for hates sake.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Don't really want to get into an argument over it, but I think cooler heads knew LeBron was still the best player in the NBA last year, and he put up huge numbers too while playing all 82 games. And then in the playoffs he proved it beyond a doubt. I think voters will finally be ready this year to stop voting for gimmicky stat-stuffers and simply vote for the best basketball player.

You know...I don't think that was it. I can't remember who it was -- maybe Zack Jackson but I'm not sure -- who explained why he didn't vote for LBJ for MVP. I was looking for his explanation as to why, and found this by another writer. It's basically the same point Jackson made. After reading it...I have no problem with the reasoning.

tl;dr

LBJ lost the award by being a bitch for a significant chunk of the season. Which...he was.

The Rockets are a single-minded organization that is able to exist that way because Harden sets that example. There is no dissension within their ranks. Their is no player griping for more shots or questioning the organization’s culture. And Harden deserves credit for that. The Rockets are as good as they are mostly because of what a tremendous player Harden is. But Harden’s attitude is extremely important as well.

James did not provide that level of value to his organization. The basis of his case as an MVP candidate comes from his performance after the trade deadline, but James is partially responsible for the team being in such a state that it needed to be overhauled at the deadline in the first place. The entire attitude of the Cavaliers’ team was toxic. Isaiah Thomas publicly blasted the organization for not practicing enough. The locker room ganged up on Kevin Love, the team’s second-best player. And James did nothing to help this. He loafed through games. He played without any enthusiasm. And he didn’t appear to make a genuine effort to ingratiate himself to his newer teammates.

That has to matter. James has to be held somewhat accountable for the fact that most of the players who left his team at the trade deadline played significantly better on their new teams. Jae Crowder is a three-and-D specialist who performed better with a rookie point guard than one of the greatest table-setters of all time. Dwyane Wade won two championships with him, but couldn’t fit into his new locker room. Thomas went from unplayable to a useful sixth man on the Lakers. Channing Frye shot 33.3% from three on an ostensible championship contender and 40.9% from three on a lottery team.

James was historic for around half of the season. But the MVP award is not a half-season award. We can’t sweep the half-season or so when the Cavaliers were in utter disarray under the rug. As the face of the organization, it is the best player’s job to hold his team together through bad times. James did not do that this season.

He was so overwhelmingly good that he still deserves to be in the conversation. If there weren’t another qualified candidate, he would be the MVP. But considering what a remarkable season Harden had, LeBron has to lose points for the way his team played in the middle of the season. Not because they had a bad record, but because of how that record came to occur. Rewarding James with an MVP for the way the Cavaliers played from mid-December through mid-February feels like an insult to the season that Harden has had. Harden did everything his team needed him to do and then some from opening night through the end of the season. James needed to be bailed out by a series of trades to get his own candidacy back on track. That is what loses him the award.

https://primesportsnet.com/nba-mvp-2018-james-harden-lebron/

 

[Nathan S]

You know...I don't think that was it. I can't remember who it was -- maybe Zack Jackson but I'm not sure -- who explained why he didn't vote for LBJ for MVP. I was looking for his explanation as to why, and found this by another writer. It's basically the same point Jackson made. After reading it...I have no problem with the reasoning.

tl;dr

LBJ lost the award by being a bitch for a significant chunk of the season. Which...he was.

The Rockets are a single-minded organization that is able to exist that way because Harden sets that example. There is no dissension within their ranks. Their is no player griping for more shots or questioning the organization’s culture. And Harden deserves credit for that. The Rockets are as good as they are mostly because of what a tremendous player Harden is. But Harden’s attitude is extremely important as well.

James did not provide that level of value to his organization. The basis of his case as an MVP candidate comes from his performance after the trade deadline, but James is partially responsible for the team being in such a state that it needed to be overhauled at the deadline in the first place. The entire attitude of the Cavaliers’ team was toxic. Isaiah Thomas publicly blasted the organization for not practicing enough. The locker room ganged up on Kevin Love, the team’s second-best player. And James did nothing to help this. He loafed through games. He played without any enthusiasm. And he didn’t appear to make a genuine effort to ingratiate himself to his newer teammates.

That has to matter. James has to be held somewhat accountable for the fact that most of the players who left his team at the trade deadline played significantly better on their new teams. Jae Crowder is a three-and-D specialist who performed better with a rookie point guard than one of the greatest table-setters of all time. Dwyane Wade won two championships with him, but couldn’t fit into his new locker room. Thomas went from unplayable to a useful sixth man on the Lakers. Channing Frye shot 33.3% from three on an ostensible championship contender and 40.9% from three on a lottery team.

James was historic for around half of the season. But the MVP award is not a half-season award. We can’t sweep the half-season or so when the Cavaliers were in utter disarray under the rug. As the face of the organization, it is the best player’s job to hold his team together through bad times. James did not do that this season.

He was so overwhelmingly good that he still deserves to be in the conversation. If there weren’t another qualified candidate, he would be the MVP. But considering what a remarkable season Harden had, LeBron has to lose points for the way his team played in the middle of the season. Not because they had a bad record, but because of how that record came to occur. Rewarding James with an MVP for the way the Cavaliers played from mid-December through mid-February feels like an insult to the season that Harden has had. Harden did everything his team needed him to do and then some from opening night through the end of the season. James needed to be bailed out by a series of trades to get his own candidacy back on track. That is what loses him the award.

https://primesportsnet.com/nba-mvp-2018-james-harden-lebron/

That's interesting...I don't agree with this take, as it feels like it's blaming LeBron for the Cavs' abysmal coaching, poor front office strategy and leadership, and knucklehead teammates while Harden benefited from brilliant coaching, perfect and aggressive front office strategy, and selfless teammates who really wanted to be there.

