Race to the MVP.

[An Unbiased Fan]

Nobody is a notch above anybody yet. People need to clam down and realize it's only been around 10 games so far.

[IGSaint]

Yeah I don't know where this cut above the rest regarding lebron and durant is coming from when we are only 10 games in the season. If the lakers get back being the type of team everyone thought they should be and kobe continues at his current pace and if the knicks as well as melo continue their pace. I can honestly see a 4 way race between kobe, melo, durant, and lebron.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Kobe with a trible double on over 50% shooting...to be fair Durant had a better game, but damn Kobe's killing...leading the league in scoring on elite efficiency and has picked up the playmaking in the absence of Nash. Both KD and Kobe make serious jumps tonight....I'm not one of those people who has a list that he's always updating I'll leave that for the others...Lebron would still be number one on that list though

[fallacy]

Durant drops a game of 25 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 8-16 fg, 3-5 3pt



Durant's last five games he's averaging 28/10/5/2/2 on .53/.60/.93 shooting while dominating defensively. This is just insane

Durant's playing well, but everytime his assist numbers are brought up his to's should also be brought up. He was great in that aspect today, but he's been pretty damn bad for the whole year.

not saying his turnovers numbers aren't bad, but the hate he gets on his playmaking is a little much. Remember how everyone thought Harden was the best playmaker on the Thunder and how Harden was going to be a huge playmaker now that he has primary ball handling duties on the Rockets?

Harden - 4.9 assists/g, 4.2 turnovers/g. 1.16 ast/to
Durant - 4.6 assists/g, 3.8 tunovers/g. 1.21 ast/to

Durant doesn't even have jumpshooters to pass it to. Perkins and Sefolosha are terrible scorers and Westbrook is shooting under 40% on the season. The only real shooters he can pass it to are Martin and Ibaka.

[og15]

Why are you hating on Sefolosha to pump up Durant, that isn't necessary. Sefolosha isn't a big scorer, but he shot 43.7% 3PT last season and is shooting 50% FG and 57.1% 3PT so far this season. Nick Collison is pretty money himself from 16-23, though he isn't shooting a lot.

Also, if you are comparing to Harden, Jeremy Lin (35.5% FG, 26.7% 3PT), Chandler Parsons (40.6% FG, 35.2% 3PT), Patrick Patterson (26.7% 3PT, though his mid-range is good), and Carlos Delfino (31.9% 3PT, though he's generally a better shooter than this), and the teams 31.1% 3PT shooting as a whole doesn't help your case.

The point is there, Durant is showing about as much playmaking as Harden, relative to turnovers, but no need to make it seem like Durant is hampered in being able to put up assists, and Harden has great shooters around him to pass to.

[fallacy]

Why are you hating on Sefolosha to pump up Durant, that isn't necessary. Sefolosha isn't a big scorer, but he shot 43.7% 3PT last season and is shooting 50% FG and 57.1% 3PT so far this season. Nick Collison is pretty money himself from 16-23, though he isn't shooting a lot.

Also, if you are comparing to Harden, Jeremy Lin (35.5% FG, 26.7% 3PT), Chandler Parsons (40.6% FG, 35.2% 3PT), Patrick Patterson (26.7% 3PT, though his mid-range is good), and Carlos Delfino (31.9% 3PT, though he's generally a better shooter than this), and the teams 31.1% 3PT shooting as a whole doesn't help your case.

The point is there, Durant is showing about as much playmaking as Harden, relative to turnovers, but no need to make it seem like Durant is hampered in being able to put up assists, and Harden has great shooters around him to pass to.

I'm not, I just knew the first response to my post would be, "But Durant is on the Thunder and Harden is on the Rockets, Durant should be averaging 8 assists a game on a team that stacked!"

I agree that Durant and Harden have comparable shooters around them

[og15]

Well, lucky for you I responded, and no, Durant should not be averaging 8 assists on the Thunder, lol. I think the Thunder have better shooters by merit of Kevin Martin alone, but Sefolosha's continued shooting improvement, and Ibaka seemingly being even more automatic from mid-range certainly helps. I don't think anyone significant on Houston is comparable to Martin though. Marcus Morris is the best shooter so far this season, but I don't think it would make much difference. Harden isn't just learning to be a playmaker, he's learning to play a different role than he's used to, and the Rockets also need to learn to put him in better positions to succeed.

Lucky for them, their offense isn't even that bad, their defense though, well...

[starvinmarvin17]

I dont mean a notch above everyone else in the mvp voting i just meant those are a notch better than the others as players like the last two or three season dicate. Especially with durant improving every year and bron being bron. My actual mvp list right now has melo first i judt dont know
If he will stay first all year

[TheGarden]

I dont mean a notch above everyone else in the mvp voting i just meant those are a notch better than the others as players like the last two or three season dicate. Especially with durant improving every year and bron being bron. My actual mvp list right now has melo first i judt dont know
If he will stay first all year

Carmelo is going to have to become a stat whore to win the MVP

[Luv those Knicks]

I dont mean a notch above everyone else in the mvp voting i just meant those are a notch better than the others as players like the last two or three season dicate. Especially with durant improving every year and bron being bron. My actual mvp list right now has melo first i judt dont know
If he will stay first all year

Carmelo is going to have to become a stat whore to win the MVP

Either that or the Knicks need to win like 68-70 games. I think if the Knicks pull off a crazy win total, Melo would have to get consideration. It's obvious he won't put up the assist numbers that LeMedia or Durant will and he's probably stay below those 2 in shooting percentage too and rebounds, but if the Knicks win a crazy amount of games I think he'll have to get consideration, even if his "stats" aren't as good.

