Again the results are the results. Harden is the superior talent and I don't understand him signing off on the WB trade if he was going to continue to play an ISO game. In hindsight, the Capela trade was less about maximizing Russ but keeping Harden's ISO game going. Capela could have been moved around in the lineup, there was no rule that Capela had to start with Harden and WB. Obviously the trade is more complicated than just that, Capela's health was a big a factor as he probably wouldn't have been effective the rest of the year. I just don't get Harden anymore and I've run out of excuses after 8 postseasons. The advanced stats and scoring titles (AKA Harden ISO ball) are good enough for the regular season but it breaks down in the post season. We've literally seen Harden play various styles from OKC to the McHale years to MDA years, but he's so damn stubborn now.
No he wasnt.....there was 21 pages of lineups there. LMAO, you really think there was only 35 minutes of Westbrook only lineups all season.
Yea he has.... I literally showed you it and it corresponds to his first season with MDA (led NBA in assist) Now you are just downright lying..... Not according to math..... it's pretty simple. Not sure why you are lying. And? Your entire argument rides on the fact that WB can't run an offense and you've been proven repeatedly wrong. Career Playoff Assist % Harden HOU: 34.6% Career: 29.9% WB OKC: 39.9% Caerer: 38.9% One of them is clearly more of a distributor than a scorer. LOL..... Im confused to why I keep having to school you.... I'll repost these numbers and you tell me who has more +45% seasons.... Harden Assist %: 35.4% 50.7% 45.1% 39.5% 35.9% WB Assist%: 49.7% 57.3% 49.8% 46.5% 35.6% Again.... Harden has been steady declining due to his ISO ball while WB was running spread PNR until Houston. Which is why I wish he would pass to a better shooter in Harden, who can make baskets...... You seriously can't be this stupid about basketball..... Nope, that's just your anti WB bias. Why do you continue to lie and act like you aren't bias? Why the hell was he out assisting Harden prior to this year? It's almost like the OKC team was built for him and he to come adapt to a new role while having his buddy ISO the hell out the ball. It's simple, you want Harden being assisted by WB moreso than vice versa. WB is a far more limited scorer.
Yes. Again, Harden played 36 mpg...Westbrook played 36mpg That means for both of them there are 12 minutes where either one isn't on the court...and they shared the court a lot. I didn't say there was only 35 minutes of Westbrook, I did say that it was the MOST PLAYED westbrook lineup... The fact is that most of the time Harden played with Westbrook and Harden only lineups were more likely, especially since Russ was sitting out b2b games. You can count the aggregate if you want. I know that if two guys are playing 36mpg there isn't a lot of overlap there for one guy to have this extensive go with his own lineup. Also, the WB only lineups with the most minutes are positive but yes, some are bad, some are good, this doesn't mean Westbrook is terrible, it probably means we should have run those lineups more when Harden goes off, well, the ones without Capela.
Never hated Harden. The ONLY criticism (from me) was when he brought in Westbrook. I have always liked Westbrook when we're playing against him. Always expecting the "dumbness". Imagine when suddenly, he is on your side
James Harden is not the Rockets' problem. He is the only thing that has been consistently right about the team since 2012. ... The real problem was breaking up the Harden/Paul/Capela core, and this, too, right after the only team that could stop them was disbanded. When that Rockets team was healthy (and Foster wasn't officiating), they were by many measures one of the best teams of all time. They were almost unquestionably the best team in 2018. Hopefully Morey finds a way to pull a rabbit out of his hat with Westbrook's contract, and/or Russ miraculously turns his jumper into something respectable by next year. Otherwise, we're going to be wasting the prime of one of the very greatest (and probably the single most underappreciated) players of all time. If neither of those things happen, maybe we need to blow it up, trade Harden for picks, and let him get a real shot at a title somewhere else.
