The hate James Harden gets is out of control.

[RightToCensor]

People need to face it, James Harden is one of the best OFFENSIVE players in the league, that includes scoring, passing, IQ. He finished 4th in Offensive Win Shares behind Durant, Lebron, and Love. He was 2nd in the league in FTs made and 3rd in attempts. He was 5th in the league in PPG, MPG, and TS%. These are just stats, the eye test can prove his effectiveness just as much.

Harden has just as good of an ability to get to the rim as any other elite player in this league. The way he gets to the line is an art and changes the way any player defends him. He is one of the elite 3PT shooters in the league and has proven that on many occasions in terms of his ability to drain threes off the dribble and his clutch play from beyond the arc last season. He was known unanimously as the best passer OKC had in 2012, but people seem to make him out as a ball hog now that he is the #1 guy on his own team with an offense that has no system to it.

People criticize his defense so much that the smallest mistake he makes is made to look like he gave his opponent an open lane in the NBA Finals. The funny thing is, when he does play good defense it goes ignored and never gets brought up. I remember the game where Rudy Gay and Boogie Cousins got injured, Harden was guarding Rudy Gay as good as physically possible for a 6'5 guard to guard a 6'8 forward. Harden is among the best post defenders for a guard, but apparently, that means nothing to these "basketball purists".

People need to face facts that James Harden is a top 5 player in the league AND IS ONLY 24! He has SIX whole season for him to peak, imagine Harden getting leaner, stronger, faster, or even smarter. His work ethic in the offseason with Team USA shows how dedicated he is to getting better, he should be one of the most beloved players in the league.









BTW, Harden had a better game than Faried at the USA Exhibition. The stats prove it.

[ubernathan]

He doesn't warrant the hate, but let's not get carried away. His defense is definitely subpar, and while I would call him top 10 he is not top 5, I would put Dwight, Lebron, Durant, Love, and Chris Paul all above him.

[OrlandoHouston]

I would say that most players get hate like that nowadays.

Examples:

You can't complement Russel Westbrook without someone calling him a ball hog with low bb iq
^ Same can be said for Melo
You can't complement K Love without someone calling him a loser with inflated stats
You can't complement Dwight Howard without someone saying that he has no post moves
You can't complement Chris Bosh in general
You can't complement Lebron without being told that he isn't as good as MJ
Etc Etc

Nowadays everyone has a hot take, & most people take it waaaaaaaaaay too far. That's a flaw of the Internet, everyone can jump in at any time to say something dumb/negative, even if it's completely unwarranted.

This stuff works both ways too.

Examples:

You can't critique Jeremy Lin, in general
You can't critique Kobe for (sometimes) being a bad teammate
You can't critique Chris Paul for never getting out of the second round
You can't critique Michael Jordan, or Magic Johnson, or any of the legends of the game, even if they're wrong
Etc Etc

If you do any of the aforementioned things, someone will start arguing with you or dismiss whatever it is you said by changing the point. The same happens to Harden. You can't complement his offense without someone jumping in and criticizing his defense. It's not really fair, but it's a reality that athletes nowadays kinda have to accept.

All in all, James Harden is a tremendous player. He's a top three scoring threat in the NBA. He creates for others. He rebounds well for his position. He's definitely a top 15 or so player, most people would say top ten (me included), but it's easier to make jokes about his defense than appreciate what he does well.

[MKL]

Pity Party.

Harden is All NBA first team. How is that hate?

[MaxRider]

Pity Party.

Harden is All NBA first team. How is that hate?

i show you some hate

that's because Kobe was injured

[rocketsballin]

its cuz he steals all the strippers every club he goes too. there's other guys there that cna throw a few 100s, even 1000s, but harden comes out of nowhere and drops like 10k. i would hate him too.

[BaYBaller]

its cuz he steals all the strippers every club he goes too. there's other guys there that cna throw a few 100s, even 1000s, but harden comes out of nowhere and drops like 10k. i would hate him too.

LOL this reminds me of when I bumped into Mayweather at a strip club in LV.

But honestly all the hate Harden gets on his defense is IMO totally deserved. It looks like he literally does not give 2 **** about defense. I tried to convince myself during the regular season that he was just conserving himself, that McHale was playing him too many minutes, etc, but when he didn't show up in the playoffs there's really no denying it.

