I swear people don't realize how lucky we are to even have Harden on our roster right now. And for some people on Clutchfans to even THINK of trading him away?! Please.... the trolling needs to stop.
This is actually a good debate. Three months ago, nobody would take Curry over Harden. But Curry has been very impressive lately, And Harden has lost his efficiency after the trade deadline. I still believe that Harden is the better player. But I would REALLY want to know what the heck has happened to him in the last couple of months. To be honest, if Curry leads GS far into the playoffs, the perception will be very different.
Exactly. Can't look strictly by age. By his first playoff series, how much responsibility did Durant have? How many games had he started already? And he still shot poorly??? How can that be? How many thunder fans questioned if the thunder were better without Durant? None?? Oh ok.
Besides drawing a much tougher first-round opponent than GS, I think the biggest thing is what Sam Fisher keeps referring to: mileage. Harden played until the end of June last year, then went straight into Olympic play, then was thrust into his first year as a high-usage alpha dog. He's worn down, and needs a break. Not the day-or-two between games break, but a few months to fully recharge.
You guys still talking about this lol. Fact is Harden is playing awful, and whether he gets better remains to be seen so speculate all yall want.
Fact is, Harden has had an amazing season and led us to the playoffs in a year no one expected us to. Fact is, he's one of the brightest young stars in the NBA. Fact is, he's generally considered one of the top 10 players in the NBA. Fact is, with regards to whether he gets better, I'd say the 80+ games we're referring to are a whole lot better indicator than the 1 or 2 you're focused on.
PER of 23, TS% of 60, 25.9 PPG on only 17 shots, I'd say that's pretty damn efficient. And those are whole season numbers -- if he'd been inefficient for half of it, then he'd have to be better than LeBron James in the other half to end up with those. I know math isn't your strong suit, so hopefully that makes sense for you. If you want to talk about inefficient, go look up Monta Ellis and Rudy Gay.
By the way, since a few of you love to whine about Harden post-ASB: 25.6 points, (41.4% FG, 40.3% from three, 84.2% FT), 6.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 3.8 turnovers Let's compare that to before: 26.1 points (44.8% FG, 34.7% from three, 85.5% FT), 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 3.8 turnovers It's almost a wash. Slight dip in FG%, but offset by a notable increase from 3 and minor improvements in assists and rebounding. I dunno, to me that player looks pretty terrific... even the god-forbid "post All Star" version. Clearly I'm wrong, though, since we learned in this thread that he's terrible and inefficient.
I actually think Curry is a better player and better leader at this stage in their careers. I dont know how long that will hold up but remember. Curry makes 11 million a year Harden is going to get the max next year. I think most nonrocket fans also choose Curry but it doesnt mean they are right.
Great arguments, but can we all agree these are 2 will be 2 of the top 5 players in the league for the next 5 years or so. Curry is amazing to watch, I have watched very little basketball this season outside of the Rockets but watching this Nuggets and Warriors series has been a real treat. You cannot go wrong with Harden or Curry. Harden has looked bad lately closing out games but he is still a game changer and is the sole reason we are the position we are in now. Does anyone really think we would have made the playoffs with Kevin Martin over Harden. James can do it all and is the reason this team will be one to reckon with for the foreseeable future, GTFO his jock. Now imagine if OKC would have traded Westbrook for Curry like what was supposedly on the table and resigned Harden...
Who do you think becomes a two way player first? I think Harden has the better tools and is stronger to do this.
When countered by an almost-as-drastic uptick in 3pt FG%, along with more assists, I find it hard to believe that he's a suddenly much-more-inefficient player.
His mix of shots is just frustrating...prior to the asb, about 33% of attempts were for 3, post asb it was 44%. Maybe he just got too banged up and settled for the 3. He's awful from long range this series though.
im taking harden over curry for 2 reasons, injuries, physical speciman. Harden is a lot more tougher and more athletic bulit for the game, and less injury-prone...we all know curry is injury-prone at a young age and thats not a good sign. Curry knows/understands how to play the game more even tho hes physically handicapped compared to harden.
