James Harden once again becoming his old ridiculously efficient self

http://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/nba/true-shooting-percentage-ts.aspx

This is for me, but I'm sure others will get something out of this. Anyone know why it's .44xFT attempts?

 

Harden's a stud, anybody who actually paid attention to stats saw this coming.

He still needs to up the defensive effort, but offensively he's a beast and we haven't even built a decent system around him yet.

The more i see of this team, the more i think we may be able to get out of the 1st round this year, certainly not a title threat, but by years end i think we may be capable of beating everybody except SA and OKC in a 7 game series.

We still need a few moves to get to the top of the mountain, but for the 1st time since Yao and Mac were healthy I can see a legit path to get there.

 

The reason why Harden has been getting more efficient and consistent with his game is because he finally slow down and not rushing his shots like before. When he first came to Houston, he was forcing a lot of his shots and was rushing it. But as time goes on, he is starting to gel with his teammates, build some chemistry and taking his time rather than forcing it..

 

The reason why this team has a better chance of making it out of the first round than the Yao & Tmac's team is because this team is well rounded and they are playing at such an efficient high pace where a lot of teams cannot keep up with their pace.

The Yao & Tmac's team was more an half court set up where the Rockets dump the ball to Yao to either score or dish it back out. The reason why that team never made it out of the first round is mostly because teams easily figured out how to guard Yao and Tmac. They would swarm Yao in the post, or front him while Tmac was a great offensive player, often took a lot of bad jump shots. Even though Tracy scored a good amount of points, it was not efficient and it took a lot of shots, mostly long contested 2 pointers or 3PT.

 

cue..

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pFpxm0CEgo8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

James Hardgoat

 

Uh, the reason Yao&Tmac weren't able to get out of the 1st round was because they were always injured.

 

He's now being more efficient because we are pushing up the tempo. Despite his superstar-like stats, he's not yet a superstar. When the game slows down in the 4th quarter/playoff games, he will struggle. His stats is inflated because of our uptempo style.

That being said, he's very young and is going to get better. What he needs to work on his his mid-range game and pull-up jumpers.

 

Does 2009 not count?

 

We didnt make it out of the 1st round during Yao-Tmac era because Tmac had a first round curse, Yao did make it to the 2nd round and faced the Lakers we he got injured for good during the Lakers series.

Tmac has still yet to make it out of the 1st round.....hence the curse

 

4 Qualities That Make James Harden a Full-Fledged NBA Superstar
.........
"Drive

Harden's high school coach, Scott Pera, recalls in a New York Times interview that Harden had a tendency to stay back and wait for his opportunity.

“When the games came," Pera said, "he shot. But rarely did he take more than 12 shots a game to get his 17 or 20 points.”

After a season-opening loss Harden's junior year, Pera told the 16-year-old, "We can't win unless you start shooting more."

"I don't want everybody to think I'm a gunner," Harden replied.

But they both remembered the time Harden's mother, her son in tow, had walked into Pera's office and given her son simple marching orders: "This is your coach. Whatever he says goes."

Hi-res-73735052_crop_exact A beardless James Harden (left) goes up to block a shot at the McDonald's All-American game in 2007.
Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Harden did as his coach asked, and his high school team never lost again.

When Harden arrived at Arizona State University, another mentor saw a player who had more gears to access.

“If you ask James Harden to tell you one thing he heard from [me] for two years, he’ll tell you: ‘Play with a motor. Play with a motor,'" said NBA coach Doug Collins. "[Harden] had no motor in college. None.”

Collins frequently visited the Sun Devils’ workouts and struck up a relationship with Harden.

“[Collins] taught me a lot,” Harden said. “He would mentor me. He would tell me that I had to have a motor…to be successful…in the NBA. My sophomore year, the reason I came back [to college] was to learn and build my motor up. He was the reason for that."

When he was drafted by Oklahoma City, his Thunder teammates, superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, were gym rats—guys who got to practice early and stayed late. Harden used their influence, and in Collins' words, "to add more horsepower to what he had under the hood."

We've all heard stories about sports' greatest stars putting in their dues such as Michael Jordan's "breakfast club" or Roger Clemens' legendary workout regimens. I remember reading an article before Barry Sanders' final season that the running back had taken to running quarter-mile wind sprints.

Is James Harden a superstar?
Yes No, but he will be No, and he'll never be Submit Vote vote to see results

You hear similar stories about Harden now, playing around the world long after shootarounds are over. His hard-earned stamina gives Harden the fuel to explode toward the hoop, possession after possession, and keep his motor running all game, every game.

As a result, Collins says, “When [Harden's] coming down the floor with the ball, he is very similar to LeBron James: Size, strength, speed…[plus Harden] seeks contact on every play.”

And Collins, Michael Jordan's first NBA coach, adds, “It’s funny, when he sees me, he’ll say, ‘I’ve got a motor now, coach.’ ”

That he does—and it's one few teams can figure out how to stop.



Getting to the line

They say superstars get the calls.

Then perhaps there's no finer benchmark to announce Harden's ascension to the superstar ranks.

Harden is tied for first in the NBA with an incredible 10 free-throw attempts per game. He has an uncanny ability to throw defenders off, sometimes with fancy moves, sometimes simply with a well-executed dribble-drive—lowering his head and taking it to the rim.

Hi-res-6782660_crop_exact Harden at the line.
Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

Add to it the need to contest his fairly good three-point shot, which has been deadly as recently as last season and still must be respected, and you've got a recipe for bumps, bruises and trips...to the charity stripe, that is.

