Kmart and Harden are different players and different play styles. Individually speaking, Harden is definitely better than Kmart. But I think the person above was saying that if you put Kmart on the team, the team would play team ball more and spread around. More touches, more chances to make plays and contribute.
Team ball is great but if you have great team ball and no superstar talent you'll end up like the Nuggets or Bulls last year.
How does a thread about a players injury status become an argument over how good or bad that player is? We are lucky to have Harden, anyone who followed this team between Tmac/Yao and now understands how lucky we are to have not 1 but 2 stars.
Simple point, you won't get far in the playoffs without a go-to player on offense like Harden. You can't win a NBA championship by committee. Basketball is a team sport, and that is nice...but superstars and individual play wins championships. It is the one sport where one guy can completely take your team from being a lotto team to a finals team. In no scenario is Kevin Martin better than Harden. Period. End of story. Arguing this is like arguing if and 1 player White Chocolate is better than Jeremy Lin. One is a NBA player, one is not. Harden is a all-star player likely perennial...Martin isn't. No matter how much Iso ball Melo plays, no GM is taking better team player Tayshaun Prince over him. No matter how much team ball George Hill plays, no GM is taking him over Westbrook
So it's about name recognition and not on court performance ? This season so far Martin has been a much better offensive than harden and More consistent
I think JayGoogle covered most of it, but yes, they were better than the Rockets last year because they played cohesively and had more mid-level talent. Look at them now. Without talent, you can't attract more talent. It's why Andre Iguodala left and with Rose out again, I doubt the Bulls are going to get any huge FA signings. Team ball is important and is essential to being a true contender. (Spurs, Heat, Pacers) But the best place to start is with talent. Instead of having a small window that's championship or blow-it-up, we have the next 4 years to develop chemistry and add pieces with our talent cornerstones in place. That's the difference between having Kevin Martin with a win rate of 50% and Harden with a win rate of 51%.
Coach does not need to play him 38 - 40 minutes a game anymore. Even though he's 24, he still can get worn out and we need a healthy Harden for the playoffs.
Let him rest up. The future is more important Honestly, Rockets should not need him at home against Hawks who are on a back to back and against a stinking Nets team. Earliest he should come back should be the Spurs game
Did you not follow the Rockets prior to last season? Yes, in 2011-2012 they did finish 9th but those players were gone. They completely cleaned house after the season was over. Budinger, Camby,Dalembert,Dragic, Jordan Hill, Courtney Lee, Lowry and Scola were all elsewhere. Prior to the Harden trade we were predicted to be one of the 3 worst teams in the entire NBA. Here's some predictions from a quick Google search: 14th in the Western Conference http://www.examiner.com/article/2012-2013-nba-season-predictions ESPN prediction: 12th in West with 33 wins http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8273800/2012-nba-summer-forecast-west-standings Yahoo prediction of a 30-52 season. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/houston-rockets-2012-2013-game-game-predictions-one-134700555--nba.html Here's an over/under of 29 wins for the Rockets http://www.memphisflyer.com/BeyondtheArc/archives/2012/10/30/nba-predictions-2012-2013 We were suppose to be bad last year. No veterans, Asik was viewed as a backup, nobody knew what to expect from Lin, youngest team in NBA, etc... You can find ton's of predictions like this for the Rockets but I was unable to find a single case of anyone predicting that we would have made the playoffs last season. Prior to the Harden trade we were viewed in a similar manner to this year's tanking teams.
Can we get back to Harden updates in this thread? Any out look on tonight or for Saturday a game I will be at in SA!?
If you don't believe having a star trumps team ball. Look at the ATL hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets etc. The Pistons are probably the only team to win by "team ball". They might do well in the regular season every year, but always lose out to a team with a go to star. Memphis got swept because team ball couldn't stop Tony Parker. And if OKC had Westbrook Memphis would have been swept in the second round.
seriously? first off, limited sample size. second off, no one said name recognition. you honestly think martin is better than harden? da hell... martin can't create offense at all, in the long run has never and will never be able to lead a team, doesnt really command double teams night in and night out and is much more of a 1 trick pony.
Martin and Harden average about the same amount of points this year, but Harden does it more efficiently. Harden's TS% is .600 while Martin's is .563
If you are being fair in comparing Harden and Kmart, put them in similar roles. Kmart was our primary scorer before going to OKC and Harden was ours last year and now. Probably also fair to compare one year's worth of data. Kmart - 17 PPG ppg, 2.8 assist, .413% FG Harden - 25.9 ppg, 5.4 assists ..442% FG Please note that it is only fair to compare them this way. If you are not the primary offensive player on the team, the opponent will not be as focused on defending you. James was our number one guy last year bar none and was still able to put out those numbers. When Martin was the number one guy, he was well.... FOOLS GOLD!!
Another fair comparison was when they were both in OKC (6th man role) For the 2011-2012 season Kmart - 14 ppg, 1.4 ast, .45% FG Harden - 16.8, 5.8 ast, .491% FG Playoffs: Kmart - 14.0 ppg, 1.3 ast, .38% FG Harden - 16.3 ppg, 3.4 ast, .435% FG Please note that on last year's playoff, Kmart was OKC's second best offensive weapon when Westbrook went down. He was unable to help his team that much. On the other hand, Harden was given the credit (by a lot of experts) as to why they got all the way to the finals. The comparison is not even close and to say that Kmart is better is just delusional
Harden: "It feels real good. I had some time to rest it and get a lot of treatment. It’s a lot better. The swelling has gone down a lot." - feigen 11/27/13 James Harden said he will test the foot again tonight, but sounded greatly relieved w/ progress since sitting out. Said it's much improved. - feigen 11/27/13 James Harden, Ronnie Brewer game-time decisions vs. Hawks. Francisco Garcia limping with sprained toe, but will play. - feigen 11/27/13
We can't be really having this discussion, can we? Harden shoots far more efficiently than Martin and is a much better passer and rebounder. He is much better at getting to the rim and to the foul line. Martin is at least as bad a defensive player and has less potential to turn into a decent one. Harden may be a slightly overrated player this year (ESPN and GM ranking of around No. 5) after several years of being underrated, but there is no comparison between him and KMart: Harden is much, much better.