The expectations for LeBron were so high last year that literally every single shortcoming the franchise had last year, on and off the court, was somehow traced back to him and put on his shoulders. He's the GOAT, so expectations should be high, but when making a choice like MVP where we compare him to guys like Harden, we have to remember to put everyone back on the same playing field.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

LeBron's MVP case for last year wasn't solidified until recently, unfortunately. The Cavs aren't just the worst team in the league without him, they're bad to the tune of historical proportions.

The Lakers meanwhile are an oddly-constructed team of misfits parts and role players, with a half decade of irrelevance going into this year, and yet LeBron had them as a 4-seed before going down with injury. Since then they've gone on a tailspin and are currently out of the playoff contention.

Last year wasn't a whole lot of fun and was downright miserable on occasion; LeBron has a lot to do with that, and I still feel that he could have tried harder to ameliorate things with Kyrie. But nobody is going to tell me that James fuckin' Harden is the MVP of this league. I hate that guy nearly as much as I do any of the Warriors. He's a flavor-of-the-week who will dissolve yet again in the postseason.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

That's interesting...I don't agree with this take, as it feels like it's blaming LeBron for the Cavs' abysmal coaching, poor front office strategy and leadership, and knucklehead teammates while Harden benefited from brilliant coaching, perfect and aggressive front office strategy, and selfless teammates who really wanted to be there.

The expectations for LeBron were so high last year that literally every single shortcoming the franchise had last year, on and off the court, was somehow traced back to him and put on his shoulders. He's the GOAT, so expectations should be high, but when making a choice like MVP where we compare him to guys like Harden, we have to remember to put everyone back on the same playing field.

I'd find that more persuasive if I thought LBJ gave his best effort trying to hold things together, but couldn't because of an incompetent coach and FO.

But I saw the same thing Jackson and this writer saw. LBJ deliberately played poorly and without effort for a substantial period of the season, just to make a point.

 

[Nathan S]

I'd find that more persuasive if I thought LBJ gave his best effort trying to hold things together, but couldn't because of an incompetent coach and FO.

But I saw the same thing Jackson and this writer saw. LBJ deliberately played poorly and without effort for a substantial period of the season, just to make a point.

Don't really agree with this either...He was leading the league in minutes played at age 33, and playing in Longabardi's defensive system which almost literally required him to be everywhere at once. Meanwhile Harden, thanks to the coaxing of his teammates and coaches, starts half-assing it on defense instead of zero-assing it like he had for his entire career until that point, and he gets lauded for it. It's another ridiculous double-standard. If you put Harden on that Cavs team would he have convinced Kyrie to stay, busted his ass every play on defense, and invented Moreyball all on his own? Hell no...

 

[Pioneer10]

Feel so bad for Indiana. Getting flashbacks to what happened to the Wizards after Arenas blew out his knee - good organization which doesn't deserve this

 

[cavsfever]

I'd find that more persuasive if I thought LBJ gave his best effort trying to hold things together, but couldn't because of an incompetent coach and FO.

But I saw the same thing Jackson and this writer saw. LBJ deliberately played poorly and without effort for a substantial period of the season, just to make a point.

Wait a minute, last year's team won 50 games and after looking at how we are playing this year you think that we won 50 games last year thanks to Lebron deliberately playing poorly??? What are you smoking?

Your first sentence got it exactly right -- Lebron gave his best effort trying to support a team with an incompetent front office and coach, that's exactly it.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Wait a minute, last year's team won 50 games and after looking at how we are playing this year you think that we won 50 games last year thanks to Lebron deliberately playing poorly??? What are you smoking?

Not smoking a thing - I just watched the games in January that you apparently missed.

If you don't think LBJ was being a petulant bitch in some of those games, you either didn't watch, or are just terribly biased in support of him.

Regardless, the argument raised by those who didn't vote for LBJ for MVP wasn't stat-based. It was based on their belief - whether you agree with it or not - that his attitude and "leadership" during a chunk of the season was toxic, and hurt his team.

 

[cavsfever]

We won 50 games and went to the NBA Finals last year and your issue is LBJ being a "petulant bitch" during some regular season games in January. I guess we have different priorities.

Fundamentally the problem with the team was the front office and the terrible decisions they made. I don't blame LBJ for feeling petulant. As for effort, at his age it would be counterproductive for him to give full individual defensive effort over 82 regular season games in the Longabardi defensive scheme. That's just a fact. There is only so much LBJ could do in the regular season. He needed help.

I'll give you this though, at least you are still posting here, unlike some of the most prominent folks advocating the clinically insane "the problem with this team is Lebron" position all through last year.

 

[MediumBaller]

5/20 from 3. 25 free throws. Just disgusting. And the media writing dumbass articles like this makes it even worse. Can't wait for Harden to blow in the playoffs once again.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndic...arden-the-best-offensive-player-ever.amp.html

 

[Dr. Claw]

Why can't that shit ever happen to a Warrior.

My sentiment exactly. (Braymond especially)