warrior godfather

Chapter 700
As Harden got his 21st triple-double of the season and led the team to defeat the Timberwolves, the 2016-2017 regular season also came to an end.

Harden's triple-double is only half of that of Westbrook, but in the post-match interview, when the reporter asked Harden about his views on the ownership of mvp, he was quite confident:
"I played the best season of my career. We will enter the playoffs with the second place in the West. This is not as easy as it seems. I definitely deserve this mvp!"

D'Antoni also praised Harden:
"Starting last summer, really taking over the leadership role, changing the profile and the culture of the team. I told him, 'We're going to put you at point guard, which you've never played before,' and he accepted the challenge and It was a success. He controlled the game, he held the team together. Harden is the best player in the league, or one of the best players. Everything that happened this season and the success we achieved is because of Harden. He is the mvp!"

The Rockets feel that Harden has both statistics and record, so he should be selected as mvp.

On the other hand, when the Thunder were interviewed, they agreed that Westbrook averaged 30+ triple-doubles per game, and the mvp did his part.

Then to the Warriors, the whole team thought that 70 wins topped the league, and Curry should have three consecutive MVPs.

On the Internet, the fans of the three teams are also in contention.

Among them, the Warriors fans are the largest and have an astonishing momentum, but they also make the most enemies. Fans of the Cavaliers, Celtics, Clippers and other teams turned to support Westbrook and Harden, and played against the Warriors fans, not giving in to each other.

The stars they support are far inferior to Curry in terms of record, far inferior to Westbrook in terms of statistics, and inferior to Harden in terms of both record and statistics. They have no chance to compete for the MVP. on line.

Regardless of whether Harden or Westbrook are elected as mvp, they are happy to see their success, but they don't want to see Curry's three consecutive mvp.

Their spat with Warriors fans didn't last long, though.

In November last year, the league announced that the major awards of this season will be issued in June.

On April 4, the league announced that the first annual awards ceremony in NBA history will be held on June 4 in New York, USA.

At that time, active players, retired players, team management and celebrities from all walks of life will be present.

It is worth mentioning that the league also announced that in order to make the selection of major awards in the regular season more fair, it decided to withdraw the voting rights of 30 team reporters, with a total of 90 votes.

What Mark Tatum didn't mention is that this instead provided some convenience for Nike to interfere in the mvp voting.

After all, with fewer voters, there is more room for manipulation.

And although the major awards in the regular season will not be issued uniformly until the end of the playoffs, but in order to avoid the impact of the player's performance in the playoffs on the voting, the voting for the major awards will end before the start of the playoffs.

After some reporters and commentators voted, they announced their voting results on social media.

The media Dream Shake SBN specially set up a real-time tracking website for mvp votes, and counted the voting intentions of 40 media professionals who have confirmed voting rights and 8 media professionals who have not yet confirmed whether they have voting rights.

According to the statistical results, Westbrook, Harden and Curry rank in the top three. Among them, Westbrook won 18 first votes, Harden 12, and Curry 10. After that, Durant and James were too disadvantaged. It is no longer possible to compete with the three of them.

The judges who voted for Westbrook in the first place emphasized the shock of Westbrook's triple-double. Those who did not vote for him in the first place would often vote for him in the second place, praising him for his heroism. performance.

The ownership of the mvp gradually became clear, Thunder fans fell into carnival, Warriors fans and Rockets fans were unwilling, but helpless.

A wave of data-only theory has emerged. People who agree that Westbrook should win the mvp come up with "Leave aside the record, Westbrook's statistics are too shocking. The league is number one every year, but the average triple-double is not enough. Often", "Westbrook is the ultimate personal heroism, averaging a triple-double is harder than 70 wins, he should be the mvp" and other words.

More and more fans began to agree with this statement.

And because the Warriors have won 74 wins before, 70 wins is not so shocking. The Rockets' 56 wins are so small in front of the Warriors' 70 wins, which gives Westbrook an advantage.

The coalition finally achieved a "victory" in front of the Warriors fans. Although it has no impact on the Warriors, they still have a feeling of elation:

"Curry still wants to win three consecutive MVPs? It's like a toad wants to eat swan meat. What Jordan couldn't do, can Curry do it?"

Warriors fans immediately fought back:

"Curry is only 28 years old, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Let's win three consecutive championships this year!"

Now, it was the coalition's turn to be speechless.

They really want to say that the Warriors want to win three consecutive championships is a dream, but looking at the Warriors' record of 70 wins and the Warriors' four major stars, they can only swallow this sentence silently.

After the end of the regular season, the situation of the Eastern and Western playoffs is clear at a glance.

勇士一骑绝尘，以70胜12负排名联盟第一，身后是56胜26负的火箭，西部第三是51胜31负的快船。

Needless to say, the Warriors and the Rockets, the Clippers' third place in the Western Conference came from desperate efforts.

Paul, Crawford, and Iguodala are getting old, Griffin has been plagued by injuries repeatedly, his physical fitness is gradually declining, and his strength is not as good as before.

