Well, if I *also* had a vote. Butler and Looney would now have 2 votes a piece.
I put out a poll after game 5, Looney as my pick. Curry was the crowd's pick. To me, Looney has clearly been the difference maker. And I think Butler and Looney are the right picks for the right reasons, which is mostly about properly defining what the awards are supposed to reflect.
In looking back on how most MVP votes have been cast (including the winning team bias) and in watching the games where we care about win outcomes... MVP in games like this seems to be most about contributions relative to expected value, key plays in key moments, poise under higher stress moments, and their ability to limit the impact of opponents.
And by these measurements, definitely feel Butler and Looney were the picks.
Wiggins was my 2nd. Both Wiggins and Looney's defense on Luka and rebounding kept Luka and the Mavs at bay. They missed a lot of open 3s, but [the Mavs] didn't have much for 2nd chance pts.
I was kind of amazed how the Mavs, who targeted Steph and Pool in PnR early in game 1 (were up big) got away from it and then rest of the series were content to do PnR that led to Looney on Luka, which Mavs really got away from. The Matchup data also was very favorable for Looney vs JJJr and Luka. Warriors had a +13 Reb margin vs Mavs and +15 reb vs Grizzlies and Looney and Wiggins are only starters with + On-Off Reb%.
Well, if I *also* had a vote. Butler and Looney would now have 2 votes a piece.
I put out a poll after game 5, Looney as my pick. Curry was the crowd's pick. To me, Looney has clearly been the difference maker. And I think Butler and Looney are the right picks for the right reasons, which is mostly about properly defining what the awards are supposed to reflect.
In looking back on how most MVP votes have been cast (including the winning team bias) and in watching the games where we care about win outcomes... MVP in games like this seems to be most about contributions relative to expected value, key plays in key moments, poise under higher stress moments, and their ability to limit the impact of opponents.
And by these measurements, definitely feel Butler and Looney were the picks.
Wiggins was my 2nd. Both Wiggins and Looney's defense on Luka and rebounding kept Luka and the Mavs at bay. They missed a lot of open 3s, but [the Mavs] didn't have much for 2nd chance pts.
I was kind of amazed how the Mavs, who targeted Steph and Pool in PnR early in game 1 (were up big) got away from it and then rest of the series were content to do PnR that led to Looney on Luka, which Mavs really got away from. The Matchup data also was very favorable for Looney vs JJJr and Luka. Warriors had a +13 Reb margin vs Mavs and +15 reb vs Grizzlies and Looney and Wiggins are only starters with + On-Off Reb%.