Davidson Wildcats: Steph Curry not MVP? Really?
The Davidson Wildcats have a two time NBA MVP alum, what is stopping him from getting a third this year.
For the Davidson Wildcats, there is only one player in the NBA that ultimately matters and that is Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are once again the number one team in the West despite a couple of experiments to their roster since last year’s title loss to the Cavs.
The Warriors brought in Kevin Durant, which nobody saw as a problem. A Durant injury kind of unhinged the team briefly but they got back on track and remained the number one seed. The other experiment was whether you can win a title with Zaza Pachulia as your starting center. That one remains ongoing, though most people probably believe you can at this point.
The player we must focus on here is Stephen Curry. The MVP discussion this year shifted away from the previous back to back winner as Russell Westbrook and James Harden tried to put a new emphasis on stuffing the stat book. However Harden made a slip up when asked what ultimately determines the MVP. Trying to put leverage over Westbrook, he said (and I paraphrase) ‘wins.’
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No one wins more than Curry. Curry’s stats are essentially in line with his previous two seasons. While his 2016 season was ridiculous with a 30 PPG average, his 2015 average was just shy of 24 PPG. That makes his current 25 PPG average right on the mark for expectations.
His turnovers went down although they are still hovering around three a game like they did the previous five seasons.
His steals are down from around two to 1.8, which is no huge decline.
His assist numbers were a full assist better in the 2015 campaign, but are in line with the 2016 one.
His foul shooting dipped to 89.8% versus the 90 and above of the last two seasons.
The biggest difference for Curry was a drop in his shooting numbers. His FG% dropped to 47% from 50% (48% in 2015). His three point percentage was the biggest culprit as it fell four points down to 41%.
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My point is this: there are little declines on the margins that would mean nothing to an average NBA player since the average NBA player doesn’t start with that kind of standard. Nicolas Batum would kill for a 41% three point percentage. Curry’s 2017 season could have won the MVP in 2015. So why won’t it win the MVP in 2017?
There are two reasons why Curry won’t win the MVP this year. First are the perceptions. Curry already played for the most winningest roster in NBA history over a three year span. Every good game that Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, or Andre Iguodala puts together may lead us to the conclusion that anybody can do those things surrounded by those people (which is backwards thinking).
That problem only gets worse when Kevin Durant is put on the roster, because now you have two MVPs on the court and how can you say one is more valuable than the other? Are Curry’s numbers down because Durant is there? Yes, a tiny amount. Is Curry still the best player on the best team? Yes, granted it helped that Durant got hurt for a significant period of time.
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The other reason that Curry won’t win MVP this year is Magic Johnson. Johnson once epitomized what we viewed MVPs to be. He could collect every stat and play every position. His shooting was not the best, but that was an era of harder defensive play. Johnson collected triple-doubles and made it the stat that people associate with greatness. Johnson was also the best player on the best team, but forget that for a minute.
The triple-double gained its importance in lore because of Johnson and his Showtime Lakers squads. Then the stats guys went back and discovered that Oscar Robertson should have owned the patent right from an era where nobody thought about it and they had just started tracking assists. That same reverence has turned what should be an open MVP race into a two man discussion between former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates.
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So don’t imagine that Curry has not had a really good year. He has. It wasn’t last season’s numbers, but nobody gets last season’s numbers. Curry was a 50-40-90 guy last year. As we noted, this season might have won the 2015 MVP. If Curry wins his second title, then we probably won’t even think about the MVP award all that much.