http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1308386 those are all verifiable facts, not just some random guy's opinion. Hakeem in his early career was known to be extremely selfish and was derided as a 'black hole'. Again, Hakeem became much better player after age 30, but it's not like he was always that good. When Hakeem was Harden's age, you couldn't say Hakeem was definitively much better. Harden has been voted as 2nd in MVP when he was 25. Hakeem only came 2nd in MVP when he was 30.
So put your money where your mouth is. I bet Harden will never again finish in the top 4 in MVP voting for the rest of his career. In fact, I'll raise the stakes. I bet he never be voted in another 1st team all-nba for the rest of his career.
let the facts speak for themselves 93-94 Hakeem Olajuwon (Team 58-24, 1st in MVP Voting, DPOY) PPG-RPG-APG-SPG-BPG 27.3-11.9-3.6-1.6-3.7 52.8 FG% TS% 56.5 PER 25.3 Ortg 109 Drtg 95 Net Rating +14 WS 14.3 WS/48 .210 BPM 7.0 VORP 7.5 14-15 James Harden (Team 56-26, 2nd in MVP Voting, Player's MVP) PPG-RPG-APG-SPG-BPG 27.4-5.7-7.0-1.9-0.7 44 FG% 37.5 3P% TS% 60.5 PER 26.7 Ortg 118 Drtg 103 Net Rating +15 WS 16.4 (franchise record) WS/48 .265 BPM 8.4 VORP 7.8
You forgot to include the stats of standing on flat feet and watching, Harden is superior on that one, Hakeem may not even be able to score once in that category :grin: Kidding a side, Harden is very talented, but he need to work on two things in order to be in the same category of Hakeen - leading this team all the way: 1. Effort and focus on defense. 2. How to beat long and quick defender to make his offense more efficient and consistently at playoff time.
If you look at earlier post, I already acknowledged Hakeem was a better player all around, but some idiots can't seem to admit Harden has an edge on advanced stats, due to his offensive efficiency.
efficiency stats are calculated based on per possession. pace has nothing to do with it, since we're not talking about raw quantity.
If you're going to fault ERA, Hakeem played in an era where he shot a lot of mid-range jumpers and fadeaways. Just go back and watch few of his games, the dude took amazing, acrobatic shots every game, which looks great but not always the most efficient way to score.
Yet he still made more shots than missed them unlike Harden. So Hakeem took more difficult acrobatic shots yet he still missed less? Yup. Hakeem is the more talented offensive player. Thanks for confirming.
Doesn't matter. Harden still scores more per possession, due to his style of game (a lot of layups, FTs and 3s). Those three happen to be the most efficient ways to score in the basketball.
Tis is why the Rocket's had an amazing record this year. I mean they did jack up as many threes as the GSWs. That obivously means they have an 'efficient' offense right? You completely ignore the butterfly affect of taking such an offensive approach. You know what also results from taking more threes? More misses which results in more long rebounds due to the nature of physics which results in more fast break opportunities for the opponent. Harden's offensive game not only helps the Rockets, it also helps the opponent's. More fastbreak opportunities along with more possessions in general. So my point still stands. Hakeem was the more skilled offensive player. By your own admission, Hakeem took more 'acrobatic' and difficult shots yet he still missed less.
The reason why Morey acquired Harden in the first place : http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9...houston-rockets-became-nba-most-exciting-team Morey is all about analytics and efficiency, and there's a clear logic behind why he chose Harden as his main guy.
So, how did GSW won 73 games in a season? How did Houston managed to win 56 games, and 54 games prior to that? Moreyball doesn't lead to defensive breakdowns if you have good defenders. We suck at defense because our 'supposed' defensive anchors are all overrated AF on defense. I said Hakeem took more acrobatic shots, didn't say anything about his scoring ability. In fact, that's what partially makes him less efficient than Harden
