lol theres alot of voting and promoting that goes into these games, players want to be allstars, thats why at the end lebron durant melo etc are going hard...lets not pretend like the asg is meaningless, theres pride at stake
Dwight Howards laughs at Harden's lack of patches on his All Star Jacket: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1963288-dwight-howard-laughs-at-james-hardens-lack-of-patches-on-all-star-game-jacket (includes Instagram video)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>this is the best/worst photo from the weekend <a href="http://t.co/ZDGgM8wYxY">pic.twitter.com/ZDGgM8wYxY</a></p>— Lana Berry (@Lana) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lana/statuses/435481640282779648">February 17, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Um...not really. ASG is only important if you want to be the best or have one or two highlight reels, otherwise there's no point in playing seriously and possibly injuring yourself or your opponent. Next week no one will remember how he played.
That other Asian guy is probably regular human size too. Puts things into perspective just how small we are compared to Yao.
Is that what you were saying when everyone was all excited that James Harden got to start in Kobe's place? Be honest, if James Harden dropped 40 points, you would be all excited on how great a player he is. I think Harden has problems in these sorts of games because he doesn't move without the ball very well. He needs to carry the ball and iso one-on-one. He has a somewhat decent outside shot even though he's only shooting 32% from 3 point line and has a quick first step and good eurostep. But when he doesn't have the ball, he just stands there. Just watch what him when he doesn't have the ball. In an all-star game, it's very unlikely that he will be the primary iso player with the likes of Kevin Durant on the same team because KD is going to be the main ball stopper. Blake Griffin is really good at moving without the ball which opens himself up to be on the receiving end of ally oop dunks. Steph Curry is good at running around screens and Kevin Love is good at finding himself in the right place for boards and put backs.
Holy **** you've over analyzing a game where all people did was take off down the court before the opponent even shot or jack up a three. Griffin was moving so well off the ball, he was half way down the court before the east even shot the thing, but who really cares?
I wasn't really describing the game...I'm simply saying Blake Griffin is good at moving without the ball and getting open for ally oop dunks. Steph Curry is good at running off screens and Kevin Love is good at positioning for rebounds. Those were the other starters and those are aspects of their games that I'm describing. The all star game is an exhibition where nobody wants to get hurt, but they still play a game of pickup ball. When Harden doesn't move well without the ball and the coach is not going to run iso to him like the Rockets do, I'm just saying he will find a hard time doing well. Durant did try to help Harden out, but he wasn't making his outside shot. That said, Durant screwed Blake Griffin over for MVP. His ball hogging at the end cost the West the game and Blake his Kia MVP award.
Just out of curiousity, how do you think Harden put up one of the most efficient seasons in nba history as a 3rd wheel in OKC if you feel he only functions as an iso player? Do you think it was magic or something?
I think that is why he came off the bench on the Thunder. Shefolosia started because he was a better defender and they didn't need another ball stopper with Durant on the first line. If Harden went back to the Thunder next year, I would think they would ask him to be the sixth man again...which may be an issue. But I don't know. I think I've mentioned this before, but I hate this whole focus on efficiency stats in NBA basketball. This isn't baseball where percentages make more of a a difference. I sort of see it like investments. I don't care if I make 40% gain on one stock if I only had $3000 invested in it. I would much rather make 15% gain on an investment I had $100K invested in. I only care about absolute dollars and not percentages. If Harden is so much more efficient than the rest of his teammates, then he should shoot more to average 30 points per game. If his efficiency goes down by increasing his number of shots, then reality sets in. At the end of the game, they don't determine who wins through some sort of efficiency score. They determine the winner by the team that has more points at the end of the game. Basketball is different than baseball because, in baseball, it's a team effort and no matter how good you are, you can only bat one time every 9 at bats. Maybe a pitcher can take over, but you still need your hitters to get you run support. In basketball, especially in the NBA, one player can really take over the entire game. So, by this reason, it does not matter to me who is more efficient because, the only thing that matters is total points at the end. I wouldn't want my best player to not take difficult shots because they are concerned it will impact their efficiency marks. They better take those hard shots because that's why they are making $20M per season.
The amount of hate here for an all-star game is hilarious. No one gives a **** about these games and to criticize your best player for not having a great game is stupid. The only thing I got out of this game is that KD really wanted the MVP and showed himself to be pretty selfish on the big stage (IIRC he did this last year too). He doesn't play that way during the regular season so it's not really of any significance, but it did rub me the wrong way.
Not me, and I'm banned from topbuzz for pissing off their nazi moderator. I only have one account here. Also, can't believe people are still hating on Griffin! What more does he have to show you guys?
This is literally the most non-nonsensical thing I've read in this forum Are you trying to use this to somehow justify Kobe's terrible efficiency and shot selection. Because you literally just described Kobe, tries to take the most difficult shots and therefore shoots at a high total points and low efficiency. Tell me again why you would rather have someone who takes more shots to score the same amount of points?
Kobe's philosophy is the embodiment of "you can't make it if you don't take it" or "throw enough **** at the wall and something is bound to stick". While I agree that efficiency is being overused by all the stat nerds, the idea that volume shooting should be praised is just idiotic.
