MVP discussion thread

[Kilroy]

Could it have something to do with Kobe being out and not instigating the 40+pt games out of the other big guys?

Is this actually a thing? Like, when Kobe goes off, do other players around the league also have good games?

I mean, Kobe's been 'going off' for almost 2 decades now... It's been a while since there wasn't a Kobe threatening to score 40 a game for several games in a row every season... So who knows what effect that had on guys from LeBron to Arenas...

But nobody has really gone off this season yet... And to be honest, the big names... LeBron, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, etc, haven't really looked as sharp as they have in past seasons... At least IMO...

So not sure what the reason for that is... Just thinking out loud.

[EArl]

Lebron had a pretty bad game tonight.

13 points 6 rebounds 5 assist on 46.2 fg%

Worst was his 33 % free throw shooting and his three turnovers

[xStanton27]

Lebron had a pretty bad game tonight.

13 points 6 rebounds 5 assist on 46.2 fg%

Worst was his 33 % free throw shooting and his three turnovers

yeah rough night, was benched the whole 4th quarter

[EArl]

Lebron had a pretty bad game tonight.

13 points 6 rebounds 5 assist on 46.2 fg%

Worst was his 33 % free throw shooting and his three turnovers

yeah rough night, was benched the whole 4th quarter

Still doesn't change the three turnovers and the free throw shooting though.

[HilltopperJay]

Lebron had a pretty bad game tonight.

13 points 6 rebounds 5 assist on 46.2 fg%

Worst was his 33 % free throw shooting and his three turnovers

yeah rough night, was benched the whole 4th quarter

Still doesn't change the three turnovers and the free throw shooting though.

I mean...he took 3 free throws tonight. I don't think too many other people would qualify missing two free throws in a single game horrendous, but to each their own.

He also didn't have a bad game by any stretch of the imagination (except perhaps only by his lofty standards). The Hawks were pretty much loading up on LeBron, he was the catalyst for a lot of crisp ball movement that lead to a lot of open looks.

It was only a bad game if you only look at the box score and nothing else. Certainly nothing magnificent, but "bad" definitely doesn't fit the bill either.

[Pure_Basketball]

Lol saying he shot 33% from the free throw line when he only took 3. Who cares...

[bbms]

Current top 10 in scoring (excluding FT's):


1. Lebron James - 21.9ppg
2. Kevin Love - 20.1ppg
3. Carmelo Anthony - 20.1ppg
4. Lamarcus Aldridge - 19.6ppg
5. Blake Griffin - 18.9ppg
5. Klay Thompson - 18.9ppg
7. Kevin Martin - 18.3ppg
7. Paul George - 18.3ppg
7. Kevin Durant - 18.3ppg
10. Bradley Beal - 18.1ppg

How's that relevant?

[kingkirk]

Games like this will hurt Lebron and his chances this season. Not so much the numbers but the minutes.

They're cruising right now and trumped the Hawks by double digits with Lebron playing 31 minutes.

[DivineFury]

Games like this will hurt Lebron and his chances this season. Not so much the numbers but the minutes.

They're cruising right now and trumped the Hawks by double digits with Lebron playing 31 minutes.

Think this will be Durant's year for the MVP personally.

[Shv3d]

Games like this will hurt Lebron and his chances this season. Not so much the numbers but the minutes.

They're cruising right now and trumped the Hawks by double digits with Lebron playing 31 minutes.

Think this will be Durant's year for the MVP personally.

Games against the Atlanta Hawks in November will have zero effect on MVP voting. And I don't think the voters are going to give it Durant if the only improvement in his game is from the refs babying him even more.

[Doctor MJ]

Is it me, or are the individual performances down this season? Durant's gotten his a few times but not like seasons past...
Could it have something to do with Kobe being out and not instigating the 40+pt games out of the other big guys?

Or are guys just trying to be more complete? It seems like it's kinda been a sleeper so far this season as far as Star-Power goes.

The general trend we've seen is that volume scoring is diminishing as teams embrace strategies which are better suited to optimize team efficiency (role player 3 point shooting being probably the biggest shift). This is also why the 2 best players of this era are volume scoring, but at volume below their capacity and at ever increasing efficiencies far higher than we're really used to seeing anyone doing, particularly from the perimeter.

