OT Finals MVP Voting

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Wizard Mentor, Jun 17, 2015.

  1. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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  2. blue9

    blue9 Well-Known Member

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    For some perspective, here's Iggy's stats vs Nic's:

    Iggy // Nic (Nic from 13/14)
    MPG: 36.8 // 41.8 (41.7)
    PPG: 16.3 // 14.2 (15.2)
    RPG: 5.8 // 8.6 (7.6)
    APG: 4.0 // 5.2 (4.8)
    SPG: 1.3 // 0.2 (1.4)
    FG%: 52.1 // 34.3 (.472)
    3P%: .400 // .333 (.350)
    FT%: .357 // .769 (.800)

    Other than Iggy shooting MUCH better than he typically shoots (while Nic shot MUCH worse than he normally shoots), there's not much difference. And I'm confident that Nic could "hold" LBJ to 36/13/9. Yet one is a Finals MVP and the other is a scape goat for his team's lack of success.

    Edit: To clarify - those are Iggy's stats as provided by WM, and Nic's Playoff stats from the past two seasons.
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2015
  3. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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    Which player was more valuable to their team?

    The one who single-handedly carried his team, and was the only reason they were competitive in any of the games?

    Or the one who benefited on offense from not being a defensive focus, and who gave up historical numbers to the guy he was supposed to be guarding?

    Hmmm....I'm no Lebron fan, but this is obvious.
     
    dviss1, rig, blue9 and 2 others like this.
  4. handiman

    handiman Well-Known Member

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    Is there any doubt that LeBron would have shot significantly better than 40% if Iggy wasn't guarding him most of the time? (Anyone know the breakdown of his FG% against various defenders for the series?) I'm only mildly impressed by LeBron's scoring numbers, taking into account how many shots it took to get them.

    There's no value in losing, as far as I'm concerned, so a losing team cannot have the Most Valuable Player.
     
  5. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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    As to the first part, possibly. Also, he may have shot better if he wasn't asked to be super human, and been the entire focus of the defense.

    As to the second, respectfully disagree. A player has no value unless his team wins the championship? It takes a team. And he is only one player.
     
  6. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    LBJ hurt his team by shooting so poorly. He actually missed a lot of easy shots. It would be interesting to know how LeBron shot while Iggy was guarding him.
     
  7. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    Stephen Curry should have won hands down.

    An argument can easily be made that LeBron actually held his team down by monopolizing the ball, and they did get quite soundly stomped.

    If the 2 teams had traded Curry and LeBron at the start of the year, Cleveland would have won this finals against some Western team not located in California.
     
  8. blue9

    blue9 Well-Known Member

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    Whoaaaaa! So LBJ couldn't carry that team but Curry would have? Respectfully disagree.
    I think it's entirely plausible that simply swapping JR Smith for a healthy Wes could have changed the outcome of the Finals.
     
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  9. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    You say carry, I say held back.

    No team has ever been "carried" to the NBA Finals by one player.

    Not even Jordan could do it. He had to be paired with other top-tier players and some very solid role players AND THEN he still had to find ways to help each of them play at their fullest potential.

    This is what Curry has done.

    LeBron overshadows players and reduces their opportunities to contribute, then badmouths them while claiming he's the best. I can't think of a single player that is a better player because of LeBron.
     
  10. cmeese47

    cmeese47 Well-Known Member

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    Prior to game 6 I saw some stats with Iggy vs Lebron. Lebron when guard by Iggy at that point was shooting 33.1% and he was only able to make 2 assisted field goals vs 16 when others had guarded him.
     
  11. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    That's what I was thinking happened, hence the MVP.
     
  12. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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    I would have voted for Curry. MVP of his team, he made his teammates better, and his team won.
     
  13. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

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    It takes a lot to piss me off. This pisses me off.

    There will be a very public firestorm across the NBA over LeBron James being denied this award.
     
  14. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    Iggy did such a great job on Lebron that he only averaged more points, rebounds and assists of anyone on either team.
     
  15. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    Iggy never looked gassed or out of shape in this whole series while staying in LBJ's grill the whole time. I thought he was MVP hands down over Curry or James. Some folks just love scoring champs
     
  16. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    LeBron did such a great job on Iggy that he averaged more losses in the finals this year than any player on the Warriors.

    In fact, LeBron's record vs. Iggy when both started: 0-3. The cavs didn't win one f-ing game.

    Truth is no one deserved finals MVP this year, LBJ included. However, they had to give it to someone.
     
  17. handiman

    handiman Well-Known Member

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    You're right. I oversimplified and overstated it to make a point. This is about the Finals MVP. In my opinion, the only thing that matters at that stage is winning. It's not like the regular season and early playoff rounds where you're jockeying for position or advancement. In the Finals, you either won or you lost. Therefore, in simplistic terms, a losing team's player shouldn't merit MVP consideration because they didn't do the one thing of utmost importance: win.
     
  18. Run BJM

    Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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    I wonder if many of you even watched the series. No one on the Warriors could do anything to bother LBJ except for Iggy. IMO if he wasn't on the roster we lose the series for sure.

    But to answer your questions:

    http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/201...andre-iguodala-game-finds-acceptance-warriors
     
  19. rig

    rig New Member

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    Really? There is no question Cleveland would not have made the Finals if LeBron wasn't there. They didn't exactly light up the weak eastern conference with a healthy Kyrie and the cast the last few seasons...did they even make the playoffs..?

    Whilst LeBron shot an awful lot in this series, it's not like the role players contributed greatly when he deferred. JR and Shump missed an awful lot of wide open shots generated off of Lebron, which is no fault of his own.
     
  20. Run BJM

    Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Its been interesting to hear the different arguments and different rationalizations. Wouldn't have been upset if any of the LeBron, Dre, or Curry won it. I would have voted Andre with LeBron as a close second and Curry third.
     

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