Board 8 > I just bet $1,000 that Russel Westbrook will win MVP

(+) Yeah! (+)

fingers crossed the writers have a real change of heart over the last few weeks
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What are the odds right now
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I think Harden is slightly favored
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seems like kawhite a bad bet
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You put in $1000? How much do you win?
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Extha bout to be on Harden times
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I dislike both Harden and Westbrook so I hope neither win :|
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ya go my kawhi
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It'll be harden i feel. Westbrook has put up better numbers but since the rockets are better that'll swing the vote
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Isaiah Thomas
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If Westbrook is still averaging a triple double he'll have a case

Otherwise yeah it's probably the Beard
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Rockets are also more improved YoY so that helps Harden a lot.
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You'll never see that $1000 again.

If Spurs take the 1 seed it'll be Kawhi. If not, it's Harden.
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It should be LeBron
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Your bet is looking better. Let's see if the Thunder can win even more games now after beating the Spurs.
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The Thunder need to win at least 12 of their final 17 games for this happen. But if the Rockets also win 12 then no MVP for Westbrook.
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MZero11 posted...

Isaiah Thomas

KING IN THE FOURTH!
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here's my rankings on what I think will happen

1. Harden
2. Leonard
3. Westbrook
4. James
5. Durant

and what I think should happen

1. Harden
2. James
3. Westbrook
4. Leonard
5. Durant

I'd be okay with Westbrook winning but every case you make for him you can make for Harden. the only exception is that Westbrook just happens to be above 10 rebounds a game.
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Harden will probably win because he's having a similar season but his team has won more games.
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Harden: 29/8/12, .620 TS%, 44-21
Westbrook: 32/11/10, .547 TS%, 36-29
James: 26/8/9, .615 TS%, 42-21

Harden's efficiency plus having the best record of the three puts him over the top, I think

I guess you could throw Leonard in here but I don't know, I don't see him as being on these guys' level
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James Harden is going to break the single season turnover record by 50 turnovers, and Westbrook will probably also break the turnover record. If either one wins MVP over Lebron then these MVP voters are morons.

Lebron > Kawhi > Durant > everyone else.
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transience posted...

Harden: 29/8/12, .620 TS%, 44-21
Westbrook: 32/11/10, .547 TS%, 36-29
James: 26/8/9, .615 TS%, 42-21

Harden's efficiency plus having the best record of the three puts him over the top, I think

I guess you could throw Leonard in here but I don't know, I don't see him as being on these guys' level

Kawhi actually plays defense. His issue is his team is no worse when he's off the floor. When Lebron is off the floor the Cavs are 12-15 points worse.
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yeah, the numbers when Lebron takes a day off is insane. that's the only reason I put him high because he can't compete statistically with Harden or Westbrook.
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Kawhi gets punished because his team isn't completely dependent on him for their success

it's kind of a weird metric that I feel like only the NBA uses for its MVP discussion because you can win the MVP on a last place team in baseball
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I don't think that's true - granted I don't ever watch baseball anymore but there was always a value on success there.

Durant is more punished than Kawhi. Durant's been incredible this year but it's so easy to write it off because he's got so many other MVPs over there.
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UItimaterializer posted...

James Harden is going to break the single season turnover record by 50 turnovers, and Westbrook will probably also break the turnover record. If either one wins MVP over Lebron then these MVP voters are morons.

Lebron > Kawhi > Durant > everyone else.

How many more touches are they getting on average?
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Yeah I feel like that was only true in baseball when like, A-Rod was on the Rangers and his numbers were overwhelmingly superior to everyone else.

It's certainly not something that happens with regularity....
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Who would magic Johnson pick as mvp?
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and basketball is more defined by single players so I don't think the success metric is necessarily bad. you can hit .400 and have 60 home runs in baseball and not dramatically change the entire game like you can in basketball. I'm not opposed to a guy winning from a lower team -- I remember being big on McGrady in 2003 when he put up insane numbers and was clearly the best player in the game that year. Westbrook just isn't doing anything dramatically better than Harden.
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Mike Trout says hello
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that said, I always check Westbrook's box score first when looking at stats each morning
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What about Curry? Or is this year not being as ridiculous as the other two enough to knock him out?
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transience posted...

