He still rates much higher leaguewide for RPM and BPM - so I do think RAPM seems to rate him lower as far as catch-all metrics go. It might be due to, as you said, poor conditioning since his BPM should be higher based on pace. But the Rockets' were like 7 in pace last year as I recall - top tertile but not too different from the median (97.6, median 95.1), so I wonder if there's some other nuance that seems to work against Harden.
RPM contains priors. So basically one year that is an "outlier" one way or the other won't move him much. It tries to avoid big swings to minimize noise. But even in RPM Harden fell from #3 to #16. RPM uses RAPM in it's "formula." The RAPM I posted was single year, which will have more dramatic swings for players. In multi-year RAPM Harden is #10 (and like with RPM he was probably higher last year).
FG% is one of the most important stats for player's offense. TS% is a good one but not as objective as FG% beacuse FT heavily relies on referees. There are a lot of miscalls on whether players should get FT in every game, especially late in the game and in playoffs. When all elite players have FG% above 45% while Harden does not, I won't think Harden is one of that group of players.
The sheer ignorance here is astonishing... FG% is not one of the most important stats, not by far. It is actually one of the stats that are simply there for casuals or people who don't want to think about performance at a deeper level due to it not accounting several hugely important factors, point weight. Both TS% and eFG% are far more truer measures of shooting performance, both of which Harden is over 50%. In advanced shooting metrics that actually consider the fact that there are different shots with different point weight, Harden is actually extremely efficient considering his usage and offensive burdens and definitely earns his place in the top 5 even with what is largely considered a down year for him and his ENTIRE team. FT's do not heavily rely on the referees. They do rely heavily on a player's tendency to drive to the rim. You know who else have traditionally gotten a lot of FT's? Westbrook, Durant, and Lebron. You know why they get a lot of FT's? They drive to the rim. You know who don't drive to the rim? Shooters. Guess who are on the low end of the FT shooting among the top players being discussed here? Steph and Klay. If you go back and look at the game logs, you will noticed his FT shooting per game is consistently over 7. A good amount of the games where it wasn't was when Harden was having good shooting nights and didn't need to take it to the rack as often. Can refs negatively affect his game? Yes, but those are few and far between.
More on topic with this thread, a player like Klay flourishes in a system with existing ball handlers and playmakers. He is like Kwahi in this regard, though much less of an inside presence. If he was put in the same role as Harden however, where he is the initiator and scorer, his stats will be more comparable to Paul George, most likely worse. He is a mediocre passer. He is above average at creating his own shot, primarily due to his shooting prowess. More importantly, he doesn't have the ability to carry that team the way a top 5 caliber player can. Harden generates a lot of open looks for teammates with a coaching staff competent enough to game plan and then make adjustments and call set plays. The problem however, is that in bringing back the core of last season's team, we ended up with a bunch of mediocre to downright awful shooters. Since we have no actual offensive scheme or set plays to help generate scoring outside of the pick and roll variations and flare screens. Basically, the offense typically breaks down into playground play where Harden is forced to make something happen, which he miraculously usually does. I said it before and I will say it again. The way to win games is to score points. Outside of forcing a turnover and converting a fast break score, defense does not score points. This is why it is not defensive specialists that get paid oodles of money, but those who excel at scoring. That's not to say D doesn't matter or is not important, just that O is significantly more important. There really shouldn't be any question about top 5 though. It's very easy; can the player carry his team to victory by consistently generating enough points. Harden has proven he can and continues to prove he can in a down season where he was rehabbing and then working his way back into shape on a team where almost every player regressed, including our so called second "star" who coasted due to not getting sufficient touches (proven false statistically by the way) on offense and was unhappy running the ONE play he excels at.
I don't even know what to say. You are just flat out incorrect and using a line of logic like this basically invalidates any opinion you might have on basketball.
I give this troll a 6/10. Had potential and some solid moments, but with a little more effort, could have been great.
A good debate is TS% vs eFG%. I have generally used TS%. But I think there might be some truth to the the idea that guys with high TS% due to free throws tend to struggle in the playoffs (see: David Robinson and Karl Malone). But would take an in-depth study. Harden TS%- .598 Harden eFG%- .512 Klay TS%- .597 Klay eFG%- .569 LeBron TS%- .588 Lebron eFG%- .551
Is this real life? Did you at least read your post before clicking submit? Harden has earned 3,000 FTA's in 4 seasons. He averages 10 FTA's per game over 4 seasons. He also had the 3rd most 4 point plays and 3rd most 3 point plays last season. Has nothing to do with the referees. He gets by his defender all day, and gets fouled all the time. Why the F are they fouling him do you think? They would rather put a 85% FT shooter on the line? How is that not all elite offense? How can you be so ignorant that the whole point of TS% is to eliminate the weaknesses of FG% by taking account of all types of offense? Some people just insist on digging themselves into a hole. You reached a wall with your argument, just step back and acknowledge you got nothing.
Look at it this way. If the game is tied, and Harden takes a last-second shot, what's the best stat to use (FG%, eFG%, or TS%) to predict whether or not the shot is going in?
The difference is Harden is the primary (and hell...probably the secondary) scoring option for the Rockets. Klay is receiving far less defensive attention. He's getting easier shots. He's not responsible for playmaking for others. He's not relied upon nearly as much. The shots they're getting are very different. Klay is obviously a much better pure shooter than Harden, but he's also more beneficial of his surroundings. And Lebron is just a beast.
In other words, my logic is sound, and you know it. That's why you're objecting to the parameters of the question.
No, your logic, as usual, is stupid. You wouldn't want to know if the "shot is going in", you would want to know if Harden is "going to score points", and TS% is still the best metric to use. Or Clutch Statistics, or PPP, or PPS, or numerous other metrics depending on what the specific situation is.
