The Real MVP

[SoonerBounce13]

Not sure you could find any GM who would take Westbrook over Curry. Curry could easily lead the league in scoring if he wanted but is more interested in winning.

i guess he just started worrying about winning this year?

Are you suggesting that westbrook is more concerned about scoring over winning?

 

[SoonerBounce13]

oh and you were worried about the suns not the pelicans lol

so yeah, you were incorrect there too. but you are kidding yourself if you still think the thunder wouldn't have been comfortably in with serge and KD in the lineup over the last 9 games

 

[Smash Williams]

Its funny to read back through these posts. Somebody says the thunder might not make the playoffs and somebody responds that they will like its a done deal and the poster is clueless. Message boards are great when people just act like other people are wrong when who knows what will happen in sports.

New Orleans was so far back in the race for the 8th seed (3.5 games) on March 26 that the conversation in this thread focused on OKC vs. Phoenix. The Pelicans weren't even mentioned, but credit to them for finishing 8-3 with wins over the Spurs and Warriors.

But I think it was obvious that Westbrook had no business winning MVP. He shot the lowest % out of Curry, Harden, Lebron and Davis, had more turnovers and was the only one not to make the playoffs. If he werent on the THunder none of you would even consider him in the race. He is a young version of Kobe and Melo. Shoot a ton, poor % and lose games without Durant like Kobe loses without Shaq or Gasol and Melo loses his entire career.

The guy who had the highest single-season usage rate in nine years had more turnovers...what's your point? Raw turnover numbers are meaningless without context. The more that a player has the ball in his hands and the more heavily he's relied upon to generate offense, the more he's going to turn the ball over. Thus, the league leaders in turnovers per game in any given season will consist of a who's who of NBA stars.

I have no idea why you wouldn't look at turnover percentage instead, other than it doesn't fit your narrative.

Turnover %
Westbrook 14.3
Curry 14.3
Harden 14.9
LeBron 15.3
Davis 6.3

All of those guys have nearly identical turnover percentages, except for Davis, whose turnover percentage is much lower because his style of play and offensive responsibilities are much different: he’s not responsible for creating shots for others, so a disproportionately high percentage of possessions are shots off the catch (71.5% of Davis’ made FGs were assisted, compared to 23.0% for Westbrook, 27.8% for Harden, 44.4% for Curry, 34.5% for LeBron ).

The amount of responsibility for creating one’s own shot has a direct effect on FG%. A player who gets most of his offense off the dribble is going to fewer wide-open looks than someone more reliant on scoring in catch-and-shoot situations.

The FG% argument--“Player X doesn’t shoot a particularly high FG%, so that means he shoots too much”--also ignores the team context. Is the player in question taking too many shots at the expense of teammates who have better scoring opportunities? It’s not as if Westbrook was surrounded by a fleet of proficient shooters who continually got open because of Scott Brooks’ awesome playcalling. Nonetheless, he was second in the league in assist percentage.

A lot of fans underestimate the value of shot creation, especially when a team has very few of them and also lacks an offensive system that consistently generates clean looks for guys who can’t get their own shot off the dribble.

The Thunder were 22-18 in games Westbrook played without Durant (a 45.1-win pace). The Pelicans were 39-29 in games Davis played (a 47-win pace). That’s not much of a difference. Was Anthony Davis’ supporting cast that much worse, or was he also garbage like Westbrook?

Kobe’s teams went 45-37 and 42-40 in the two full seasons he played without Gasol or Shaq. The that players had the most starts on those teams during that two-year period: Smush Parker, Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, Brian Cook, Luke Walton, and Chris Mihm. Those were Kobe’s starters. It’s a miracle that one of those teams won 45 games. But Kobe’s a loser because he couldn’t single-handedly make that team a contender. Same with Westbrook and that stacked roster of his this season.

If he werent on the THunder none of you would even consider him in the race.

So Westbrook was mentioned in the national MVP conversation for the second half of the season simply because of Thunder fans?

 

[Smash Williams]

There was nothing ridiculous about my accurate prediction the Thunder should be worried about making the playoffs on March 25. I looked at their schedule and it was easy to see they were in danger. Sure enough they lost 7 of their next 9.

You were referring to the Suns catching the Thunder.

You made zero mention of New Orleans.

 

[bocabull]

I never said the Suns would make the playoffs. I said the Thunder should be worried about making it. I simply said their 3 game lead could be gone in 4 days because they played later that day against the Spurs, then at Utah, then at the Suns. Then they had games against the Rockets, Spurs, Mavs, etc. The Pelicans were right with them the entire time. Thunder lost em all and missed the playoffs. lol @ Thunder mind readers somehow claiming I was wrong.

 

[Eielson]

The real MVP is Anthony Davis. I don't mind Steph getting it, though. I would have put RW at about 4.

 

[bocabull]

The real MVP is Anthony Davis. I don't mind Steph getting it, though. I would have put RW at about 4.

His day is coming. Especially if they hire Alvin Gentry to take them to the next level.