I find it a lot more pleasing and easier to communicate with posters on here if you put them on your own level and show some respect to their contingent replies, even if it isn't earn by a certain poster yet. The flame wars tend to almost always go down and the replies you get back are always less vitriolic, regardless of the posters opinion on your thoughts. Communication becomes easier. I didn't think he was overpaid at all. I really liked his talent and potential and the flashes of greatness. I was concerned about his knee and adjusting to a new team, and it clearly showed early in the season. But I'm very proud of how he's handled everything and even more proud of how much better his outside shot has become. He still makes rook mistakes, but just about all of our guys do. He was on a more veteran team in NY despite himself being less experienced then. I look forward to how he transitions his game with the Rockets. I've said before that I could see him replacing Kyrie in Cleveland and putting up 20.5/5/6.5, but I'm not sure the team would be very good. He needs help ( as almost every player does in the NBA) and he needs to learn to elevate his game with said help.
This is what I never got...free throws are not "officially" a shot but a possession nonetheless. It's still utilizing more of the overall team possessions in the game to get those points, so I don't see why this isn't taken into account statistically. If Harden goes 10-15 FG for 23 points, that's 15 used posessions. If he goes 3-15 FG but 16-16 from the FT line for 23 points that's 23 used possessions. Yet in both cases it's still "23 points on 15 shots" but you can't tell me these 2 performances are equal.
Imagine if you were to be on the court and get mugged while taking shot. Like literally decked. How do you account for that? Is it a make or a miss? Most often it will be a miss. But do you penalize the shooter on their FG%? Is it an accurate description of one's shooting accuracy if they were be counted for?
Further, a player like Harden that goes to the line often typically puts the defense in the penalty quicker and can effect the defense greatly.
I'm not talking about penalizing FG% at all I just mean it should be taken into account in overall offensive performance instead of people just saying "he got X points on X shots" while completely discounting FTs when they are still used possessions.
I agree, the performances are not the same which is why saying "23 points on 15 shots" is misleading. Offensive rating is an advanced stat that covers points per possession. For example, http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201304090HOU.html
Guy sounds like a delusional troll imo. Hardens the best player on our team. He shares the ball as well as any superstar. I dont see any problems with his decisions most of the time. And 9-21 is not that bad. I mean it aint good, but it sure as hell aint bad as 5-14. Lin shot the frigging ball 14 times and handled the ball down the stretch. This article is pure trash.
Chris Paul was an all star at 22. Parker was an all star at 23. OKC's best players are 23-24. If you think the current team is ever going to be a championship contender, you're sadly mistaken.
You essentially said you believe that the rockets have no chance of winning a playoff game if harden dominates the ball. That it wouldn't be because we are playing teams that are far more talented and experienced, but hardens ball dominating that would prevent us from winning. Harden dominated the ball most games this season and we won more than we lost. So I was curious how you came to your prediction when there were so many games this season that proved we in fact could win when James has the ball most of the time.
That's incorrect because it doesn't account for and 1's, technical, breakaways, etc. That is why True Shooting Percentage counts each free throw as 0.44 fga, instead of 0.5. In your example it would be 22 used possessions, not 23. You are right, though, the statement "x points on y shots" is kind of worthless.
Everybody seems to love playing the blame game. It's either dissing Harden or Lin. One or the other. It's like Rockets fans are divided because of this BS. The person who wrote this article is completely biased and has a Lin-wing agenda. I remember a time when Rockets fans were united. Sure, there were quarrels about certain things and people but overall it was all in good fun. This season the animosity is strong among Rockets lovers. Let's be happy we are in the playoffs. The real question is, are the Rockets still going to be blacked out for the playoffs? Like when they're on ESPN or NBA TV? I don't know how this blackout thing works. If worse comes to worse I'm going to watch the games on a stream but I want to be able to sit back, drink a bottle of Lambrusco, and watch the playoffs baby!!! FINALLY!
That was the third article I've read on Sportige trying to create Lin vs Harden drama. It's basically Bleacher Report style nerd baiting
wrong! opposing teams are forced to foul jh13 because they would rather out him on the line than giving him automatic 2 if they don't foul him, he would have still got x points on y shots
Against playoff teams it won't work. Maybe for 1 game if he's extremely hot that's all. You don't seem to understand.
You act like we're supposed to be a big time competitor to begin with... Winning 1 game in the playoffs would be a great accomplishment for the Rockets...
And by the way...you STILL haven't answered whether you thought our wins with Harden as the primary ball handler were flukes or not
you miss the point, x points on y shots is misleading it should be x points on y + (fouled attempt) shots for harden its 33 points on 21 + 8(fouled) = 29 shots his TS% is still very good at 55%(last shot is a miss, lol)
