Small sample size, but this notion that Harden does not try on defense is not backed up by any concrete data available as of now, other than the usual maliciously cherry picked edited video clips that can make any player look bad. In the playoffs, Harden was 2nd in avg number of contested shots (9.2) and deflections (2.0) among rockets players. http://stats.nba.com/league/player/...2015-16&SeasonType=Playoffs&TeamID=1610612745 The league leaders in these newly introduced 'hustle' stats are almost always players that are considered to be top defenders. It would be interesting to see how Harden fares in the hustle category next year, I have a hunch that he will perform much better than people expect, as he always has when it comes to objective defensive stats.
Is it just me or does jordan clarkson seem like a much better fit. He can slash and create for himself and moves well without the ball with a reliable jumber. He's also 6'5 so defense shouldn't be a problem against opposing guards. Not to mention he won't be asking for north of 20 million while extra money can go towards the bench.
Is he available? Why would the Lakers break up a tall and talented backcourt of Clarkson and Rusell ... and what do we have to offer?
One of Ariza/Beverley needs to go, so can we insert a secondary playmaker into that slot. And given it's unlikely Harden can work with other PGs, it probably has to be Ariza.
Exactly. The only problem in your scenario is Bev would still need to be upgraded to a better all-around player next to Harden and the other playmaker. We'd need a better shooter with a quicker trigger in catch-and-shoot situations. And we also need to upgrade defensively from Bev. We'd really need a great 3&D player next to Harden and another playmaker at the 3.
And your evidence of this is Lin and Ty Lawson I suppose? Jeremy Lin played like crap in L.A, after getting traded from Houston. He got a little bit better this season with the Hornets, but he's still a bench player, and we tried to make him our starting PG, which is beyond his capacity. Ty Lawson was let go from Denver after putting up 15-9. Why on earth would anyone do that if there wasn't any major non-basketball related issues with him that they thought would contribute to his rapid decline going forward? We picked him up basically for free, because no other team wanted him. The dude has serious mental problems. We didn't even begin to match Harden up with a legit PG as far as I'm concerned. It's not that Harden does not have any fault in this, and I do think he has to work more on his off-ball game. But the experience of Lin and Lawson tells me nothing about Harden's potential to play with a good staring PG. Because we haven't had one yet.
Conley/ Bev/ Solomon Hill Harden/ Lance Stephenson Marvin Williams/ Gentile Horford/ BeasGod Noah/Capela/ Smith
That's ok i guess...the only problems i have here are: - still no second scorer - D.Mo as a starter -> i love D.Mo, but we simply cannot risk to start next season with him in the starting lineup, what if he goes down?
That's why i think a 4/5 is a priority for us, and why Durant AND Horford should be our focus. With Dwight gone there's no way we're going out there with Capela and D.Mo as starters imo.
Personally i don't like Clarkson, bad shot selection and not sure he's a starter in this league...but anyway he's restricted and the Lakers can match so yeah, little to no chance he'll change team this summer.
Concrete data? Lmao. Bruh have you watched the Rockets since Harden got here any? No random analytic stat can justify this man taking plays off on the other end of the floor On another note, why waste your time on Conley when all he'll be here is spot up shooter? Moreyball isn't made for anything but James Harden ISO plays. Hiring Frank Vogel only confirms Morey thinks we can win with the same simplistic offense because Vogel isn't a X's & O's drawing up actual plays. Getting a PG is pointless in Moreyball
Analytics? Those are just basic hustle stats that NBA has recently introduced with beginning of the playoffs. Contested shots, deflections, loose ball recovery, charges drawn, etc. The numbers are high for Harden probably because he did play better D late into the season. Again, small sample size so no conclusions should be made from this. Next year's numbers will be much more interesting to see.
Analytics are useful at times, I'm not saying you're totally wrong. But based off my own eyes Harden went from embarrassingly bad, to just really bad. The difference between 2nd half vs 1st half season Harden was the number of plays he took off. The number slightly decreased. He still takes plays off or just allows his man to go straight to the rim. He's still overrall terrible defensively
Again, hustle stats are not analytics and as basic and straightforward as they come. I'm not even disagreeing with you that Harden has been a bad defender this season, it's just that he seemed to have played with more defensive effort and hustle in the playoffs, according to the data. It seems like Ariza was the one who was lazy not contesting shots enough, which perfectly fits the eye-test too.
doesn't make sense since Harden was defending Barnes most of the time and he didn't take that many shots in the series. Besides Howard, Ariza should have led contested shots category among out perimeter defenders, since he was guarding Klay Thompson, which he didn't do good enough job as we all know.
Maybe he played with a new level of urgency in the postseason. I just think overall his effort has been poor all season. Ariza definitely sucked in the playoffs
