ESPN Haberstroh專欄：我的MVP選擇是... - NBA

反正有兩天備戰日，可以好好討論獎項了 ^^
文章來源：http://ppt.cc/u2pk
（不過原文好像有鎖）

是ESPN常駐專欄作家之一 Tom Haberstroh說他選MVP的標準
（不過他說他今年沒拿到選票...所以基本上就是說爽的...囧）

Most Valuable Playe

1. Stephen Curry
2. James Harden
3. Anthony Davis
4. Chris Paul
5. LeBron James

It's time to bury the "carrying the Team X" trope when discussing
the MVP award. We've heard it ad nauseam when it comes to Harden's
and Westbrook's MVP candidacy, usually at the expense of Curry and
the juggernaut Warriors. Harden is carrying the Rockets to the
second seed. Westbrook is carrying the Thunder into the playoffs.
是時候把「某某某carry了某某隊」 這種迷思在討論MVP時剔除了。
我們今年聽到很多哈登和西河陣營的人用這種廣告詞來蠱惑人心，
通常他們攻擊的點是說Curry所在的勇士太強了，而火箭隊則是被
哈登carry到了第二種子。西河則有可能把雷霆carry到季後賽。

Never mind that no team has more double-digit scorers than the
Rockets, which speaks to their sneaky depth. Never mind that the
Rockets' foundation is built on having the sixth-best defense in
the NBA. Never mind that Enes Kanter is averaging 18.4 points and
10.9 rebounds since arriving in OKC, a rate that only four other
bigs can match over the full season.
是的，他們選擇忽視火箭是擁有全聯盟最多得分上雙球員的球隊，
而這可充分顯示了他們其實很有深度。他們也不提火箭今年的基礎
是建立在聯盟第六的防守。他們也不提Kanter自從到雷霆後平均有
18.4分，10.9籃板，這個數據整季也只有四個常人能達到。

At its core, the "carrying" storyline is a flimsy rhetorical
shortcut that degrades teammates who have made winning
contributions. But here's the whopper: Statistically, Curry
carries the Warriors more than Harden and Westbrook carry their
respective teams.
從核心而論，所謂"carrying"這種故事實際上只是
一個很脆弱和想走捷徑的口號-建立在把對球隊勝利貢獻的隊友說成渣
的方式上。然而事實可能會讓你訝異：就數據而論，Curry反而是
所謂carry勇士更多的球員，比哈登和西河更多。

Per NBA.com lineup data, the Warriors are 16.8 points per 100
possessions better with Curry on the court compared to when he's
on the bench. The swing is just plus-7.8 for Harden and plus-6.6
points for Westbrook, far less impactful than Curry.
從NBA官網提供的數據可以看到，勇士隊在Curry上場的時候，比他在
場下時在每100次進攻裡能夠讓勇士多得16.8分！而這個數據
在哈登身上只有7.8分，西河只有6.6分，都比Curry少非常多。

Are you a visual learner? Take a look at the chart below. As you
can see, the swing between on/off court is far wider for Curry
than it is for Harden or Westbrook. When Curry is on the floor,
the Warriors have outscored opponents by 16.8 points (green dot)
while the Warriors have played an even 0.0 net rating when he's on
the bench (red dot). Actually, LeBron James (plus-17.2) and Chris
Paul (plus-20.3) have slightly larger swings than Curry, which
speaks to their lack of quality reserves.
你可以到原文裡去看這個圖表可以輕易看到這數據量化的表現。
基本上全聯盟也只有CP3(+20.3)和LBJ(+17.2)在這數據的表現上勝過Curry。

By no means should this alone decide the MVP race. There are other
factors that should be considered, namely whom each player tends
to share the court with and whom they play against. But the
"carrying" notion sounds a lot better in theory than it does in
reality. (And if you've been paying attention, the Rockets have
actually been outscored with Harden on the court this month, and
they're killing opponents when he's on the pine. Poor timing.)
當然我完全不認為單憑這一數據就能決定MVP獎落誰家。尤其如果我們
考量到跟這些球員一起上場的球員是誰，和他們是跟誰做對抗等等。
但是我要說明的只是所謂"carrying"這字所代表的往往比實際上多有不同。
（而且如果你有注意的話，在四月的比賽裡，哈登上場的時候火箭是負分，
而哈登在休息的時候火箭其它人反而能打翻對手。這可真不是個好時機啊^^）

