That doesn't even make any sense. Harden gets more free throws in the playoffs than in the regular season. Nothing more, nothing less.
Harden has the intangibles like MJ that few players possess. Kobe had it, KD shows it in flashes, and it's just not in LeBron's DNA.
His defense could still use some work. He gets steals cause he gambles and his post defense is decent, but everything else is pretty bad and/or he doesn't put the effort.
His post defense is amazing because of his low center of gravity. He can definitely guard the 3 better than the 1.
So we're comparing a guy who's offense consists of shooting three's and consistently going 1 on 3 on fast breaks trying to draw fouls (but he's efficient doe) to arguably THE greatest offensive threat to ever play the game now huh lol...... Not too mention the boneheaded turnovers and total lack of defensive fundamentals. But hey, he does have a sweet step back jumper Let's be real, James Harden is the best two guard in the league because the list of even decent 2 guards in the league is minimal at best. Per Brent Barry: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1962602-what-happened-to-the-nbas-great-shooting-guards “We were thinking about it the other day, trying to figure out 2-guards,” Barry said recently. “And there’s no 2-guards.” The 2-guard still technically exists, of course. They just don’t make them like they used to. Sunday night’s All-Star Game illustrated the point. There were 14 All-Stars who stood 6’8” or taller—forwards and centers, scorers and bruisers. There were six point guards, all skilled scoring machines. But with Kobe Bryant injured, there were just four All-Stars who self-identify as shooting guards: James Harden, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and DeMar DeRozan. Of that foursome, only Harden, the Houston Rockets’ bearded wonder, was a clear-cut choice. Wade and Johnson are in decline. DeRozan earned his ticket by default. “Really, Harden’s the only true 2-guard that’s in the West,” Barry said. “And in the East, it’s just like, nobody.” Harden is at best Isiah (JR) Rider back in the day. That shows you the talent drop from the 90's to now. Look, Harden's a Rocket and I love my team (fan since '83) but Harden's name should never even be in the same sentence as Jordan.
Wow...somebody really fails at reading comprehension. Nobody is comparing Harden to Jordan and saying he is on MJ's level as a player. It is being pointed out that what he is doing statistically is unprecedented and has only been achieved by Jordan whom everybody acknowledges as the golden standard which makes the feat impressive. For example, saying he accomplished something that let say only Craig Ehlo has done, doesn't quite make it an interesting fact now does it? Harden is balling right now. Deal with it. Oh and comparing Harden to Isaiah Rider is just too stupid to really address so I'll just post a link to his stats. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rideris01.html
Fan since '83 huh? You might be suffering from dementia then if you think Harden at best is a J.R. Rider clone.
Pretty far from dementia considering I was around 9 at the time lol. Not saying that they have similar style or stats. Basically saying that no one would have considered comparing Isiah Rider to Jordan or any other great because his game had huge faults in it. Same as James. Because James Harden is pretty much a one off in today's league meaning a good to very good two guard, he's being put on a pedestal that he doesn't deserve to be on.
Uh, what in the world are you talking about? By every measurement, he's one of the top players in the league.
Yeah this doesn't make sense when I put stats up that show only 6 other guys have EVER put up the stat line he put up last year. That argument holds no water when you consider the elite company he is in.
I always thought he reminded me of JR Rider, being strong as a bull shooting guards with a sweet stroke and thunderous dunks. But Harden is definitely a smarter player, a better shooter, and has better handles. Not to mention he has that herky jerky game that JR didn't have.
What is most impressive about Harden is that prior to coming to Houston he was primarily a guy who could drive or shot open treys. I criticized him as someone who had no midrange game and couldn't shoot off the dribble. The first year (last year) he had an ok midrange game and really struggled in iso situations off the dribble. But this year. Wow. Simply incredible. His growth in this area - one that I saw as an area he really needed to improve - has been incredible. I've never see a player develop a move like that so rapidly. Think about how often you saw him do that last year successfully. Now it's his bread and butter. There's no doubt about it, James Harden is the best two guard in the league. And it's not even close right now. Wade is good, really good, but he simply can't score like Harden can.
I'm going to venture to guess that if James Harden played every game against OKC, his stats wouldn't be as good. Just like almost everyone else.
Maybe OP has the wrong year, but MJ did not accomplish this in '87-88 John Stockton had a significantly higher TS% that year. So maybe Harden could be the first?? EDIT: That's not the correct criteria to use. The criteria is the player qualified for PTS/GM leader board (70 games or 1400 pts) and TS% is >500 TSA. Stockton met both those criteria.
