But, BUT....Him lead LEAGUE in TURNOVERS! 2 extra 3-pointer created by Gordon/Ryan game, 1 extra TURNOVER give it ALL BACK !!!
Remember all those wide open threes our players bricked? Imagine those going in by Ryan and Gordon now!
Because he was out of shape most of last season, didn't give much effort on defense and had poor leadership/chemistry with teammates? He's the best Rocket since Hakeem IF he can get back to the level he was at 2 years ago. He certainly has the ability.
only thing i will miss about howard is his defensive presence. just having him stnading in the paint did a great deal on defense for us. Then again, anyone big can do that. Asik did that for us.. we just need someone like that.
then how the ***** do you explain these: Played all 82 games League leading 38 mins/gm Led the league in drawing contact while in the act of shooting Scoring runner-up 29.0 pts/gm First among non-PGs 7.5 asts/gm (more than Lebron and Curry) Tied for 2nd among guards 6.1 rebs/gm Tied for 4th among guards 0.6 blks/gm Drives, scores off drives, and passes off drives as much as Lebron http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...t=DRIVES&dir=1 Moves around as far (works as hard) on offense and defense as Steph Curry and more than Lebron, WB, and KD http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...IST_FEET&dir=1 Generates points off touches as efficient as Steph Curry but more efficient than Lebron http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...=TOUCHES&dir=1 Catch and shoots 3 pointers more efficient than KD http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...gular Season Shoots pull ups more efficient than WB http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...L_UP_PTS&dir=1 Defends the rim almost as good as WB http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/pla...M_FG_PCT&dir=1
He's a talented player, so even at not peak physical condition he can still put up good stats, as have other fat nba players Nonetheless for the past year he played much worse defense, gave less effort, turned it over more, and didn't get to the rim as much. His plus minus numbers were not that good
please do educate us.. which other fat and out of shape nba players have done what Harden has done last year (played all games, led the league in minutes, led in FTA, 2nd in scoring, led in assists for a non PG, etc. while leading team with as a sorry coaching and role players around him as the Rockets)
Kemp and Barkley were not always at peak condition. Barkley is a better player than Harden career all time. Are you seriously arguing that Harden was in good shape last year? Then why all the discussion about how this year will be different because he is training in the offseason and not hanging out with Klhoe?
name which season/s those two has played all games, lead in minutes, 2nd in scoring, and led in FTA and at the same time were absolutely out of shape?
So if it's not all those exact things, then no good player was ever out of shape and Harden was in good shape last year. Good argument. So you think Harden was in good condition like he was 2 years ago? Sorry, disagree, he started 30 pounds overweight (confirmed by mchale) and he still didn't look right by the end of the year.
enlighten us which exact season's for kemp and barkley were they out of shape for most of the season while as productive as harden last year? doesn't have to be all those exact things
I'm sensing there's a reason you're called The Realist. But what foothold can reality grab when fantasy is just around the corner?
Harden started the year out of shape and I think it was at least partly attributed a significant ankle sprain he suffered during the summer. He definitely started slowly but I think his conditioning came around. http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/nba/1597/james-harden Hope this link is to the right page. If you scroll down you'll McHale stating JH had a pretty significant sprain ankle. I think it's in the Oct posts Edit, even though I copied the link where it's showed the post I'm referring to, it takes you to the front page. You have to go through older posts. Sorry about that Here's a another life link http://www.espn.com/blog/houston-rockets/post/_/id/1161/james-harden-sprained-an-ankle-this-summer
#4. Good shooters always seem to lower their 3pt%'s by 5-10 once they join the rockets. Especially if we acquired them specifically for shooting (see Ariza, Garcia, Delfino, basically our turnstile of backup SF's). But the good news is we finally made like the rest of the NBA and hired a real shooting coach this year, unlike past years when it was just Keith Jones. Fire Keith Jones.
I already said Shawn Kemp, last couple years in Seattle and in Cleveland, was still effective with a drinking problem and started to gain weight. Perhaps not as good as Harden's peak but still pretty good. Very good advanced stats before it all fell apart. WS around .200 (Harden .204 last year). Barkley was different, he was kinda fat but still a beast. No drinking problems. Harden was confirmed out of shape and wasn't the same MVP caliber player from 2 years ago. If you think was as good last year as 2 years ago, then you either don't watch the games, can't analyze stats, or are a HOF.
