The Results Are In! The Best Two Rockets Attacking The Basket Are...

His FG% in drives does not say that at all. His FG% on drives this year is better than both of the last two years, by a good margin.

2017 = 54.1%
2016 = 49.6%
2015 = 48.3%

 

Numbers for some key players to compare to MDA's PG Harden and McHale Harden.



Notice Harden's FTA / Drive now equal Chris Paul's. I'm thinking true PGs are looking to pass when driving in the lane, so attacking and drawing fouls not done as much, thus less FTAs. This will drop your PPS, but the AST/gm become more important.

Harden does seem to use that floater more, which is a decoy for an alley-oop as well. So his passes are keeping defenders honest, thus less fouls ... like Paul?

Is that a good theory?

 

Cor...Corey...Corey Brewer about to show the world?

 

It almost seems like Harden is passing a lot more.

 

This is misleading because Harden is in a shooting slump right now. I remember Harden being like 65% on drive FG%, to go along with 50-40-80 shooting split 10 games into the season, but has taken a major hit to his shooting % due to bricking shots lately (which will go away eventually.) When you choose to look at players' stats matters (unless it's the end of the season), DeRozan & Kawhi both looked liked superhumans in the beginning of the season, not so much now.

 

I think the point that HP is trying to make is that Harden is passing a lot now, which drive and finishing statistics do not take into consideration.

 

No, what's misleading is you are comparing Harden to Brewer. Brewer drives are probably wide open.

His FG% on drives this year is better than both of the last two years, by a good margin. And it is in line with Lebron's drives

Harden
2017 = 54.1%
2016 = 49.6%
2015 = 48.3%

Lebron
2017 = 55.6%
2016 = 54.5%

 

when did I compare Harden to Brewer?

 

For PPS, yes. For FG% no.

Harden's FG% on drives is much better than last two years, and equal to Lebron's

Harden
2017 = 54.1%
2016 = 49.6%
2015 = 48.3%

Lebron
2017 = 55.6%
2016 = 54.5%

I'm going to keep posting this because people let the OP comparison to Brewer mess up their thinking. The interesting thing is Harden's PPS went down and FG% goes up on shots from drives....due to the passing and increased Assists in these driving statistics

 

Anything to keep Brewer from taking too many 3pt shots is fine with me, plus Brewer's had a pretty good reputation for being extremely streaky. Unless he's on a roll I'd much rather Anderson, Gordon, Harden, Ariza and Beverley take 3's (preferably in that order) over Brewer. And don't forget Dekker!

 

Sorry, I assumed you were referring to the OP, which compares Harden to Brewer.

Otherwise, what stats are you talking about. Harden's FG% on shots when driving is up significantly, and exactly what Lebron does.

Not trying to argue, I'm just saying the Stats are perfectly fine. He's doing well.

 

I think I'm going to start a new thread with my tables for talking about how the new system has changed Harden's Driving stats.

This one has too much Brewer in it.

imo: the Brewer stats are a good indication that the lane is much more open this year. As his FG% on drives was nothing like this during McHale/Dweert era.

 

Yes, Harden's drive FG% is better than his previous years, but I think it could get even better because he's shooting percentages has taken a major hit due to his recent slump, unless one assumes this slump will last to the end of the season.

For the OP, since there was no single mention of Harden's insane shooting & driving FG% when he was on fire, only pointing out Harden's numbers during his slump is kind of misleading.

 

I think you feel this way only because of Harden's recent performance where he laid a lot of bricks out there. But remember, Harden was automatic under the basket and beyond the arc until 10 games into the season, especially his drive FG% was something like 65%. Probably the truth lies somewhere in between, and I think Harden's overall shooting split - including his drive FG% - will improve as the season progresses.

 

That's because, when he can get there, Brewer is legit around the basket.

 

Thanks heyp!

He's also shooting a lower percentage on his FTs so that doesn't help his efficiency. It might be that his extra workload and increased activity on defense negatively affects his shooting in general, including free throws.

 

This year, yes. Historically, no. He has very bad numbers in the past for these drive stats. Also, these stats don't include fastbreaks.

Check this out:

Brewer's Scoring Stats on Drives


My Theory: the lane is more open for Brewer in this MDA system, making it easier for him to score on drives.

That is why I say that using Brewer as a Control Subject, the improvement of Brewer's drive scoring is an indication of how open the lane is this year. I think he's the perfect Control subject, since he is a proven inconsistent player, and known for wild, whirling dervish drives that involve any dribbling. So, not only do we have MDA's lane-clearing system, but no more Dwert in the lane.


Of course, this is a small sample of just 24 drives vs 200 or so each year.

 

Well put, HP.