Harden on Giannis: “I wish I could just run and just dunk. That takes no skill at all.”

count in players MVP as well

@fchowd0311

 

Kevin Pelton has shown that this is a failed argument. The differences between the conferences, while measurable, is not a significant factor over the course of a season when teams are playing a mixture of teams in both conferences. And, in any case, what are the stats for Giannis against the West vs East this year? A quick look at the splits shows his box score numbers are actually higher against the West, and his record against the West is 17-4.

 

There you go playing the victim card again, dude grow a pair.

I don't have to search your username you are all over the place, I just wanted to read what everyone thinks of the win on Sat yet here you go again derailing every thread.

Nobody cares about you that much you just happen to post BS over many threads.

 

If he is the best player in the NBA yes?

Why shouldn't we?

Lebron took a team to the Finals.

 

Does he account for the fact that the teams in the East are lesser teams on the average and Giannas does not have to expend a lot of energy night in night out?

It's about more than splits.

 

A majority of fans have their opinions strongly influenced by the media. So they go hand in hand. Being a basketball writer does not require someone to be objective, and indeed even someone like Lowe isn't. I am not saying that fans opinions are better than those of a basketball writer, what I am saying is that I don't consider either one to mean much.

GM's are always going to choose to build around a younger player if two players are remotely comparable.

Giannis is a very good and likely elite defensive player in the NBA. I just do not think he is the best defensive player in the league and I know that a lot of the defensive statistics are very much based on team play. I do think he is one of the 5-10 most important defensive players in the league.

As I said earlier, Giannis is one of the 2 best players in the world right now. If you want to say you believe he is the best, I can respect it...... what isn't believable to me is that there is any gulf between the two. Context is important. Defenses have been for years been designed to stop Harden. They have thrown everything at him. Giannis has not faced that sort of attention. The attention Harden gets defensively has in large part allowed played like Westbrook to get open lanes to the basket. Harden's ability to defend inside has allowed the Rockets to make certain stylistic changes and to go small more easily.

There are a list of contextual points you can make for Giannis as well......

The whole argument is very interesting and complicated.

 

What I meant by physical attributes is height, weight, and wingspan. Giannis is big in all 3 aspects and overall has strong hops and naturally very athletic so he has an advantage when it comes to his position in the lineup to grab rebounds, block shots, quickness in scoring against other PFs, etc. Harden is like any other 6'6 SG and physically even slower than many other guards his size so he has to develop his game uniquely that relies more on ball-handling, footwork and shooting skills rather than his physical attributes. This is why many analysts and commentators call him a very nifty player because of his effective euro step, step-back and sidestep jumpers. Talking about balling skills here "homer". You do not think this attributes to working hard? Does this somehow less effective than gaining muscles in the gym?

Regarding your muscles comment, from your perspective, Reggie Miller and Kevin Durant should be considered complete trash since they did/do not have a muscular frame as Giannis.

Harden plays PG/SG and is a finesse type of player. Why does he need to bulk up? And your version of "fat" Harden still averages about 37 min per game, ranking 2nd in the NBA while also missing the least amount of games. And a difference of 5 ppg between Harden n Giannis is not putting up similar offensive numbers ok. Statistically, Harden has to consistently score less than 30 and Giannis to consistently score way more than 35 in many games going forward to reach that level or Giannis to surpass Harden on offensive numbers. Its lazy analysis for you to call it similar offensive numbers.

And you clearly did not understand the context of my MVP statement. For me, Giannis and Harden both are MVP candidates, but from perspectives of fans and ESPN analyst, they overrate him when compared to Harden and ignore Hardens MVP type performance. It is absurd for you to ignore stats of 34.9 ppg (1st) /6.4 rpg /7.3 apg / 29..04 PER (2nd) and say one is better than the other.

And why are you getting so offended? Chill with the adjectives, yeah?!

