George is really bad at beating his guy off the dribble and creating. Most of Clutchfans judged him off that playoff series against Miami where he made plenty of highlights, and played pretty average. He is the only guy that can score, and you can see that he has reached his potential. I also think he is overrated defensively. See Lebron game winning layup in game 6 of the playoffs? What was that? He's a good player, do not get me wrong. But compared to Harden? Harden just took over the game against the Spurs in San Antonio. This is like comparing Kevin Martin and Carmelo Anthony. Both put up, big numbers. Completely different players. I'm not buying the hype, and the ones on here riding George haven't watched him much.
Parsons isn't better this season, or even a full 1% better shooter over his career. 36.3% vs 37.2%. George is also 2 years younger. At 21 he was shooting 38.5% from NBA 3. At 21, Parsons was at UF shooting 35.8% from college 3. And Parsons plays with Dwight Howard, Harden, and Lin, so as far as open looks go, he has it as good as it gets short of playing for Miami. Don't mean to derail the thread but this homerism is over the top. Harden and George will be perennial all-stars. Parsons might make it as a coach write-in/injury sub 1-2 years.
Why would anyone believe he can improve defensively? Well let me look. He was a decent defender for OKC, last season he carried all the offensive weight and got a free pass on defense. This season he played hurt a lot. In the playoffs his defense looked pretty good. The problem with Hardens defense is not his skill - it is his effort. He is athletic and quick enough to guard most 2 guards, he just isn`t trying hard. How can that change? Well, getting healthy is a first step - having someone in his face about his defense would be a second (either McHale or Dwight). And him realizing, that he doesn`t need to do everything on offense and that he would help the team more, if he spends some of his energy on defense would be the most important step. So if you don`t think he can improve his defense, you are actually saying, you don`t think he will ever put the effort up. And I think that can be corrected. And by the way, he will play better D in the playoffs no matter what.
I know... Watching Indiana on offense is like watching paint dry (unless Stephenson does some street ball stuff). But having a post game is always a plus. That's whyI said if Indiana had Parsons instead of George, Indiana would be pretty much in the same position. The fall off isn't that great. And defense can sometimes be overrated... Melo averaged 28 points in the playoffs against Indiana and LeBron averaged 29 points against Indiana in the playoffs. So what defense do they speak of...??? Regular Season Defense... Lol... With both OKC and Houston, Harden's defense was not an issue IN THE PLAYOFFS when it counted. On the other hand _ George's defense was kinda non existent in the playoffs when it counted.
Come on pimp you know the Pacers are very good defensively. Both Lebron and Melo are elite scores correct. Ive seen MJ lite up great defensive teams all the times. So what exactly is your point here. I can name a lot of great scores that lite up great defensive teams as well..LOL Both Harden and George are d*** good players. They are pretty close but as of right now George this season is slightly better. That is not an knock on Harden but you have to give the man his just due.
George is on a team with 2 big men who have legitimate post games in the starting lineup and they even have Scola coming off the bench. Because of that, George does not face consistent double teams and defenses rotating towards him and Parsons could benefit from that just like George does. Parsons has the better career field goal and 3 point percentage and I think his field goal percentage would be around the same as George's if he got to jack up as many shots as George does... That dude shoots more than Harden. And I'm not talking about age and down the road stuff _ just talking about NOW... And I'm not a homer _ I just think the small forward position is DEEP and LeBron and Durant are the only ones worth making a fuss over.
Scoring 97 points a game and allowing 86 a game is not bad at all. People are giving PG his just due, I dont see nothing wrong with that. The young fella is balling his a** off.
He is in the MVP Race. They are both great players why is this thread even alive? It's not like the Rockets had a shot at drafting PG.
Which is precisely what most people are stating here. PG is a better overall player and as things stand a better player than Harden, marginal or so but still better
Who you think you got to go through to win a championship...??? It's those elite scorers you got to get by. Freaking Josh Smith even averaged 17 points a game against him in the playoffs. So all you doing is bragging about George's regular season games. And he doesn't have a signature win over an elite team like Harden has over San Antonio. George isn't on Harden's level and at this point he's not much better than Parsons.
I think most of the logical NBA heads here would agree it's a very close debate. Like mentioned earlier, it's the people using phrases like, "not even close", and "no contest" that are stirring the pot. I'm liking the debate and some posters are making great points but the fact is that it IS a very close margin regardless of how you slice it. Let's look again after the all star break. I'm not sure if PG can keep up this level of play, and I'd like to compare when/if Harden gets 100% healthy.
So schedule means nothing to you and Harden playing on two hurt feet don't matter... All of his numbers from last year go out the window to you and PG is better because of his defense against cupcake teams and non elite offensive players when Deng ate that boy's lunch... Lol.. Everyone's welcome to their opinion and I can't wait till these two teams face off... We gonna see what's up.
Slow off the dribble. He has a celing. Already an elite shooter. I don't see much room for improvement. Those stiff hips remind me of Chandler Parsons/Trevor Ariza. Not quick enough to blow by, but if he does it's a bucket.
Ok well right NOW, George is 40.4% from 3, while Parsons is 39.0%. And since Parsons came into the league its 37.4%(George) vs 37.2%(Parsons) so how in the world are you arguing this? - % goes down with more attempts, as more will be contested - Parsons passes up lord knows how many 3's pump faking - Neither West nor Hibbert command a double, and certainly not more than Harden or Dwight You're reeeeeeeeeeeeeaching Their outside shots are equivalent, and George has to take the tough ones. The real comparison is Harden's outside shot vs George's. Both which dipped as they became "the man" and had to take the bad shots.
Lets get this straight. Harden's 24 points per game is a much different 24 than PG's. Kevin Martin had 25 ppg one season, and it was more flow of the offense type of points. Much like PG's. See end of San Antonio game where Harden put up 16 in the fourth. That is a superstar. If you want to hear something a little more ridiculous from me that I believe is true. Lance Stephenson has more potential than PG as he is the best offensive player on that team with the ball in his hands. I've seen the games. Paul George has more Trevor Ariza in him than Tracy Mcgrady. Rocket fans, do you remember Trevor Ariza leading an offense in iso situations.
I think that kinda was his point. Great offense beats great defense - in the POs having George guard LeBron isn`t much different than having Parsons guard LeBron. LeBron will get his points and assists because noone can stop him. Team defense and individual offense is what counts. Having a player like George of course helps your team defense a lot - and he will make LeBron work. But on Offense, Harden belongs to the group that can`t be stopped and George belongs to the group that can score when he is put in the right position, but struggles if he has to take over a game.
George doesn't command double teams. He's usually guarded one on one and that's because he has two big men with post games who always have to be guarded especially West... There's not a huge drop off between Parsons and George at this point... Neither one are consistently good at creating their own shot are making their teammates better around them (because they don't command double teams for one thing). And for the most part against good defenders George has pretty much been a shot chunker.
