Harden ranked top SG in NBA in a stat that must completely ignore PnR defense. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10250178/nba-james-harden-ranks-no-1-top-10-shooting-guards-2013-14 Can someone with Insider Access post the whole article?
Great for Harden. But he still has a LONG way to go to become the complete player he has the potential to be.
Surely is a top 5 SG in the league. Just need to work on defense and becoming the elite SG he can become.
NBA's top 10 SGs for 2013-14 Last summer, when NBA teams were putting the finishing touches on their 2013-14 rosters, I ranked the league's players by position. Those numbers were based on forecasts for the season now nearing its halfway point, and were generated by ATH, my projection system based on aging curves, athletic indicators and player trait matching. One of the themes of the series was how quickly things change in sports, and sure enough, much has been altered over the past 5.5 months. This week, we'll be running an in-season update of the rankings. The summer shooting guard rankings can be found here. Each player's "TrueWARP" calculation -- a blend of a player's preseason baseline forecast and his 2013-14 results -- is noted, along with their 2013-14 WARP and their league-wide rank in WARP for the season to date. Because we're extrapolating from a half-season of real results, the methodology was a little bit different from our forecast-based summer rankings. See the explainer at the end of the article for how these rankings were derived. 1. James Harden, Houston Rockets TrueWARP: 14.4 | 2013-14 WARP: 4.7 | Overall WARP rank: 13 Any concerns about whether Harden would have trouble integrating with Dwight Howard have been answered, as he's responded with a virtual repeat of his breakout 2012-13 season. Harden is still the No. 1 option in Houston, and he has surpassed Dwyane Wade for the top spot in our rankings at the 2-guard spot. Harden's 3-point percentage is about 4 percent under his career mark, so there is a strong likelihood that the second half of his campaign will be even stronger than his first. 2. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat TrueWARP: 12.5 | 2013-14 WARP: 3.4 | Overall rank: 37 You don't get the feeling that Wade and his two-time champion teammates have put the pedal to the metal just yet, so there is a chance he could retake the top spot before the next set of summer rankings come around. Wade has sat out on occasion to rest his ailing knees, which has dragged down his bottom-line value. He has been more passive, but that might be by design. 3. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs TrueWARP: 8.8 | 2013-14 WARP: 3.7 | Overall rank: 27 Not much has changed for Ginobili, who is again playing just 23 to 24 minutes per game, but is making it count when he gets on the floor. He's shooting the ball better than he did last season, but has been far less apt to attack the basket. As has been the case for several years, the Spurs are more interested in what Ginobili can offer in the postseason, and there is little to suggest he can't turn it up when the games really begin to count. 4. Wesley Matthews, Portland Trail Blazers TrueWARP: 7.7 | 2013-14 WARP: 3.8 | Overall rank: 24 The addition of a strong set of role players helped to boost the Trail Blazers into contention, but just as important has been the rapid climb of Matthews into a bona fide third wheel to go with LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard. Matthews is having his best season shooting the ball, and is now one of the NBA's top long-range threats. His true shooting percentage ranks fourth in the league among qualifying players. 5. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers TrueWARP: 7.4 | 2013-14 WARP: Minus-0.2 | Overall rank: 323 For Bryant, it's all about the career. His non-value for this season is not enough to undermine his established baseline, but obviously the negative WARP Bryant put up in six games before getting injured again is scary. 6. Kyle Korver, Atlanta Hawks TrueWARP: 6.2 | 2013-14 WARP: 2.1 | Overall rank: 75 Korver was ninth in the small forward rankings over the summer, but he has been used mostly as a shooting guard under coach Mike Budenholzer. Either way, his job is to shoot and no one does it better. Korver's .651 effective field goal percentage leads the league, and his true shooting percentage (.664) is a career-best. 7. Gordon Hayward, Utah Jazz TrueWARP: 5.8 | 2013-14 WARP: 2.5 | Overall rank: 61 As the Jazz have shed veteran players the past couple of years, Hayward has increasingly taken on the alpha role in the Utah offense. His efficiency has tumbled in the process, but his volume increase is enough to push up his bottom-line value. Hayward's floor game has blossomed, especially in terms of assist rate. As Utah acquires better scoring options, Hayward should hopefully be better equipped to provide a higher-percentage style of offense. 8. Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls TrueWARP: 5.6 | 2013-14 WARP: 1.6 | Overall rank: 102 Butler has struggled with his shooting, but has increased his usage rate in his first season as a full-time starter. Butler's 3-point stroke will probably always come and go, but he can really enhance his value by finishing better at the hoop. As is, his most valuable offensive asset remains his ability to attack the lane and get to the line. On defense, Butler has surpassed Luol Deng as the Bulls' top perimeter stopper, and he's one of the best in the league. 9. Danny Green, San Antonio Spurs TrueWARP: 5.3 | 2013-14 WARP: 2.1 | Overall rank: 76 Green's greatest virtue is consistency and given the variability inherent to 3-point shooting, it's a trait that serves a specialist well. Green has lost a few minutes, and a few possessions, to new Spur Marco Belinelli. 10. Kevin Martin, Minnesota Timberwolves TrueWARP: 5.1 | 2013-14 WARP: 1.6 | Overall rank: 96 Martin again lands at No. 10 in the shooting guard rankings. After taking on a lower-volume role in Oklahoma City, Martin is basically replicating the offensive stat line he featured in Houston. Playing alongside Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love, he doesn't have the ball in his hands quite as much, but he has been more aggressive off the dribble when it comes his way. Next five: Monta Ellis, Dallas Mavericks; Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors; Louis Williams, Atlanta Hawks; Marcus Thornton, Sacramento Kings; Mike Dunleavy Jr., Chicago Bulls Ellis and Thompson have both shot up the rankings since the summer. Ellis has replaced many of his bad 3-point attempts with drives to the basket, and he's thriving in Dallas. Thompson has been much more efficient inside the arc, and his defensive profile is beginning to live up to his reputation. Also notable: Lance Stephenson, Indiana Pacers (17); Eric Gordon, New Orleans Pelicans (18); Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards (25); Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets (26); Iman Shumpert, New York Knicks (31) Stephenson is having his best season by far, but he's still dragged down by his replacement-level first three seasons in the league. As is, Stephenson's 15.0 PER is exactly league average, and he probably has more value to the Pacers than he would have on another team. Gordon is having a solid season, but on the guard-rich Pelicans roster, he's taking on less of the load. Gordon's usage rate is down 6.5 percent from last season. Beal was forecast to be one of this season's breakout players and while he has shown flashes, he has done little overall to augment his great 3-point shooting.
I can't see how there is any argument that Harden is not top 2 SG in the league. I can see top 1, even with his defensive woes, due to Kobe being out completely and DWade being out nearly half the time due to his health and age. But this is a bit more due to the dearth of competitive talent at the position than anything else. Kind of reminds me of the center position and Dwight being arguably the best center in the nba right now. SF and PG are much more loaded.
so curry's is ranked under PG? I'd definitely have a hard time choosing between him and harden to be honest..
Here is a bit about the rankings: http://sonicscentral.com/warp.html "WARP stands for Wins Above Replacement Player. The term and concept are borrowed from sabermetrics and, specifically, Baseball Prospectus. Conceptually, the WARP system seeks to evaluate players in the context of a team made up of them and four completely average players. The performance of this team is then compared to that of a team made up of four average players and one replacement-level player. The method draws heavily on the work of Dean Oliver." Perhaps the average player also doesn't fight through screens, loses his man while watching the game, and doesn't close out on 3 pt shooters. I kid.
That is a pretty horrible list. Danny Green (who is having a HORRIBLE season) is ahead of Monta Ellis, Klay Thompson, Lance Stephenson, and Aaron Afflalo. I wouldn't read too much into this list.
Curry is a PG and plays PG, but yeah it's a toss up between them. Curry can shoot and make plays for teammates.
It is nice to see. But the ranking is purely simple stats, does not account for other aspects of the game, e.g., defense, pace, efficiency, etc.
