bastillon wrote:No, I'm saying that he's not positioned as a superstar. He's not used as one. He doesn't face the same kind of consistent defensive gameplan attacking him as a primary option, so he hasn't proven anything.
that's untrue, he wouldn't be able to create as many open looks for his teammates without consistent defensive attention. in every game of this season Harden was always double teamed in the pick and roll situations and if he wasn't he drove to the lane and forced FTA. whenever Harden is playing with the ball, defense makes him a primary focus and still can't stop him from making a good play.
This actually respond to the point I made, not seriously. Anyway, I'm not saying as the primary focus of a defense he would magically be unable to play the game at a high level. You're right in that when Harden is on without Durant and Westbrook, he's the best OKC player on the floor, so he becomes the focus.
But he isn't the guy the opposition gameplans to stop ahead of time, he's just a guy who they have to handle as a primary option in small bursts, it's really not at all the same thing.
he can still put up 60+% TS quite easily.
I don't disagree that he could be a 58%+ TS player, hypothetically speaking. He hits a decent FG%, and even without his unsustainable DrawF, he typically draws at a decent rate and is a very good FT shooter who is also typically better from downtown than he's been early this season. But 64, 65%? That's not happening as a primary option, that should be evident.
I could question most accolades in NBA's history so why put much stock in this in the first place ?
Why assume I mean accolades? He hasn't been positioned as a superstar, and I will not accept him as one until he's first of all a starter, and second of all begins to prove it through his play in that new and very different role.
There's a difference between "playing very well" and "being a superstar."