Typically ESPN talking heads video. They touch on the right points, but their conclusions are scattered brain. If Max doesn't think Harden is a star player because of a lack of effort on defense and not always showing up at big moments, then neither is Durant (2nd team), Westbrook (1st team) or even Curry (2nd team). None of those guys are great defenders, and all three have shat the bed in big moments. Lillard (2nd team) - one of worst defenders in the league. Not as good offensively as Harden. Lowry (3rd team) - Not as good offensively. Multiple horrible games in the playoffs. CP3 (2nd team) - repeated failed attempts to come up big and take his team past the 2nd round. Klay (3rd team) - he may have the least holes. Plays defense. Has come up big in big spots. But with that, he's actually the only one on the list not really "counted on" to be, or considered a star in the first place. So of the 6 all-nba team guards, they're all flawed. If I'm breaking it down into offense, defense, and clutch'ness, and adding Harden, I'd almost do as follows, thinking of this past year and playoffs. Offense - based on ability to score in volume and efficiently, set up teammates, and be the one in control of the ball Curry Harden Westbrook Lillard CP3 Thompson Lowry Defense CP3 Thompson Lowry Westbrook Curry Harden Lillard Clutchness - this one is impossible to rank, frankly. Here are the 2015/2016 "clutch" stats, per 48 minutes http://www.82games.com/1516/CSORT11.HTM Everyone shines in some areas and fails in others. James did not shoot well in clutch time, though got to the line even more frequently than the rest of the game, so that gets his scoring efficiency back up. Curry was pretty solid, though turned the ball over more than Harden in crunch time, as did Westbrook. Lillard was pretty solid, though wasn't super efficient, and James had almost twice the assists and rebounds as Lillard in crunch time, though twice the turnovers, too. Then again, James put up 2 blocks and 1.2 steals per 48 minutes in clutch time, to Lillard's 0 blocks and 1.1 steals (again, Lillard is horrible defensively, and James isn't as bad as people made out... you can even remember some of those solid possessions and blocks). CP3 probably has the best stats in clutch time, but your mind falls back to how he's been unable to take stacked teams out of the 2nd round of the playoffs. Westbrooks stats... well, who cares, that Thunder team was horrendous in the 4th quarter. Lowry is just kind of meh, and Thompson is solid, but in terms of absolute stats across the board, near the bottom of this group. Not sure how I'd rank it, but I think it's fair to say James is middle of this group - put up great absolute numbers, but not super duper efficiently in clutch time, and nothing supremely memorable this year. So, 1st team in offense, 2nd team in clutch time, and 3rd team in defense... AMONG this group... as Lillard is clearly the worse defender. At a minimum, putting Lillard above Harden makes no sense.
LOL, so the same team one year ago went to the West Final because its all about Harden carrying the team and fans already screaming he should be the real MVP. And then one year later, almost every players in the same team just suddenly and collectively became the worst scrubs in the NBA, also got their coach fired, and this has absolutely NOTHING to do with Harden at all and some fans also just won't give a fork about how this team played but rather want to b****ing about the personal award for Harden? LOLOLOL, this team deserves to have Les as the owner as he perfectly matches with the fans.
Interesting. You think the team performed the same? You think Dwight, Brewer, Ariza, Jones, Smith, and Terry played the same as last season? You think Lawson played the same as he did in Denver? You don't think DMo's absence mattered? Interesting, indeed. Also...why are you saying people think Harden is blameless? Harden takes blame, for sure. Bad defense, turnovers, poor first month, no doubt. Just not deserving of the endless criticism that he gets, that's all.
...I wish they brought on smarter guys to do these shows so that some insightful points are made. Stephen A occasionally stumbles on something but we all now how reactionary and illogical he can be in order to drive ratings. The white dude in this clip just reiterates every tired talking point of the Harden hater camp(the ball stopper argument is beyond ridiculous). I could have written his talking points a year ago and I could do that because this guy doesn't know a thing about Harden's play from game to game or how he fits on that team so he resorts to popular sentiment rather than basing an opinion on actual observation. Context is everything and that's what these talking heads seem incapable of understanding. If you put King Steph Curry on a team with a bunch of poor shooters and ball handlers like Houston - how we view him would be drastically different. Maybe he doesn't pass the ball as much knowing that the Rockets supporting cast can't hit shots with anywhere near the frequency as Golden State's. It's not like Curry instantly made his team better by "trusting" that his teammates will make the right pass or hit the open shot - those guys all had that skillset already(kudos to the GS front office for bringing in that roster), it wasn't bestowed on them just because Golden State got everyone to buy into sharing the ball. The context and fit is everything. Since Parsons left there has been no one on that entire roster who could create a shot on their own shot aside from Zombie Josh Smith every blue moon. Harden HAS to dribble the ball, try to create and read the defense because he knows(and everyone who actually watches this team knows) that no one else on the court in a red and white jersey is going to make a timely roll, hit an open shot consistently, or pump fake a guy on a closeout and create some mismatches on a drive - let alone make a play happen on their own. What these clowns are seeing out there with James Harden is him doing what he has to do(and likely what he has been asked to do) for his team to have the best chance to win. Could he play better defense? Sure - but his team will do actually nothing on the offensive end without Harden creating on every single play and yet they can somewhat get by on defense with several defensive specialists on the roster(Beverly, Ariza, and Dwight last year). The team context means everything.
