Not shocked at all. 2 way impact players are very hard to come by, more so than scoring in general. Having an elite scorer is great, but a good offense can get good offensive contribution from the entire line up.
Some of the reasoning in the comments section there were hilarious. "Isn't ugly", "Isn't a jerk", "Doesn't flop". Some validity in there but some clear subjectivity.
Nah this happened also because when Harden played Wade and Kobe he showed he was the better player. Especially Kobe...he took Kobe to school last year.
A lot of them just don't like Harden, the Rockets are one of the most hated teams in the league currentl. First of all all Laker fans hate on them, OKC fans hate on them, Warrior fans hate on them, and this is not even counting their traditional rivals in Dallas and Utah. Just read the comments about how Harden is a flopping whiny little ______. I don't even care, it's such a unfair and quite frankly silly comparison because we are basing it on 14 games of play. I've never seen a player so quickly pushed to superstardom than Paul George has, we may as well just give him the MVP right now.
Defense > Offense in championship. That is Paul George has the upper hand. If Harden's D can be George's O, then they will be close to equal.
Outside of LeBron James and maybe Kevin Durant - it's hard to think of someone playing better than Paul George is right now. He's the 3rd best player in the league. Incredible how much he has improved over last year and the year before. The Pacers are a legit contender and can't see anyone beating them in a 7 game series. Not even the Spurs.
You mean Team defense > Team offense. If you are expecting Paul George to stop say Kevin Durant then you are going to be vastly disappointed...and what if the others team superstar is not even a swingman? What if they play the Spurs? Paul George will have to stop Kawhi? Who doesn't even have plays ran for him? What if it's the Clippers...Chris Paul and Blake Griffin? Team defense makes individual defenders like Paul George shine. Dwight Howard is a 3x DPOY...but he doesn't look it when he's on a team that plays bad team defense...
I don't think anyone can really stop say Kevin Durant, except Garcia when he gets into KD's head. :grin: I agree team D is important to make individual defenders shine, but Harden's D is no where near Paul George's O, and when you are a team D liability, your D matters...
Are we so certain though? People make it seem like it is all Harden's fault, yet when he sits out against Philly, Wroten and Anderson go nuts on us...and he comes back has some solid games defensively and people don't make a peep about it. His defense is not consistently bad though, it's just wildly inconsistent. I can live with that through the regular season. But players reputations are made at the end of the season. We know he can play solid defense though. The biggest misconception around here is that he doesn't care or he never tries. It's a bunch of BS. The guy gets steals, blocks, mans up...yet that equals never trying to some. They just repeat it enough that people just assume it is true. So in the 2nd matchup against the Clippers and in the game thread is a perfect example of this. Harden wasn't guarding Redick, but every time JJ scores people would blame Harden just by default. Defense is a odd thing. Sometimes players live on it just by reputation alone.
Did you just start watching the nba? The only ppl who don't think melo is a superstar are ppl with nothing todo writing on a message board like us. Every media outlet player ex or present say melo is a superstar. So let me get this straight this Kevin love who's a transformational player and takes his team to were exactly? Ohh yeah the draft lottery every year. He's a great player but I wouldn't say he's better than harden or even remotely in the class of Lebron and durant. PG is a stud and is earning his hype right now but he's done it for 14 games. bare in mind harden put up 25 or more 14 games in a row so he's played better for the same stretch of games. Next keep in kind that PG is a stud an plays on a team that's been together for 3 season they have great chemistry and a solid defensive game plan. Next this is the same PG who has a lot ether supporting cast than harden had last year and only managed 4 more wins in the east. Give me a break harden is most certainly a superstar. If you like PG more fine that's cool he's a stud. But don't tell me that he's a superstar because of 15 games on a stacked team playing the easiest schedual in the league. Vs a guy who took the youngest team, least amount of starting time between all teams in the nba played in the west. And team had never played before not even preseason. Yet led them to 45 wins a playoff berth and a really competitive series with our 3rd best player not playing (Lin). I'm all for debate and going back and forth but saying I'm a harden fan is silly just because I have season tickets and think he's the best talented 23 yr old that we have had since hakeem. I bet you most within the organization agree with me also. Hardens a stud already and proved his worth by getting Dwight to sign here. He has work todo on his game and has to learn how to play with his team but the talent size athletism and basketball mind is all there to become one of the best 2 guards of all time. That's what's so great he's young and just learning yet he's already so good. Both these guys will get much better and insure the debate between them will last their whole career but at this point James hardens resume is much bigger than the small PG sample size plus his pretty good showing against the heat. But any real basketball mind would tell you the series went 7 because of Hibbert not PG. I respect that you like pg but don't come to a rockets fan board and put down the rockets best player. That's disrespectful and frankly I question if your really a fan of the houston rockets.
