You heard it here first. J.B. believes Harden is the only player in the history of the entire NBA that demands this level of attention by opponent defenses.
I dont have a stat or metric, just basic basketball knowledge. A high turnover player dominating the ball in close games is not the best option. It doesnt take a rocket scientists to put that together. Look at his to's in the playoffs and add that to his dismal shooting in the playoffs and tell me you can win a ring with a poor shooting, to prone, inept defensive guy like harden as your best player. The answer is easy a easy can be.
This is pretty much it. Short and sweet. Too many turnovers. Not enough steals and offensive charges drawn to offset such a mountain of turnovers. Harden simply is not a good enough playmaker to win a championship as a team's primary playmaker. Won't ever happen...unless...he miraculously lowers his turnover number substantially.
Very true, but we wouldn't win the championship this year anyway without some major injuries to SA or GS. To be contenders next year, we have to get one or two players like a Durant, Conley, Horford or the like, to add to Harden and offset his weaknesses. And then, maybe even most importantly, we have to get a coach that he respects and that will also hold him accountable...like a Thibs or the like.
Comparing the top two MVP finishers last year... One is breaking his own records with made 3pts. The other might break the TO record. Maybe next year, he'll have a chance to break his own record too.
I don't have basic "basketball knowledge" that a number of our least knowledgeable posters claim to have, but here's the "leebigez list of not best options to dominate the ball in close games" Code: 1. Karl Malone* 4524 2. Moses Malone* 4264 3. John Stockton* 4244 4. Jason Kidd 4003 5. Kobe Bryant 3992 6. Julius Erving* 3940 7. Artis Gilmore* 3926 8. Isiah Thomas* 3682 9. Hakeem Olajuwon* 3667 10. Patrick Ewing* 3537 11. Paul Pierce 3506 Magic Johnson* 3506 13. Reggie Theus 3493 14. Steve Nash 3478 15. Charles Barkley* 3376 16. Tim Duncan 3371 17. Shaquille O'Neal 3310 18. LeBron James 3282 19. Allen Iverson 3262 20. Scottie Pippen* 3257 Keep away from the ball, fellas!
Never said the ankle was related to his turnovers. Harden wasn't as aggressive going to the basket as we've seen before in those situations. On that high of a double he knew he couldn't get by the defense. On a good ankle I think he attacks.
There is only a 7 TO spread between #1 and #3 for the record: 1. Artis Gilmore* 366 1977-78 CHI 2. Kevin Porter 360 1977-78 TOT 3. Micheal Ray Richardson 359 1979-80 NYK Harden will smash that #1 record by at least 10 TOs. 327 TOs right now. His season average is 4.6 TO a game. He's stepped it up in March though with 5.4 TO a game. 11 games left. If he stays on pace for 5.4 TO/game for 11 games, then we have 59 more TOs to add to 327. 386 TOs is my prediction, a whopping 20 more than the old #1. Seriously, why does the man throw bounce passes into a sea of legs off the pick and roll? Every game, he does it once....he gets to see the terrible results in a live ball, fastbreak TO at the top of the key...THEN he does it again. Then he does it again. He will do it 3 times in a game. He did it last night too. It was 2 or 3 times last night. It's my most hated Harden TO lately. The infuriating thing is he doesn't learn and repeats it multiple times in a game. "DUDE! STOP! STOP THROWING BOUNCES TO THE ROLLER!"<---me last night. And I was yelling at the TV last night about how I knew a Harden TO was coming in that final possession with 11.9 seconds. And boom, like clockwork. 38 year old record! I'm not even 38! Close, but got a few more years. No one has coughed the ball up with such a magnificent volume level for THIRTY EIGHT YEARS!
I don't mean to be nit picky but considering how long these guys played, some guys 20 years of basketball, it's no surprise their total number of turnovers is high. Harden has been in the league 6-7 years and his number is already at 1557.
