Putting turnover Numbers aside for a moment, I don't know how his teammates feel, but I know whenever I see Harden make a flat-out lazy pass, its demoralizing. It brings me down and I'm like, well, there's another wasted possession that could have been prevented with just a little bit of effort. To me, those are the killers... especially the TO's at the top of the key... as it not only brings down the team (or so I would imagine), but turns into an easy two points the other way as there's no way to get back on defense in time. I would imagine that eliminating those kinds of turnovers would pay dividends.
To add to your argument, A/T ratio doesnt factor in all the times Harden got his teammates an open look only to either miss the shots, get fouled, or turn it over themselves. How many open looks did players like Brewer, Ariza, Dmo, Lawson, Terry, etc. get because of Harden's ability to create open shots? They all shot a fairly respectable percentage (not D-Mo or Brewer), but for a team who lives and dies by the 3-ball - it wasn't good enough. How about Dwight? How many times did Dwight have the ability to do something in the low post to either turn it over himself, get fouled (essentially a TO if Dwight's at the line), or miss a hook shot? Gotta factor those in too. A/T ratio doesn't provide the whole story IMO.
in holic's eyes, he's the grand master of a secret society of whispers and birdies that hear tales from far away lands and provide counsel to the leaders of his empire.
It's not meaningless... but it's not super meaningful either. Before the Warriors, how many NBA champions had a primary ballmaker named Steph? None. Good thing the Warriors execs weren't looking at that stat as a means of roster composition. Who said it was a measure of playmaking? It's a measure of turnovers, not playmaking. It's an estimate of turnover % per 100 possessions, as I noted. This is helpful since it takes into account pace and overall possessions, as opposed to turnovers per game, or per 36 minutes. Yes. And that's part of the goal with turnover %. The formula is: 100 * TOV / (FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TOV) I'm sure there are other ways to create formulas to mimic the same. Include assists somehow. Or track and then add "touches". Etc. But I'm not a professional statistician. And to be clear, I'm not advocating we look through TO% of all championship teams and make some kind of random conclusion from that either. It's another turnover stat. It's one I value more than A/To.
With all of the free agency talks and how many cans Durant's and Horford's are plastered on in this forum, I was digging into data on basketball reference and found an interesting trend with this franchise since Rudy T's departure. 2002-2003: Rudy's last year PG: Francis SG: Mobley SF: Posey PF: Griffin C: Yao 2003-2004: JVG's first year PG: Francis SG: Mobley SF: Jim Jackson PF: Cato C: Yao So pretty much the core trio of Francis/Mobley/Yao stayed in tact and there weren't big additions worth mentioning 2004-2005: JVG's second year PG: Sura SG: Wesley SF: McGrady PF: Howard C: Yao A blockbuster trade occurred that got us McGrady 2006-2007: JVG's last year PG: Alston SG: McGrady SF: Battier PF: Howard C: Yao We made the move to acquire Battier but the McGrady/Yao foundation is still the same 2007-2008: Adelman's first year PG: Alson SG: McGrady SF: Battier PF: Scola C: Yao Scola emerged as a significant contributor but the core of TMac/Yao (and maybe Battier) still the remains 2008-2009: Adelman's second year PG: Brooks SG: Battier SF: Ron Artest PF: Scola C: Yao The biggest change occurred, of course, when Adelman/Morey acquired Ron Artest. 2010-2011: Adelman's last year PG: Lowry SG: Martin SF: Battier PF: Scola C: Hayes 2011-2012: McHale's first year PG: Lowry/Dragic SG: Lee/Martin SF: Parsons PF: Scola C: Dalembert Most of the "core" is still here with Lowry/Martin/Scola...I guess 2012-2013: McHale's second year PG: Lin SG: Harden SF: Parsons PF: Patterson C: Asik Morey lands Harden in a trade I think the trend/pattern will hold this year for Dan Tony for three reasons: 1. Outside of Durant, there isn't a legit game changer that is available on the market. Meaning Rockets aren't going to stupidly spend money when value is not there. 2. This will allow Dan Tony to kick the tires on the players we have now. Granted most of them are trash but you can never tell with a new offensive system. Brewer might actually become our Raja Bell? 3. And of course, if the players are still trash in Dan Tony's offense, year 2 is where the big fish reside in the free agency crop for 2017 Jeff Teague Paul Millsap Nikola Mirotic LeBron James (assuming 1 year deal is signed this summer) Steph Curry Blake Griffin Chris Paul JJ Redick Greg Monroe Giannis Antetokounmpo Kevin Durant (assuming 1 year deal is signed this summer) Serge Ibaka Russell Westbrook Victor Oladipo CJ McCollum Kyle Lowry Gordon Hayward I'm not saying Morey is pushing his luck by waiting for next summer (thereby wasting one of Harden's prime years) but I wouldn't be surprised if we still keep the roster as is (with a few tweaks) and hit a homerun next offseason.
