From the person that brought you "Does not show up in the playoffs"

Harden pre All-Star Game: 27.4 pts / 5.7 rbs / 6.8 ast
Harden post All-Star Game: 27.4 pts / 5.6 rbs / 7.3 ast

 

What's scary is that Aminu gave him a heck of a time on defense. That was brutal physical tough defense. It definitely slowed Harden down but amazing that he put up those numbers despite that.

 

The other encouraging thing is he averaged the same number of free throws he has all season.

 

In fairness it was against dallas

 

Active Players, career PER in the playoffs


1. LeBron James 27.57
2. Chris Paul 24.92
3. Tim Duncan 24.57
4. Kevin Durant 24.35
5. Dirk Nowitzki 23.97
6. Dwight Howard 23.67
7. Russell Westbrook 22.75
8. Dwyane Wade 22.70
9. Kobe Bryant 22.40
10. Amar'e Stoudemire 22.07
11. Kevin Garnett 21.12
12. Pau Gasol 20.68
13. James Harden 20.31
14. Carmelo Anthony 19.94
15. Manu Ginobili 19.83
16. Deron Williams 19.38
17. Vince Carter 18.91
18. Paul Millsap 18.88
19. Kawhi Leonard 18.71
20. Marc Gasol 18.66
21. Rajon Rondo 18.43
22. Chris Bosh 18.42
23. Andrew Bynum 18.02
24. Zach Randolph 17.77
25. Paul Pierce 17.63
26. Josh Smith 17.60
27. Roy Hibbert 17.58
28. Carlos Boozer 17.36
29. Tony Parker 16.98
30. Joakim Noah 16.96

But Harden's a playoff choker, unlike "Playoff Rondo".

WHat a load of horse****.

He had some bad shooting games against Portland last year, it happens. He was rounding into beast mode when Parsons let Lillard get off his miracle.

Sample size matters.

 

This is like when Battier would "hold" Kobe to 25 and we would consider it a success. They didn't have to throw a triple team at him and he didn't go off for 40, you consider that a success against an ace scorer.

 

Difference is Harden didn't/doesn't NEED to take 25 shots to score 25 or more.

Harden has been very poised and patient this entire series and last night was no different. He's taken and adapted to whatever defensive schemes thrown at him and came out on top as the #1 stud.

Harden made his teammates better during this series by facilitating to perfection. He is just so well rounded.

I'm eating crow a bit I have to admit because I called Harden some unnecessary censor worthy names after game 4. I was wrong and I will never do that again.

Harden is about as special as they come. Even last night in the "waning minutes" of the 4th....he looked "passive" and kept passing whenever he saw 2 mavs defenders rolling towards him. But then the step-back contested 3 happened and then the big STEAL to seal the deal.

Harden has been spectacular. Rockets are very fortunate to have him. He DEFINITELY is not the run of the mill superstar that comes along once every 5 years. He's a rare breed indeed.

 

Yea...Harden definitely has a balance to his game he never had before. Albeit, sometimes it feels like he is being too passive when it feels like he should be doing more driving thru the lane to the basket. The only thing I worry about is him deferring too much when we need him to score. However, it has worked out well so far. He's just such a great player that it feels like he should be dropping 30+ in each game. But, he's taking what the defense is giving him and making good decisions on what to do based on the looks he's getting. He's definitely matured from last season.

 

Totally agree.. however, I did feel that he kept pressing that 'bounce-pass-on-the-PNR' thing too much, and the Mavs were ready for it the last couple of games. Way too many turnovers and not enough success on that thing once they had scouted it. And for sure the Clips and Spurs will have it scouted.

So hopefully he and the Rox coaches can identify that and be ready to adjust if the other teams counter it.

 

LOL...I'm convinced that the game thread attracts a collection of the least intelligent basketball minds ever assembled in one place.

 

What about his style though?

 

The floater he's taking when teams create a wall in the paint is a nice touch

 

I noticed that D Rose is very effective at doing that too.

 

Great offensive stats.

Main negative is turnover, especially those careless passes.

 

Within 3 seasons, Harden has already surpassed what T-Mac was able to accomplish as the Rocket's "franchise" player; getting us out of the first round!

 

Can somebody post curry stats from first round please

 

Damn thats efficient as hell!

 

It's sort of screwed if you do, screwed if you don't. Players that don't facilitate or try to get their teammates involved are called "ball hogs". Players that facilitate or try to get teammates into the game are called "passive". Tough!

But winning cures all -- criticisms will be abound for almost all players no matter how they play. Let's still remember to appreciate how lucky we are to have a player, ENTERING HIS PRIME, locked in as a Rocket and is MVP or Top 3 for MVP consideration already. Gets better every year.

Transcendental star. Few teams are lucky enough to have one. If done right, can make a team champions, or at worst, relevant for a decade+.

 

I will happily eat crow, I had a whole lot of doubts about him as a franchise player in the playoffs and he proved me dead wrong. It was night and day from the last two years

he's under control, he plays within what the defense gives him and set his team mate up no matter what the score is, and most of all he played very good defense and did not like Aminu get under his skin like Wesley Mathews did last year.

I would say he played 8/10, 6/10, 10/10, 8/10, 8.5/10 in the 5 games overall

I think he has matured a lot in the past year, he's more composed than ever, some might say he's too passive, but I would take patience and composure over hothead hero ball all day every day