James Harden or Clyde Drexler in his prime?

This guy. I clearly compared dunks as an effective means to finish at and around the rim against layups and the comparison was clearly in terms of dunking ability as opposed to players being effective as a whole. He really is made of tin.

 

I didn't pigeon hole him as a dunker, just as I hope that others here didn't 'pigeon hole' Harden as a poor finisher because he doesn't often dunk. Actually, you've been one of the more reasonable people in this discussion till you said that. Clyde Drexler was clearly great and the second best shooting guard of his time, but I don't believe that, statistically or otherwise, his offensive arsenal stacks up to Harden's. That's my argument and anything else you infer from it is only in your head.

 

The point was never that Darvin Ham is anywhere near Drexler in any area outside of dunks. In terms of dunking ability he was close, but nowhere near the player Drexler was, and that was exactly my point. I'm glad that you can see that in as much as you did. It's not that I hate Drexler either, it was in response to the other guy that posted the Warriors' defensive highlights against Harden, but it's funny how you didn't say anything about that.

 

We're in the same boat, and maybe my post was a bit inappropriate, but it was in response to a ridiculous Warriors' highlight post, which was specifically against Harden.

 

But we were talking exclusively about their finishing ability. Are you now expanding that to include their entire offensive repertoire?

 

I'm talking about both, not one or the other exclusively.

 

Well, in terms of only finishing ability, in your opinion, who was better?

 

They surely weren't finals worthy without Drexler, but Duckworth, Kersey, Porter, and Robinson were all in their primes and capable rebounding well (front court) players, and passing well (Porter). He was hardly alone in those runs to the finals. They were all very capable scorers as well, and in most cases, each one was at least close to 20 points per game at least twice in their respective careers.

 

James Harden is a better alpha than Clyde Drexler was.

Both are all time greats.

 

Harden. He's not close to the dunker that Drexler was, but he's more capable, as a volume scorer, of finishing at and around the basket.

 

I see. I think you're in the extreme minority on this, and you're not going to be able to convince anyone who actually saw Drexler play when he was in Portland.

 

You can feel that way, I feel the same way about your position.

 

That's fine, but at least I have logic supporting my position.

You previously argued that Drexler couldn't always dunk on bigger players, but you didn't account for his ability to finish with layups. When I brought that up, you essentially ignored it.

An above-the-rim guard who can finish with dunks or layups is going to be a better finisher than an under-the-rim guard who relies primarily on layups. Especially when the above-the-rim guard is an elite athlete and the under-the-rim guard isn't.

 

1993–94 Houston Rockets 58–24 Won NBA Finals 4-3
1994–95 Houston Rockets 47–35 Won NBA Finals 4-0
1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics 64–18 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1996–97 Utah Jazz 64–18 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1997–98 Utah Jazz^ 62–20 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1998–99 San Antonio Spurs^ 37–13 Won NBA Finals 4-1
1999–00 Los Angeles Lakers^ 67–15 Won NBA Finals 4-2
2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers 56–26 Won NBA Finals 4-1
2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers 58–24 Won NBA Finals 4-0
2002–03 San Antonio Spurs^ 60–22 Won NBA Finals 4-2
2003–04 Los Angeles Lakers 56–26 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
2004–05 San Antonio Spurs 59–23 Won NBA Finals 4-3
2005–06 Dallas Mavericks 60–22 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
2006–07 San Antonio Spurs 58–24 Won NBA Finals 4-0
2007–08 Los Angeles Lakers 57–25 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
2008–09 Los Angeles Lakers 65–17 Won NBA Finals 4-1
2009–10 Los Angeles Lakers 57–25 Won NBA Finals, 4–3
2010–11 Dallas Mavericks 57–25 Won NBA Finals, 4–2
2011–12 Oklahoma City Thunder 47–19 Lost NBA Finals, 1–4
2012–13 San Antonio Spurs 58–24 Lost NBA Finals, 3–4
2013–14 San Antonio Spurs^ 62–20 Won NBA Finals, 4–1
2014–15 Golden State Warriors^ 67–15 Won NBA Finals, 4–2[1]
2015–16 Golden State Warriors^ 73–9 Lost NBA Finals, 3–4

name one western conference champion since the days of hakeem that you think we can beat. i'm saying i am wrong if you think he can beat any of these teams, this years warriors, or in fact any western conference champion until he retires. with him being " the man", in other words, with no other all star to help him -- a two-way player, who can initiate the ball in the post, hit the three. Note: this all-star doesn't have to be a center or power forward. he can be a big - 2 guard, a three, a four, or even a small ball five who can hit the three. Steve nash never made it with a better suns team, and i don't think we can ever until the end of time make it to the NBA finals with three weak links in defense, and no other way to iniate the offense against a good perimeter defense...and this is giving the rockets credit. they are a really good team.

any questions? read the rest of my comments.

 

To be fair, Steve Nash never benefited from the complete Dantoni vision. He never had a stretch 4. It was always Marion who was an elite glue guy but a terrible shooter.

 

Really all we have to do is look at the players respective shooting percentages at different points on the floor..... their ability to draw fouls in transition and what their respective free throw percentages were.

Clyde Drexler was exceptional at finishing in transition, but it is likely that Harden is even better. He is possibly the best player ever at getting body separating within the key. Harden does not have to face players like Robinson, Olajuwon, Ewing and others like Clyde had to. By the same token Clyde did not have to finish as often inside as Harden does.

Both are in the top 10 finishers in NBA history. However there is more than one way to finish inside at a high percentage.

 

marion was considered a strech four, who is better than ryan anderson. an elite defender and ran the court like a gazelle and could hit the three, not as deep. remember they had amare, and steve nash could also run around screens and catch and shoot, in addition to pick and roll.

 

Marion was never considered a stretch 4. In his prime, he only had 2 good years of 3pt shooting, and that was before Nash arrived. In his tenure with Nash, he always shot below 35% from the 3pt line.