CJ McCollum talks Harden's brilliance, the hate, and the Luka Doncic double standard on his Podcast

"I think just playing with a smile on your face is something relatively unique. Most guys are locked in and they are pretty serious," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I watched Luka the other night against San Antonio in his first game back and he's out there smiling and laughing, and that is similar to Steph. I think fans love that and they want to see the players enjoying themselves. He's an amazing player. ... He's got a great skill set and approach to the game. He's great for the league and we are lucky to have him in the league."

It's impossible to say whether Doncic will have the transformational impact on the game of basketball that Curry has cemented over the past few seasons, but it's safe to say that his popularity will at least approach Curry's if the Mavericks continue to have success. Though he seems impervious to the aging process, LeBron James can't play forever. When he finally retires, the league will need a new face, and Doncic is making an early bid to take the throne.

 

The power of the media...

 

Here's the usual crowd angry at white people who do things well. Embracing a culture of finding ways to throw shade at successful white men while praising everyone else.

Luka is a 20 year old who averages nearly 30 ppg while shooting 48% from the field. Harden has only shot above 45% for 1 season in his Rockets career. At age 20, Harden was averaging 12 ppg at 43%. Luka does look for fouls but if you take that aspect away, he's incredibly efficient as well as a strong playmaker. All before the age of 21! He doesn't deserve an ounce of criticism right now. Harden's criticism has been justified for his age and time in the league. Likewise, Giannis gets near unanimous praise because of his incredible efficiency on both ends of the floor. He averages over 30 ppg while shooting above 55%. His career FG% is above 50. That is what other players and experts see, and why he is going to win back to back MVP's if he stays healthy.

Harden is a great, once in a generation scorer but the numbers come from him playing the volume game. There are many aspects he can look to improve if he wants to win a title and it starts with efficiency away from the FT line that the LebRon's and Durant's have always had and done at a high level.

 

Nobody gives a **** about FG % man. You basically saying AI and Kobe were not great scorers ?

 

You can't compare fg% between Harden and Gainnis as their shot profile is totally different. Harden takes about 13 3s per game. Look at their efg% and ts%. Harden and Gainnis have similar efg% and Harden has a higher ts%.

 

Luka's beard is nowhere close to Harden's. I doubt that he has enough male hormone to look like Harden even if he wanted to.

 

First of all, both played in different time period where usage rates and the shots taken were different. Iverson was just a scorer and not much more - he was rightfully criticized and never won anything. Kobe shot a higher % in his winning years and closed out games. He dealt with criticism as well. You don't make any points here. Lack of efficiency is a huge reason Harden is seen as more of a volume shooter than a dominant winner along the lines of KD, Lebron, Kawhi etc

 

Harden's prime era has a higher efg% than Kobe which is a far more relevant stat in determining shooting efficiency because it puts proper weight on 3 pt shots vs 2 pt shots.

Harden has always had a higher ts% which is a measure of scoring efficiency than Kobe.

Harden is considered a very efficient scorer. In fact he took the fewest shot attempts in NBA history per game for a player who averages over 35 ppg for an entire season

 

Relevant stat? Only in your and Morey's mind, 2 people who have never won anything other than twitter debates. Take FT's out of it and you can see why certain players struggle down the stretch, particlarily in playoff games where refs hold the whistle.

 

Efg% has nothing to do with fta.

It properly weighs 2 pt shots vs 3 pt shots.

It's basic math. Efficiency is basically (output desired/input required). Think of it this way: Player One shoots 5/10 from the field with just twos. That's 50% and generates 10 pts. Player Two shoots 4/10 from the field with all made buckets from three. That's 40% from the field but it generates 12 pts. The lower raw shooting percentage generated more points on the same amount of attempts.

That's why raw fg% is a bad stat to determine efficiency. It doesn't incorporate any context.

 

So in your opinion 4% points in shooting percentage is the difference between being hated and the new face of the league. Alrighty then.....

 

just like every other pioneer/breakthrough/First Nut in the history of the planet, where there’s tremendous hate, there’s truth and brilliance and magnificence. Harden fits this bill perfectly.

Of course the ultimate example is Jesus Christ.

 

I didn’t realize someone on Clutchfans could actually understand Harden so little.

This is some Max Kellerman analysis.

Let’s make this clear,

James Harden is more efficient, by far, than WILT CHAMBERLAIN, in Wilt’s best season.

If you are looking at FG% as a basis for efficiency, you are incredibly naive.

 

FG%?

 

They won’t associate the good with the bad.

 

it is not just that As he said people hate to see successful white males. If he were black he would already have a brand that eclipsed Jordan’s instead of lowering himself to be on Jordan’s brand.

 

If u for once think Luka is better than Harden then u are smoking some serious drugs the kid is good but he is copying everything that Harden does

 

but the mefia keeps trying to push he plays like lbj. since comparing him to there most hated harden would validate james

 

LOL, right? He's been compared to Curry and LBJ. Everybody but Harden God, its really funny how that works huh.