http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/12/03/blogtable-the-leagues-best-2-guards/?cid=nba_12_facebook_L im not posting this for discussion but to laugh at. in case you need any more evidence that analysts and experts have no idea what theyre talking about one of them said Westbrook and Steph Curry are the best 2 guards in the league........ dwyane wade??? Butler over Harden.
Jeeze they all just kept ripping Harden on his defense and not one acknowledged his improvement on that end this season. But they just LOVED talking about Butler's improvement offensively.
Every sensible person knows Harden is at the top, but they have to get clicks and they have to provide at least a reason to read the article, so they obviously have to give some differing opinions.
My goodness that was posted this morning!!??!! Harden is willing his team to wins with a pack of Green Apple Now-or-Laters, a couple of YMCA rec all-stars, and some Boy's & Girl's Club towel boys... mvp! Mvp! MVP!
9/16 had Harden at the top. Being a Rockets fan, I don't think it's even an issue. Harden is so far above everyone else that the discussion should only about who's coming in second.
I am a freshman in college and after reading this writeup I may have to change my major to journalism. NBA.Com seriously will hire anyone....Dude seriously choose Wes Mathews over James Harden...
Spoiler But really, that video will haunt Harden until he retires [or wins a championship]. Clearly, half of those guys haven't watched the Rockets and/or Harden this year.
No video in the history of sports has done more to tarnish a players legacy than that video... My goodness! Harden and the Rockets are going bananas and no one cares!
I think the question these writers have to ask themselves is that if Houston offered them Harden for Klay Thompson, would they take it? Every single GM in the league would take it. There is a reason Klay Thompson's name was floating around for Kevin Love
That honestly read like it was written by a random sampling of RealGM posters. Klay over Harden is only arguable if you're comparing this year's Klay to last year's Harden (even then, no comparison), which most of them seem to be. This year? 5 point PER difference. Nearly double the win shares for Harden. Double the assist rate. Far more steals and blocks. Substantially better rebounding for James. Even a better TS% despite Harden's ridiculously slow start. As we all know, a better DRating than any other high profile 2 guard. Butler gets similarly whooped in all statistical categories, though for him at least he's shooting 49% from the floor so he has something over Harden. It's really strange to me how people who watch the Rockets twice a year seem to have built this James Harden in their head that is basically a stereotype of an early 2000s isolation ballhog wing (inefficient, selfish, one-way player) even though James has never been the first two and is no longer the third.
Everyone there wants to talk about defense, but nobody mentions Harden's second best skill, which is his passing.
The people who picked anyone other than James, have not seen a single Rockets game, and not seen how solid, and at times spectacular, he has been defensively.
True. I found myself questioning harden'a effort on defense 4-5 times a game last year. Now, he hustles, he dishes, he makes the entire team better. Throw klay Thompson or jimmy butler with the depleted starting lineup we currently have, that's an 0-5 team.
I don't think the NBA has realized Harden now comes with Defense. Every knock on him in that entire post is his defense.