But as a leader, we barely made the playoffs with a record of 41-41. The other guys that were voted to be on the All-NBA teams had a greater impact on making their team better, which is hard to see when you base it on statistics
No one will ever doubt that this is Harden's team, even at the time when Dwight joined the Rockets. So he was the leader of this team for the last 4 years here. And he indeed having the ball more than anyone else in the team and to a great extend, this team's offense is built around him and this team defense was adjusted (switching on everything) due to his inefficiency. Those are the facts no one should deny. So, its naturally for Harden to get the glory when this team playing well, like reaching the WF a year ago, even though people are ignoring his overall playoff performance are subpar in the last 4 years and not even being the best Rockets in the playoff. Well, if you are the leader, whose getting all the glories when your team is doing great, there is no excuse for you not to take the blame the most when everything is falling apart. If chemistry is really the only reason for this team's failure last season, wtf happened the last 2 years prior to that? Stop finding excuses is the first step to realize the real problem. There are many good players putting up glorified but empty personal stats before, many will agree that he tried his best but the team was just not that good, like HOF Mitch Richmond and those Michael Redd teams. But never they got a team which even closed to making the conference final and then completely fell apart the next season, which is funny that even you admitted multiple times last year that you have never seen such historical collapse and failure of a team ever. Apart from a few, most of the criticism on James Harden is valid, especially when you will consider how this team was built around him and how he prepared for the last season and performed overall as a leader. Of course, if fans out there will just expect to have another Mitch Richmond or Michael Redd here for another 4-5 years for the Rockets, I can fully understand why some of you are getting upset about the criticisms, and that could also be the reason why this team is having an owner like Les.
I really don't get this. Jordan didn't make Pippen Great. Pippen was a 5th overall pick, Pippen on his own was a great player. Jordan made the game EASIER for Pippen. Great players do not make others great. They make the game easier for other players, but Harden can't make Brewer, Bev, or Ariza hit a shot. Curry didn't make Klay Thompson a great player, he just makes it so Thompson gets easier shots. No one has this magical ability to improve the talent of their teammates. There was nothing Harden could have done to improve Brewer's shot or improve Dwight's low post game.
I keep telling people that the chemistry got jacked up way before the season started. Both of the leaders became either disgruntled or too full of themselves. They stopped working together and it a glaring affect on the entire team. Some fans doesn't want to address the full picture. Yes Harden offensively had to carry the team but all the dribbling, ill-advised shots, turnovers and passing the ball with only 2 seconds left will had its drawbacks as well.
Agree, thats pretty much horse****. Harden can't force people to hit wide open shots, or Dwight to make free throws, or prevent injuries.
Every Superstar is held to the same standard. Ask Tracy McGrady who still to this day gets marked for not getting past the first round. He never had the same type of roster as Kobe, Duncan and other great Superstars during his NBA career. That's just the nature of the business Sizz.
You're somewhat contradicting yourself. We can all agree that if a player makes a few shots, he will subsequently shoot with greater confidence, right? As you said, Curry's game (off the ball movement, setting screens, plus the his natural gravity) allows for Thompson to get easier shots. Conversely, Harden creates nothing but open 3 pointers for Brewer/Ariza. Once they miss a few, they're going to keep missing. One of the reasons Nash was so great was that he made a conscious effort to create easy looks for struggling teammates. Of course, that's much easier to do in an uptempo offense as opposed to the walk-the-ball-upcourt, hero-ball offense we saw in 2016.
Harden made the game harder for teammates last season IMO. Low effort on d like not getting back on transition, unable to stop people 1on1, terrible live ball turnovers, too many deep shots instead of his usual drive and kick, the famous "pass at the end of the shot clock", just overall being a reason for the poor chemistry. This got reflected in his rapm (plus minus), worst of his career Zach Lowe also wrote a pretty good column on why he left Harden off the all NBA team
It's hard to see when you just base it on opinion also... because it's just that, an opinion It should also be noted DeMarcus Cousins made second team this year and last year. Westbrook made second team last year. Dragic made 3rd team in 13/14. I could go on and on, but the point is that players make all-nba teams all the time despite not having great team success. We all know why Harden didn't make an all-nba team. Because of a perception that he doesn't care, or try hard enough. And even if there are slivers of truth in there, it doesn't mean he wasn't a top 6 guard in the nba.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I didn't say make their teammates great. I said make their teammates better and their teams great. There's a lot of great players that don't make their teammates better nor do they make their teams great. The greatest players win rings. In this generation, history will remember Lebron, Wade, Duncan, and Kobe as the greatest. Curry could move into that category with another championship or two as could Harden. Great teams win championships. But right now they're just great players although Curry has climbed the summit once. Melo? Unless he wins some rings, history will remember him like it remembers Karl, Barkley, and others. Great players but not the greatest of their time. Winning championships as the leaders of their teams is the hallmark of the greatest players. You have to make your teammates better and your team great to be in the greatest category.
Yes, but the priority is still given to players who have team success. For instance, look at 2016. Cousins was 2nd team and averaged 27ppg/12rpg. Drummond made 3rd team and averaged 16ppg/15rpg. The Pistons were the 8th seed while the Kings missed the playoffs. Logically, the reason Cousins made 2nd team was Drummond didn't have the team success to compensate for Cousin's statistical advantage. Toronto finished the season with 56 wins and was the #2 seed in the east. Lowry was the team leader. Klay Thompson wasn't the team leader, but the Warriors had the greatest regular season in NBA history.