 

17-4 is nice against the west, 65 win pace.
But when the team only has 8 losses in 60 games and a third of those games count for half your losses that says something.

Bucks will literally have the easiest schedule in the league when all said and done.

 

Also all of this crap about Harden being fat or poorly conditioned if complete trash.

The man has averaged 37 minutes a game for nearly a decade. He has had an all time usage rate for years. He plays hurt and has improved every season.

 

He has more fat than tradional NBA gaurds. It's pretty damn obvious dude.

And playing high minutes isn't the only indicator of stamina. Harden himself had admitted he has asthma issues in high school . Hence why you see him being notorious for ball watching, walking the ball everywhere, not sprinting on transition defense. He's improved on the ball watching this season especially when Westbrook ramped up the usage the past month.

Notice how how his most positive traits on defense requires the least amount of foot movement.

There is a reason why we can't run a motion offense with Harden. He just doesn't have the cardio conditioning to run around like someone like Steph or Klay or Kobe or Jordan or Wade or any other NBA athelete that is leaner and has better stamina for sprinting/running.

It's why we have such an extreme dichotomy in pace when Westbrook dominates the ball vs when Harden does. Harden runs one of the slowest paced offenses in the league from last season and it's by design to hide Harden's lack of conditioning.

 

This same guy talking about fondling nuts.

LOL

 

every thread w/ anything harden is derailed by 1 person and his plea that well it's my opinion

 

Well two...

Dont forget the other guy, Smoothie dude, who is busy quoting himself using multiple accounts (other than the recent one where he forgot to switch accounts before quoting himself lulz)

 

LOL

Harden's lack of conditioning?!!!?

Harden is notorious for playing basketball and training year round.

Before CP3 was acquired and during first season with MDA, Rockets led by Harden were one of the league leaders in pace. Rockets.slowed pace to accommodate CP3.

You just cannot stop with the lies and ignorant takes can you????

 

Just a day after wondering why everyone gangs up on him. He goes on another hit piece attacking harden, this time about his slow pace style.

U do know that u can become great even if you have your own unique style. Do what you are best at and u will succeed. Why does Harden have to slim down? He's already averagin 34.9 on offense (does he need to go any faster?), and defense he's doing solid w/ a system designed to compensate for his weakness..

Honestly wonder if u have anything better to do then criticize harden all day.

There's a reason why wb is shining now. he's not forcing 3s, b/c he knows he not good at it. He's not trying to become a curry, he's playing his style of play.
Apply that concept to harden and u will understand why he's fine playing it slow.
U truly deserve the title of Harden Hater.

 

@fchowd0311 goin full delusional LOF today

 

Harden being better conditioned and leaner could have been the missing competitive advantage that doesn't make him have these absurdly horrible playoff games like against the Spurs.

Being leaner is about effort in being careful in what you eat. Fat people have become lean so I know Harden could if he ate clean because he isn't anywhere close to "tradional fat" in terms of comparing him to the general public but he definitely could lean up when you see him against his peers. It would also extend his career with less stress on his ligaments. He can even maintain the current muscle mass he has as his strength is a large part in why he's successful.


Harden elite scoring and efficiency doesn't translate to the playoffs. For a fanclub that excessively b****es about how "eye tests" are dumb and only care about analytics, it's very obvious that Harden has some of the worst drop offs in scoring and efficiency compared to other superstars he competes with.


I've said to many times already but I think a reason for it is his game can be monotonous and predictable. Predicability isn't going to harm you as much in the regular season because opposing teams are playing different teams every day with different rest schedules. But in the playoffs monotonous predicability is far more of a hindrance.

 

Do you remember the 17-18 season? We actually played a fast pace for the first half of the season. Harden also was in the best shape of his life. We slowed it down towards the later part of the season. And it maintained the same even when CP3 was out for extended time.

Do you remember the reports after last year's playoffs where it was implied that CP3 was complaining to Harden about his slow walk routine?

 

Let's see the link you little liar.