You clearly didn't watch the Thunder very much. Harden wasn't a bust in any sense whatsoever. He fit the team like a glove as the season progressed and may end up winning the starting job next season.
That's true but I'm expecting him to learn that to get to the next level. If he doesn't it's going to very tough for him to have team success.
Tyreke is good but if im the thunder i choose harden as well he fits the team better, tyreke dominates the ball way to much and he isnt the greatest playmaker, he holds the ball like dwade but without the results, he makes alot of mistakes, but then again he is a rookie so next year we will see what he is made of.
'Reke has a world of potential, but his weaknesses are glaring. More than anything, he's got to improve his weaknesses to get better: Very weak left hand, doesn't move without the ball, fair to middling floor vision and doesn't play within his own abilities. If he doesn't learn to score without dominating the ball, Reke will prevent his team from improving. He's got to remove his ego from his shoulders and give the ball up when he doesn't have the advantage. I'll never forget the Lakers game where he completely crumbled down the stretch and it led to OT. He sat out the first 2 1/2 minutes of OT and the Kings went up by 7. The second he entered, the Lakers scored ~12 straight points because 'Reke nuked the Kings offensive chemistry. It was a crushing loss. A similar thing happened the next game against the Cavs. I think Westphal enables Reke too much and doesn't coach him enough.
Agreed. Plus, I find it no coincidence that the Thunder won two of the three games during the Lakers series in which Harden got heavy minutes. Like any rookie, he has work to do but like you mentioned he adapts well to his role and seems to fit very well.
I have said it before. Tyreke Evans is Steve Francis v.2.0. If he is the best player on your team, you aren't going anywhere. But if he is not your best player, then your best player is screwed.
Excellent point. This is my main concern about him. He has to learn to play offense in a way that gives his team the greatest success, which means sacrificing his personal game and being able to set up his teammates where they need the ball. SF never learned and Reke wasn't taught by Westphal to even attempt this. It was all about seeing how good he could be and how far he could go. If Evans continues down this selfish path, believe the beat-writers and actually sees himself as a "mini-LeBron", the Kings will have major problems building a winner.
In any sense? So for you getting a "maybe the starter next season" is a worthwile investment for a top 3 lottery pick? I never denied wasn't any good, as I said he fits perfectly with the Thunder. However his rookie performance isn't worth a top 3 pick no matter how slice it.
I disagree with this. Steve Francis was a master of the iso ball and couldn't really make plays for other people, nor finish efficiently. He basically relied on his athletecism to power through people and when it left him he was done. Tyreke isn't a Bball IQ r****ded like Francis, he can understand and make plays for other people. Unlike Francis Tyreke was also one of the most efficient players in the league, he converted near the rim at a very high rate. The only similarities between Francis and Tyreke is both of them have a suspect jumper and both need the ball a lot. But the thing is a lot of good players need the ball as well, among them LBJ, Wade, CP3 and Brandon Roy. I agree he needs to learn to play with other stars, however I think he will be a lot more productive on the court than Francis ever was.
I meant exactly what I said. On a 50-win playoff team, Harden averaged 10/3/2 off the bench. I repeat: In no sense of the word at all was Harden a bust. Zero! He made a huge impact in a boatload of games this year. Harden started off the season slowly and was inconsistent. These were his major issues. But he displayed a lot of basketball IQ and savvy that blew a lot of minds and clearly has a lot of upside. He has a great knack for getting to the rim and drawing fouls. He already has more court vision and passing ability than most SGs. While he's no stopper, his improvement during the season on defense was notable (He was reeeaally bad at first). We'll see where he ends up after a few years. Seriously, tell me what he should have done to avoid your "bust" label. Very curious.
Good. Good. and Good. You got Durant and Westbrooks you don't need Evans, Durant is the franchise, if Evans come in, you'll need to play with 2 basketballs....Harden is a good pick to be the 6th man
I think you forgot how good Francis looked in his rookie year. He wasn't named "Franchise" for nothing. We were all excited in the imagination of what great things he would bring to the Rockets. We only came to realize that he did not have the IQ in him to be a real leader for a contender after a few years of the same thing. I don't see too much higher IQ in Evans. Maybe he will learn and develop. Maybe he won't. We'll see.
So Bill Simmons already discussed this, along with picking Stephen Curry over Harden: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/part1/100416&sportCat=nba Just scroll down to where it says "What do we think?" in bold letters
Honestly I'm completely baffled why you don't think Harden shouldn't produce more Look I'm not asking for the world. However is it too much to ask more from a top 3 pick than 10 pts and 3 assists? Top 3 picks are supposed to be high impact players, and yet Harden's stats belong more to a roleplayer than a future all star. In fact our very own C-Bud playing behind both Shane Battier and Ariza put up extremely similar stats, including TS% and PER. I'm not saying Harden is a bust overall, as I said he'll be a decent player in the league. However he doesn't project to be a star to me, more like an elite roleplayer like Battier was or what C-Bud projects to be. If you think an elite roleplayer is good value for a top 3 LOTTERY pick, then pardon me if I don't share your opinion.
They made the right choice, Harden will fit in and not demand the ball.... Durant needs to be the focus, Evans would screw that up.... DD
Honestly I only became a fan when Yao got here so I don't have any idea how Francis looked when he was a rookie. I suppose I'll have to take your word for it. I guess we'll see in a few years if Tyreke learns to share the ball or not.
LOL picking Harden doesn't hurt them, but if given a do-ever the Thunder would be idiots to pick Harden again. They should draft Tyreke, then ship him out for better parts instead of picking the clearly worse player. They already have a Harden on that team anyway, Thabo Sefalosha.
OK, so you've given up the "bust" talk and now it's should have "produced more". At least this make sense. You aren't "asking for the world", so what are you asking for? You didn't answer me. Also, your comment saying Sefalosha and Harden play the same role is telling. They are actually nothing alike. At all. Sefalosha is a defensive specialists, pure and simple. When his 3-point shot isn't going in, Thabo can't do much on offense other than finish on the break. The only reason he has a job in the NBA is to guard the opposing team's best player because he's a liability on offense. Harden is a scorer. He comes in the game to put up points in bunches and jumpstart their offense. Some games this season, the defense that Thabo and Westbrook played on the perimeter was incredible and the Thunder would smother teams. Other times Harden would inspire them on a scoring binge to blow games open or lead comebacks. 6th men often do that. In summary, you've dropped the bust talk but misunderstand what Harden's role is. Of course he could have scored more, but 10/3/2 on a very good team isn't terrible for a #3 pick, especially one who eventually learned over the long season how to help the Thunder without scoring. It would have been nice if he scored more but it's just his first season. If he had gone to a pathetic team like most #3 picks, the number would have been higher.
