[Calvin Watkins] Harden named starting point guard

that would then make feigen a caterpillar excavator

 

No, Watkins actually thought MDA meant Bev was being benched in the Monday interview. Everyone else heard it differently -- the obvious. As you say, "nothing is different." That's why Watkins is writing a clarification that ClutchFans and Feigen aren't. Because they got it right the first time.

In fact, Feigen was asked to retweet his same Monday article, since Watkins is confusing all the fans (and himself).

 

But, but... he's one of the "top 3 players in the league"... wouldn't that get him into the all star game regardless of position...?

I mean, it probably wouldn't happen anyway, because of the vast 'media conspiracy' to deny James Harden his due... just another plot perpetrated by the man, designed to keep the brother down...

Are we going to have a new thread now declaring James is one of the top 3 or top 5 or whatever pgs of all time?

LOL!

 

Lol at the all star worries . Number one isn't it just guards ? Like all guards are under the same category ?

Secondly , let him miss the all star game . The rest will be good . And I think coaches get to pick right ? He will make it if so

 

Calvin Watkins is probably the worst beat writer in Houston sports. He makes John McClain look credible.

His original article was pure clickbait. That's why heypartner felt it necessary to post a separate thread about Clutch's article and videos of the full D'Antoni & Harden interviews.

 

Idiots. He simply talked about "point guard" as guard for points, not the point guard at position.

 

There are two possible outcomes:

(1) The Captain Obvious option: This is just a change in name only with Beverley sliding into the SG role on offense.

(2) The Full r****d option: Pringles really means starting Harden as the PG with Eric Gordon being the SG.

Since it's Pringles we are talking about, both are equally probable.

 

When are they getting those shorts at the Rockets Shop?

 

https://theringer.com/james-harden-...-point-guard-position-7f83a239217f#.skv29uhi6

 

What's wrong with Harden playing PG? It's working so far, and based on what I saw it's better for Harden to be pg.
1) People keep saying it's just semantics blah blah blah, but the reality is Harden's duty as an SG and as a PG are different in terms of focus. As an SG, his focus is on trying to score the ball, but as a pg I see him focusing on setting up the play. You can see this difference in Harden's assists, in the NYC game he had 11 assists and in the Pelly game he had 15. OTH, last season was his career assist year and he only averaged 7 per game. I know this is a pretty small sample size, but I think the large discrepancy in assists tell you Harden plays differently as a pg.

2)I think Harden is someone who is deeply affected by what others say about him, he isn't as mentally strong as some of the other players in the league as last last year when he almost got the MVP and the resulting disappointment sapped his game. As the franchise player and face of the Rockets, Harden must feel pressure to always be doing something help the team win and show everyone he's one of the best players in the planet. Since we know that as an SG his role is really to score points, this can lead to bouts of hero ball which is sometimes successful but sometimes isn't. OTH, if he is a point guard his duty is gonna be to just set up the play of the team and I've seen less instances of hero ball as a result (he still reverted to it late in the 3rd Q though). Most of the playmaking I've seen Harden do last year consisted of driving it inside then kicking it out, this year he has been drawing the defense outside and making alley oops to Capela or bullet passes to cutters. I think this is also partly the reason everyone isn't standing around as much this year, since Harden is free to move outside the 3 pt line instead of always having to drive n kick.

3)While Harden is a great scorer, I wouldn't say he is an elite or best of class scorer, so making him off the ball would be limiting his game. Harden makes a lot of his points via fishing for FTs which is why he scores so many points, but if you take that away I think he's just a bit over above average in terms of actually scoring of tough defenses which is why we see him struggle from time to time when guarded by the NBA's best. What really sets him apart IMHO is his playmaking, I think his ability to make plays for others just as good or even better than CP3 we can it because he lead the league in creating assisted 3s for his team. Making him a pg allows him to focus on that playmaking ability while still scoring when the time is right instead of asking him to focus exclusively on scoring and playmake when the defense collapses on him. With guys like Anderson, Nene and Gordon I think it's better for him to focus on playmaking because these guys are lethal shooters if they are left open.

