[The Ringer] It’s Never Been Easier to Score 50 Points in the NBA

You are preaching to the choir here my friend. My post above was on the fly and I didn’t proof it well, meant to say the whole argument that he hasn’t performed well in the playoffs has some relevancy but not to the level the national media constantly try to drive home while leaving out key points. I’m absolutely of the opinion had Klay not gone down in that finals KL would NOT have another championship to his name. Can’t prove that but until KT went down it was looking and feeling like the Warriors were going to come back and tie that series and no way would I have bet against them in game 7 with that kind of momentum.

Harden hasn’t been helped by circumstances (DH being a p**sy and a suspect cast in that WCF, CP3s injury) but he has had a few wtf moments which you can’t argue (his poor performance esp in the Spurs series’s). All that said he hasn’t carried this team like no other superstar besides maybe LBJ with very early Cavs playoff performances. He’s been nothing short of otherworldly the last couple of years offensively (and his D is solid when he wants to commit to it !)

 

In that case... never mind.

I'm hypersensitive to Harden playoff criticism these days. I think that one inexplicably bad game against the Spurs represents his entire playoff career in the eyes of most people.

 

The man played with bloody eyes the first few games of the series and played damn well. But the narrative was, “oh it’s not as bad as it seems, Harden still sucks ok!!”

 

So he took 17 shots to get 37 points. I did not watch that game. Essentially, 2. 2 pts a shot. Isn't that just something Harden has achieved repeatedly. The dude is scoring like a machine and just because he is that good drawing fouls and stepback threes that don't seem to be fair to the defenders, everyone hates him. Unbelievable.

 

But I thought defenses were better than before? You can’t have it both ways.

 

Wilt took 63 shots to get 100 points.

Gotta crack a ****-ton of eggs if you wanna make a giant omelet.

 

I hear you, he's had a few clunkers though (the multi turnover game against the Warriors in the WCF where we were about to upset them in game one also comes to mind), but the narrative will not go away until he wins a title it's really that simple at this point. We all know there were many circumstances that have lead to the fact that he hasn't won a title (concussion in SA, CP hamstring, the godawful 0-27 shooting in a game we lead by as many as 19, the hilariously bad officiating in games 6/7 in 17/18 WCF, the awful officiating in games 1/2 last year etc etc etc) but he has to find a way to get over the hump (excuses) or this will be how the media always parses the topic of Harden. It's frustrating as hell, but there is no other way around it.

 

He was 10 - 17 from the field. 11 - 11 from the ft line in just 20 minutes. 6 - 11 from 3. I don't think he will sustain this but this is what everyone is so thrilled about.

EDIT: I thought you said he took 37 shots.

 

If Paul Pierce be playing today, he'd be the next Kobe Bryant.

Even Kobe Bryant be the next Paul Pierce with MDA

 

It probably is, but Harden is still a massive outlier and is giving any era 35+ efficiently.

 

Absolutely. And I'm afraid that just winning a title won't be enough. Harden needs to be the clear hero in a majority of the finals wins. If Russ outshines him, the narrative will remain intact. These aren't Einsteins we're talking about.

 

Yeah but athleticism before was always a lot weaker than today. Much lower skillcap too so someone like Harden who is a skill based player is gonna have a much bigger advantage.

 

this especially as a rockets fan

a true rockets fan needs to know the weaknesses, flaws, and holes of the team and its a long list and harden is at the bottom of that list

 

I disagree winning changes everything just look at KD. In retrospect leaving Russ to join a fully stacked team worked out well for him nobody took his 3 all star teammates against him.

Kawhi missed almost half the season he still the goat cuz he beat GSW.

 

The Harden hate is going too far, the numbers this man is putting up is insane. If any of the top 5 players put up those numbers they would automatically get the title of the best player in the league. Since Harden isn’t playing in Los Angeles or New York he doesn’t get the love from these media outlets. They have every single excuse to not claim Harden isn’t the best player.

 

He was universally recognized as a snake for joining that stacked team. He said it was a bit of a let down after they one the 1st one. He got his rings but lost respect and he knew it. I know what you are saying but KD isn't the best example.

 

The answer is simple. Paul Westhead. He tried to use that insane Loyola Marymount offense in the NBA. I'm guessing by "bottom third" you're looking at something else (maybe offensive rating?), because back then I think all anybody looked at was how many points a team could put up and I know they were at the top by a large margin, but the crazy stat of that team was they gave up over 130 ppg. That was a team that would even make Mike D'Antoni say "damn, do y'all even know how to spell 'D'?" lol.

 

The picture of the guy says it all. Written by some loser who’s never played team sports.

Gotta stop allowing these nerds to judge actual athletes they don’t know **** about scoring.

Stick to spreadsheets

 

George has been shooting really well so far this season but he went up against a heavily injured Pels team, the Hawks and the Thunder. All 3 of those teams by no means are defensive stalwarts of any kind. He should be able to put up a lot of points with relative easy against them.

not to discredit George here, but its just that its one thing to score 37 in under 20 minutes if you were playing the Bucks or the Lakers...much different when its the Hawks.