Max Kellerman: I would take Dwayne Wade right now in the playoffs over James Harden.

I will say this most of the other stars mentioned are two way players. Lebron and Kwahi that takes a lot of gas as well.

 

Wussup little willy

 

The theory is he got it after the pau gasol elbow in game 5 which is why he was so mentally weird end of game 5 and all of game 6

There isnt enough evidence for me to assume that story has any merit to it though. Probably just telephone game stuff and rumors.

More likely than not, he just mentally checked out after 6 man rotations and dealing with a ton of defensive attention with no other star players.

He definitely quit but I don't believe it wasn't a conscious decision.

I think his body/mind locked up and he got shook, felt figured out, and subconsciously he didn't believe he was able to impact the game anymore. How else do we explain him throwing it out of bounds nowhere near eric gordon when he was wide open? lol

Different words for the same thing though. Either way, it can be defined as a quit and means he wasnt putting 100 effort out there anymore.

I don't believe that will happen next year now that we have a deep team and another ball handler that can create offense for the team.

 

A lot of that was stat padding at the free throw line in the Mavericks series. I think his fg percentage was low that series. I will admit he had an unbelievable game 1 in GS that year. Look I just want Harden to take the necessary steps to be a leader. Quit partying during the playoffs focus on a goal and cut out the side S**t

 

same deflections per game as Westbrook and Rondo more than Lebron, Anthony Davis, Durant
same loose balls recorvered per game as Lebron, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green more than Durant and Klay
same charges drawn as Lebron, Anthony Davis more than Steph Curry, Butler, George double that of Durant, Kawhi, Westbrook, Klay
more 2pt shots contested than Lebron, Kawhi, Curry, George, Westbrook, Butler
more 3pt shots contested than Lebron, Durant, Kawhi, Curry, Westbrook
more overall shots contested than Lebron, Kawhi, Curry, Westbrook, Butler
same defensive reb % as Lebron slight lower than Durant better than Kawhi, George, Butler, Klay, Curry
and lastly, similar defensive rating as Lebron, Avery Bradley, Ariza, slight lower than George

 

Then why does he not guard the best player then? Stats are fine, but that's where observation is better you can't sit here and say Harden is as good of a defender as Lebron or Kawahi or Paul George. Those are my definitions of 2 way players. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton. Your superstar is going off I want to guard them guys. All defensive team guys

 

LOL after I showed you Harden exerts as much effort on defense with the other superstars you move goal posts

does Steph, KD, WB, or CP3 guard the best player?

so do you want a superstar who can single handedly carry a team to 55 wins just by himself

or a Tony Allen?

 

There are no amount of stats you can give me that tells me harden is on the level of a butler, Klay, etc. People have two eyes. And that's fine, none of those players have the playmaking ability of harden

 

I updated my post. All defensive team is recognition they have 2 I believe.

 

A lot of what was just stat padding at the free throw line? If you're trying to say that that's the basis for his numbers looking so good during the 2015 playoffs then that's just ridiculous.

-42 points and the game sealing jumper against Dallas on the road in game 3
-28 and 8 assists in the closeout game 5
-triple double in game 5 against the Clippers facing elimination
-31, 7, and 8 in game 7 against LAC
-28, 11, and 9 in game 1 against GS
-38, 10, and 9 in game 2 against GS
-45, 9, and 5 in game 4 against GS

38% from 3 and TS% of 62% which is elite...that is a good run, the only thing that stopped it from being very good-great is game 6 against LAC and game 5 against GS

I would take those numbers and that efficiency from Harden in the playoffs all day...now he has to cut out the truly horrific games...hopefully CP3 will help

 

Also I was just saying something to the effect of exertion of energy. It's not an excuse you get paid the big bucks to endure that.

