Harden has been unfairly officiated, but we need to fix these shooting %s

You’re not wrong. Harden has done nothing to dispel the narratives against him in the postseason. Highly disappointing.

 

@clutchfans: Just two years ago, a panel of 100 media members thought Russell Westbrook was more valuable than James Harden.

@moisekapenda: Just one year ago, a panel of 100 media members thought James Harden was more valuable than LeBron James.



Imo we should look at harden's 2015 playoffs. He had an awesome run then. Very efficient. He played at a faster pace (less of this walking the ball up stuff), he attacked the rim more instead of settling for 3s, moved off ball a little bit, took a bit more midrange, turned it over less.

Would like to see him play that style which is harder for defenses to game plan for.

 

People forget that if Harden gets those calls, then he doesn't get the missed FGA and his efficiency looks much better. Less missed FGAs, more FTs, better TS%.

He's just not getting the calls.

 

Ya it's been a pretty bad shooting performance from harden.

But his BB IQ and good decision making put him in another league over Westbrick. His defense and rest of his game have also been very solid. He is, despite his own bad shooting, consistently a net positive on the court.

Also, his shot is so much more respected than Westbrick's, those percentages are with guys basically breathing on him at all times. Westbrick straight misses open shots, or does dumb drives to the rim. Harden's willingness to shoot those shots and have defenders all over him also opens up the rest of our offense.

So, yes, I'd look to see better shooting, but context really matters if you're going to try and make this comparison.

 

I'm a huge harden guy but the major drop off in his efficiency between regular season and playoffs is ridiculous. Yes generally your percentages are suppose to go down in the playoffs a little bit, but shooting under 40 % is unacceptable. Honestly if he was gonna figure it out, this is the year to do it becasue I just don't see how it will get better. His athleticism is also gonna be declining very soon.

 

Again, your point would be better taken if you dropped the Westbrook comparison. That guy straight misses wide open shots.

Harden is bricking heavily contested 3s against defenses that are zeroing in on him, huge difference.

Also, Westbrook finished the postseason averaging 22.3 pts/game, Harden is currently averaging 29 pts/game. So he's maintaining Westbrook's shooting stats at a higher volume. If Westbrook tried to average 29/game this postseason, I guarantee you his stats would be even worse.

 

nothing to do with calls. he shot sub .30 from the 3 in the past 2 post season. SUB 30%!?!?!

 

But say he gets fouled on maybe 2 of those 3PAs that isn't called. Instead of being 3/10 on 3s, he's 3/8 on 3s. Harden shoots 6 more FTs at 90% a clip, that brings him from 28PPG on 9/22 FGAs to 33.4PPG on 9/20 FGs which looks much more efficient. The lack of calls makes a difference on how we evaluate Harden's playoff efficiency.

 

Except he didn't get fouled on 2 out of every 10 threes he took, in the past two post seasons. He just missed them.

And shooting 33 percent from 3 is still terrible for an MVP

 

In game 1, we saw 4 fouls in one half. I remember more than 2 in game 7.

If defenders are allowed to foul Harden on his 3s, he's going to shoot them at a worse percentage. If defenders were correctly assessed fouls, they'd be honest guarding his 3s and he'd have more space for better efficiency.