He IS an elite offensive player though (top 5), and I think the criticism he gets for being selfish is unwarranted as he's a top passer for a SG. Melo, Kobe, these are what you call the traditional selfish ball stoppers, where they favor spots on the floor (elbow) which restricts offensive movement and call for the ball constantly and get mad when they don't get it.

The team simply deferred to him a lot on offense, particularly in the half court, and understandably so given his talent. But you can't call yourself a superstar if you only play one way.

[MKL]

The NBA community have given Harden every accolade possible.

All NBA 1st team

NBA all-star

Invite to Team USA national team.

There are constant articles written about how Harden is working on his game and TV commercials promoting him.

The only criticism out there is about Harden's lack of effort on defense that he himself built that negative reputation.

Of course, Harden doesn't like anything negative spoken about him, but to say that he has Haters out of control is a bit of hyperbole. If anything, I see a ton of threads and articles being over protective of Harden. Even the commentators during Team USA games go out of their way to praise Harden.

[zapatasblood]

He does not have high BBIQ and would not call him a ballhog but he is a ball stopper

NOt a top player and saying that is laughable. If you want to say top 5 offensive player I could understand that. I'd disagree but it is plausible

His defense is not terrible it is not exsistant. Which is more annoying since when he decides to play defense its alight for those five minutes every other game.

His style of play does not work in the playoffs. Seen two years now that trying to draw fouls rather thn score gets you know where. So look to score and not flop.

Average three point shooter last year.

[zapatasblood]

Oh yeah harden needs to stop thinking he has great handles. Tired of him dribbling the ball off his legs every game

[spaceballer]

The positive element here is that maybe he can use the criticism as fuel to improve things like his defense to prove critics wrong. Just like how greats like Kobe or Michael Jordan take perceived snubs and criticisms and turn it into motivation and grist.

Or he can just keep mouthing the words and not actually doing anything (Amar'e Stoudemire says he's going to get better on defense like every single year, without any improvement).

The former would pay major dividends and have implications for the ability of the Rockets to be a true contender in the future, since Harden is locked in as a major long term piece. The latter will doom the Rocket's win now window. As Harden's defense goes, so goes the Rockets' fate and contention chances. He MUST improve his defense, and if this hasn't lit a fire under him, then nothing will and it'll be a lost cause like Stoudemire.

[victorhe]

Is is it because he claimed he is the best player alive?

http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/558214
and also:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11370 ... g-sessions

[Zubby]

Is is it because he claimed he is the best player alive?

http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/558214
and also:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11370 ... g-sessions

Last week Curry when someone asked if he was better offensively than LeBron he said yes citing is vision & passing... Every player when asked would say something similar.

[Vincent_Askew]

He doesn't warrant the hate, but let's not get carried away. His defense is definitely subpar, and while I would call him top 10 he is not top 5, I would put Dwight, Lebron, Durant, Love, and Chris Paul all above him.

Westbrook is better than everyone on your list besides Durant, yet he's not better than your bearded stripclub enthusiast?

Elle Oh Elle!!!!

[panarama]

The positive element here is that maybe he can use the criticism as fuel to improve things like his defense to prove critics wrong. Just like how greats like Kobe or Michael Jordan take perceived snubs and criticisms and turn it into motivation and grist.

Or he can just keep mouthing the words and not actually doing anything (Amar'e Stoudemire says he's going to get better on defense like every single year, without any improvement).

The former would pay major dividends and have implications for the ability of the Rockets to be a true contender in the future, since Harden is locked in as a major long term piece. The latter will doom the Rocket's win now window. As Harden's defense goes, so goes the Rockets' fate and contention chances. He MUST improve his defense, and if this hasn't lit a fire under him, then nothing will and it'll be a lost cause like Stoudemire.

That's what I'm hoping for as well since he is our leader in terms of scoring.
Also, Harden is one of an unstoppable scorers in the league right now but the scoring isn't enough if Harden doesn't know how to get others involved esp. during crucial mins. esp. as a leader.
Though, I have a faith in him since he still is young and inexperience and what's written on internet hopefully will reach him to fire him off.

[Quinjo28]

He doesn't warrant the hate, but let's not get carried away. His defense is definitely subpar, and while I would call him top 10 he is not top 5, I would put Dwight, Lebron, Durant, Love, and Chris Paul all above him.

Westbrook is better than everyone on your list besides Durant, yet he's not better than your bearded stripclub enthusiast?