To the extent Kobe's involved with the absence, he's basically the embodiment of a top tier talent with an old way of thinking. As he and his generation go into that long good night, expect these trends to continue - and yes, in part because the glamour that Kobe got for his mentality undoubtedly looked pretty sexy to other players.

[Hero]

Games like this will hurt Lebron and his chances this season. Not so much the numbers but the minutes.

They're cruising right now and trumped the Hawks by double digits with Lebron playing 31 minutes.

Yep but in the long run it helps the Heat as a team so I think he'll take that. I very much like KD's chances. I thought Dwight or Harden could make some noise with Houston but I greatly over estimated that team and their coach. Chris Paul has a good shot but like Klove, I worry about the team record.

This could end up being a 3 man race between the top 3 SFs in the league.

[Doctor MJ]

Games like this will hurt Lebron and his chances this season. Not so much the numbers but the minutes.

They're cruising right now and trumped the Hawks by double digits with Lebron playing 31 minutes.

Yep but in the long run it helps the Heat as a team so I think he'll take that. I very much like KD's chances. I thought Dwight or Harden could make some noise with Houston but I greatly over estimated that team and their coach. Chris Paul has a good shot but like Klove, I worry about the team record.

This could end up being a 3 man race between the top 3 SFs in the league.

My first thought when I read that last line:

Wait, who's the 3rd best SF in the league again? There's LeBron, Durant, and...

[mopper8]

Games like this will hurt Lebron and his chances this season. Not so much the numbers but the minutes.

They're cruising right now and trumped the Hawks by double digits with Lebron playing 31 minutes.

Yep but in the long run it helps the Heat as a team so I think he'll take that. I very much like KD's chances. I thought Dwight or Harden could make some noise with Houston but I greatly over estimated that team and their coach. Chris Paul has a good shot but like Klove, I worry about the team record.

This could end up being a 3 man race between the top 3 SFs in the league.

I actually disagree that the Atlanta game hurts Lebron. What % of MVP voters are following this stuff night-to-night? Maybe a few national reporters and whichever local guys cover the Heat/Hawks but that's it. At the end of the year Lebron is still going to have studly numbers, so the more team wins the better his case IMO.

[Hero]

I agree that record is most important. If their records are close then nights like this can matter. Imagine similar records and KD is playing 3-4 minutes more a night and putting up 30. I can see the media throwing the MVP to him in that circumstance.

I forgot about the Spurs. They are a legitimate shot at the best record as well which gives Parker a chance. His numbers aren't amazing right now though, 18 6 and 3 but 54%.

Gonna be an interesting race.

[SideshowBob]

Assuming Lebron is done for the night, Miami was a net +40 per 100 possessions with him on the floor tonight (140.5 ORTG, 99.6 DRTG). He was fostering ball movement, drawing defensive attention into the post and finding shooters all night and stayed aggressive enough to keep the Orlando defense going haywire.

[Rasho_libre]

Games like this will hurt Lebron and his chances this season. Not so much the numbers but the minutes.

They're cruising right now and trumped the Hawks by double digits with Lebron playing 31 minutes.

Yep but in the long run it helps the Heat as a team so I think he'll take that. I very much like KD's chances. I thought Dwight or Harden could make some noise with Houston but I greatly over estimated that team and their coach. Chris Paul has a good shot but like Klove, I worry about the team record.

This could end up being a 3 man race between the top 3 SFs in the league.

My first thought when I read that last line:

Wait, who's the 3rd best SF in the league again? There's LeBron, Durant, and...

Paul George

[Greatness]

Paul George has no chance at winning MVP

[Rasho_libre]

Paul George has no chance at winning MVP

No I was just answering his question Paul George is the third best sf in the league

[Doctor MJ]

Yep but in the long run it helps the Heat as a team so I think he'll take that. I very much like KD's chances. I thought Dwight or Harden could make some noise with Houston but I greatly over estimated that team and their coach. Chris Paul has a good shot but like Klove, I worry about the team record.

This could end up being a 3 man race between the top 3 SFs in the league.

My first thought when I read that last line:

Wait, who's the 3rd best SF in the league again? There's LeBron, Durant, and...

Paul George

Ha, thanks. I've been paying enough attention to know the answer, but it's just really hard to see "the top 3 SFs in the league" as a thing.