Post#195 » by bastillon » Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:05 pm
comments in this thread have been laughable all along. I've been saying for MONTHS Harden is a superstar because of how efficient he is and how much impact he makes on team performance, back in the day people were questioning whether he can maintain that level and were very sceptical that he would. months later, Harden's at 67% TS and ~21 pts36, which is a level NEVER achieved in the history of NBA. but right, some idiots seem to think that the reason for it is that he takes easy shots.
I repeat... the reason for Harden's all-time level efficiency is taking easy shots...
no sh**, it takes a freakin sherlock to find out that you can't have top1 all-time scoring efficiency when you have poor shot selection. I mean I understand I shouldn't insult people or their intelligence but some of you should really read what you're typing before sending that nonsense online.
but the TRUE reason for Harden's offensive supremacy is because he is a full package. Harden plays pick and rolls as well as anybody, surely better than overrated pnr players like LeBron or Rose. Harden is drawing fouls at the rate unseen on any level by a SG in any era (6-7 FTA per 10-11 FGA). this is not some mysterious story about Harden realizing that he can get to the basket. millions of players find that out at some point but you have to look at this in a historical perspective. NOBODY has ever been able to come anywhere near that level. and if you look at the tape, you will easily see that Harden is excellent at forcing the contact, he's actually looking for FTs every time down (unlike most NBA superstars who would rather double pump for scoop layups or shoot floaters).
the second reason is that Harden is elite shooter. he's been shooting 84% FTs for the last 2 years, which is on the level of 90s MJ. he's also shooting about FIVE 3s per36 at 37%, making him one of the best 3pt shooters in the league.
most of the guys you're mentioning don't excell on that many levels, guys like Evans don't excell in any areas actually. if you combine those 2 aspects (foul drawing ability, perimeter shooting) there's not much that can stop you from just GOING OFF on your opponent. if you also have passing skills and decent ballhandling, you're becoming a legit offensive anchor and that's James Harden. you can put Harden with any reliable guys (floor spacers, finishers) and he will deliver offensively.
and yet instead of looking at the tape with attempt of making a detailed analysis, you'd rather settle for freaking raw stats, the same raw stats that seem to think that John Stockton is better than Hakeem, or that Kevin Love is on the level of Tim Duncan, or that Rondo is an elite offensive PG (and yet leads his team to laughable #27 ORTG). until people realize that raw stats are not there to give you a full picture but rather tools for further evaluation, there's no way you can possibly capture a slightest shadow of Harden's impact. but even if you're intellectually limited to using raw stats, consider this:
James Harden shoots 10 times a game. he scores 17 pts with that kind of usage. think about it for a second. think about how efficient that is. think about another perimeter player who comes close to that level. maybe then you will be able to appreciate Harden's floor value. otherwise there's no point in arguing with guys who quote 17/4/3 and think they debunked a great conspiracy theory because they looked up raw stats. those stats are NOT the reason people like me or rapcity will argue for Harden. it's how efficient he gets to those numbers. he's doing it with 2 extremely high usage players in Durant and Westbrook. if you put Monta, Jennings, Evans or another low percentage chucker on that team, with Harden's level usage, they'd produce about 11/3/3 and would make no impact offensively. so when you consider that Harden gets so few shot attemps and YET is able to put up scoring numbers of a 2nd option, only THEN you'll know what I was talking about in this post.
Quotatious wrote: Bastillon is Hakeem. Combines style and substance.
