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Chris Hu said:
burninmylight said:

And I already said East vs. West is a separate conversation, but since you want to cling to that so desperately, we can talk about it. What is the Rockets record? 24-18, putting them sixth in the WC. Fourteen of those wins are against teams that would be in the playoffs if they started today, across both conferences. Their point differential is +1.8.

The Bucks are 30-12, good for second best record in the league, and was at the top of the league for a bit for losing to the Raptors last week (and again, they are 2-1 against the Raptors HTH). They have 15 wins against teams that would be in the playoffs today, and have a point differential of 9.3. The next highest team is Golden State at 5.7. THAT IS A HISTORIC NUMBER. The Bucks are merely winning, they are dominating. They are beating the shit out of teams. And you want to paint as if they are loading up on bad EC teams, but they have wins against the Lakers, Pacers (who are only one game behind the top WC team in the standings and was ahead as recently as a week ago), Sixers, Kings, Warriors IN OAKLAND THREE GAMES INTO A ROAD TRIP, in Denver, Portland, San Antonio, in Boston, Utah, and in Houston. So this team that you want to claim must really suck because the lower half of its conference sucks has loaded up on plenty of wins against quality opponents, many of them in their houses. And did I mention they have an astronomical 9.3 point differential, which many people will tell you is a sign of a quality team? Have I already mentioned that THEY ARE THE ONLY TEAM IN THE LEAGUE, THROUGH AN ENTIRE HALF SEASON OF GAMES, THAT HAS YET TO LOSE TWO GAMES IN A ROW? Keep in mind this team has already had two road trips through the mean streets of the WC, the place you claim is so much better than the EC. Why aren't they getting put in their place on the road out there?  Could it be because they are a damn good team, and the conference they play in is a nonfactor in the conversation?

Oh, I may have neglected to mention that they have also beaten the Raptors TWICE, one of them in Toronto.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that THEY ARE THE ONLY TEAM IN THE LEAGUE RATED IN THE TOP FIVE IN BOTH OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY. Remember how you were touting Harden's ppg? Well the Bucks have the highest team PPG at 117.6, a full 3.0 higher than the next team. At opponent's PPG, they are right at number five with 108.3 PPG. They aren't just squeaking by with wins, they are kicking teams' ass,  be it the Cavs or the Jazz. And at the center of all of this is Giannis. No other player on that team has ever even made an all-star game, although that might change this year. Giannis doesn't just get his buckets. Giannis actively makes his team and his teammates better when he is on the floor  ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL. Can Harden say that? No, he can't.

Please continue to cherry-pick stats and bring up points that are irrelevant to the MVP conversation. I have way more facts I can give you that point in Giannis' favor. ~_~

And Luka Doncic will win rookie of the year because he's this year's best rookie. Let's pretend like MVPs never come out of the east, like it didn't happen five years in a row from '09-'13. You could make the same argument about the weak East those years, yet the East held it for five years straight.

How does Harden not make his teammates better when he pretty much leads the league in triple doubles so far this season.   Put the Bucks in the West and they would barely be better then the Pelicans in other words noticeably worse.  If you would put the Rockets in the east their record would be substantially better.

Wow, you are STILL cleaning to conjecture and tired old notions that hold zero water, even though I just proved otherwise. Pretty much everything you are saying is, "West is better than East, West is better than East," even though I just told you that the Bucks have gotten wins against all your WC powers, lead the league in point differential, are the only team in the league that is top-five in both offensive and defensive rating, and the only team in the league that has yet to lose twice in a row, even though they have gone out west twice and played plenty of WC teams at home. At this point, you're just in denial.

And I forgot to mention earlier, where did all the rookies of the year come from over the past decade? Half of them came out of the EC: Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, Michael Carter-Williams, and the latest two ROYs, Malcolm Brogdon and Ben Simmons. So this notion that Luca Doncic will win ROY just because he's in the "vastly superior Western Conference" is a big fat lie that you've either made up or fell for, just like your idea that the MVP will come out of the West for that reason.

And triple-doubles don't mean shit for elevating your teammates. Russell Westbrook broke the single-season record for triple doubles a couple of years ago and averaged a triple double that season; would you say that he elevated his teammates? No, more like his teammates were instructed to elevate him as OKC bent over backwards to his every whim while waiting with clinched butt cheeks for him to sign an extension. What does Harden do that is outstanding on defense? Do this for me - go on YouTube and find me a video that points out how Giannis takes possessions off on defense like this:

"Sit back and watch these plays, just like James Harden did."

Fell outta my chair on that one.

The second one is four years old, but the first one is all from LAST YEAR. Ladies and gentleman, your regular season MVP.

Seriously though, you have every right to disagree with me, but if you have nothing more to add than to regurgitate the same old tired nursery rhyme about the West being better than the East, despite having it proved to you that the top EC teams can hang with the top of the West, then we can agree to disagree and stop wasting our time. I don't expect people to come to my side when I debate, but I do expect them to bring something substantial to the table. I don't feel like I'm getting it from your end any longer, so we can end it here. This is the NFL thread anyway.