The thing about Harden's defense is that I've seen now too many times, regular season and playoffs, where he's had multiple good to great defensive series in a row. He just has way too many lapses. I argued in another thread that he just needs a LOT better teaching on that side of the ball. Someone said he's an NBA'er whose been playing ball for years... which is true, but you still need coaching, and he desperately needs it. The more concerning part about him was the playoffs, where basically you take away his left, and give him the mid-range shot, and he becomes a way less efficient (and interested) offensive player. He's so so good because of his offense and offensive efficiency. He really needs to work on that right, and mid-range game, then he'd be a crazy dominant offensive player. All that aside, way to go. Great regular season.
Smart rockets fans do not care this top 5 thing so much after seeing his defensive efforts on the court. If you look at the poll, the more rockets fans voted "No" on this board. To me, he is on the top 10, but not 5, but it does not matter much anyway.
Too bad he had a bad playoff stint...but he was truly amazing down the stretch for our team. congrats...Should wanna make a person work harder to be a better player...
I know everyone is sour with the defensive effort but in the playoffs but overall he was awesome after the first 10-20 games in the regular season. The way he ended the season.. particularly that game against the Pacers... *chills* lets hope he can play a little more D and bring that swagger to the post season.
I still dont see how can even be mentioned as a top 5 player in the nba. His defense sucks, he can only drive left towards the rim at the top of the key, he can only shoot 3's at top of the key and he is very inconsistent. He is also the rockets player that gets his shot blocked the most after Asik. What does he do better than most SG's at his position aside from run into defenders looking for fouls!!! JJ Reddick is a better shooter, V. Olidipo is a better slasher and score in the paint, jamal crawford is better playmaker and iso player, and all of them seem to be more athletic than harden. We have all seen what happens when the refs stop calling fouls for him when he intentionally runs into defenders. I would love to see his game evolve into a Dwade like offensive style but he plays to slow and lacks the athletic ability.
Harden certainly is a top 5 offensive player, but I'm not sure about his place with his overall game.
Playing at a level of offensive efficiency in a class just below Lebron and Durant goes a long, long way it seems. Didn't think he would get the votes with all the talk in the media about his defense, but I personally think 5th-8th is just about right for him for the season he had. Crazy how this thread, along with several other recently, have shown just how many people take this guy for granted. Some people just don't realize how rare it is to be able to move the scoreboard with such ease and efficiency.
If you don't think he's a top 5 player your blind. Rocket fans turned so quickly in him because of his playoff performance. No game harden no playoffs.
Yes, all the votes are submitted before the playoffs start. They just wait to release the results much later. With that being the case, he's definitely a top 5 player in my book.
I think you don't understand that First Team ALL NBA and Top 5 MVP are different? otherwise i have no clue what you're takling about
James deserves it. Now if he REALLY commits to defense as he talked about on the exit interviews, then the sky's the limit. I find it funny that Rockets "fans" are not voting for him as the league did ! So piss and vinegar can't see past their own bias I suppose.
He finished top 5 ..... now imagined if he improved defensively.... Harden would be a lock for top 3 MVP!
I would say Howard overall has a bigger impact on our team and is our MVP. So he's definitely not ahead of howard in the top 5. I would also argue LMA and even perhaps Lillard has a larger impact and value to their team winning. Also Chris Paul as much as I hate him should also be a head of him