Elle Oh Elle!!!!

And Lebron

[Vincent_Askew]

He doesn't warrant the hate, but let's not get carried away. His defense is definitely subpar, and while I would call him top 10 he is not top 5, I would put Dwight, Lebron, Durant, Love, and Chris Paul all above him.

Westbrook is better than everyone on your list besides Durant, yet he's not better than your bearded stripclub enthusiast?

Elle Oh Elle!!!!

And Lebron

Oops, yes that is correct. I didn't mean to say he's better than Lebron.

But after this year's figurative slitting of CP3's throat in the playoffs, it's official that Westbrook is the 3rd best player in the league.

Who, other than those two, would you rather go into a 7 game playoff series with on your side than Russ? Love? Harden? Dwight? CP3, after Russ clearly slaughtered him these playoffs? Stop it.

Westbrook is a mother effing MONSTER who's coming to your town, killing your favorite player, and hurting your feelings. People better start accepting this fact.

Ain't NO ONE you are more scared of in a 7 game series, outside LBJ and KD, than Westbrook.

[spearsy23]

Westbrook is better than everyone on your list besides Durant, yet he's not better than your bearded stripclub enthusiast?

Elle Oh Elle!!!!

And Lebron

Oops, yes that is correct. I didn't mean to say he's better than Lebron.

But after this year's figurative slitting of CP3's throat in the playoffs, it's official that Westbrook is the 3rd best player in the league.

Who, other than those two, would you rather go into a 7 game playoff series with on your side than Russ? Love? Harden? Dwight? CP3, after Russ clearly slaughtered him these playoffs? Stop it.

Westbrook is a mother effing MONSTER who's coming to your town, killing your favorite player, and hurting your feelings. People better start accepting this fact.

Ain't NO ONE you are more scared of in a 7 game series, outside LBJ and KD, than Westbrook.

Good Westbrook is easily the third best player in the league. Overall Westbrook is about on par with James Harden (I believe slightly better and definitely a better fit for us) but is not consistent enough to clearly be better than CP3 or Melo and is right there with Curry, Love, Harden, Dwight, etc rounding out the top ten.

[willywazza]

its cuz he steals all the strippers every club he goes too. there's other guys there that cna throw a few 100s, even 1000s, but harden comes out of nowhere and drops like 10k. i would hate him too.

I think that's such a waste of money.

[moofs]

Oops, yes that is correct. I didn't mean to say he's better than Lebron.

But after this year's figurative slitting of CP3's throat in the playoffs, it's official that Westbrook is the 3rd best player in the league.

Who, other than those two, would you rather go into a 7 game playoff series with on your side than Russ? Love? Harden? Dwight? CP3, after Russ clearly slaughtered him these playoffs? Stop it.

Westbrook is a mother effing MONSTER who's coming to your town, killing your favorite player, and hurting your feelings. People better start accepting this fact.

Ain't NO ONE you are more scared of in a 7 game series, outside LBJ and KD, than Westbrook.

Sorry, but you seem to have a very special brand of delusion.

I'd take Kyle Lowry over Westbrook.

TS: (2014) 56.7 vs 54.5 (career) 55 vs 52.3 (average pg) 52.7
PPS: (2014) 1.31 vs 1.27 (career) 1.3 vs 1.22 (average pg) 1.18
RB48: (2014) 6.2 vs 8.9 (career) 6.4 vs 7 (average pg) 4.6
PF48: (2014) 4.5 vs 3.5 (career) 4.4 vs 3.3 (average pg) 3.7
AST48: (2014) 9.8 vs 10.8 (career) 9.0 vs 9.8 (average pg) 9.3
TO48: (2014) 3.3 vs 6.0 (career) 3.3 vs 5.0 (average pg) 3.6

In summary, Westbrook takes 55% more shots at a 5.1% lower accuracy rate, rebounds 9.4% better, fouls 33% less, gets 9% more assists, and turns the ball over 51% more often.

Other guys I'd take over Westbrook:

Hell, other POINT GUARDS I'd take over Westbrook: Paul, Curry, Dragic, Rondo.

Top 3.

its cuz he steals all the strippers every club he goes too. there's other guys there that cna throw a few 100s, even 1000s, but harden comes out of nowhere and drops like 10k. i would hate him too.

I think that's such a waste of money.

Sure beats being married for 5 years in California.