what system does mchale and jbb have? please enlighten us? was harden successful in OKC? howbout with Team USA?
The "problem" with Harden is that he's so good that you can build a system around him? Your first few sentences are...odd. Harden isn't just the better 1v1 player. He's the better player, period. With all of his faults, Harden is still a net positive over Klay. You could never build a team entirely around Klay (with KM as coach, to boot) and achieve the success and consistent playoff appearances that Harden has. Every team in the league, including GSW, would trade Klay for Harden in a heartbeat. I seriously doubt GSW would be worse off. Harden is a smart player and would acclimate just fine.
GSW beat CAVS(without Irving and Love), CAVS beat GSW (Without Bogut, hurt Igoudala, hurt Curry). Injuries are Harden was very successful in OKC..maybe that's where he learned his 1v1 style from. Harden did a great job in team USA in Turkey.
The most valuable skill in the nba is the ability to create a good shot and convert with effeciency consistently. Klay does so in a way that Reggie and Ray did but Harden's diverse skill set is what truly sets him apart and qualifies him as a superstar. Offensively, Harden is as unique as it comes.
WTF? LOL Do you know how GSW offense is? A lot of moving and running around screens. If lazy Harden can do that? I don't know Defense would be a lot worse. Also, you said you can never build a team around Klay it's not a fact. Fact is, we won't know as long as he is with Curry and Durant as teammates. Most people didn't know Harden can carry a team until he left OKC and was given the reign to be the #1 option. Even OKC didn't know.
To all the Harden is better than Klay peeps, you know what they say about putting up big stats on a lesser team vs playing a defined role for a perennial championship contender. It can be easier to freestyle and look good when you have the ball so much and most of your teammates suck on offense. I'm not saying this is always the case. Harden has an obvious talent for getting to the rim and getting the foul call. He has an obvious talent for scoring and hitting difficult stepbacks. I'm just putting the counter argument (easier to put up big stats on a crappier team) out there for all the "OMG! Klay just hits threes and he only looks good because he plays on such an awesome team" posters.
You might not know, but that's ecause you're an idiot, not because it's unknowable. As for the rest of us, we've seen the very apparent limitations to klay's game well in advanced of a stupid kings-esque team giving him a max contract. Harden played 8 more GAMES than the person in 2nd place last season, as far as minutes. Yet he's lazy? Lol. It takes some incredible mental gymnastics to come to such a conclusion.
Lazy on defense and in movement without the ball I think he meant. Wasn't there some study that analyzed nba game action cams and showed Harden travels the least distance per game for a guard or something like that?
There was also the stat harden led the league in minutes and there was games where he would have zero rest in the second halfs. this garbage harden is lazy argument can be easily refuted.
No one said they think Harden is better because he puts up better numbers on an inferior team, the whole crux of the issue or argument is Harden is a far better franchise type player who can carry his team better then Klay.Not sure Klay has the skillset to carry a team like James.
One of only 4 players (LBJ, MJ, Big O) who have averaged 29, 7.5, 6 in a single season Played all 82 games League leading 38 mins/gm Led the league in drawing contact while in the act of shooting Scoring runner-up 29.0 pts/gm First among non-PGs 7.5 asts/gm (more than Lebron and Curry) Tied for 2nd among guards 6.1 rebs/gm Tied for 4th among guards 0.6 blks/gm Drives, scores off drives, and passes off drives as much as Lebron http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...t=DRIVES&dir=1 Moves around as far (works as hard) on offense and defense as Steph Curry and more than Lebron, WB, and KD http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...IST_FEET&dir=1 Generates points off touches as efficient as Steph Curry but more efficient than Lebronhttp://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...=TOUCHES&dir=1 Catch and shoots 3 pointers more efficient than KD http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...gular Season Shoots pull ups more efficient than WB http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...L_UP_PTS&dir=1 Defends the rim almost as good as WB http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...M_FG_PCT&dir=1
Yup. Of course Harden can lead the league in minutes play. Half of the time Harden is standing there chilling. Defense and hustle? Pssh, save the dirty work for his teammates.
