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Gotta give props to Harden's improvement this season

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Sydeffect, Feb 8, 2014.

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  1. Sydeffect

    Sydeffect Member

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    I know I had a similar thread regarding improvement/regressions, but I wanted to make a thread only talking about Harden's improved overall game.

    Although his stats may seem down across the board this season, to me he is an improved player over last season.

    His two biggest weaknesses to me where his defense and mid-range game.

    Defense:

    I don't have exact numbers on it, but based on the eye test he seems like a better defender. You guys may disagree, but I've noticed a whole lot more effort in his defensive effort. He still gets blown by some because he just doesn't have the defensive fundamentals to be a outstanding defender. He gets blown by a lot it seems because of bad footwork/stance/ positioning on his man. These problems are fixable through experience/ watching film etc.

    His off-ball defense in the first month was atrocious, but I don't see him giving up as many open shots because he slept on his man nearly as much this season.

    But he still seems to take games off on defense, but not nearly as much anymore. (Watch him get lit up tonight)

    With continued effort and more experience I can easily see him becoming a plus defender.


    Mid-Range Game:

    Using the eye test, many of us can already tell his mid range game has improved. Now looking at the shooting splits from Basketball Reference, I wanted to see if the numbers backed up this test.

    His 2012-13 shooting splits:

    3-10 ft: 29%
    10-16 ft : 31.4%
    16 - 3pt line: 32.1%

    Now so far in 2013-14:

    3-10 ft: 45.5%
    10-16 ft: 43.4%
    16-3 pt line: 36.4%

    Pretty significant difference from last season to this season. It's still not at the level you want to see from him, the significant increase is a very promising sign going forward.

    Durant's stats for comparison:

    3-10 ft: 41.2%
    10-16 ft: 46.9%
    16-3 pt line: 46.2%
     
    #1 Sydeffect, Feb 8, 2014
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  2. GanjaRocket

    GanjaRocket Member

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    uhhh wow he really has improved.. thats like 130%, right? :grin:
     
    #2 GanjaRocket, Feb 8, 2014
  3. Captain Hook

    Captain Hook Member

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    I think CFs look to much into his weaknesses instead of looking at his strengths and improvements. CFs should be grateful to have a 24 year old star that hasn't hit his greatness yet. I wish people should think about how Kevin Martin was our best player and think about how James turned our team around, and without him, Dwight is probably in GSW or another team and we would still be picking 14th every year.
     
    #3 Captain Hook, Feb 8, 2014
  4. sleepyazn

    sleepyazn Member

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    Harden's midrange is okay now. But his 3 ball fell down the toilet. The entire Rockets team 3 ball went down the toilet. Don't know whats up with that.
     
    #4 sleepyazn, Feb 8, 2014
  5. durvasa

    durvasa Member

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    I'd rather see Harden shooting 38-40% on 3s than 42-45% on long 2s, but maybe that's just me.
     
    #5 durvasa, Feb 8, 2014
  6. flamingdts

    flamingdts Member

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    His foot injuries early on may have affected his 3 point shooting.

    He shot 33% in November, 30% in December. Since January however, he is shooting 36%.
     
    #6 flamingdts, Feb 8, 2014
  7. Sydeffect

    Sydeffect Member

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    And it helps that he's getting better quality shots. Lin's been able to get into the lane a lot more leaving shooters with more space, Dwight's dominating in the post now leading to double teams leaving shooters wide open.
     
    #7 Sydeffect, Feb 8, 2014
  8. chandlerbang21

    chandlerbang21 Member

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    Improved? His jumper is horrible this season
     
    #8 chandlerbang21, Feb 8, 2014
  9. jocar

    jocar Member

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    Law of averages? Just like Lin's 3pt average started off through the roof, they fell back to earth. Harden's started crappy, and hopefully now they are bound to start falling.
     
    #9 jocar, Feb 8, 2014
  10. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

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    He was a beast last year, not so good this year. If you mean he improved from this beginning of the season, then yes.
     
    #10 cheke64, Feb 8, 2014
  11. Nanisteru

    Nanisteru Rookie

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    My eye test shows me that Harden is still a lazy defender
     
    #11 Nanisteru, Feb 8, 2014
  12. Sydeffect

    Sydeffect Member

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    To people saying he was "better" and better jump shooter last season

    He was shooting just as poorly before February of last season, then caught on fire. And that was a player without defensive effort and a mid range game.

    He's also had nagging injuries early on in the season.

    If you look at basic stats such as PPG, RPG, APG, PER etc it's because his usage is down quite a bit. His USG% last season was 29%, this season it's down to 27.1%. He's not getting the same amount of assists because:

    A. The team isn't shooting well from three
    B. Focused on giving the ball to Dwight more down low.
     
    #12 Sydeffect, Feb 8, 2014
  13. rocketblood713

    rocketblood713 Member

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    I seen him play defense when he wants like that GSW game @ Houston comes to mind as far as his 3's not falling I expect all that to go up after the all star break
     
    #13 rocketblood713, Feb 8, 2014
  14. ForTheWinYes

    ForTheWinYes Member

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    Yeah, it is ironically Harden's 3 point shooting that has been worrying this season. It's taken a fairly sharp decline despite the fact that he's received better looks this year, perhaps because of injury or just random chance. He would be even more unbelievably efficient if he could climb back to his career average %.
     
    #14 ForTheWinYes, Feb 8, 2014
  15. SF3isBack!!

    SF3isBack!! Member

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    ehh, I don't like the whole laysman terms law of averages thing, it assumes to much. Sometimes people just improve and sometimes they just get worse, you won't know until it actually happens. This may just be how Harden shoots in our current system.
     
    #15 SF3isBack!!, Feb 8, 2014
  16. LandryFields

    LandryFields Member

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    What do those percentages represent? Those can't be his shooting percentages because there's no way he was that inefficient last season... And it can't be the allocation because they don't add up to 100...Unless I'm missing something here
     
    #16 LandryFields, Feb 8, 2014
  17. J Sizzle

    J Sizzle Member

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    Harden's offense is hardly something I'm worried about. He's done just fine.
     
    #17 J Sizzle, Feb 8, 2014
  18. Sydeffect

    Sydeffect Member

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    It's shooting percentages. It shocked me at first how bad he was from those areas last season, and I got shocked again by how much better he is this season.
     
    #18 Sydeffect, Feb 8, 2014
  19. Panda23

    Panda23 Member

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    Thats because everyone's got a hard on for Paul George and his supposed two way greatness. Harden is an elite scorer and triple threat. Yes he isn't perfect right now, but its merely his second year of being the number one offensive option and he's performed amazingly. Without him we dont get Dwight, and without those two we'd be stuck on the same horsecrap mediocrity treadmill we were when we were capped out on 3rd tier star talent.
     
    #19 Panda23, Feb 8, 2014
  20. Asian Sensation

    Asian Sensation Member

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    My eye test shows me he likes big butts and my eyes do not lie.
     
    #20 Asian Sensation, Feb 8, 2014
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