Scary for everyone else, at least: His jump shot has been WAAAY off this season. Hardens 3 pt percentage is down 5.7% from last year. He is having far less catch and shoot opportunities which has something to do with it, but he is still better than a 33% 3 pt shooter. From 10-15 ft, harden is only shooting 25% this year compared to 63% last year Now, part of what made harden so great and efficient was that he hardly ever took those shots, but even now that he is taking them a player of his caliber should be far above 25%. The other 4 guys in the top 5 from 10-15 ft: Kobe-48% Durant-57% Lebron-41% Carmelo- 43% In fact, out of the players who play over 35 mins a game only Rondo, thaddeus young, Ty Lawson, and kirilenko are shooting worst than harden from this range. There is no way this is sustainable; Harden is too good a shooter. As he continues to settle in and get comforatble these percentages should climb and Harden will really be, to quote Mike Breen, "unstoppable".
I know... this is why Harden is so good. He still has room to improve, he can add more of a midrange game, improve his efficiency on three pointers and mid range jumpers, improve his defense, lower his turnovers. He's going to be the #1 SG in the NBA in a year or two.
*once kobe retires basically. I'm sorry but harden always get destroyed in that matchup. Even Wade the passed 2 year couldn't even keep up with Kobe when they match up... As much as I want Harden to the best SG gonna miss kobe once he's gone.
We are watching Harden grow and get better before our eyes. Besides the first two games, he looked ot of sync and unfomfortable early in the season. Over the last 10-15 games though, he's looked much better and has been shooting a much better percentage.
The Rockets generally don't gameplan to take 15 footers--let alone 15 footers from James Harden--so what you're analyzing are shots off of busted plays, and shots taken as the shot or game clock expires vs. the percentage of players who actually receive the ball in the high post and like to shoot from that range.
His current FG% is not far off from his career. Even then, guys like Wade who have a 50% FG, actually have a lower TS% than Harden.
ref will somehow find a way to stop calling fouls for harden then his ppg avg will drop to like 19-22ppg
Given that his shots from the 10-15 foot range probably only comprise 15% of his shots it is not surprising. The only time Harden shoots from that range (OK that is not correct: almost every time would be much better) is when the offense is in disarray and the shot clock is winding down. It looks to me like he has reduced further the number of his mid range shots. A good thing.
I'm not sure Harden has that much room for shooting growth. He always has the ball when the play breaks down and forced to take a shot. He takes all those end-of-quarter dribble it out shots. Take most of those away, like it was in OKC, and his efficiency would rise by quite a bit. His TS% now is 58%. His TS% last year, which was freakishly high, was 66%. I think he might be able to get to TS% of ~60%. But unlikely higher than that.
This is it! lol, just need Jlin to become more consistent and Parsons as well. It'll ease the double teams etc. I'm happy to watch this team grow and improve each game. (even if its through streams- stupid CSN and Dish)
Harden is playing his part in helping the rockets by aiming for the #1 pick...the question is what is the rest of clutchfans doing instead of criticizing him? Thats what I thought.
This is his 1st year as being the number 1 guy and you are freaking out that his FG% is down?? Give the guy time he could be the #1 SG in a few more years plus Harden is doing it basically himself wait until the offseason IN MOREY WE TRUST!!
Harden is only 23 with no history of injuries. His body is still maturing and his game hasnt even come close to reaching it's peak. I his prime he can be a 30 point 5 boards 6 assists type player.The Sky is the limit.
Very true. Players can also get gameplanned against and defended INTO the bad shooting ranges. Thats how it is when you're the main player. So Harden (as does any player) still has to get better at hitting those shots that are conceded to him even if they're "junk" shots. Anybody can get a "Jerry Stackhouse" 30 pts/gm by volume chucking The key is for Harden to do it effectively without mixing in too many bad possessions. Keep in mind there's less possesions per game than in year's past so 30 points isnt AS easy to come by as it used to be. Though Harden is one of the few 2-guards capable of doing it.
What's scary about Harden are his turnovers. The guy is a walking turnover who constantly coughs the ball up and gets his pocket picked. Turnovers per 48: James Harden 4.6 Jeremy Lin 3.9 Toney Douglas 3.4 Ast/TO ratio: Jeremy Lin 2.25 Toney Douglas 1.46 James Harden 1.43 I do not want Harden as the PG in crunch time. Ever.
Hrden gets most of his points off the free throw line so i have no idea where you comeup withthe chucker notion. He has been one of the more effecient scorers in the last 8 games.Even in OKC he wasnt a chucker.