Guys, I rarely criticize your takes. But wait a freaking second on james harden. No, no he is not a genius orchestrator of the court. He never was, really, but he most certainly is not now. My momma can play next to a healthy Kawhi Leonard and help win games. If Kawhi plays all year healthy, he is the MVP-. as you noted, his numbers are sick. (kawhi, jokic, luka). But harden at some point will start to wear down. Meaning effectively slow down even further. If Kawhi gets hurt, and only PG is out there with harden, lets see how the team looks. So enough of this love fest for the reigning malcontent in the NBA history -- a post season choke genius (that he is genius level) and note also his defense is appalling. (again helps having kawhi out thgere). And..... I hope Im wrong, but i d be surprised if KL doesnt get hurt. I fear he be at that point in his career. Clips are not going to win anything, but thats just MHO
Harden has his postseason issues, for sure, but he happens to be a very gifted game manager. He ranks 7th amongst guards in assists per 100 this year playing on a new team with no preseason work put in w them, after finishing second overall to Haliburton last season on a far superior team, second overall the season before that to CP3, second overall to Westbrook the season prior. That puts him #1 over the last four seasons. His teams are 110-57 in the 3 seasons before he arrived to LAC. He is currently in the 62nd percentile in DEPM, was 70th percentile last season and 60th the season prior. His last 2 full seasons in Houston he was in the 83rd and 92nd percentile in DEPM. Does he take plays off? Yes. He is not close to perfect. But he's one of the top few in league history as a primary ball handler/quarterback/scorer. In the regular season.
id only add that statistics are often not overly reliable. harden has never won important games. His presence seems not to bring teams together, in spite of his impressive numbers. I grant you his teams have won, often, but how much is due to him? And then they have never won post season. Westbrook is another great example. Does anyone think Russ is actually a 'good' player? Great stats, no question. But maybe this is the year Russ and the Beard can shake that reputation. Just as a thought experiment, if you look at tony parker, not nearly the numbers, and people will say, well, he played with Tim. Thats why he won. And thats true. But Id argue Tony made his team better. Id rather have tony parker than james harden. If the clippers win ANYTHING this year, I'll repent at the church of the beard. But im betting i wont have to.
Guys, I rarely criticize your takes. But wait a freaking second on james harden. No, no he is not a genius orchestrator of the court. He never was, really, but he most certainly is not now. My momma can play next to a healthy Kawhi Leonard and help win games. If Kawhi plays all year healthy, he is the MVP-. as you noted, his numbers are sick. (kawhi, jokic, luka). But harden at some point will start to wear down. Meaning effectively slow down even further. If Kawhi gets hurt, and only PG is out there with harden, lets see how the team looks. So enough of this love fest for the reigning malcontent in the NBA history -- a post season choke genius (that he is genius level) and note also his defense is appalling. (again helps having kawhi out thgere). And..... I hope Im wrong, but i d be surprised if KL doesnt get hurt. I fear he be at that point in his career. Clips are not going to win anything, but thats just MHO
Harden has his postseason issues, for sure, but he happens to be a very gifted game manager. He ranks 7th amongst guards in assists per 100 this year playing on a new team with no preseason work put in w them, after finishing second overall to Haliburton last season on a far superior team, second overall the season before that to CP3, second overall to Westbrook the season prior. That puts him #1 over the last four seasons. His teams are 110-57 in the 3 seasons before he arrived to LAC. He is currently in the 62nd percentile in DEPM, was 70th percentile last season and 60th the season prior. His last 2 full seasons in Houston he was in the 83rd and 92nd percentile in DEPM. Does he take plays off? Yes. He is not close to perfect. But he's one of the top few in league history as a primary ball handler/quarterback/scorer. In the regular season.
addendum: He is also slowing down. Same for KD. I feel, often, people view them through the lenses of previous seasons.
id only add that statistics are often not overly reliable. harden has never won important games. His presence seems not to bring teams together, in spite of his impressive numbers. I grant you his teams have won, often, but how much is due to him? And then they have never won post season. Westbrook is another great example. Does anyone think Russ is actually a 'good' player? Great stats, no question. But maybe this is the year Russ and the Beard can shake that reputation. Just as a thought experiment, if you look at tony parker, not nearly the numbers, and people will say, well, he played with Tim. Thats why he won. And thats true. But Id argue Tony made his team better. Id rather have tony parker than james harden. If the clippers win ANYTHING this year, I'll repent at the church of the beard. But im betting i wont have to.