https://theathletic.com/2090827/?source=twitterhq Yea, I made a thread for an article I couldnt post, am I embarrassed?.....Yea.
But enough about the demerits, let’s turn our attention to the positive, starting with Harden. Basketball-Reference recently introduced a new set of metrics called “Adjusted Shooting,” which attempts to demonstrate how much better or worse than league average a player is at various categories of shots. They have called one such stat “TS Added,” which is essentially the number of points above what a player using the same amount of shooting possessions would have scored. To illustrate the degree to which Harden is the best offensive engine in the NBA, his TS Added of 227.5 points was the most in the league by over 30 points (second place was Damian Lillard at 197.0). In other words, Harden’s combination of scoring usage and efficiency was 15 percent better than the next closest competitor. On top of which, Harden finished 23rd in the league in playmaking usage rate. While many people are critical of the Rockets’ style in the Harden-Mike D’Antoni era, given that especially in the last two seasons it has amounted to three or four players watching and waiting for Harden to get them open, it doesn’t work if that trigger man is unable to perform at the highest level. In the last four seasons, Houston has finished sixth, second, first and second respectively in Offensive Rating. It may not be pretty, but it has been effective. At least in the regular season. The limitations of the system have shown up in the playoffs, as the burden placed on Harden and the lack of much deception has either worn him out or allowed defenses to better scheme him, or more likely a combination of both. Over the last four playoff runs, Harden has hit 33.3 percent of his 3-pointers in the first three quarters of games, but only 25.2 percent in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, with the swing of his shotmaking (essentially, the difference between what a player actually shot and their expected accuracy given characteristics of the shots taken) being greater than 10 points comparing first three quarters to the end of games. So that’s not great. But especially as the Rockets have become more, um, cost-conscious in recent years, this style and Harden’s performance within it has allowed them to have the level of regular-season success which makes these abbreviated playoff journeys disappointing relative to expectations.
Got to say I’m surprised this thread didn’t devolve into another lesson on what Harden needs to do to be better.
I don’t know man. I think you are underestimating his defensive impact. I would guess the creator of the tier system relied on available advanced numbers. 538s WAR metric Gobert : +11.1 (10th overall) Mitchell: +5.7 Basketball references Winshares Gobert : +10.7 Mitchell: +5.4 That being said. There are plenty of tier 4 guys I wish we had over Westbrook who they somehow rated as a tier 3. There is really zero statistical backing for Westbrook to be rated that highly so who know exactly the criteria they relied on.
My guess is that Westbrook did play very well for a month or so after we made the Capela trade before the COVID shutdown. He averaged 27 ppg, 7 apg, and 8 rpg in the regular season. But I agree, I'd trade Westbrook for the majority of the tier 4 guys in a heartbeat.
And I would agree. I’d rather try to build a team with either of those guys, but as far as wins added by a player I can see why Gobert would be extremely valuable and would rate highly on this tier list.
lol to be honest there’s very few players in the league that I would choose Westbrook over. That doesn’t mean I think he is one of the worst players in the league. He’s paid way too much and I think he’s best served as a 6th man at this point, which he probably wouldn’t be too excited about embracing. So if I could swap Westbrook for any player on a minimum deal I would do it. The cap relief would be worth the talent downgrade.
But especially as the Rockets have become more, um, cost-conscious in recent years, this style and Harden’s performance within it has allowed them to have the level of regular-season success which makes these abbreviated playoff journeys disappointing relative to expectations. how does this keep getting said? we have underperformed our seed 1 time in 6 years. and that was 2018 when we lost to the durant warriors who slacked off enough in the regular season that we were the 1 seed. and that was undoubtedly our best playoff run. it's like people just make up some amazing regular season success we have every year.
