Chances of Harden returning to his OKC efficiency?

Love the Lin jab you put in there. Good stuff.

 

As long as Harden has enough gas in him toward the end of the season and he focuses on more on creating for himself his efficiency should rise considerably.

 

So...it was a fair point. He doesn't have to sneak in jabs about Lin or any other Rockets player for that matter. He is free to take jabs at any player as long as its not outright trolling.

 

Actually, yeah, now that I think about it, having Dwight should improve Harden's efficiency a little. Not back to OKC levels though.

 

This. Don't think it would have been a "disaster" without Harden but it would have been another 9th or 10th seed finish. Not really a jab at Lin, just a recognition of what Harden meant to this team. Without Harden, Lin would have been the leader and I just don't see a run to the playoffs without him.

Won't ever forget getting that text while at a Halloween party from my friend, "we got harden". Knew then and there the Morey plan was finally coming together.

 

I see him shooting over .500 from the field & close to that mark from downtown if:
a) Dwight regains Orlando form.
b) Lin continues to improve his shooting and scoring on drives to the basket.
c) Chandler Parsons scoring game & jumpshot remain deadly ( as well as around the .480% from the field & .400 from 3pt)
And
d) The Role playing shooters do their part in knocking down open shots & spacing the floor.

Yes, Harden is that good in my opinion. I could go into more detail if necessary, but it's pretty self explanatory.

 

Not saying that he didn't have a point as Harden made our year. Just recognizing his skills in taking jabs at Lin in any thread over and over and over again..

 

he was really taking a jab at the rockets' roster before the harden trade

 

"disaster with Lin as the leader" wasn't really necessary but yeah pretty obvious the team wouldn't have been as good with Martin instead of Harden

 

probably meant "disaster with Lin as the best player"

 

For the amount of minutes played / usage Harden has per 48 minutes now compared to OKC it's unfair to expect the same kind of efficiency.
However, we can hope for SOME improvements this year with the addition of Howard. I think because Harden's the go to guy now, playing a different type of basketball, his efficiency in stats may be down, but impact on the game he's improved.

I believe that as long as H'n'H give a consistent and healthy season playing together, BOTH their efficiency ratings will go up thanks to each other !

 

My first reaction was no. In OKC teams keyed in on Durant, Westbrook and then Harden. In Houston teams with defensive players like Iggy or Tony Allen plus a good help defender could try to lock down on Harden making him have to take more difficult shots. But now that we have Dwight, if they can get a good inside out and pick and roll going, he just might be able to get quality looks like he had in OKC. I for one am highly optimistic.

 

For him to return to that efficiency, he needs to lower his usage down, which would mean either Dwight or Lin or Parsons take a bigger role. I think he will increase a little bit, because with Dwight everyone's usage will go down a bit.

 

I was expecting 30 wins before Harden. Maybe not quite a disaster but definitely not playoffs. This time last year we were talking about just tanking it or whatever. We had a ton of assets. Talk of building through the draft. What FA's were coming available. Think we had maybe 7 or 8 PF's. Future looked like crap. Harden came and we are an elite offense and we are a playoff bound. It is even strange talking at this time if we are Championship caliber or do we need that one player. Harden made this team and we get someone making a thread denigrating him.

 

Assist rate should certainly go up with Dwight down low. There were so many heaving sighs of disappointment when he drove to the basket and dumped it off to "Oven Mitts" Asik last season only to result in a turnover. His OKC efficiency also had a lot to do with playing that 6th man role, often going against teams 2nd/3rd units.

Regardless, I don't think we need him to return OKC type of numbers necessarily. I have high expectations as long as there isn't a dramatic drop off from last season.

 

I don't think Harden is at Jordan's level either, but one has to be fair. Jordan was a starter from the moment he stepped onto the court for his first NBA game. He missed most of his second season to a broken foot, but came back at the end of the season and performed at his usual very high level, setting the NBA playoff record for points in a game with 63, although Chicago didn't advance. The next season, like his first NBA season, saw him start 82 games. The season after that, he first produced the elite numbers posted by the OP, and he did it averaging 40 mpg. In other words, greatness and durability, the perfect combination.

So it isn't fair to compare the two, based on one season of James Harden starting 82 games, not after the man had come off the bench and played far fewer minutes his first 3 seasons with the Thunder, which saw him average 22, 26, and 31 minutes a game. Of course his efficiency dropped during his first season as a 38 mpg starter. This season, in my humble opinion, will give us a much clearer picture of just how good James Harden is.

 

No one is denigrating him. The threads basically discussing if Harden can return to his ultra elite efficiency now that we have Dwight and hopefully an improved supporting cast.

 

Excuse my rudeness or anything.
But are you/(is he) the real GM, Daryl Morey?

 

If you thought we were only going to win 30 then you really didn't see Harden at all in OKC.

 

Hilarious. We would have been a bad team with Lin at the helm. Lin would have been a disaster considering he actually had the idea he was supposed to save Houston basketball. You'd think a Harvard grad would've had more common sense.

Harden will be fine. This whole thread is nonsense.