GQ: James Harden Is The Villain the NBA Playoffs Need

Lebron is always the villain.

 

Harden isn't that original... Guys like Kobe and Wade got to the line as much as he did.

 

Wait till he masters his floater which he can use when refs are being stingy on foul calls.

 

By the way, that article was complimentary of Harden. The title was probably to ensure clicks.

 

Harden has the body to take the punishment whereas Wade's body couldn't handle it in the long run. Also, Harden attacks the rim relentlessly but he's more careful in how contact is made. Wade was relentless but also careless.

I think Harden doesn't get enough of the fouls called like Kobe or Wade because of how the media is treating this. Also, when defenders realize how to play against Harden and not to reach carelessly then it will diminish his free throw attempts. However, if Harden continues to evolve his offensive game (which btw is still raw), he will find other ways to score and get to the line.

Harden must evolve his offensive game with more go to moves such as post play (he has the body to create mismatches), off the ball cuts, improve jumper, and dribble moves to create distance.

He needs a PG who can create and handle the ball so he can exert even more on the offensive end with cuts and give more effort on defense. Such a PG would create alot more ball movement, reduce turnovers, and create a dynamic offense.

 

All top scoring wings do. That's simply what happens when you are aggressive and try to score at the wing constantly. The media always needs a villain, someone to hate. Thing about being a villain in the NBA however, is that the villain is always a great player. You never saw ESPN b****ing and moaning about Kevin Martin did you? If the media treats you like a villain, that means you have skills that forces them to recognize. I say let them keep hating and the Rockets will keep balling.

 

Why are free throws such a big story?

I literally never heard this about Durant who shoots almost exactly as many. Or Kobe. Or really anyone else. Wade won a championship on phantom fouls.

 

I agree so much. This easy narrative about Harden and free throws that the media lazily goes back to over and over is just completely ridiculous.

Playoff numbers:

Harden: 24 playoff games with Houston, 10 FTA per game (career: 67 games, 7.0 FTA per game)

Karl Malone: 9 of his 19 playoff seasons (103 games total) he averaged 9.8 free throws or more per game, one five-game series he averaged 15+ a game. 8.9 FTA per game over his total 193 playoff games.

Kevin Durant: 73 career playoff games, 9.0 FTA per game (two seasons over 10)

Wade in 2006: 23 games, 10.9 FTA per game

Dirk in 2006: 23 games, 10.0 FTA per game (Dirk career: 140 games, 8.5 FTA per game)

Jordan: 179 games, 9.9 FTA per game

Iverson: from 2000 to 2003, 49 playoff games, 9.8 FTA per game

Lebron James: 10 playoffs, 168 games, 9.5 FTA per game

Elgin Baylor: 3 playoffs from 1960-1962, 34 games, 11.9 FTA per game

Charles Barkley: 6 seasons in Phily, 51 games, 8.9 FTA per game (3 of those over 10)

So that's lots of good players shooting lots of free throws. Harden is different how? The way he draws fouls? None of these other guys would try to draw fouls or sell the contact?

 

I'm really tired of this narrative- about the way that Harden just plays for free throws.

Kevin Durant shot 804 free throws last year. He averaged 9.9 a game.
James Harden shot 824 this year. On 10.2 a game.
Russell Westbrook, this season shot 9.8 a game.

Why is it such a big deal that Harden shoots so many free throws. Everyone loves Kevin Durant. No body mentioned how many free throws he shot last year. Everyone said that Westbrook had an amazing season this year. Did the .4 free throws a game that Harden shot more than Westbrook really make that much of a difference? Really?


I'm so tired of reading this same article that says the same thing from different authors over and over and over again.

 

He is a hero to me. It is up to the angle of how you view a player.

 

Harden plays smash mouth basketball and gets fouls. Because he is tough. People are inherently biased against players like harden because of the foul calls they get AND the fact that he is definitely evil for being in Houston and Howard's teammate. They have labeled us villains since Howard got off the plane.

 

I think the difference is sometimes Harden drives to score, as soon as a defenders hand comes in, he extends his arms too. Players like kobe drives into you, utilises pump fakes to get foul calls, a much more difficult process.

I feel like most of people's disdain towards harden's game is that he doesn't have to work as hard as the rest to get the calls. Personally, I think thats playing smart and I have no problems with that.

 

I completely disagree with that article regarding Harden not sacrificing his body. He attacks the paint constantly and takes the hits in order to get to the foul line. How many times did we all hold our collective breath during the regular season when he'd be going full speed to the basket, take a hard fall, and be slow to get up? I can recall at least half a dozen instances off the top of my head.

And people need to stop with this notion that Harden relies on free throws to score as if this is a new concept. MJ lived at the foul line. So did Iverson. So did David Robinson. So does Wade. So does Durant. So does LeBron. If you're a superstar in the NBA and you attack the basket, you're going to draw fouls. That's part of the game.

 

You still haven't figured it out yet? It's called winning.
History rewrites itself in the NBA. When you win you suddendly are a hero and everyone admires you.

 

It is sour grapes. Morey offered everything he had for Harden. Other teams could easily outbid Morey. But the narrative at the time was Harden was not a Max level player, that Harden was delisional and he broke up the Oklahoma dynasty....

Now everyone is kicking themselves for quite the blunder of underestimating Harden.

Harden plays basketball like a gladiator. He plays hard all the time. And everyone knows he is going to drive it in. And if they dont foul, it is an easy two. And the cherry on top is he is a 90% free throw shooter.

 

The Villain thing is just crazy. Howard I understand why he became a villain. Be threw his old coach under the bus and forced his way out of Orlando after being undecisive about it. Lebron became a villain after leaving his home town to chase a ring. Kobe is a villain because of his personality. all that's understandable, what has Harden done to become a villain? Because he gets fouled a lot??

That's just stupid.

 

All Harden needs to do is to WIN on his own team. That's all and everyone will admire him and root for him.
Howard will never not be a villain though. He has done and said too much to shed this. Maybe years after retirement.

 

Harden is not more egregious than Wade was overall in terms of flopping and selling calls for bailouts.

What pisses people off about Harden is that he occasionally throws his arms into defenders to initiate contact or at least make it hard for defenders to keep defending without making contact.

It is a new maneuver and part of it is that it is intertwined with his expert ball handling, kind of like a boxer keeping an opponent at bay with his jab.

I guess fans aren't used to seeing it so they complain about it.

 

Because every story must have an antagonist. Which means we are adversarial to the national narrative.