Not bothered by it, he was actually my favorite player (hence the SN), but I'm not gonna justify n excuse his post seasons almost regular short-comings just because I liked him as a player. I didn't lump him with the best, I was just making a point that most superstar do better or equally good in the playoffs when you see their CAREER averages (not duplicating the 36 ppg season), you had Wade on the list, n Harden is considered better than him by many, who also did better in the playoffs vs the regular season.
Giannis is a different level with how much he drops off, he's kinda in his own category as far as playoff failure. Most players drop off a little, guys like steph, kd, harden, etc.
This is completely false, it's the other way around. Outside of a couple guys, EVERY star is worse in the playoffs including literally every single person you've mentioned.
It was very hard to say what he lacked other than consistent perimeter Defense, speed and stamina... Dude had it all. Some guys like Barkley just don't win championships.
People also underestimate luck and stuff that's not in players control. What if scott foster doesn't go nuclear in 2018 and harden beats the greatest team ever? What if giannis doesn't cheap shot an injure kyrie in 2021? Or if harden himself doesn't get injured in 2021? There's a lot of luck/RNG involved in who wins rings, since the sample sizes are so tiny.
He did not make the Finals enough times to actually come close to the saying of 'Oh he is just too unlucky' or 'He will eventually win one like Dirk'.
What? Dirk also only made the finals once before he won it. I just don't care much about ringzzz because so much of it isn't in the one players control. Garnett is a top 10 guy all time, but he was on those trash minni teams. If he just stayed there his whole career, he certainly never wins a title or makes a finals. Does that take away from how good he was? To me, no, to most casuals, yes. Same with lebron, if he just stayed a cav for 20 years he probably wins 0-1 rings, most likely 0. Would people still view him as a top 2 guy ever? I certainly would.
Harden averaged over 30 ppg with the Rockets. Green 19.8 this year and we’re comparing who’s better??? Comparing Green to KPJ would be a more realistic….and I’d definitely give Green the edge. Why not just skip to the end and compare him to MJ? This is equally as ludicrous.
We were comparing Harden to Wade actually.....steer the narrative a bit in the other direction than the OP.
And disappearance on many occasions. I don't think Barkley was blamed much, KJ was blamed (rightfully so)
I Am definitely not bothered by your view, was just speaking about his overall Rockets postseason numbers You did compare their numbers, which means you lumped them together being you compare others who are in same tier Its not the same like comparing Longley/Reeves or even A Mourning to Dream/Wilt etc You compare Dream to Shaq/Russell/Alcindor etc So David Robinson is the big man version of Harden ...pre Duncan You don't compare DRob to Longley etc, he was superstar big for a stretch
I mean I've already had my turn SMHing at this thread with a quippy remark but seriously, people forget just how good Harden was when he first got to Houston. He led a team with Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, and Patrick Patterson to a 45-37 season and even managed to win 2 playoff games against the 1st seed Thunder. That squad did not have anybody as good as Fred VanVleet or Alperen Sengun. Arguably not even anybody as good as Dillon or Amen. Jalen isn't even the best player on his own team yet (if he ever will be). It's not even remotely close between him and James.
Yea in a regular season he was top notch, one of the best regular season players ever, there's no doubt about it. You could give him any roster and he'll make the playoffs. Just a beast. As far as Jalen goes, I think his style will be better in the playoffs, plus if you remember when Harden first got to Houston n was putting up big numbers right off the bat (40+), people were like "he's not a superstar yet, small sample size etc", but he never stopped, hopefully it'll be the same thing with Green during and after this stretch (that he never looks back)
Drob and Harden is a stunning comparison that I'm surprised hasn't been made more often. On pure statistics, especially advanced, you would have thought each was the 2nd best player of the 90s and 2010s. Despite the regular season dominance, the first thing that comes to mind for both are their playoff meltdowns, and having the dubious honor of being the best player unable to lead their team to a finals appearance as the best player.
And their fans could have made a case for them being that, Harden was with KD/Curry/LBJ for best of 2010's easily...... They just won rings Just like when DRob won with Duncan twice, it didn't elevate him on GOAT list That's why all this GOAT talk is crazy But both DRob/Harden were top 10 players for their said primes/apex, eye test approved
