The point is Harden has not been the MVP thus far, despite our team record. He needs to do better, especially during clutch time and against good defenders.
And, again, the stats don't back you up about Clutch Time As @justtxyank said, just stick to "lazy" and "fat" and "selfish" if you want to be a Harden hata. You are wrong that he needs to change his style of play. He just did this year...and he is the main reason we are out-performing all predictions. No one....literally...no one...in the NBA (players, coaches, tv analyst) are going to agree with you that he needs to change his style of play. Ppl are trying to figure it out and stop it, for godsakes. Give it up.
c'mon man I thought you were better than this Harden's clutch stat this season is horrible, I really don't wanted to bring this up but oh well 3.7ppg 23.1 FG% 15.4 3PT% http://stats.nba.com/players/clutch-traditional/#!?sort=PTS&dir=-1
Harden came close to MVP in 14/15. Harden said he would defer from MVP wish w/ Lawson present (meaning less stats & more wins). Lawson didn't come thru (IMO) and Harden had to take over. Let's not talk about D12/Harden tug-a-war (please). Before the season I posted I would like to see Harden down to about 34 mins a game (most mins by any player over last two yrs). Recently Jonathan Feigen twitted that MDA said they wanted to get Harden's 37 mins (at the time) down....to about 34 mins. It looked like Harden carried the team until other players caught on to the system and built up endurance. Harden won't get the numbers to match Westbrook, while getting decreased mins; but it seems like Harden is ok with that. As long as the team keeps winning. Curry could be selfish or Durant could be selfish or LeBron could try to get all the numbers....but at what cost. Sluggish at seasons end/playoffs? Injury?
Regarding the ISOs in crunch time, that's why you pay guys Like Harden the big bucks. For them to put the team on their shoulders and win the game. This isn't even specific to Harden, it's how it is for a looong time. Legends are born in the clutch.
Dwert, Harden is leading the league in assists and a top 5 scorer, plus high rebounding for a guard. Him and Westbrook, it doesn't occur to you that when that much burden on those guys every game, they can be tired? We have never seen such production from guards for a long time. Lay it for rest, just enjoy while it lasts. Our supporting cast looks good because of Harden, no less. Gordon and Anderson weren't making that much of a difference on the Pel team with AD and other role players in terms of winning, were they? As to ISOs at the end of last night's game, there was one after Harrel was sub in for Nene, he set a pick when Anderson was also setting a pick for Harden. That could be by design, but to me, more likely a miscommunication on Harrel, and a botched play. So on that possession, the ball was swung in and swung out back to Harden when there was 7 or 8 seconds left, probably not enough time to set up another play. The other two ISOs happened at the of the game while we were leading by a thin margin. We could have set a play and kept playing. But it wasn't a bad choice to have Harden hold onto the ball for the clock management to shorten possessions. One of those ISOs actually lead to Anderson's put back to seal the game. But Harden also drove on two possessions down the wire, scored once that put us ahead by 98-95, and got hammed once and went to the line. So, Dwert, I am not sure what your facts about last game to say the stuff you said about Harden in the last night's game. A road win in OKC, just relax.
Player............ Current Minutes/game............... Last season Harden..................... 36.8............................................. 38.1 Ariza .........................33.3............................................. 35.3 Ryno .........................30.8.. ($18.7 mil)..........................30.4 Capela.......................25.4...............................................---- Dekker.......................18.5............................................... ---- Gordon...................... 31.1...($12.4mil)..........................32.9 Beverley.....................29.3.............................................. 28.7 Nene..........................17.2..............................................---- Harrell........................13.2..............................................---- Brewer..................***14.9..............................................20.4 So if Harden drops to about 35 mins will he have the #'s x MVP?? Team wins will go a long way. D'Antoni liked 9-man rotations. Hopefully in today's NBA MDA can adjust mins accordingly x 9+. Everyone seem to be getting better. I can even stomach Brewer 6 minutes to fill in gaps. ***Many say D-Mo can take many of these mins. Ariza & Gordon can drop to 30 mins.
Reason why he wasnt MVP prior couple years and probably will never be... Inconsistent as leader for some weird pshychological reason
I don't think you know how to examine clutch stats, and what their import is. Fact is: Harden is one of the absolute most efficient players in the 4th using the +/- based stats you so adore. And again...his 2015 Clutch stats off the charts for Harden. So, reason dictates you are looking at too small a sample and he will balance out....sheesh. Do I have to keep 'splaining that to you 48 FG% 53 3PT% you are wrong. You just cannot beat Harden with stats.
Dwert, Hardentime who created the Bev is a fraud thread a etc all come with an agenda and then post lazy, elementary school analysis to justify their shitty agenda. Only a matter of time before this fool runs away after being proved to be an idiot just like Hardentime.
OP is certainly harsh and doesn't take into account all the positives of Hardens game and his style - eg it also works... a lot. That said, there offense does get stale in the last 5 minutes of some games. It does get James ISO heavy and he can get too dribble, let the clock run down, etc. I mean why not have Harden pass it off to a wing, run some picks down low, turn around and post up? He's pretty solid in the post, too. Even if you're going to do ISO, as I've said previously, you need to see more action from the other players. For example if Capela is going out to set the pick, why not have Gordon's man first set a pick for Capela as Clint runs to set the pick for James. Need to creat more confusion there. Or it could be reversed. Capela picks for Gordon who runs along the baseline and cuts up for either and open look or then he sets the pick for Harden. THat type of stuff. The converse is that the 4 wide spread is so consistent. James should know where every player is at all times even if he can't see them. Still they need some more back action. Finally, James always looks better when he is attacking more north to south. But we can't forget there's another team, playing defense. James has generally been a clutch player.
If MDA tells him to reign things in a bit, then do we see a reduction in the absolutely slick, thread-the-needle, catch-in-stride passes that he connects in transition or out of the pick and roll? He's making ridiculously good plays more often than not, so you tolerate the few bad TO's if the great plays keep the D on their heels enough to find the open guy. Harden has been exceptional this season in that regard. Right now, if it ain't broke....
Time of possession up to 9.1 minutes compared to 6.3 minutes per game last year. He has the ball a lot more this year compared to last. Doesn't mean he isn't making some dumb plays out there, but a turnover uptick should be expected with more possession time.
Dude, we won. Wtf does it matter how well Harden shot? Isn't winning the most important thing? Remember a guy named Kobe Bryant? Ok, he had a **** ton of games where he would go 6 for 27 from the field. Lakers still won 5 championships with that guy.I think Kobe went 4 for 26 in game 7 of the NBA finals against Boston, Lakers still won the game and Kobe is won Finals MVP. Chill out on the Harden hate. He's going to have nights where he doesn't shoot the ball well, that's just who he is. The turnovers will come down the more time he spends under MDA.
The crazy thing about that is that just a few years ago all three of those dudes were on the same team. Oh, well. It couldn't have happened to a better franchise. **** the Sonics, man.
