Dream is my favorite player of all time - but regular season Harden easily eclipsed Dream's offensive efficiency. Defensively and overall Dream is the better player, no doubt. Dream also had the prettier game. But Harden is an offensive assassin.
I think people take for granted the work it takes to be a great post player. Hakeem is the GOAT in the post. On top of that, Hakeem could take you outside into the mid range which is like 3 pt territory for centers. Hakeem became so consistent down low, and could score with ease. Harden is still young, and if he becomes consistent and can add a couple moves to his game, he'll be up there. But this thread is almost disrespectful to what Hakeem brought for so many years game in and game out. Is Harden even better offensively than Yao?
It seems like 21% of people think Harden is a better offensive weapon. I guess if we ignored Hakeem being a legend that people love and what he did for the city of Houston that number might increase to 30-35% - so apparently it's pretty close.
As far as pure scoring goes - as good as Harden was this year I'm not sure it's even close yet. Hakeem in his prime was so far beyond Harden that this shouldn't even be a debate. Once you factor in assists Harden kind of starts to close the gap but you have to remember how many open 3's Olajuwon used to create. And the offensive rebounds...
I get it: we're talking about offense here... But what's the underlying theme? To point out that, at best, Harden is perhaps Hakeem's equal on one side of the court? That the past vs. present disparity is that significant once you factor in their contributions on both ends of the floor? I'm depressed now. And I say that as a huge Harden fan. This is a comparison that just wasn't meant to be.
Hakeem never had offensive meltdowns in the Playoffs like Harden, even when the Rockets where way over matched nobody ever said, "wow Hakeem had a really bad offensive game". It just never happened and Hakeem is still the only center in the top 10 in scoring average. Even including his later years, which lowered his average significantly to 25.9. In his prime his playoff avg was 29+. Think about that, he was more successful in the playoffs playing against the likes of Shaq, Jabbar, Robinson, Ewing than Wilt Chamberlain! Chamberlain played against bums and in the finals he would get crushed by Mr. Celtic himself Bill Russell. Playoffs is were you really show who you are and in the playoffs, Hakeem crushes Harden on the offensive side. James avg 27 this past playoff so he's getting better. In the second championship, in 22 games in the playoffs, Hakeem avg 33 points per game, That's 10 games against Shaq and Robinson in their primes (avg went up to 34.5 against them). Only young kids would say Harden, sorry but brains that aren't fully myelinated should limit their opinions. :grin:
Even if they were comparable in ability, I'll take the guy who is an offensive monster on the low block over the offensive monster on the perimeter. Hakeem all day everyday forever.
ROTFL!!! The historical knowledge of the Rockets is seriously, lacking. Harden is cluth regular season and part of the playoffs. Dream was clutch in practice, games, playoffs, and championships. Harden will get there with work. BTW, what is D12 doing to improve his game... LOLOL!
Question wasn't what's more valuable - question was who is better on offense. I'd argue that Harden is far from a traditional wing scorer, so any valuation here would have to take into account that his contributions are as unique as a low post beast like Hakeem. Harden is one of the most talented offensive players in the league and last year approached historic numbers in a number of offensive metrics. Hakeem posted amazing offensive efficiency numbers for a big but never hit the highs that Harden did last year. But overall Hakeem any day - his defensive metrics were amazing and arguably that's far more valuable to a team
To throw some numbers into the mix, Harden was a OBPM monster at over 8.0, putting him in the range of some of MJ's less Godlike seasons but still historically great. Hakeem never topped 3.0, putting him in All Star range. Now you may value low post scoring over wing scoring but Harden scores from anywhere on the court so he's not a wing volume shooter. However, Hakeem had multiple seasons with a DBPM of nearly 6. That is INSANE. Hakeem was a defensive monster of historical proportions. From a statistical standpoint Robinson was actually a better scorer - but then Hakeem got to prove everybody wrong in the '95 playoffs. But his numbers in those playoffs far surpassed any of his regular season numbers. Hakeem has a special place in my heart - he single handedly made me love basketball. But Harden should get his due - he's our boy and he's killing it on offense.
Oddly enough, I recall Hakeem having a few bad offensive games in the playoffs... *ducks and runs* :grin:
Not a fair question or poll. Should compare Harden to Tmac or Drexler as someone else mentioned. You can't separate Hakeem's offensive game from him as a player overall, his ties to Houston, and his championship years where we rode his back to two trophies. To try and do so is almost disrespectful.
What's not fair about it?.. If the question sounded like 'Who's the better FT shooter' or 'Who's the better playmaker' would it be fair? Well, the poll involves those two categories among other ones that are defined as offensive skills. I think it's a fair question. Nobody is saying Harden is the better player or that he did more for Houston etc. etc. This is simply a question of who of the two is the better offensive player.