Going beyond the fact that Harden's biggest rhetorical chip has
backfired, there are more reasons why I think Curry is the 2014-15
MVP. He helped turn the Warriors from a good regular-season team
to an all-time great regular-season team, which is harder to do
than going from bad to average or average to good. At 66-15, the
Warriors have added 15 wins to last season's total, which is the
most that a 50-win team has ever done in NBA history (the previous
record was 13).
即使我們跳過這個對哈登而言走火的口號好了，還有很多別的原因
我認為Curry才是2014-15年的MVP。第一，他幫助勇士從一個普通強隊
蛻變成為一個歷史級別的強隊。而我認為這個難度比把爛隊變成普隊，
或把普隊變成強隊更難。這樣說好了，勇士是歷史上所有50w球隊裡，
進步幅度最大的球隊(比去年多了16w，之前的紀錄是13w）。

The Curry-led Warriors are absolutely crushing the league. Even if
the Rockets nab the No. 2 seed, it shouldn't bolster Harden's
case. That would suggest that the Rockets, as a No. 2 seed, are
right behind the Warriors as the No. 1 seed. In reality, the
Rockets aren't even in the same stratosphere as the Warriors, who
have a plus-11.4 net rating. No team is even close.
在Curry的帶領下，勇士本季摧估拉朽的奪得賽季第一。即使火箭是
西區第二，這也不應該讓哈登得到更多MVP選票，是的，第二的確看起來
只落後第一一名。但是事實上，火箭和勇士在賽季的表現上不是同一個檔次的。
勇士本季的淨勝分可是雙位數字，沒有任何一支球隊接近這項表現。

As Insider pal Kevin Pelton points out, this isn't a reductive
"best player on best team" argument. Curry has the individual
cred. Survey the advanced metrics and you'll find that Harden and
Curry are basically indistinguishable. Harden narrowly edges Curry
in win shares and WAR; Curry nips Harden in PER, RPM and VORP.
Throw in the fact that Curry's "VER" -- "Vine Efficiency
Rating" -- is unofficially the highest in the league (seriously,
he is the ultimate Vine maker on the popular social network). All
in all, Curry has put together the best 2014-15 season. He is my
MVP.
我的同儕Kevin Pelton（也是ESPN常駐寫手）前幾天才說評斷Curry該得
MVP不能只單純的說「因為他是最好球隊的最好球員」這樣看而已。
Curry的個人表現也是非常優秀的。如果你看進階數據你會發現哈登
和Curry基本上難分軒輊。哈登在WS和WAR上微幅領先，然而Curry卻在
PER, RPM, 和VORP上勝出。如果再考量到Curry在社群網路中的人氣
今年也是最高，所有指標都指出Curry是2014-15球季裡表現最好的球員。
他是我的MVP。

As a bonus, here are some of my favorite Curry nuggets:
這些是我提供關於本季Curry的一些特殊表現：

Curry has sat out 19 fourth quarters this season because of
blowouts.
Curry神隱了19場第四節，因為球隊大幅領先。

Curry has shot .500 FG%/.517 3PT%/.944 FT% since the All-Star
break.
Curry在全明星賽後的數據：50% FG/51.7% 3PT%/94.4% FT%

Curry has made 33 3-pointers this month, which is more than the
Memphis Grizzlies as a team (25) and the same total as the Miami
Heat.
Curry本月命中的三分數已經比灰熊全隊還要多，跟熱火打平。

Curry is fourth in the NBA in steals and has cut his foul rate
down to a career-low 2.0 per game.
Curry的抄截是聯盟第四，而他的犯規數下降到了生涯新低的兩次。

Curry has drained 37 pull-up 3-pointers in transition (less than
five seconds into the shot clock), which is more than any non-
Warriors team (Raptors are the next-highest at 34). Hat tip to
NBAsavant.com for that gem.
Curry在攻守轉換（定義：24秒進攻只用5秒以內）中投進了37顆三分
這數據比所有其他隊伍都還多，暴龍是第二名，34顆。
（按：這數據還真的有點扯....）

Curry is shooting 87-of-162 (53.7 percent) from 3-point land in
back-to-back games.
Curry在背靠背的比賽中，三分命中率是53.7% (83/162)！

Curry is averaging 7.7 assists and 3.6 3-pointers per game. When
Ray Allen averaged 3.4 3-pointers per game in 2005-06, he
registered just 3.7 assists -- less than half as many as Curry.
Curry每場球可以投中3.6顆三分，還有7.7次助攻。
雷槍當年每場命中3.4顆三分，但是只有3.7次助攻，少於Curry助攻量的一半。

Klay Thompson shoots 47.1 percent from the floor and 44.0 percent
from downtown when he plays with Curry, and just 42.5 percent and
40.9 percent, respectively, when Curry sits.
K湯有Curry在場上加持時，命中率有47.1%，三分則有44%，
當Curry在場下時，這命中率則降到42.5%和40.9%

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

心得：嚴格來說哈登本季也是他個人生涯年，但是Curry也是生涯年，
而且在所謂更強的球隊裡個人表現也不輸，球隊還硬是多了11w，
Curry絕對更值得今年的MVP無誤。

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