Kawhi is a better all around player than Harden. But he also has a much better supporting cast and he got to rest for 22 games this season and his team was still able to finish with the 2nd best record in the league with relative ease. Juxtapose that with Harden playing in a tougher conference, having a weaker supporting cast around him(especially prior to the additions of House, Rivers, and Faried), and a bunch of injury prone teammates and it's a borderline miracle he had anything left in the tank for the postseason. Long story, less long. Kawhi is better, but that's not why the Raptors are faring better against the Warriors than the Rockets did.
Bunch of hofs in this thread. Now saying everything about the raptors supporting cast and front office is better. SMH. Complete flip in a matter of weeks because harden went ghost
I sorta agree. People have held Harden to a standard he can’t meet. He isn’t a Championship caliber that can lead a team to a ring. Lots of dudes are that. Westbrook, Lillard, Davis, Kyrie, Nash. It’s not Harden’s fault. He is what he is which is a HOF regular season player. Things change for him in the playoffs. He isn’t the same player stats he damned. Look at him play.
Somewhat relevant: This is why Hakeem is so beloved. Even if he might be ranked a spot or two lower, ultimately, by some than Houstonians might prefer, others consistently have him in their top 10. MJ has him as his top center I think. Performance UP in the playoffs, plus the defense. This is also why I have long felt that Dirk has been underrated - maybe in the last few years just his longevity has popped him up a bit. But Dirk was actually REALLY good in the playoffs. The image is FGA vs. TS%, but Dirk's playoff stats were usually up across the board. For example, his max rebounds per 100 in the regular season was high 13's. He topped that 6 times in the playoffs, including 15.7 one year. Obviously, he's still a tier below Hakeem types... but I think it's fair to say you'd prefer peak Dirk to peak KG. I would. But enough on history. Kawhi's efficiency and scoring increase in the playoffs is almost unheard of crazy. Harden's FGA per game stays pretty consistent 16.2 - 16.3 per game from regular season to playoffs, but TS% goes way down, 60.9% to 57.9%.
Slightly unfair criticism. He wins a ring if not for Chris Paul's injury last year, and the "he can't be the guy to lead a team to a ring" criticism isn't being said. Couple that with his prime years falling in line with one of the great dynasties in history. There are many arguments you can make against Harden in the playoffs, but grouping him with guys like Westbrook/Lillard/Davis right now is unfair. He's not on the LBJ/Durant/Kawhi tier, but Harden is far ahead of those guys as the lead guy on his team.
And Hakeem is by far the best defender on that list. Plus the results are even crazier if you look at efg%. I like efg because it doesn't account free throws which can be taken away by refs and scheme
Lot of jackasses here, who kept telling me my arguments for saying Harden is better than RW or any other player "lacked stats". No, Kawhi is not one-hundred-freaking-times better than Harden. Swap Kawhi with Harden, Kawhi ain't doing **** with this Rockets team. And Harden would still carry that Raptors team to at least the Finals. Please exit the damn forum. I'm so tired of you idiots coming here saying garbage like this.
Give Harden Siakam, Ibaka, etc., I really don't think Giannis is as big a threat as the role players and coaching.
I still question if had a concussion from previous game, it was really odd just because the team didn't even want to talk about it. Regardless, you're right though, that was of the worst performances I've seen from any star player, and if he was that out of it.. It'd have been better to not even play, because that was really bad and definitely didn't help the narrative that he can't play in the playoffs.
Really? This is the argument im seeing now. And btw you can check my post history, I am not a hof. I just recognize when it isnt our best player's fault.
Fine sure, but the fact is that offense was amazing that quarter and it wasn't too below average from his regular season way of playing. Defense and rebounding......sheesh, I dont know how many time i have to repeat this.