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Ten Things You May Have Forgotten About James Harden

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Mathloom, Jul 19, 2019.

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  1. Mathloom

    Mathloom Shameless Optimist
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    1) This man averaged 36.1ppg on 24.5 shots in 37 minutes. He threw in 7.5 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2 steals and led the league in deflections. He wasn't a good regular season defender. :(

    2) To put his scoring in perspective, the likelihood that Harden's scoring would "dip" to the 20 points range is roughly equivalent to the likelihood he would score 50 points.

    3) James Harden's 10th WORST point total of the regular season was 25 points. Damian Lillard averaged 25.8ppg and was the 9th leading scorer in the NBA. Paul George was the 2nd leading scorer at 28ppg. He still averaged more assists than both those guys due to his usage. Somehow, none of those guys were more efficient than Harden in the regular season or playoffs.

    4) James Harden scored 40+ points 29 times, 50+ points 9 times, and 60+ points 2 times this regular season.

    5) James Harden has won more games against Durant's Warriors - both playoffs and regular season - than any other star in the NBA. No one in the NBA was able to take a series from Durant's Warriors. Lebron James, Kawhi Leonard, Greg Popovic, Danny Ainge, Pat Riley and whoever else you think can do what Harden can't have exactly 0 series wins against Durant's Warriors and no one ever came closer than Harden's Rockets.

    6) The Rockets have won 4 of 5 series against non-Warriors teams in the Durant/Warriors era, and only Lebron's Cavaliers who played in the amateur conference were that as successful at getting a shot at Durant's Warriors. Rockets have won 6 of 7 non-Warriors series during the Warriors dynasty. By virtue of his insane usage, Harden is obviously more critical to his team's success/failure than any other player is to their team.

    7) James Harden joined this team and was told to optimize his shot selection further, and he exceeded expectations. He was told to ramp up the quantity without losing efficiency, he exceeded expectations. He was told to become the primary playmaker, he exceeded expectations. He was asked to be the rare (once every 20 years) player who wins a title without 2 elite offensive or defensive talents by his side, he exceeded expectations of non-Rockets fans. He has been a top 3 player (out of 400+ NBA players) for 4 of the past 5 seasons. He did not win the title, and he actually folded in 1 or 2 key moments over a 5-6 year period totaling 3,168 Rockets playoff minutes. :( How terrible of him.

    8) For me this is a huge one: At age 29 after a career of poor defensive play, he was a regular season NBA leader in steals and deflections, and while continuing to do those things played shockingly good defense throughout the 2019 playoffs. Players at that age with that status don't change like that. It's not a Kevin Durant situation where he could suddenly carry a lesser offensive load and be asked to do his best with his massive wingspan while being surrounded by several elite defenders. This is a guy who had just upped his scoring from 30ppg to 36ppg for the regular season, and then doing MORE when his team needed it. He does not get enough credit for this.

    9) The only way to stop this man from beating you at a game is to put an elite defender on him, a second defender to collapse on him, shut down his 4 teammates, defensively force him into switches to tire him and then hope that he doesn't outscore most of your starting lineup despite probably leading the game in minutes played. Give him a Chris Paul on his last good legs, and he will bring the most talented team in NBA history to its knees. No one has single handedly done more with less since Dirk Nowitzki and Hakeem Olajuwon before him. No one.

    10) James Harden is one of a handful of stars who wants to win it for his team. There is no reason he should be more stubborn about winning in Houston than allllll these other players who move to win. He is a kid from LA. He was drafted by OKC. We have tried but not delivered an elite talent next to him, something Lebron gets the moment he arrives somewhere or the following season at most. He has shown us what he can do if we put a top 12 talent next to him (see: Chris Paul first season). If you haven't learned to appreciate this guy with his faults and strengths, you must have forgotten that there is no reason we should have a player this good. 25+ teams don't have a player this good, this loyal, this quiet with the media.

    I appreciate you James. It's not fair to ask you to be a Hakeem-like basketball god, but somehow you are on the brink of doing it and if there is such a thing as Karma we'll celebrate the herculean work you've put in sooner or later.

     
    #1 Mathloom, Jul 19, 2019
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  2. tmactoyao

    tmactoyao Member

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    Didn't read but I'm a simple guy.

    I see a Harden appreciation thread, I like.
     
    #2 tmactoyao, Jul 19, 2019
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  3. hakeem94

    hakeem94 Member

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    I read the entire post ....5 stars thread
     
    #3 hakeem94, Jul 19, 2019
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  4. riko

    riko Member

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    Simply an all time great Offensive machine in his prime has graced our franchise and we just added the most athletic guard ever to play the game of basketball to run with him. Things are good in Houston folks. This season is going to be in fire.You could argue Russ pound for pound maybe the best athlete to ever play in the NBA.
     
    #4 riko, Jul 19, 2019
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  5. RocketsFido

    RocketsFido Member

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    Harden should've had at least 2 MVPs by now and I firmly believe that would've happened if there wasn't this huge narrative created by social media that Harden is a flopping choker which no one wants to watch.