Morey could always try to sign guys to 1+1(team option) with high dollar amounts to improve the team, keep it flexible. Paul Millsap would look great with James Harden. The 2017 FA class is pretty nice.
Yep, i really like Millsap but damn, Griffin and Hayward would be good for this team... Capela Blake Hayward Harden Pat (or Lowry...not sure about this but...)
Definitely. Ya know, I would love to see Blake broken away from Chris Paul. I mean clearly Chris Paul works well with him, but I would love to see Blake given the ball more. I think he has a lot more to unlock. We have seen it in the playoffs. His game could mature more into a "point-PF" type game that could be very interesting.
Yep, i agree. It should in fact being noted that when he was drafted he wasn't the player he's today, at all, and for some people he had low chances to improve that much, but he basically evolved every year and now he can shoot from outside, he's a better ft shooter, he can pass very well for a pf...so yeah, the guy is not perfect but he worked a lot on his game, and like you said, i think he can still get better.
I think if you surrounded harden/Griffin pairing with shooters, you could win 60 games and maybe get to a finals or two. Especailly on a MDA coached team. That's nash/amare on steroids. Outside of KD, Griffin and Paul George are the other two guys I think would fit perfectly with Harden. One thing I do know is it's time to get James a legit Allstar next to him. Frankly he's being judged like all the other superstars that play with other allstars and its really not fair. Dwight was a good player his first year here but he is not a superstar or Allstar anymore I want to team James up with a guy who can win 40+ games with no other allstars around him. Harfen has proven he can win 50 games KD also. Griffin has proven he can win at a 45 win pace without cp3. Paul George won what 44 games this year with no other star. I want to see these guys team up with James.
Marc Strin on Twitter : "The Rockets, league sources say, are not a team Kevin Durant plans to consider in free agency, despite Houston's well-known fondness for him" http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...-not-likely-teams-durant-consider-free-agency Kevin Durant not considering Rockets in free agency, sources say Former teammates Kevin Durant and James Harden are "hanging out" together this week, but the close friends' brief reunion isn't expected to have a real impact on Durant's forthcoming free agency, according to league sources. Sources told ESPN.com that Harden's Houston Rockets are not a team Durant plans to consider when he becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1, despite Harden's presence there and the Rockets' long-known intent to try to chase him. At least one picture of Durant and Harden at a restaurant has circulated this week via Instagram, leading to inevitable speculation about Harden trying to recruit his former Thunder colleague to Houston. But sources insist the visit is nothing out of the ordinary for them, given the players' long-standing friendship and particularly because Houston, sources say, is not a destination Durant intends to consider. The league office, furthermore, has historically chosen not to apply NBA tampering rules to players from rival teams who have contact with free agents before July 1, which is the first day teams can legally engage with free agents. ESPN.com reported after Oklahoma City's recent elimination in the Western Conference finals that a return for Durant to the Thunder on a two-year max contract, with a player option to return to free agency in the summer of 2017, is widely regarded as the most likely scenario for him in his first foray into free agency. But Durant is also widely expected to take a handful of face-to-face recruiting meetings with a select group of interested teams, with the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs regarded by many rival executives as the two biggest threats to lure Durant away from the Thunder. Yet numerous teams, such as the Rockets, are likely to try their luck, regardless of their slim chances. Boston Celtics All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, for example, revealed to the Boston Globe his fairly determined plans to try to recruit Durant to the Celtics earlier this week."