[BBALLBREAKDOWN] Is James Harden Better Than Russell Westbrook?

Problem with Westbrook is he has low BBIQ.

Could be a lot better.

 

WTF barely better? Harden has the 4rth best team with a worse team (without him) than OKC (without WB).

And that's just in the present, where WB's athleticism is still at his peak. 5 years from now both these guys legs will be shot but while Harden will still be a top player due to his skills and genius bball IQ, WB will be bench material because he can't shoot and everything he does depends on his athleticism.

The win share/48 says it all, .29 vs .235 it's really no contest.

 

Debatable that Harden has a worse team surrounding him than Russell.

In the starting lineup alone Westbrook has a nonshooter (Roberson) and a rookie (Sabonis). Oladipo and Adams are both decent players. Even if you assume that both starting lineups are equal (OKC better defense, Rockets better offense), OKC's bench is trash. Gordon is better than Kanter, while Nene and Dekker are better than anyone else on OKC's bench.

 

Im confused at how they are both questionable leaders? I dont think some of you guys even know what a leader is. According to the internet no one is a good leader in the NBA, lol.

 

I've always said Harden is a much efficient scorer than people give him credit for. The normal FG% doesn't do him any justice, since he take a lot, I mean a lot of 3s while being not as accurate as Curry or Klay, which brings his FG% down. But if you think about it, making 3s at 33% is equivalent to making 2s at 50% clip, so it's still much more efficient way to score than jacking up long 2s if you are a somewhat capable shooter. Harden is a decent, above average 3-point shooter (career 37%), good finisher around the rim and can get to the FT line like nobody else; combine these qualities altogether, you get a 60+ TS% player. Even his eFG% (which ignores free throws and strictly measures shooting efficiency on the court) is pretty good because of the reasons I've mentioned.

Compare Harden's TS% or eFG% to Westbrook's and you'll notice these two players are on completely another level when it comes to scoring efficiency. Westbrook might be the most inefficient scorer since Iverson to average 30 ppg, and that's not good.

I think WB is a great player, one of the best rebounding guards to play the game and even underrated passer. But when it comes to scoring - the most essential part of the game - I have to say he's massively overrated.

 

I'd much rather have Harden but they are both elite players.

 

coach nick hates Westbrook so there's that lol

 

The gap in scoring capability between these two players is greater than people realize. We all know Harden is a better shooter, but what about the ability to finish at the rim? Surely WB must be a better slasher due to his other-worldly athleticism, right?

http://stats.nba.com/players/drives/#!?sort=DRIVE_PTS&dir=1

Westbrook : 8.6 points per game on drives, makes them at 47.3% accuracy

Harden : 8.1 points per game on drives, makes them at 58.2% accuracy

The only edge WB has on Harden when it comes to scoring is mid-range pull up jumper. Other than that, Harden is a better shooter, better slasher and better distributor.

 

Then everyone on this thread would be saying how much better westbrook is than Harden.

 

good, informative video.

unfortunately, most casual nba fans will probably disagree. to casual fans who don't go deep into advanced stats, russ just looks more fun, ergo he is better.

 

Harden's ws/48 has always been better than Westbrook's throughout their entire career, except for last season. Think about that, even though WB was on the better team in general, Harden contributed to his team's wins more than WB did almost every single year.

The year Durant got hurt and WB led OKC by himself, they didn't even make the playoffs.

The year Dwight got hurt and Harden led Houston by himself, we finished 2nd in WC with Harden ending up as the runner-up MVP.

Watch what happens this season. OKC has had relatively soft schedule compared to ours, and still has worse record. Come December & January, the gap between the two teams' winning % will begin to spread even more.

 

Well that's why it's debatable, there's arguments either way. We can spend all day arguing which is better but at the end of the day Harden still does more for winning games than WB does, he uses the ball less but produces way more than WB. And Rox have 4rth best record while having a stronger schedule than OKC does.

 

I do not think you can get triple doubles just by being athletic. That is superstition and superficial. Harden has been better but Russell is just behind by not much.

WB is more active in all the quarters, almost does not take possessions off, aggressive till the end.

Harden is known to coast in some games, and last season he coasted a lot.

 

Stop being homers, it's at least worthy of discussion and it's damn close.

 

LMAO at WB not taking possessions off, his defense has been atrocious this season, even OKC fans admit it. Statistically has worse DRPM than Harden, but even if we just go by the eye-test, I really don't see that much of difference on D (both capable on-ball defenders but not so much off the ball), or dare I say Harden has been better this season.

 

No, not that he only uses athletic ability...but he relies a TON on it.

If you look at Derrick Rose and compare his game to Westbrook and how they play...it's eerily similar. Both are (In Rose's case were) uber athletic point guards. By relying on his athleticism...like it mentions ISO plays.

That Westbrook merely sizes up his opponent and attacks the angle because no way his guy is going to beat him to his spot and attack. No matter who matches up with him, he's bigger and faster than most guards any ways.

Harden on the other hand has to rely on just being crafty to score on ISO plays, a nifty cross over or a step back to disorient his defender to get his space. Westbrook can just go in his mind "F it, I'll blow past this guy." and it usually works. The point about his jumper is spot on, he leans in because he's often going so fast that the momentum just carries him forward. It shows you how much he relies on his speed to create plays.

Not that he can't get past his guy using skill...it's just he often relies on his physical ability to dominate games. Nothing wrong with that. It is what it is, he has the gift to do that so he should make use of it when he can. Like Rose though as he ages and as his body ages he'll have to rely a lot more on his skill if he still wants to be an elite player. Guys that overly rely on it though, I think age hits them harder though.

Harden is a lot more methodical.

 

I think they're both great in their own way, and they're very different which is cool. Their supporting cast is also very different, Thunder is more about getting stops, extra rebounds and making hustle plays, while Houston is more about making shots and getting good looks, both of them (Harden and Westbrook) provide exactly what their teams need. Westbrook gives hustle, relentless energy to feed his peers, while Harden is giving great opportunities to score to everyone, while also playing smart, again, i would probably rank them around same right now, even though Harden is much more efficient scorer Westbrook has his own great stuff that helps his team to get the W's.

 

Problem with Harden's fondness for A-1 is it means he has low BBQIQ.

 

Honestly, of all the criticisms of James Harden, this is the one that rings most true.