Shock Defeat wrote:RaptorRed wrote:Shock Defeat wrote:How about I phrase it this way, the Rockets are an elite team with an elite record. To me any team that is elite is a contender. The Thunder are a marginal subpar team.
You're just phrasing how you want to phrase it to improve your point for Harden MVP. A contender is a team that has a realistic chance at winning the title , in the NBA a random team cannot win the title , it's impossible in a 7 game series the better team always wins unless a freak injury happens. Now , do the rockets have any sort of chance of winning the title ? the answer is no, even if they somehow beat the spurs , they still have to beat the warriors and cavs. This is impossible. They are not a contender.
And your definition is way more subjective than mine. You can make an argument that no team is a contender outside of GS this year. In any given year you could exclude 29 teams from being a "contender" if you think that there is a favorite for the title.
I'd rather stick with a simple definition, is the team elite or not? If you're elite, you're a contender.
Please define elite and contender