[MaliBrah]

lol lebron has to have the most nicknames that are play ons of his first name

[GeneralNbaFan]

Why did Rose get the mvp ? So should Carmello.... he is not the best player (oviously, but plays top 5 right now) but hist team have the most success right now

[fallacy]

Comparing the two leaders stats on 11/19/12

Durant - 25 pts, 11 rebs, 5 asts, 2 stls, 1 blks, 4 tos, 51 fg%/47 3pt%/89 ft%
Lebron - 25 pts, 9 rebs, 7 asts, 1 stls, 1 blks, 2 tos, 52 fg%/44 3pt%/66 ft%


effeciency

Durant - 26.3 PER, .624 ts%, .552 eFg%, 113 OffRtg, 97 DefRtg, 1.3 OWS, .8 DWS, 2.1 WS
Lebron - 28.9 PER, .580 ts%, .558 eFg%, 119 OffRtg, 105 DefRtg, 1.7 OWS, .4 DWS, 2.1 WS

[MrHidden]

Comparing the two leaders stats on 11/19/12

Durant - 25 pts, 11 rebs, 5 asts, 2 stls, 1 blks, 4 tos, 51 fg%/47 3pt%/89 ft%
Lebron - 25 pts, 9 rebs, 7 asts, 1 stls, 1 blks, 2 tos, 52 fg%/44 3pt%/66 ft%


effeciency

Durant - 26.3 PER, .624 ts%, .552 eFg%, 113 OffRtg, 97 DefRtg, 1.3 OWS, .8 DWS, 2.1 WS
Lebron - 28.9 PER, .580 ts%, .558 eFg%, 119 OffRtg, 105 DefRtg, 1.7 OWS, .4 DWS, 2.1 WS

both are insanely good

[fallacy]

Darnell Mayberry ‏@DarnellMayberry
Durant has been named Western Conference Player of the Week. He averaged a conference-best 28.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 5.8 apg, 1.75 spg & 1.75 bpg.

[Father Time]

Kobe: 27.4 PER, .638 ts%, .576 eFg%, 124 OffRtg, 103 DefRtg, 1.8 OWS, .4 DWS, 2.2 WS.

[IGSaint]

Kobe: 27.4 PER, .638 ts%, .576 eFg%, 124 OffRtg, 103 DefRtg, 1.8 OWS, .4 DWS, 2.2 WS.

So kobe is playing better than both lebron and durant right now, the only thing holding him back is the lakers record. I expect kobe to be in strong consideration for the mvp as the lakers record gets better.

[Luv those Knicks]

Why did Rose get the mvp ? So should Carmello.... he is not the best player (oviously, but plays top 5 right now) but hist team have the most success right now

This is a good point. People forget that MVP voting isn't always for the best player. There is some "lets give it to this guy this year" going on. I'm not saying Melo is the favorite, but he's in the running, provided the Knicks win a lot of games this year and end up with the #1 seed in the east.

Durant's I think the favorite.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Comparing the two leaders stats on 11/19/12

Durant - 25 pts, 11 rebs, 5 asts, 2 stls, 1 blks, 4 tos, 51 fg%/47 3pt%/89 ft%
Lebron - 25 pts, 9 rebs, 7 asts, 1 stls, 1 blks, 2 tos, 52 fg%/44 3pt%/66 ft%


effeciency

Durant - 26.3 PER, .624 ts%, .552 eFg%, 113 OffRtg, 97 DefRtg, 1.3 OWS, .8 DWS, 2.1 WS
Lebron - 28.9 PER, .580 ts%, .558 eFg%, 119 OffRtg, 105 DefRtg, 1.7 OWS, .4 DWS, 2.1 WS

Kobe's stats are as good, if not better, than Lebron's and Durant's.

[fallacy]

Comparing the two leaders stats on 11/19/12

Durant - 25 pts, 11 rebs, 5 asts, 2 stls, 1 blks, 4 tos, 51 fg%/47 3pt%/89 ft%
Lebron - 25 pts, 9 rebs, 7 asts, 1 stls, 1 blks, 2 tos, 52 fg%/44 3pt%/66 ft%


effeciency

Durant - 26.3 PER, .624 ts%, .552 eFg%, 113 OffRtg, 97 DefRtg, 1.3 OWS, .8 DWS, 2.1 WS
Lebron - 28.9 PER, .580 ts%, .558 eFg%, 119 OffRtg, 105 DefRtg, 1.7 OWS, .4 DWS, 2.1 WS

Kobe's stats are as good, if not better, than Lebron's and Durant's.

Which would be great if his team wasn't 8th in the west, not won a road game, and not even a game over .500. I'm speaking currently and Kobe is not in the top 2 of the MVP race currently due to his team.

Now if you want to talk about the future of the MVP race and Kobe, that's a completely different discussion. Kobe will have to maintain his career high percentages throughout this season because frankly his raw numbers are nowhere near Durant and Lebron's right now.

26/6/5/2/0
25/11/5/2/1
25/9/7/1/1