The core lineup of the Clippers is seriously aging. The two major stars Paul and Griffin are both suffering from injuries. They have both played 61 games this season.

The fourth in the West is the Jazz who also achieved 51 wins and 31 losses.

Schneider coached well, Hayward entered the peak period and became one of the first-class strikers. Adams (note) also grew up and turned into a monster on the front board. His defense and finishing were first-class, helping the Jazz to re-enter the season after four years. playoffs.

From fifth in the West to eighth in the West, they are the Trail Blazers, Thunder, Grizzlies, and Spurs.

The pseudo-big three combination of Lillard, McCollum and Aldridge did not work well on the court.

The defense of the three is very average, and Stotts has to use it. Even if he faces the Blazers with a big belly, he can play a very beautiful offense. His record fluctuates and he fails to reach the top half.

The Grizzlies, as always, are still stuck.

After "Mr. 3000 Million" Conley got the big contract, he played the best season of his career, averaging 20.5 points and 6.3 assists per game.

Gasol Jr. also got rid of injuries, averaging 19.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, much better than last season.

But Parsons, who the management spent a lot of money to sign, was useless, wasting precious salary space in vain, and made the Grizzlies miserable. In the end, they barely made it to the playoffs.

The Spurs are completely in decline. They can make it to the playoffs, and thanks to Westbrook's buzzer-beating Nuggets, they can make it to the playoffs with one win.

Because Zhang Yu cut off Leonard, Duncan did not retire last season and managed to support it for another season, but he had no gas in his fuel tank and could not make much contribution.

Parker, Ginobili, and Gasol are also a bunch of veterans. No matter how capable Popovich is, it's hard for a smart woman to cook without rice.

……

The Warriors in the West stand alone, while the East is the top three.

In Cole's first season coaching the Celtics, he brought the team to No. 55 in the Eastern Conference, but only achieved a record of 27 wins and [-] losses, ranking third in the league.

Under the Celtics' passing and cutting system, Durant averaged only 26.4 points per game, but his assists rose to a career high of 6.8, and his shooting percentage also reached a career high of 52.6%.

He has reduced singles with the ball, increased the ratio of waist support and off-the-ball offense, and at the critical moment, he took on the task of scoring with hard solutions, and the load was much lighter than before.

Moreover, the teams in the east are generally weaker than those in the west. Durant joined the Celtics defense and got the bonus of the east, which is even more like a fish in water.

In addition, Thomas Jr.'s outbreak is also critical.

This season, he averaged 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game, with and without the ball, sharp breakthroughs, and accurate three-pointers. He is Durant's most powerful helper.

In addition to Horford, Bradley, Crowder, Smart and other strong players around the two, there is also Jaylen Brown on the bench. The lineup is deep, both offensive and defensive. The fans have already shouted for the championship. slogan.

Durant is very fortunate that he followed Kleiman's advice and chose the Celtics. He originally planned to wait until next season to compete for the championship, but he did not expect that he would be able to compete for the championship in the first season, and a year would not be wasted. .

Behind the Celtics is the 53-29 Cavaliers.

Gilbert followed David Griffin's advice and did not continue to stud future assets. The Cavaliers' signings were very cautious. As a result, there was no reinforcement and they could only rely on the support of the Big Three.

Fortunately, the status of Love and Irving is much better than last season. Role players such as Korver, Channing Frye, Tristan Thompson, Smith, and Shumpert performed well. The performance of the Cavaliers is better than last season. Much better.

It's just that the Celtics' passing system is invincible, their lineup is deep, and their defense is tough, so they are even better in record.

The Bulls have a poor record this season, ranking third in the Eastern Conference with a record of 51 wins and 31 losses.

Rose frequently suffers from leg injuries. Although they are not major injuries, they are all minor injuries for the sake of caution. He only played 52 games in the regular season, and only Butler supported him. The Bulls' record has also been greatly affected.

In the past few seasons, Rose has used sparingly in the regular season. He will not play if he can't play, so as to reduce consumption and avoid injuries.

But it is impossible for him not to change direction at high speed. Speed ​​is his greatest weapon. Without speed, he would not be that Windy Rose.

And this method wears out the knees a lot. The rest and maintenance only prolong the arrival of the critical point. After several seasons, the injury will eventually come to the door.

The only good news is that Rose can play healthy in the playoffs, and as long as Rose remains healthy, the Bulls will have the strength to compete with any opponent in the East.

From fourth to eighth in the East, they are the Raptors, Wizards, Eagles, Pacers, and Heat.

The Raptors are only one game behind the Bulls, but given the poor playoff record of the "trash brother" Kings, no one will link the Raptors and the championship.

The other teams after that are considered to be the fate of the first round.

The Eastern Conference is weak as a whole. If there is still a possibility for the Western Conference to overcome, then the Eastern Conference is dominated by three strong teams, and the other teams can only accompany them.

　Note: Some book friends may not remember, the Jazz selected Adams with the 2013th pick in 14.

　　By the way - Let's go, Warriors!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)