Can Steph carry his own team thread.

I think that they’re both elite of the elite both Hall of Famer’s and they both change the way the game is played doesn’t have to be either or

harden got the respect of his players as a players MVP even when the media can’t see it

and steff is still getting better at 33 and he’s just damn impressive to watch we can give respect to both of them it doesn’t have to be exclusive, they are both still pushing and growing, I’m enjoying both of it as they aren’t rockets and our team is what is this year

 

in 2019 from january 4th to march 23rd harden had the highest scoring value in history according to ben taylor's scoring metric. Harden broke ben taylor's per 40 scoring metric and also broke bbref points per 100 possesions record( if curry did that he would have won mvp over giannis). steph curry averages per 36 or per in general should come with an asterick, because per metric doesnt add in the fatigue factor( its basically a what if, meanwhile harden is doing it). Harden had a 30.5 per in 2019 and giannis had a 30.6, imagine if harden load managed the final 2 weeks of the season when his per was 31.8 The season would have still been official based on the amount of minutes harden played up to that point.

i wanna see you actually perform, i dont care about what if's

 

i agree what curry has done in april is impressive, i just dont like the double standards. why cant what harden did in 2019 result in him winning mvp( we know it would have for curry). we have never seen anything like that since before everyone on this board was even born. It just feels like the media goes out of their way to look for a reason to shun hardens accomplishments and deny him his flowers, and overcelebrate curry. If the coverage was fair i wouldnt have a problem with curry( but i feel like im the only one that sees this and will speak about it). I just dont like how harden is portrayed as a villan and curry who shimmies and taunts his opponents is seen as the golden boy.

 

Even now, I feel like Curry is getting love because LeBron / Davis / KD / Harden / Embiid / etc. have all either missed a bunch of time and/or are still injured. No disrespect to Lillard and Jokic, but when those 2 are leading the MVP race, you know it's a down year.

 

This is true also. Durability and stamina is definitely one of Harden's strength, so aggregate scoring definitely favors Harden over an entire season. Scoring, though, is still highly dependent on the system. You may think Curry wouldn't last if he is handed the one-man system. But he is going to avg 32+ this season, so he also belongs in Durant's tier as a scorer.

I still think quite a few scorers could avg 35ppg simply if they are allowed to; many players also hold this opinion. Jerry Stackhouse averaged close to 30ppg one season (in a slow-paced era), while only avg 20+ppg for four other seasons at around 21-23ppg. His role in that one season demanded that.

Harden benefits from his foul-baiting skill, this is also why he cannot sustain his effectiveness in the playoffs. However, Harden is a perennial 44% FG guy. Curry is around 48%, that's a significant difference. Curry has room to increase volume regardless of durability. We are seeing that right now as he is pushing for the playoff spot.

My point is, yes, Harden did prove his historic scoring prowess by having done it. He was in position to do it with the MDA ball-dominant system. Many of you jeer that even Jeremy Lin only got the numbers by the MDA boost. Curry never played in a MDA-like system, nor did many other scorers of the same tier such as Durant, Lebron, McGrady, Iverson etc.

I also agree there is voting bias. The bias though, has to do with expectation built from prior results, plus a bit of off-court image. Harden never got it done. Curry did. Hence the bias. Is it fair? maybe maybe not. But like you said, there's no if. Curry got it done as the leader of a championship team and a historic regular season record. Harden's routinely under-performing in elimination games are etched in the memories of many of these same media voters.

 

Where are all those posters that said that Curry is a fraud lol

 

Watch out memphis we coming for YOU! Stephanie gang !

 

wait, did he really do that? i basically stopped listening last year after too much warriors homerism finally overtook all the good nba content (the all decade podcast did me in), but even i didn't think he'd be enough of a joke of a harden hater/steph fan to put them 3rd and 11th. that's like 4 or 5 spots lower than basically anyone would put harden and the upper level of where you could put steph.

 

Hottest shooting of Curry's career, and GSW is 6-5

Harden was 12-5 in the games Paul missed during the unguardable tour, and EGo missed 8 of those games, as well, going 5-3 with both out

do y'all remember those lineups with Paul and EGo out? Brandon Knight, Ennis, Clark "key" bench players ... with Rivers and (1st season) House starting. 36 yr old Nene punching the clock, but not enough to get his Morey crazy-incentives.

 

yea he said harden was in the Paul George tier of player

 

OKC and 2018 weren't "legitimately good" supporting casts. They were exceptionally good.

Here's the problem with your logic. If it's not exceptionally good, then you think it's poor. Sorry, but that's not how analysis works. You said "Harden has played on mostly garbage teams for his entire Houston tenure." That's an objectively false statement.

If other players can adapt while Harden can't, why wouldn't that be considered "choking"?

How am I moving goal posts?

You started by saying that Harden has faced better than average defenses. I responded by asking if a player was unlikely to perform well against better-than-average defenses. You said it is indeed more difficult. I responded by pointing out that if players DO perform well against better than average defenses, they should be held in a higher regard than players that don't.

And now you're talking about Lebron facing crappy EC teams?

Sorry, but YOU'RE the one going off topic.

Are you trolling me? If Curry averages 42% from the 3pt line and it drops to 35% for a series, the Warriors can still win the series. 35% is average. If Harden's averages 36% from the 3pt line and it drops to 29% for a series, the Rockets are unlikely to win the series. 29% from the 3pt line is terrible.

Measurable metrics can't explain a player's style. That can only be explained by the eye test.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

 

No, I disproved your point. You claimed that "off-ball playmaking" was something I invented.

 

IRL I dont know one ex or current bball player of any level that would say Harden is better than Steph. But of course fat internet ****s know better

 

I'm not sure how you want me to respond. Again, I proved that "off-ball playmaking" isn't something I invented. Just because the majority of people don't appreciate it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You need to ask yourself what "playmaking" is supposed to encompass.

 

So you think I created that reddit thread a few days ago in the hopes that you would bring up "playmaking" again? Even though, many pages ago, we reached an impasse on the very same topic?

Harden fans are next-level mental gymnasts.