http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3992/year/2010/james-harden After taking a glance at James Harden's post season game log I noticed a trend of low efficient play. In 53 career playoff games Harden has only 20 games where he shot 45% or higher. Only 1 such game as a Rocket. One would expect a small dip to count for playoff play but he is shoot below 37% as a Rocket in the playoffs for his career. So is James Harden just a bad post season player?
The answer to the question is no. League normalized compound stats like ws/48 (where .100 is league average) should go down in the post season because of the higher quality of competition. And yet in 6 games in the post season of 2010 and 17 games in the post season of 2011, Harden actually increased his ws/48 over the regular season. His ws/48 of .184 during the 2012 playoffs was also very strong, despite a decline from a stellar .230 during the regular season (and despite a few poor games in the finals). It's fair to wonder about his playoff performances with the Rockets, but his playoffs record with the Thunder overall was strong.
Still too early to draw any final conclusions. But he might just be one of those guys who just doesn't get it done in the playoffs
I think it's just a combination of him not getting the usual regular season calls from the refs which frustrates him causing him to do too much at times. He should just let the game come to him and not push it. Hopefully, he bounces back in game 4.
I said it was fair to question his record with the Rockets and that he had some bad games in the finals with the Thunder. But the question was: Is he just a bad post season player? And the answer to that clearly is no.
He has to adjust to being the focal point of POR's defense. POR takes away his drive to the left, his strong hand. POR takes away his at-the-rim shots by sending Lopez and TRob to block him. Refs have stopped calling fouls on his drives; no FTs. So that's 3 ways he usually scores being taken away from him. His 3 ball has not fallen consistently yet. He has responded by slowing down and overdribbling. Maybe that's how he gets his rhythm but I would like him to be more decisive and moving quicker, maybe using screens and catch and shoot situations. Let's see how the threat of Daniels shifts the defense of POR.
1. significant less fast break opportunities at playoff, 2. far less FT (per FGA), he got 7.7FT/27.3FGA at playoff, about 9ft/18fga during regular season
37 points 9 rebounds 6 assists 1 turnover. Quick, someone, a thread about Lin's crappy postseason stats!
He's just not used to not getting any of the foul calls. He needs to adjust, don't play for the whistle. It's the playoffs, refs are going to swallow their whistle.
Guys y'all have to remember that this is his SECOND year as a starter!! You can't classify him as a bad postseason player yet because he hasn't had enough experience. He is still a very young player.
His career post season FG% is 42%. You are counting 6 games where he took 5 or less shots. So it's clear that you have an agenda and are being very selective... Jeremy Lin is a career 33% FG shooter in the playoffs. Oh right, that is because of his injuries? Stop trolling.
Crazy thing is his free throw rate is at .280 right now and the lowest it has ever been during a postseason is less than half at .574 It's been a combo of things though. Not driving nearly as much, Portland has found a way to resist reaching and the refs just aren't calling it the same as the regular season. I'm hoping all 3 of those change tonight.
He tries to go for the foul and not the shot and refs aren't calling that in the playoffs. He needs to start trying to score not going for the foul.
Haha being selective? I counted every game he played. I couldn't care less about Lin. Im talking about Harden. Who is suppose to be franchise player. So of course his standards are very high.
Yes, as of right now. What he hasn't learned is if he gets his teammates involved early, those lanes will eventually open up. Harden doesn't compete on both ends so if his shot's not falling he looks disinterested