 

he may be as focused and effective but the level of effort and hustle is there

the discussion was lebron and Kawhi rested 9 games during the reg season while Harden only rested 1 game

the other poster said lebron and kawhi was running out of gas by playing defense while harden was not

 

not sure what you're debating here. its harden's fault the the rockets didn't reach the WCFs last year?

he worked the hardest compared to anyone else
and took the team to the most success
all by himself
runner up MVP
almost broke the all time most points produced

played and started 81 games, 7 more games than lebron james and kawhi, 9 games more than LMA (spurs 2nd most minutes played next to kawhi), 20 games more than CP3
played a total of 2947 minutes, 150 minutes more than lebron, 500 more minutes than kawhi, 600+ more minutes more than LMA, 1000+ more minutes than CP3
scored a total of 2356 points, 400 points more than lebron, 500 more minutes than points, 1,100 more points more than LMA, 1200+ more points than CP3
dished a total of 907 assists, 250 more asts than lebron, 650 more asts than kawhi, 750 more asts than LMA, 300+ more than CP3
made a total of 262 3 pointers, 100+ more than lebron and kawhi, 200+ more than LMA, 100+ more than CP3
rebounded the ball 659 times, more than lebron, 200 more than Kawhi, 100 more than LMA, 350+ more than CP3

 

That's 2 games out 5 in the first series
That's 2 games out of seven in the second series
That's 2 games out of 5 in the WCF
Can you post his fg % and how many ft attempts he had as well.
I gave him that unbelievable game in game one against GS besides his turnovers. I know your a reasonable poster and I respect your opinions. Maybe I am off but that 4/5 pick and roll killed the Mavericks. A team without James Harden saved our season in the Clippers series. Golden state just has our number. Like I said maybe I'm off I need to check those stats, but I just kind of thought his fg% dipped a lot during that playoff run.

 

Not debating it's his fault completely you we're defending him to the other posters and I thought I would throw that in. Sorry didn't mean to interrupt, He may have been gassed, but I don't think that's an excuse.

 

so the rockets should have beaten a cleary superior team? and harden should have the conditioning that even Lebron or Kawhi didn't have?

other stars have an excuse of resting 10 games during the season even after playing with multiple stars around them while harden can't run out gas?

it may be MDA running harden to the ground or harden's fault for not pacing himself but who could have been in harden's place for the whole season and got us to the WCFs last year?

 

ESPN
where boxing commentators are your NBA analyst

 

They didn't have Kawahi for a game and a half or Tony Parker in that series. I wouldn't call that a far superior team. Yes Ryno was atrocious in that series a lot has to with him MDA only played a seven man rotation. James Harden had a passive game and a half. There were a lot of things that contributed to us not reaching the WCF. I just don't think your alpha quitting and saying he's tired should be one. I think Lebron could have led us there. He's the best player on the planet, but he has even had his choke jobs in the playoffs as well.

 

His field goal percentage was fine during that playoff run. He shot 44% from the field and 38% from 3. He also shot 92% from the line. His TS% was at 62% which was better than what it was during the regular season.

here are his stats per series

Mavs
-28 ppg, 4 rpg, 8 apg...47% from the field, 39% from 3, 97% from the line...10.4 free throw attempts per game

Clippers
-25 ppg, 6 rpg, 8 apg...40% from the field, 35% from 3, 92% from the line...10.4 free throw attempts per game

Warriors
-28 ppg, 8 rpg, 6 apg...47% from the field, 43% from 3, 87% from the line...10.6 free throw attempts per game

the only one where his numbers weren't up to par was that Clippers series...other than that, if James Harden could provide the numbers that he had during the other 2 series then I would take that all day

the only other player who could pick apart GS like Harden did in games 1, 2, and 4 of that series is Lebron...KD, Curry, Kawhi, etc could not have been able to do that

I just don't think that his 2015 playoff run was bad...overall, it was fine...he had some great performances but unfortunately he had 2 horrific ones

 

Ok good stats maybe I just remember Jon Barry saying stat padding during the Clippers series. I am wrong and can admit that.