Durant is more punished than Kawhi. Durant's been incredible this year but it's so easy to write it off because he's got so many other MVPs over there.

Oh, I agree Durant has somehow become an underrated player by going to a better team.

And yeah, I think people care more about Westbrook's box scores than Harden's because there's the chase for the triple-double average (Robertson didn't win the MVP the year he did it either, for what it's worth).
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It should be Harden or James.

No one else really has an argument because Harden outdoes Westbrook in every metric
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VeryInsane posted...

What about Curry? Or is this year not being as ridiculous as the other two enough to knock him out?

Curry's not even top 5
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I kinda figured given how crazy Harden/James/Westbrook have been but I haven't really followed basketball much this year
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LeonhartFour posted...

transience posted...

Durant is more punished than Kawhi. Durant's been incredible this year but it's so easy to write it off because he's got so many other MVPs over there.

Oh, I agree Durant has somehow become an underrated player by going to a better team.

And yeah, I think people care more about Westbrook's box scores than Harden's because there's the chase for the triple-double average (Robertson didn't win the MVP the year he did it either, for what it's worth).

Wilt averaged 50 and 25

Also didn't win
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I think the most astounding stat about Wilt's 50 ppg season might be that he averaged 48.5 minutes per game.

Also: football absolutely counts wins for the MVP vote.
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Football tends to just be the best player on the best team, especially the Heisman in college. There are exceptions though.
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AP won one year as his team was the 6th seed, right?

Most recent one I remember from Football. Heisman had a few that didn't go to the BCS Bowl that I can think of
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AD was Offensive Player of the Year I think. Peyton won MVP that year IIRC?

I don't know jack about college football. Was referring to the NFL.
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Yeah, Peterson won the MVP the year he almost broke the rushing record.

Technically, Matt Ryan wasn't the best player on the best team this year for the Falcons. He was the QB on the best offense though. A lot of people wanted to give it to Brady though even after he missed a quarter of the season!

VeryInsane posted...

Heisman had a few that didn't go to the BCS Bowl that I can think of

Well, you had Lamar Jackson this year, but he was so statistically insane that it was hard to ignore and no one else really stepped up to give him a fight. Manziel and RG3 won the Heisman in years they didn't go to BCS bowls, too. The year Tebow won the Heisman was the one year he didn't contend for the national championship, too!
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transience posted...

yeah, the numbers when Lebron takes a day off is insane. that's the only reason I put him high because he can't compete statistically with Harden or Westbrook.

He could if he wanted to, but he plays basketball like Magic.
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The Ballon D'Or has to be one of the weirder sports MVP trophies.

It counts performance not just during a regular season, but for the equivalents of the playoffs and even international play.

Like it pretty much takes into account anything the players have participated in, instead of just the regular season.
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ah, whoops. peyton won MVP the next year.
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From 2003 to 2013, Peyton won the MVP 5 times. That's kind of insane.
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KokoroAkechi posted...

UItimaterializer posted...

James Harden is going to break the single season turnover record by 50 turnovers, and Westbrook will probably also break the turnover record. If either one wins MVP over Lebron then these MVP voters are morons.

Lebron > Kawhi > Durant > everyone else.

How many more touches are they getting on average?

Westbrook just had a half where he decided 38 of 44 possessions for his team, which for me is a mark against him. He in no way makes teammates better.

His team lost that game. No surprise there.
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Yeah Peyton won Comeback that year cause of neck surgery
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Eddv posted...

It should be Harden or James.

No one else really has an argument because Harden outdoes Westbrook in every metric

Harden is going to finish the season with 470 turnovers. Westbrook probably has 435 or so. Neither are MVP when you're doing the one thing you can't do with the ball.
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LeonhartFour posted...

From 2003 to 2013, Peyton won the MVP 5 times. That's kind of insane.

yeah but from 2002 to 2017 tom brady won the super bowl 5 times

completely irrelevant to the discussion but i just remembered that happy statistic
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