More like comparing Kobe to Jordan. While Kobe was/is a great player, there is only one MJ. Just like there is only one Harden. GOAT.
Even though the value of the franchise was going up tens if not hundreds of millions per year. Penny wise pound foolish.
Harden ALWAYS plays well against the Spurs. Not sure why that is so hard to believe because he has dissected them in the playoffs before.
Harden played very well vs. the Spurs in 2012. He was even a significantly better defender than he has been of late. But that was with Westbrook and Durant doing much of the heavy-lifting, allowing Harden to have a more specific role. The question right now is whether Harden can do the same in the post-season in a starring role when he is supposed to carry the burden as you would expect your best player to do. This means not only scoring points frequently and efficiently, but also doing all the little things (defense, rebound, ball movement) whether or not your shots are falling. It's a lot to expect out of one guy, but nobody says being an elite player or winning a title is supposed to be easy.
OKC are a good example of why the Lakers win so many titles. If the Lakers had Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden, they would have maxed them out, and probably signed some sort of free agent when the guys were still on rookie deals to round it out.
Yes, that's your logic. You just said it in another way. You are saying "accomplishment" means winning a series. So you have no regard to individual performance. It doesn't matter to you one player contributed positively while the other contributed negatively to the team, they both "fail." In other words, Steve Kerr accomplished more than Hakeem Olajuwon because he won more playoffs series. That's some weird logic.
Great exchange. "But but but he played like an all-star! That's gotta count as an accomplishment, right!?!?!" Here you go Russ:
Harden wanted too much money. If they signed him, they wouldn't have the resources to fill the team out with guys like Reggie Jackson and Thabo Sefelosha. And yes, Kedrick Perkins does make a big impact to their team as they struggled this year when he was out. These guys are more important as they play defense and can contribute to the Thunder in the playoffs. Harden is a good scorer, but the Thunder already have Durant and Westbrook to monopolize all of the shots. This thread should really be Reggie Jackson vs James Harden. I'd rather have Harden in the regular season, but Jackson in the playoffs. Reggie Jackson has a lot of potential to be a real star in the NBA in coming years though. They should start him at PG and move Westbrook to SG.
In a recent podcast Zach Lowe and Kevin Arnovitz described Westbrooks defense as bad. Way too many risks, jumps way too easily just overall bad awareness. He tries so that gives him a leg up on Harden, but I think people generally highly overrate Westbrooks defensive contributions, especially in the Harden vs Westbrook debate.
Trollolololololol c'mon man at least don't make it obvious... Put Reggie Jackson in Harden's spot as the top option rather than a role player on the Thunder with two Top 10 players beside him and this isn't even a debate. Please don't be ridiculous.
Hard to believe this is even up for debate. RW dominated cp3 on both ends. Vs spurs,where was tony parker? RW has to do the offense while being guarded by the spurs best defender and still guard the spurs best ofensive option. What does it say when kawai is guarding rw and manu is guarding the mvp? Matthews jr and everyone else eyes were the size of silverdollars when they saw harden.
Not sure why RW generates such visceral dislike, but he does. Something about him…the way he looks….the way he plays. He is obviously a phenomenal athlete. Amazing basketball skills. Gives it all. But I guess it is the ball hogging box score chasing style of his play. Not sure, but I don't like him either.
I think you pretty much summed it up. I enjoy watching him play, but part of that is because he's not on my team and I like it both when he's throwing down dunks and when his bad decision making is screwing over the Thunder.
For me, I just can't stand low BBIQ chuckers even when they are very athletic and occasionally flashy. Melo, Westbrook, Josh Smith.....all pretty much the same player in my eyes.
Well yeah, sure Melo is the only one of the 3 that doesn't play any defense, but I didn't want to single him out like that.
Someone needs to tell me who westbrook should pass the ball to aside from jackson,kd,and ibaka. Perkins?Thabo? Collison? Who? Maybe someone will bring up pgs making nobodies into somebody.
27-8-8 vs cp3, yeah, he's a ballhog. 40-10-5-5, yeah harden is a better player. Last yr w/o ballhog,durant shot 25% in the 4th qt for like 4pts in close games.