Oh, and of those 10 attempts? Harden is making 8.6 of them. He's first in the NBA here as well...except it's not a tie.

Most superstars will readily tell you that great stat lines are all about making the most of what you're given. Two shots without defenders in your face from a mere 14 feet—don't send me letters...15 feet is from the line to the backboard and the rim sticks out—qualifies as a gift. A superstar makes the most of that gift.

Leading the league in free throws attempted and made per game, it's pretty obvious that Harden is doing just that.



Unselfishness

James Harden had a reputation before he came to Houston for his pinpoint pocket passes. Sure enough, Harden's highlight reel of amazing assists as a Rocket continues to quickly pile up.

But they don't all have to be of the Sportscenter variety—as long as they come with frequency. As a shooting guard—even as one who often has the ball in his hands in half-court sets—5.7 assists per game is an excellent tally.

It is good enough to put him in first place in the NBA among shooting guards in assists per game and sixth in assists per 48 minutes.

Some might point to the fact that Houston's assist percentage as a team is slightly better when Harden's not in the game than when he is. To that I simply say yes—and note the word "slightly."

What do I mean? Harden shoots 17 times a game, and yet he still finds his teammates for passes at almost the same rate as when Houston's top scorer is not in the game—in other words, at a time when the team would truly be expected to share the ball.

Taken in that context, the same stat transforms from damning into damned impressive—and an unquestionable mark of Harden's unselfishness.



Confidence

The Houston Rockets showed confidence in Harden when they gave him his max deal. Harden has returned the favor every time he steps on the court.

Harden wasn't fazed a bit by going from sixth man to The Man. He reeled off two big games (37 points and 45 points, respectively) to prove that point statistically.

He has also proven that he won't back down, even against the game's greatest stars. Here he is, still with the Thunder, giving Kobe an earful.

And finally, there's just something indefinable that the game's greats have. Harden plays as if he expects his shots to go in, expects to get a foul call and expects to win.

He plays with swagger.

It's an ineffable quality, but it's one Harden shares with virtually every NBA superstar.



Harden still has a ways to go to be considered among the game's true elites.

His play can be out of control, often because he makes much of his living at the free-throw line. And if he doesn't get calls, Harden can look frantic and desperate as he tries make something happen.

Like many NBA players, Harden prefers playing from being the arc or at the rim. He does not have a fully developed mid-range game. It's perhaps the element Harden could most benefit from; a mid-range jumper would make him absolutely devastating.

In shooting percentage, Harden is currently 77th. Last year Harden was much more deadly, so there is reason to be optimistic he will raise that stat. But currently, it's certainly an area of concern.

Yet despite these flaws in his game, Harden confounds opponents possession after possession and game after game.

Simply put, he's Hard to guard, and Hard to handle, when he's driving Hard to the hoop—because he's Hard-wired for scoring.

Hard as his rise may be to believe, you'd be Hard-pressed to disagree: James Harden is on his way to becoming the NBA's newest—and beardiest—superstar."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ake-james-harden-a-full-fledged-nba-superstar

 

Wow what a long post!

 

His play can be out of control, often because he makes much of his living at the free-throw line. And if he doesn't get calls, Harden can look frantic and desperate as he tries make something happen.

 

Thanks for the article. There is another article that's also a good analysis of Harden's game that I find accurate and interesting:

For Harden, it appears that he's a "free-throw first" player—the same way certain guys might be "shoot first" or "pass first." The style has allowed him to compile a respectable 59.1 percent true shooting percentage (shooting when three-pointers and free throws are factored) in a season where he's going only .436 from the field and .341 from beyond the arc. It's also a style that could stand to be a little less dependent on referee credulity.

One of the ways Harden might become a little less dependent on refs is to play off the ball more often, and shoot off the catch more often. James is a silky shooter, but his normally accurate shot has been off this season, in part because he's dominating the ball and shooting contested tries off the dribble.

According to Hoopdata, 49.5 percent of Harden's points last year were assisted. With the ball so often in his hands on the Rockets, that number has dropped down to 29.7 percent. It's ironic, but for Harden to be a true franchise player, he should trust his teammates a bit more.

In the aggregate, Harden is indeed a great player to build around, and his cynical style is pacing the team at an above-20 PER. Harden just needs to involve himself a bit less in the offense and read the situation a bit more. He's 23 years old and second best at his position. The future is bright.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ht-player-for-houston-rockets-to-build-around

The bold part further proves what many here have been saying all along: it's best for the team and for Harden if Lin is played as a main facilitator so that Harden can score even more points from Lin's assisting him.

 

Ok Santa Claus is ridin' in with that cold front so I just gotta tell ya................

Clutchfans.net peeps are by far the coolest fans in the New Mayan Universe!

 

I'm glad Harden is becoming efficient. But we seem to be getting a fair number of Harden threads.

When will the unofficial moratorium on Lin threads be lifted. It seems like anyone who starts one gets criticized. The Free Lin thread is now over 67 pages long now, and I don't see many Lin thread the last several days.

 

Thank god. Why would you want to see more Lin threads? Especially when there's no need for a new thread.

 

He is averaging 32 points or close to that in the last 8 or 9 games on almost 60% shooting.Whats even more impressive is he isnt a volume shooter. I think he is averaging something close to 13 or 14 shots to average that many points.