The problem with this is that it doesn't differentiate between different "types" of running. There are qualitative running and quantitative running. Set plays may require players to be in certain positions, and running may actually hurt the play by bringing defenders over. Some players are also designated cutters, and others are designed to be near the top of the key for spot up 3s or make bailout plays. The type of offense and plays initiated also affects how often players run, and some players may run more than others because they struggle to breakaway from defenders to get the ball. The stat also penalizes players who have smarter utilization of energy. If a player makes an incredible outlet pass for an easy layup, the same player gets "penalized" for not running. All in all I still think it's an interesting stat.
I hate this argument. It's gotta be in the Top 10 of Dumbest Arguments of All Time. So what if the person hasn't played ball? Stephen Hawking can't walk, are you gonna dismiss everything he says about the physics of walking just because the guy can't get out of his chair? "I think movement tracking stats are dumb." "Why? They aren't perfect but they might help with teams figuring out exactly how much their players are running around, which could help with their conditioning programs." "Have you ever played ball?" Read that exchange and tell me who is actually contributing to the discussion and who is just being a tool.
he also travels 40 miles per game there's ton of things to complain about.. this is just plain stupid
Hmm, maybe we should ask Stephen Hawking about James Harden's mileage. Well I don't get the conditioning argument. James Harden runs 3.0 miles/48, So does LeBron. What does this tell us about conditioning? I have no clue. If you bump the minutes/game up to 38 or more and the games played up to 17 or more, there are only 5 guys in the whole league. It looks like this: Harden 3.0 Melo 3.1 Durant 3.2 DeRozan 3.2 Deng 3.3 These guy play a ton of minutes. I'd think that is more relevant to conditioning than miles/minute. (I ran six miles today, but I understand you find that totally irrelevant to talking about running. . . . But I can use my "knowledge" to remind everyone that even 4 miles in 48 minutes is not very fast running, so I'm not sure the distances for these players really matter at all. . . . It's all stop-and-go stuff. In terms of total miles, Harden ranks 70 out of 425 players, just above Tony Parker. LeBron James runs slower than Zach Randolph. Does it mean something for conditioning? I don't think so.
Efficiency! Harden already expends a lot of effort on his drives against the bigs. I would like him to conserve energy so he can shoot and defend better.
this is the second thread on this guys who make an issue about this useless stat are either having a brain fart or simply hating bigtime
Let's update the travel distance this offseason league-wise: Link No. 1 least travel-distance per 48 mins is co-owned by Paul Pierce and James Harden (2.8 mil/48min): Player GP MIN per game DIST Average Speed (mph) Distance Traveled Per Game (miles) Distance Traveled Per 48 Minutes (miles) Paul Pierce (BKN) 7 30.2 12.5 3.5 1.8 2.8 James Harden (HOU) 6 44.2 15.7 3.6 2.6 2.8 David West (IND) 7 35.8 15.0 3.6 2.1 2.9 Kendrick Perkins (OKC) 7 22.6 9.5 3.6 1.4 2.9 Nene (WAS) 4 35.7 8.6 3.6 2.2 2.9 All top 5 is either front court (David, Kendrick, Nene) or an aged player (Paul) but James Harden (a 25 yrs old "super star" player).
Harden doesn't run to the corners very often and he doesn't seem that good at shooting from there either. The Spurs take the most corners 3's and hence....
The point is more about defense side. Of course if Harden run the floor well can also increase the change to find open man on offense side.