I said for the LAST 3 YEARS, he's been between 33-38%. Thats consistent. There is no steep decline there. He actually raised it the year before, that is not decline look that up in the dictionary. I'm not, look the offensive efficiency of the Thunder since Durant left, bad. He had one year where was top 8, thats it. His lineups numbers here were bad. All of his offensive impact metrics have been in decline since his MVP year BAD. OKCs offense was bad with him running it, and the dude even had Paul George. Even during his hot stretch, Russ only lineups were our least efficient lineups. Do you think assist percentage....means he can run an offense? Westbrook has never led a top NBA offense ever, never without Durant has ever led a top 5 efficient offense. His team offenses have been mediocre. His playoff offense led teams have been mediocre. His Offensive win shares, Offensive box plus minus, and pretty much all his impact metrics overall have been in decline since his MVP season. So the answer is no, he cannot run a good offense in the playoffs. Especially not by himself. Harden is a better creator with the ball in his hands. Westbrook is not. And what the hell does this even prove LMAO. He played with Durant and Paul George his whole career. These numbers are inflated as hell. And raw assist percentage doesnt mean you can an efficient offense. LOL. And you didnt even answer my question. Harden had a MUCH higher assist percentage in the playoffs than Westbrook. So if we but his garbage argument that he was injured, why should Harden give up the ball to a guy who coulndt create as well as him???? No answers....mmmmk. You dont even understand math or stats. Im not his assist percentages has been on the decline in the playoffs every single year since his MVP season. But forget about that even, his offensive impact metrics have been on the steady decline since his MVP season. Let me break that down slow for you so you can get it champ, that means offensively no matter how high or his assist percentage was...he still was garbage offensively to his team as a whole. And these are his playoff numbers. So I know the math very well, lmao. School me....you think Raw assist percentage means he can run an offense hahahaha. If that meant anything, the Westbrook only lineups would be great offensively(they arent). In the playoffs they were trash on both ends. Im sorry I even brought that metric up...I didnt know youd so stupid as to no know how too apply it. And why are you using Regular season metrics. I've been consistent about talking about the playoffs and talking about right now. And Westbrook's numbers have been trending downward since his MVP year in the playoffs. LMAO do you think we didnt run spread pick and roll with Capela and Westbrook hahahaha. Do you know why we traded Capela....do you know that Capela-Westbrook lineups were trash. Good god, you dont understand basketball and you dont understand stats...but Im here to help you. Nah, those are just facts and numbers. Im not...I just see reality for what it is. You are just stuck to blaming Harden. You think giving the ball to Westbrook who's been ass all playoffs was a good idea(even if he was injured you still thought it was a good idea LOL). Out "assisting" doesnt mean jack **** if your team offense is garbage. Nor does "out assisting" make you a better passer. He played with Durant and Paul George. And even when he had PG they still had garbage offense overall, his assist percentage didnt do jack **** for his team offense.Now you are gonna say "well westbrook didnt have the shooters." We have a bunch of shooters here and his numbers still went on the decline(his assist percentage included) Do you think all we run is ISO here, do you think we dont want to run spread pick and roll here? Do you not realize that Lineups with Westbrook and Capela were garbage? Do you realize we traded our big BECAUSE of Westbrook. Do you realize how easy it is to neutralize a spread pick and roll for a dude who can't shoot? Holy ****........I didnt realize you knew so little. And I'm telling you Westbrook ISNT GOOD ENOUGH to do so. The offense being run by Westbrook leads to worse offense overall. And he certainly wasnt good enough last playoffs as Harden had a way higher assist percentage. LOL and I love you are just dumb enough to believe teams will just let Harden roam around freely off the ball, its really cute.
No, I'm not. Westbrook didnt only play 35 minutes only in a whole season, thats not true. Nor are there any positive lineups with him without Harden that have significant minutes.
But there like millions of other lineups that have smaller minutes that out weight that 35 minute lineup? Even if that's the most used lineup its 35 minutes over a whole season so it means nothing. There are way more lineups with Westbrook in them that are in the negative and that's my point. He sucks at running his own lineup. I dont understand this sentence, but either way Harden has been better without Westbrook on the floor through out all this season and through out all of the playoffs. That is fact We get worse wether he's by himself or he's with Harden, that's not a dude worth 40 million. Yea but there is enough of an aggregate to say that Harden only lineups are better than Westbrook only lineups. We also had our worse offensive rating as a team in years. We are barely top 10 and one of the worst offenses since starting the bubble. And really bad offensively in the playoffs. Its 35 minutes, it dosen mean anything. If you gave that a larger sample size, i would go into the negative again. All those mini minutes lineups were so damn terrible that they coulndt bothered to be played again.That lineup has Rivers and you saw what happend to him in the playoffs. Dantoni probably tore his hair out trying to find lineups that worked for Westbrook all season...but didnt. Cause..he sucks. We are not going to come to agreement here. You are just ignoring the his playoff stats and his regular season stats being on the decline for years. I like you man but Im honestly done with this conversation.
Harden and Covington are basically the only net positive players on this team. Thats the long and the short of it. And LOL at anyone who thinks Harden is the issue.
There is so much stupidity here.....I can't even....holy crap. I am done. You are one of the dumbest people I've ever seen on this board...and I'm putting you on ignore.
The mental gymnastics one has to go through to ignore how Westbrook only lineups were cancerous to winning is downright comical. To try to downplay how he was THE reason it was a statistical fact that our net rating plummeted is insane. The dude is a super max payed player for Christ sake. Constructing these hyper specific lineups for a super max player to merely be a net positive without Harden is ****ing ridiculous. Having to entertain that idea is admitting defeat before you even start.
The stupid hate sure. But pointing out when he is hurting the team with his play or his effort some nights isn’t being a “hater” it’s being a realist and understanding that he does have flaws and those flaws are very fixable because it has to do with him and it isn’t a talent issue. He deserves SOME of the blame.
Well that is just idiotic. The guy clearly has his issues but Houston wouldn’t have made the playoffs let alone 2 WCF appearances without him in the last 8 years. It’s that simple. He’s a top 5 player in the league and has been for a long time. That’s pretty rare. Definitely deserves some blame but all of it? People are dumb.
