None of this applies to Harden. Not until he can win a ring like those you have mentioned. Until then he's Chris Webber.
Maybe Harden can get a supporting cast like those guys had and then we can actually see whether he's a winner or not?
Harden will be one of the top 3 basketball players on earth this season. I don't really care about what people say about him. Maybe he thrives having everyone go against him, who knows. He was a bench player 3 years ago. He is one of the best players in the NBA now. Maybe for some, they would have preferred for him to not improve offensively so fast but instead improving his defense a little more. I don't care about stupid arbitrary **** like that. I care that in his prime - right now - he gets to his defensive potential and offensive potential. He is NOT late delivering on that goal, although he has left it to the last minute. James Harden turned 27 a month ago. If he becomes defensively average this season at the cost of a tiny bit of offensive efficiency, we will have the best player alive. There are less than a handful of people in NBA history who are as good as Harden offensively while being consistently good at defense. If Harden doesn't improve much defensively, we are looking at a default top 10 NBA player. That's James Harden. His worst is top 10. And he signed an extension at a discount, when he could've waited to become an FA. That's our James Harden. That's a guy committed to getting a ring for this particular team. If people can't appreciate ALL THAT while being critical of his faults at the same time, then f'ck em. If people want to be one or the other, they are not really fans of the Rockets. They are approaching the subject from the perspective of a rival team's fan.
Harden's style is aesthetically unpleasing. People do not like watching a player dribbling the air out of the ball and barrel down the lane looking for a foul. That is the reason people didn't like Francis. Granted Harden is a couple of levels better than Francis.
Too easy of a cop out. That's one part of his game. What about the devastating crossovers? Tomahawk dunks? Pull back threes? Euro steps? Game winners? Filthy step backs? Skip passes? Hockey Assists? His fantastic pick and roll ability? Yeah he looks for contact 100%, but people spend way too much time focusing on that one aspect and ignore everything else he does on court. He dribbles the air out of the ball because he has to, and even then his usage is no higher (or very little) than most stars in the league. Kyrie Irving dribbles the air out of the ball too. LeBron will just pound the thing and run the clock down and take a horrible shot he hardly ever makes. Same old cop outs that really are just a lazy answer, he has a very nice game and I'd enjoy watching it if he was on another team.
Wasn't really hated by Mr. Clutch before last year, when he put up his second best season ever. And then Mr. Clutch started hating him. And oh boy, did we hear about it!
The funny thing about Harden is people are going to say he's incapable of winning championships just because he is not able to lead a group with zero other stars past one of the best teams of all time (Warriors/Spurs), or best players of All Time (LeBron), who also is surrounded by other stars. Harden is held to higher standards than any other player in the world on Clutchfans. It's pretty astounding that's the case.
Drawing fouls and getting calls for them is a controversial thing. But he clearly doesn't shy away from taking the last shot for the team, so if people think drawing fouls is the makeup of his game, I'd question their viewership of the game. It's hard to differentiate a good player and a great player when the game's not on the line. But they do it anyway. Thus, to these people, Harden is overrated (even though some can argue he is underrated). And continuously give high marks to players who only perform well without the pressure that Harden faces night in and night out.
To me, the real question is: What will it take before a majority of NBA fans see the light and acknowledge that he's one of the most skilled, smartest offensive players the league has ever seen? <BR>
Harden's defensive woes are factual, not merely memetic. Last season his DRtg was 108, tied for the worst year of his career. (ORtg was 115, differential of +7). For comparison, LeBron's DRtg was 103 (lower is better) and his ORtg was 116, for a +13 differential. Harden two years ago, when the team made the WCF had an ORtg of 118 and a DRtg of 103, for a differential of +15. So Harden declined in both offensive and defensive efficiency, though more on defense than on offense. Steph Curry last season had a DRtg of 103 (same as LeBron) with a staggering 125 ORtg, for a differential of +22. One might ask, but what about usage? Harden's usage was just above LeBrons, but just behind Curry's. Harden is clearly a gifted offensive player, but he was phoning in his defense last season (and even admitted as much, citing his offensive load).
People say that about Carmelo but no one put Melo in the same circle with Kobe, Lebron or even Curry. The reality is Harden has more in common with Melo than those other three. Not true, Dwight was held to a higher standard for about a year and a half though Dwight carried a team of mediocre players to an NBA finals.
Agreed. Melo has never been with coaches or supporting casts that those 3 have had. Harden hasn't either. Defensively, Harden needs to improve, like Melo, though that applies to Curry as well. As a Rocket? Not really at all. Harden's always been more critiqued/focused on than Dwight, and rightfully so, as he's been the best player. As for Dwight's Magic team from half a decade ago, not only was that supporting cast and coaching much better than what we had last year, but he was also in the East. He also was not running into these Golden State Warriors. And the roles for each player were much different. Not really comparable scenarios.
gonna have to disagree here. Dwight got past the Lebron led Cavs and the Boston Celtics big 3 that had won the championship the year before. I'd say that's a hell of a good East. Comparable to the Warriors two seasons ago.
Didn't mean to imply it was an easy road. It definitely wasn't. Cavs/Celtics were definitely legit opponents. But that Magic team was tough, man. Dwight was a beast, of course, but that was a solid team surrounding him that complimented him very well. SVG is a great coach as well.
- Hes viewed as a lazy player who has more potential. Everyone knows he can score. - Looks only for the foul - Not the best work ethic supposedly - Kartrashians - A1 sauce