I honestly have no issue with Gordon starting at SG, I think having MDA open and close the game with the best lineup is a good tactic rather than just waiting till the last 2 mins or whatever to roll out your best 5 man team. Even if they have Pat Bev become the starter I'd still just have Harden remain the PG so he can get the ball from the start, waiting for Pat bev to cross the line and give it to him wastes time when Harden could've already sent it to one of the cutters.

 

Only part I disagree with is his scoring. I think he's elite.

But I do agree with the change in mindset. You can see it in his play. Harden is taking on the responsibility of being more of a distributor than he has been.

Of course that Is also partly a function of the offense.

Less ISO. More pick and roll. More offensive movement by guys off the ball.

Just from the eye test though it looks like Harden is looking to pass first more often instead of passing because he is not in a great position to score.

 

Harden's elite in a general sense, at the end of the day you look at him and he scored the most points last season. But at the same time, a large part of that comes from his flopping/ft fishing skills. If you disregard all the fts he gets he's still above average but I'm not confident he will convert consistently if he's guarded by the best defenders like Lebron or Iggy. Just look at the Pellies game he was starting to go cold near the end.

 

he dropped 45 on iggy last time he played him....he's dropped 30 on lebron in Heat and Cavs uniforms. Stop these lies.

 

Quite possibly the dumbest post I have ever read.

James Harden is one of the greatest offensive players of all time.

 

never understood how people fault players who go to the basket and get fouled. That's a part of the game players develop and is a skill in itself. Something quite frankly isn't that common these days anymore. This ability is a plus for any wing player that strives to be great. Whether you want to call it flopping or whatever any great wing player in the league has this in their arsenal. There's a reason why coaches want players to get to the line and who can do it consistently. It's actually a huge key to winning games especially important/close ones.

 

I agree on this, but that's because I consider his overall package including his passing, creating skills and efficient game. Harden also has these moments when he's in the zone and everything starts dropping for him including step back 3s and Js with defenders all over him and I guess those moments are what people reference when they say Harden is an elite scorer as well. I consider Harden to be one of the most multi-faceted offensive players out there, in fact I think he's the most complete offensive player along with Lebron since Curry can't really score in the post and KD can't pass and playmake as well as Harden and LBJ. But at the same time I don't think he's as pure as scorer as someone like say KD or Curry or LBJ, these 3 guys very rarely have bad scoring nights but Harden will have nights when his shots aren't falling especially like in the playoffs series against Portland where Wesley Matthew pretty much contained him almost all series long or even in the Clippers matchup where he had a bad shooting night to start the series and slowly worked his way up.

 

I don't have an issue with this, I was a big fan of K-mart when he was here and I always pay attention to TS% so I'm definitely a big fan of going to the line as these fts accumulate. I'm just saying Harden's efficient style of play masks his horrible shooting nights because even if he goes 5-15 on he'll get 12 fts and end up with still an efficient game overall. I guess "above average" is an exaggeration since Hardens obviously among elite company but I don't really consider him among the best 1-on-1 scorers like KD, Curry and Lebron, those guys to me are still a tier above since they just seem way more consistent overall when it comes to shooting.

 

But bro how can you in a discussion about individual offense say something like "if you disregard all his ft's"? Honestly, just step back and think about that. A FT made is earned just like a 3pter made. A tactical move to draw a foul is no different than a tactical move to make your defender think you're going the opposite way (aka the crossover).

It's like saying "Curry is a great offensive player but if I take away his 3pters the rest of his game is XYZ."

When statements like that are made, they are meant to isolate a part of a whole in order to study it better. Like ignoring a player's defensive skills in order to study their offensive game. But you can't take FT's out of someone's offense to study their offense. FT's are part of offense, and any one can try to do what Harden does, and many players try to do what Harden does, and if they could there are dozens of young guards who would kill to be able to do what he does.

I'm sorry but you should really walk back your analysis man. It's not possible to ignore that part of your argument and carry on a rational discussion about Harden's offensive game as if you didn't just say that.

Your definition of pure scorer seems to be someone who scores in the methods you like. The truth is Harden has been nothing but a pure scorer, his assists being entirely incidental to his god-like offensive game.