I don't think that's the point of contention about Harden at all. In fact, if Harden was a second or third best player of the team, people would love him. Look how Ariza is getting so little criticism.
Can't see decline in Harden's overall game, you are beneath Lubbock. Matters when the partying affects him on-court (assuming the real reason isn't lack of heart). You don't seriously believe people would care if he gave more consistent effort. PER doesn't really account for defense. You know, Harden's biggest issue.
since the first 3 games where he played like dog **** he's now at 43/36/87 and a .600 TS% averaging 31/6/7/2 His defense while it still hasn't been as good as last season has progressed more than people here who love to hate are ever going to admit. The effort was inexcusable early but it's gotten noticeably better. And the turnovers are no different than the other numbers. Been getting better and better since that God awful first few games. Critics are hanging on to those first 3 games for dear life when in reality he's been pretty damn great since then.
Interesting that you would post this stat. Few would question your credibility in these parts, but this stat in particular seems like an incomplete argument at best. I'd be more interested in the overall team defensive impact when Harden is on and off the court, although plus/minus I'd probably more meaningful. I don't know how well you can control for that given all of our wacky rotations and the variance in the competition, not to mention small sample size since Harden plays so many minutes. But I think it's pretty clear that the porous frontcourt defense seems to be a pretty big issue for this team, and it puts additional strain on our big men to try and make up the difference. With Ariza out, once we start playing some better teams, it's only going to be more obvious. Really all I'm saying is that giving Harden a pass on defense because his man only scores 3 more points a game seems pretty generous, to say the least.
Not sure how great a stat it is, but his Defensive Box Plus/Minus is -.8 this year. Last year it was +1 and 2013-14 it was -.5
Hardens field goal percentage is on the up, shot 45 percent the past 10 games, the only thing that made his field goal percentage so low, was his first 3 games where he shot so low.....that's it
I'm happy if he gets better, and fully expect that to happen. He is too talented. Also seems like a pretty likeable guy. But we still need a coach that gets through to him. If it ends up that Bickerstaff is that guy, even better. I'm more skeptical about Bickerstaff having the stature to get it done than I am about Harden eventually turning things around regardless of the coach. With a coach that commands more respect, the turnaround might happen faster and might be more sustainable.
I'm sorry, are you trying to come out and show how stupid you are too? Learn how to read english, I didn't talk to aelliott at all but you wouldn't know that considering your schizotypical personality. Again, its the idiotic posters that come out and try to pretend they are smart. We established how much more educated I was than you that day you had to retract your scrotum, so props for actually showing your face, you must be a glutton for punishment and embarrassment.
