The "take away _______ and he's _______" is the stupidest argument in sports... You can't just take away free throws from Harden, because free throws are a part of the game. They are there, and they are apart of his stat line and his production. Period. That's like saying "Take away Lebron's freak athleticism and he's not that good of an athlete"
And just to follow up my above post: Morey deliberately looks for efficient scorers such as Kevin Martin and James Harden, who can score by getting to the line. Along with the corner 3, it's one of the most efficient ways to score. You can't just say: OH WELL IF THERE WERE NO FT'S HE WOULDN'T BE GOOD LOOK AT HIS PERCENTAGE. That's a superficial way of evaluating his game. Morey would not be happy if Rocket fans thought this way about basketball. For Morey, please update yourself, cw3k.
Getting to the line and drawing fouls is one of the most desirable aspects to a player in basketball and has been for as long as I can remember. For people to disregard that ability about Harden makes me realize that many here don't know much about basketball at all.
I'd put it into the normal painful process of learning the PG position in NBA. The evolution of player positioning on offense is complex and dynamic. Aside from few naturals like Magic Johnson, most need to get the experience slowly to gauge the situation to his team's advantage and make the best decision with the ball. Athletically more gifted PGs like KJ, Rose make the decision easier by dominating and dictating with their natural talent. PGs like Nash, Stockton, and to a lesser extent Lin need to explore the nuances of the offense much more to be effective. Actually, it might be harder for Lin because he is athletically gifted enough to be like Parker at times, but not consistently so. Which is definitely not a viable option for Nash can appear to be so for Lin, and tempting. Note, 'indecisive' comes with facing several viable options but missing the right timing to commit.
Isiah Thomas, Steve Smith, and Chris Webber break down the play of Harden and Lin. http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2013/04/09/20130409-harden-lin-analysis.nba/
The Rockets are lucky to have Harden and Harden is also lucky to be surrounded with some young teammates with high BBIQ and potential. Even though the coach has very little control of him on the floor I am still optimistic about his development for the said reason. Harden shouldn't overburden himself in offense with no energy left in the defensive end. I think he will adapt with the fast improvement of players like Asik, Parsons, Smith and Lin.
I'm sure many on this site who think Harden shouldn't share in the point guard duties would think Isaiah and Smith have no idea of what they are talking about, it's not like they actually played :grin:
This is actually how I've always calculated players' shooting efficiency for a given game to quickly check out how they performed. It factors in guys like Shaq shooting free throws horribly, for example. I do give a slight boost for foul shots because it puts the other team in foul trouble and the penalty. I give a big boost for and-ones by not counting the 0.5 FGA for those. I then usually take away from technical fouls (since that is mostly stat padding), to get my own shooting percentage for each player for a game. If I can figure it out, I also deduct last-second half and full-court shots that hurt percentages.
lol at ancient powers beard. Harden really reminds me of one of my favorite players growing up, Andrew Toney of the Sixers. Could draw fouls left and right, great mid range game, deadly shooter, great athleticism, excellent passer, some turnover troubles, and outstanding post up game (Harden's not there yet with this last piece).
this is the part that irks me. its gimmicky the way he draws fouls by "forcing" the refs to call the foul. its no different than the gimmicky durant rip through BS that forced the nba to change the rules. now im not saying all of his fouls of this variety, but its enough to have spawned a hashtag patronizing the move...
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w7B0L3PAFt4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> This is one of the most popular ways Harden draws contact. It's basically a foul me or don't defend me situation. Unlike more "popular" methods to draw fouls, such as pump fakes in the paint or around the perimeter, and jumping into defenders, Harden often sets himself up for a good shot when he draws fouls.
pump fake jump into defender foul is the most gimmicky BS foul in the nba. sure its part of the game, but that doesnt change the fact that its cheap. harden's fouls are no better.
LOL supposed Rocket fans complaining that Harden gets fouls called. I'm glad he's doing it for our team.
It was so sloppy in part because harden was trying to do too much. If that happens, it usually means our offense suffers because they are playing half court and not running. Yeah, this hurts lin's game because he is pushed into a spot up role ( plays a factor into th3 5-14 ), but I REALLY don't want to see articles about this ****. Its bad enough here. I can't criticize harden for doing what he does. Most superstars have a habit of it, probably because of the responsibility the feel. I do think it can hurt the team though, because the offense really does suffer.