George doesn't even guard the opponents best player any more, they were running Stephenson on Melo this year for example. (They haven't even played any other elite wings at this point unless you count Deng, but he sucked against Deng) I don't blame Indiana for this, but there seems to be this massive element who think "this guy is putting up these numbers while guarding lebron for 30 minutes" going on.
Or you are guilty of being the same thing you despise in LOF's. A HOF, an excuse maker. A whiner when his major flaws are pointed out. Get it through your head, he is NOT a superstar. An all star, fine. A great offensive player who can get to the line, fine. He is not in the 1st tier and not in the second tier of players in this league. I call him lazy because he is. I watched too many games where he turns the ball over and watches the play develop on the other end. Watching as other players have to run down the court to play 4 on 5 while he waits....waits....waits...then may decide to slowly walk back on D. Seen him every single game ball watch and lose his man on multiple occasions. Get blown by on basic drives by basic players as he tries to matador the ball away. Watched him never challenge a shot where it may involve him actually hard fouling someone going up for an easy layup or dunk. No its beyond Harden to do this. Its always a matter of backing up and not getting in the Dunk poster. There is a reason why so far this year Harden has ZERO points after the clock reaches 16 seconds off an assist. Its because the dude refuses to work without the ball in his hands. Use Harden off of multiple screens? Heresy. Harden using the baseline or backdoor cuts without the ball....please. He is not a superstar. I have been on these boards since the 90's. It is funny watching the progression of fans. Here on clutchfans we used to lambaste lazy, one trick ponies who get points by being a ball hogs (how does McHale put it...ball gets sticky), players who played only on O. Its funny you HOF's have such a burning hatred for Lin because of his poor start to last year. "His shooting percentages were terrible" he only shot better than Harden. "He can't hit the 3 ball" Whats Harden's percentage. Better yet what has Lin's been compared to Harden's since the second month of last year? "Lin's D sucks"...lol you can't even put the two in the same universe. Lin is freaking Hakeem Olajuwon compared to Harden. "Harden is injured" Wasn't Lin last year to start? If you HOF's were at least consistent in your criticism of players then I would back off the Lin/Harden/Bev posts. You can't help but burn down our best option at the PG position because you think Lin fans over exaggerate Lin's abilities. Yet I have to hear people claim that Harden play's D? Seriously. Pot....kettle....black people. You are guilty of doing exactly what you criticize Lin fans for doing. At least since the second month of last year, Lin has improved, put in the work, and busts his ass. In the meantime he shoots better than Harden, has hit the three ball better, runs the offense better, plays a better D, and involves his team mates. Some of you are on the cocaine Kool aid.
LOL...yeah only after Reddick had torched him the first half of the game, and after the coach decided he had enough of watching Harden watch run around screens while Harden sat in a corner clapping his hands after every Reddick score. Oh and the fact that Harden sat the 4th quarter.
This mans speaks the truth. Miami could still do it, because when it came down to it, Lebron will be guarding PG. And when Lebron decides to, he is the singular best defensive force in the league.
