Why does there have to be a difference? Who performed the best on the team in the playoffs? The best performer has the biggest contribution. So you are telling me people are going to remember as many details months later as they will right now? If anything, it is nice to hold some things constant.
Answer is obviously Harden. Shocked that people don't see that. Anytime he was on the bench we were cooked.
Nobody brought as much fire throughout the post season as D12. It's infuriating watching him gamble on techs and flagrants by getting chippy with scrubs like Bogut... but I appreciate the fire! I'd rather try to pull back the reigns on a wild stallion - than try to move a dead horse forward...
sarcasm? jus remember an earlier series, Harden sittin on the bench to finish the game while we were down 19 and facing elimination....
Look at the overall stats from the GS series. We played GS pretty even for all of the minutes Harden was on the floor. We lost the series when he was on the bench Facts are facts.
Dwight, offensively, went up against Tyson, Deandre, and then Bogut. Dwight, defensively, went up against the Mavs, Clippers, and Warriors. No one had to deal with more adversity on both ends of the court than Howard yet he played great in almost every game. Consistent effort through out the postseason. If he could some FTs that would put this postseason as one of the best individual postseason performances from a Rockets player.
Harden had some amazing performances. 45 points in that game 4 win. 38 in that stinging game 2 loss. That being said, Harden was somewhat inconsistent throughout the postseason. Some games were amazing, hall-of-fame performances that will go down in franchise history. Some games were far below his average. One game was historically bad. Still very thankful to have him as he is still young. He'll learn how to be a consistent threat in the postseason. Lebron used to be like this too. Every young star goes through it.
The comeback in Game 6 against the Clippers was the greatest in Houston Rockets history. Harden was on the bench for all of it. I'm an enormous Harden fan and there are all kinds of good reasons for it (he had to carry such a load) but he did not bring it every night. He mostly had MVP level games but he had about 4 uncharacteristically non-MVP level games. And, frankly, sometimes it seemed very much like he got discouraged and gave up. He'll totally overcome it. He's young. But he didn't bring it every night. Curry did. So did Howard.
And I don't mean any disrespect to Harden, whom I still think was the regular season MVP while carrying our banged up team to second place in the West. In the playoffs too when he had a good game he had an incredible game. He is my favorite Rocket since Olajuwon. I just think he had some bad playoff games. And I totally agree with this:
Like many here, I think Howard was the more consistent playoff performer but if I compile a list of top playoff game performances, Harden owns the top 5. Unfortunately, he might own the bottom 5 too(although Josh Smith had some real stinkers too).
NO, NO, NO...you don't build around Howard...he is NOT our best player!!! You have a young superstar on this team, who thankfully has been healthy so far in his career, who is only going to get better. That's the guy you build around. Howard was good in the playoffs, but not the best player on the team. Yeah Harden had a few stinkers, but you have to look at the entire playoffs. Like I said, Howard was very good, but definitely wasn't dominant, which personally I expect him to be. He is not a guy that will win you games by himself or a guy that you can rely on in the clutch (TOs, not a good post up player, FTs). Couple of years ago...MAYBE he was that guy, today...not so much! Howard loses his composure too easily during games and picks up unnecessary fouls. Then there are his usual dumb goal tends (pretty much 1 a game). Again, Howard is still a very good player, but for a guy who doesn't see a whole lot of double teams anymore, you'd expect him to dominate in the paint - physically he is still a beast. He should really use his basketball IQ more and play to his strengths even more (THOUGH HE HAS IMPROVED in that regard post injury) - set good, hard screens and milk the PnR. A guy like Howard should be averaging no less than 20ppg, even with his limited offense. He gets plenty of good and easy looks around the basket. It is about finishing strong, which he doesn't do consistently. He should really try to play more of a DeAndre kind of role in our system. I'm sure his scoring and his efficiency would go up! DeAndre: 13.1 Pts on 5.8 FGA (61% TS) Howard: 16.4 Pts on 10.7 FGA (54.6% TS) I know most people are down on Harden after Game 5, but he was BY FAR the best player in the playoffs. He was stealth beasting (i.e.: his performances didn't seem as dominant as some of his regular season performances, but he got the job done and then some): Harden: 27.2 Pts on 17.1 FGA (44% FG, 38% 3P, 62% TS) - 5.7 REB, 7.5 AST The thing is Harden is still young. This was only his 3rd year as a starter and go-to guy. I'm certain that he will improve his game this summer. Having listened to the exit interviews, he sure knows what he needs to work on. Let's just hope the team makes the necessary tweaks to the roster, that we have better health next season and that the chemistry between the guys improves some. This team will be a force for years.
ONE GAME, ONE GAME, ONE GAME!!! The general trend with this team: Harden sits, leads are reduced or lost. Those things can be momentum changers and then the team has to fight an uphill battle. That is exactly why we need another playmaker! There were plenty of games (even during these playoffs) that Harden single handedly brought this team back!
Dwight does not succeed without Harden. Dwight, offensively is best when he's moving off the pick n roll or crashing the lanes in general. his success in most of this series was based on the box and 1s that Harden faced all playoffs. Harden was one of the post season assists leaders for a reason. Josh Smith also got Dwight involved a bunch. Anytime Dwight gets a back to basket touch, its generally negative play. Usually getting fouled would be considered positive play, but Dwight's FT shooting sunk below its already terrible average making that a negative play. We were best when he was catching alley-oops and couldn't get fouled. To his credit, he's money when he's buried deep in the paint, especially with a 4. Takes a true big body to stop him that low. However, a lot of his back to basket touches are like 8-15 feet out and he's falling away doing skittish, erratic things. On the flip side, Dwight has proven to be an elite rim protector on the defensive side of the ball. All in all, I'd call it about a wash with Harden/Dwight as the top performer, but good offense beats good defense, and I doubt we'd be very good without Harden being our playmaker. Especially with Harden now making some plays at times on the defensive end. This might not have been as much an argument last year when Dwight did basically the same (dominated the paint). But Harden's better on both ends of the floor this year. Slightly more impactful overall, imo