    The hive mindset heavily influence MVP votes as well as the perception of the player's legacy. Hopefully after reuniting with Westbrook, we can win it all. I'd hate to see this guy retire in Houston and all the casuals outside of Rocket fans think Harden is the greatest choker of all time even though we know it's not true.
     
    #5 RocketsFido, Jul 19, 2019
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  6. vlaurelio

    vlaurelio Contributing Member

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    LOFs fall in faint
     
    #6 vlaurelio, Jul 19, 2019
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  7. Rudyc281

    Rudyc281 Member

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    Wonderful
     
    #7 Rudyc281, Jul 19, 2019
  8. vator

    vator Contributing Member

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    All facts. No lies detected. The amount of hate this man gets even here on this board is unbelievable. If anything, up to this point, this franchise has failed him more than he has failed this franchise and he’s STILL here because he wants to deliver a championship instead of being a ring chaser.

    He’s never had a roster around him on paper capable of contending yet we have been on the threshold a few times because of James. It may not work out, but they owed him a Russell Westbrook and now they also owe it to him to go into the luxury tax at least a couple of times to give this man the best chance to compete against all these other juggernaut teams that spend money so freely.

    Oh and if he had an issue with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul don’t talk crap about James without first acknowledging that both those guys have an extensive and well documented history of being disliked by their teammates.
     
    #8 vator, Jul 19, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2019
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  9. Dankstronaut

    Dankstronaut Way, way out here.
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    Harden had more steals+blocks than Giannis-the-great-2-way-defender did.

    I’m not saying he’s better at defense. I’m saying the “James Haren” take from 6 years ago should be dead and for whatever reason people are here to proclaim him one of the worst defenders around.

    He also scored more points less his free throws than Giannis did in total. The lack of appreciation for his offense genius is startling. The sheer negativity that’s been cultivated around him is startling. Like....why? People occasionally refer to him as the best scorer as a back-handed compliment. The guy has unbelievable handles/strength/balance combination and it allows him to put defenders in precarious situations to the point that referees start calling games differently because he’s breaking it. He throws his head back to emphasize contact that’s already happening....that’s not flopping, that’s making sure the refs do their damn job.

    It’s called being great.
     
    #9 Dankstronaut, Jul 19, 2019
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  10. LUK3

    LUK3 Member

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    he’s also the most hated person in the league and he doesn’t GAF.

    :cool:
    he sounds pretty cool if you ask me
     
    #10 LUK3, Jul 19, 2019
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  11. Pandaemonaeon

    Pandaemonaeon Member

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    11) People who are complaining about how we're currently stuck in "mediocrity" are like spoiled children who clearly weren't around or weren't paying attention to what REAL mediocrity looked like, which was the past 15 years before Harden arrived. Half the time not even in the playoffs, the other half not even capable of getting past the 1st round. The Kevin Martin era was the very definition of purgatory. James Harden saved us from all that.
     
    #11 Pandaemonaeon, Jul 19, 2019
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  12. BeardNation13

    BeardNation13 Member

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    Harden is one of the GOAT's in the regular season. And it's true I have forgotten a few of the 10 things you mentioned.

    However, I just wish I could forget some of his playoff outings and no shows like when he QUIT on the Rockets in Game 6 against Spurs at Home without Kawhi and Parker, or the record 13 turnover game or game 6 comeback against CLIPS led by Dwight, Brewer and Josh SMith or other 2/11 games in playoffs.
     
    #12 BeardNation13, Jul 19, 2019
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  13. Jontro

    Jontro Member

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    11. harden didn't always have a beard. good times.
     
    #13 Jontro, Jul 19, 2019
  14. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    12. Does his flopping and fapping behind his beard.
     
    #14 daywalker02, Jul 19, 2019
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  15. don grahamleone

    don grahamleone Contributing Member

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    12) He was asked to play the point guard when Mike D'Antoni arrived in Houston. He responded by leading the league in the most point guard of all point guard stats: Assists (11.2 per game).
     
    #15 don grahamleone, Jul 19, 2019
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  16. threepointshot3

    threepointshot3 Member

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    It’s killing you orientel boy isn’t that that someone praised you’re gods( jerry Lin the scrub who is now job less) nemesis lol hahahaha. Now go run along and reply to yourself with you’re other Handel rasheed you mentally handicapped fool
     
    #16 threepointshot3, Jul 19, 2019
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  17. don grahamleone

    don grahamleone Contributing Member

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    There's no reason to make racist comments on Clutchfans. Ever.
     
    #17 don grahamleone, Jul 19, 2019
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  18. threepointshot3

    threepointshot3 Member

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    Orientel is not racist. The spices of the orient are amazing
     
    #18 threepointshot3, Jul 19, 2019
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  19. clos4life

    clos4life Member

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    I can get behind this thread. For all the trolls, Debbie downers and self-loathers out there, take notes. This is the kind of thread people used to post in the GARM which made this website great. !
     
    #19 clos4life, Jul 19, 2019
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  20. Caprah

    Caprah Member

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    We are not worthy
     
    #20 Caprah, Jul 19, 2019
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