What a load of ****. So for all of the 38 minutes he does nothing? . Considering no one outside of Lebron plays a more physically taxing game then him. You are here to hate. Let me guess a Lin fan who hates harden?
That's a good retort. I think it ties in. Harden plays so many minutes and carries the load so much he has to relax a bit on defense at times. He's only human.
It's not Harden's fault he hasn't been surrounded by comparable talent that Klay has. It's also not Klay that surrounded the Warriors with elite talent. Harden would be capable of championship level basketball if he was put on a team that was capable of winning the championship. Klay would, in turn, not be playing championship level basketball if he was not on one of the best teams in the league.
The NBA tracks the distance a player covers in a game so it's very easy to verify. Your recollection that Harden was last in the league, however, is completely incorrect. Harden covered 2.41 miles/game last season. That was the 19th highest distance in the entire league. Here's some other players numbers for comparision: Butler 2.64, Curry 2.44, K. Leonard 2.42, K.Thompson 2.38, Ariza 2.35, Westbrook 2.35, Lebron 2.28, Durant 2.25 How about on the defensive end only? Harden covered 1.15 miles per game on defense. That's the 8th highest in the entire league. Butler 1.21, Ariza 1.17, P. George 1.13, K. Thompson 1.11, Curry 1.10, Westbrook 1.08, K. Leonard 1.08, Lowry 1.05, D. Green 1.05,Lebron 1.04, Durant 1.04, DeRozan 1.03. As you can see, Harden is no where near the bottom of the league. In fact, he's toward the top. I believe that the stat that you are referring to is average speed. Harden is last among guards in that category but that's a factor of his style of play rather than lack of effort. If you look at the average speed numbers among guards that play 30 minutes or more per game you'll see that the guys that play iso and the guys that are responsible for setting up teammates are all very low in the average speed category. That makes sense as in both those situations a player will spend a great deal of time out top surveying the defense looking to make a pass or beat their man off the dribble. Here's the lowest average speeds for guards that play 30 minutes or more: Harden 3.79, C. Paul 3.9, Wall 3.95, Lowry 3.97, Wade 3.99, T.Evans 4.0, Wiggins 4.01, J.R. Smith 4.02, M. Ellis 4.04, K.Irving 4.04, Rondo 4.05, DeRozan 4.09, Middleton 4.09,Westbrook 4.10. Here's a coparison of a few of the other elite scorers: Durant 3.76, Lebron 3.85, Curry 4.26 Here's the link to the stats on the NBA site. You can filter and sort as you like: http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pl...ir=1&Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular Season
What are you guys arguing about. Harden played the klay role better than klay played it as a 21 year old coming off the bench, that team went to the finals I might add. That team also went to the finals on hardens back as he was te X factor on why they beat the Spurs. Harden PER was better as a 6th man than in klays best year. He also avg more rebounds and assist that year than in klays best season he also put up 17 ppg while shooting 49/39/88 for a ts% higher than klays has ever been. Klays a good player no doubt but harden can play his role on a contender he's already proven that at 21 yrs old. Harden is one of the top 25 offensive talents to ever play the game. I might be selling him short TBH. I'll never say klay is bad because he's not he's actually really good and has an elite skill set with his shooting. But him and Harden are not comparable talents/players. I question anyone's basketball knowledge if they really think that. If you like klay more than harden or like his game more? Sure that's fine but saying klay is better than harden is like saying ray allen is better than dwade. It's just not factual even tho both are great players one is a true franchise player the other is a HOF player with an elite skill (shooting) who is better served playing with someone like wade.
Distance traveled per 36 minutes (miles): Harden- 2.289 Curry- 2.341 Kawhi- 2.418 Klay- 2.338 Russ- 2.437 LeBron- 2.319 Durant- 2.251 Ariza- 2.417 George- 2.536 Lowry- 2.321 Draymond- 2.334 See more here: http://www.nbaminer.com/nbaminer_nb...=eexcel&partitionpage=&partition2page=&page=1
