Now first off, I am aware of the skepticism from those that know me of my bias to this particular topic, however, I am going to hopefully back up my belief that Russel Westbrook should win the MVP this season with factual information, as well as a little of my opinion.
1-This is a 4-horse race to most people. To me, it should only be 3. Russel Westbrook, James Harden and Steph Curry all are in the Western Conference, a far superior conference than the East. Lebron James, who is the best player in the world right now, is playing teams like the Knicks, Magic and 76ers on a consistent basis while the 3 studs in the West, have to go toe to toe against each other! The fact that Lebron is in the East should discredit him for MVP of this season (His numbers don't match up to Westbrook either.) Yes he is the best in the world, but he's not the best this year. Lets not forget that Lebron, when healthy, has played with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving all season!
2-Now that I've voiced a little opinion on narrowing it down to 3 players, let me throw some facts at you to SHOW you why Westbrook is the MVP. Here are the stat lines for the 3 remaining candidates.
Westbrook- 27 ppg, 8.2 apg, 7 rpg 2.1 stlpg in 33.2 minutes of action a night. His PER is 29.91
Harden- 26.9 ppg, 7 apg, 5.8 rpg, 1.9 stlpg in 36.7 minutes of action a night. His PER is 26.95.
Curry- 23.8 ppg, 7.8 apg, 4.5 rpg, 2.1 stlpg in 33.2 minutes of action a night. His PER is 27.92.
As anyone with eyes could see, Westbrook has the best numbers right now. The only thing that is holding him back from being the clear cut runaway right now, is the fact that the Thunder are in 8th place in the West while Curry and Harden are in 1st and 4th respectfully. This is a positive to Westbrooks MVP chase believe it or not. The Thunder started the season 3-12 with a multitude of injures as we all know. Once they became 100% healthy, it was only temporary. Durant went back down, Adams got injured, and the weight of the season rested on Westbrooks super-hero shoulders. Thought of to many as not a "true" point guard, Westbrook began to literally do EVERYTHING to help his team win. Hes now amassed 4 straight triple doubles and 6 this season! Now I never understood what people meant by a "true" anything. What's a "true" small forward, a "true" power forward? That is a topic for a different day.
With Durants absence, Westbrook as jolted the Thunder who, at one point this season, literally had only 3 guys sitting on their bench for a game while 5 were on the floor and they included Ish Smith, Lance Thomas and Sebastian Telfair, to a surging Thunder team with a much different look. Yes Sam Presti has done an excellent job going out and getting talented players who buy in and getting rid of one player who was too selfish to buy in...Yea I'm talking to you Reggie Jackson! With that being said, Westbrook as brought this team back to, not only relevancy, but to the exciting powerhouse we've come to see in recent years. I would assume that Steph Curry would gladly give up the MVP trophy to either one of the other 2 guys to NOT have to face a Thunder team with Russel Westbrook playing the way he is, a RESTED healthy KD and a supporting cast who has all elevated their games.They have all elevated their games because of the dominance, power and brilliance of the 2014-2015 MVP, Russel Westbrook.
Joe - Lebron has dominated everyone over the past few months since he came back healthy...east/west doesn't really matter. I think he ran off like 7 wins in a row against Western Conference teams before going down to the Rockets on the road. Bottom line is this, if the Thunder don't make the playoffs (and its not set in stone), Anthony Davis is finally back after missing some games, then Rus should not win. If they stay in the same spot they are in and don't really get any better but Rus puts up crazy numbers is he really that deserving? I'm the biggest AI fan you will ever meet and no one had inflated amazing numbers more then him and there team was just average. I'd go with Harden. Lost Chandler Parsons, Dwight and Terrance have been out most of the year. He's carried the load, stayed healthy and put there team in the top 3 of the conference.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that for sure about Harden...But what you said about Lebron...Westbrook as been putting up far superior numbers than Lebron over the past month and change. He's averaging a triple double and his team is 10-3! Harden is a strong choice, but if KD and Russ had been healthy, the Thunder could possibly be in the top 4 spots and this wouldn't even be an argument I don't think. Westbrook isn't inflating his stats by any means, he is doing everything to win. With KD being out, I think its really showing how complete of a basketball player Westbrook can be. Also...Harden does not play defense. Westbrook is a pretty lock-down defender and gives his full effort on both ends of the floor.
ReplyDeleteThe real question becomes....is this now Westbrooks team? I think so. SO when Durant comes back they will need to continue to work through Russ and have him be the facilitator
ReplyDeleteJoe - Also read something crazy this morning regarding last nights game. Again, as great as Russ's numbers were it took OT to beat the worst team in the NBA at home. And how about the other starters on the team? Combined 12 points...are they just standing there in awe waiting to get passed to? Not going to win any game, let alone a series if you get that production from your starters. MY BOY NOEL gave it to Ibaka too.
ReplyDeleteYea I know. Well it seems as though Philly got HOT from beyond the line, which happens from time to time. They were knocking down everything. Yea Ibaka did nothing, Singler and Roberson barely made it out of the lockerroom and Kanter didn't play well. Luckily our depth prevailed and showed that if the starters aren't playing well...again it happens from time to time...we have a DEEP bench that can bail out the team. I'm looking at it more of a positive for the bench rather a negative for the starters (who were still missing 2 of them in KD and Adams)
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ReplyDeleteAnother great game by russ, another loss. Whose talking about MVP? His five game stretch has been unbelievable but the teams record?? 2 wins, 3 losses with one of those wins coming in OT against the Sixers and the other a win against the Lakers. Thunder need to worry more about locking in that 8th seed instead of Russ going off. Is Brooks even coaching anymore? Its as if the coach has been a fan just like all of us...love watching him go off instead of actually trying to win ball games.
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