James Harden WAS just what the Clippers needed
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- čas přidán 26. 01. 2024
- The Clippers are 21-4 in January and February behind the best offense in the NBA. In this enhanced segment from the Thinking Basketball podcast, Ben and Cody break down James Harden's role as a point guard for Ty Lue's offense and why his pass-first style has fit so well with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
-Full episode-
CZcams: • The top passers in the...
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Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
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#thinkingbasketball - Sport
The editing on this is CLEAN. So satisfying watching the commentary perfectly synced with plays that show off exactly what Ben and Cody are describing
Didn’t realize they showed clips which is why I initially didn’t watch the podcast videos this is great
Are you Ben or Cody? LOL
This is their shared burner account. KD also occasionally uses it@@TheSpadre
They don't show clips while recording but in these highlights from the podcast they do. The podcast is still awesome but these videos are just an entirely different level of attention to detail. They really know their stuff.
They don't show clips while recording but in these highlights from the podcast they do. The podcast is still awesome but these videos are just an entirely different level of attention to detail. They really know their stuff.
"Am not a system player ,Am the system ". Dude knew what he was talking about for sure
well yea, it doesnt take a genius to know he needs high usage and the ball in his hands to be effective
That's the issue. What that means is that he doesn't move off ball plain and simple. That's the only thing that it means. Zero off bar movement
yes, atleast he is very self aware that he is a burden and black hole
So hes self aware that hes a team hijacker and cant fit with others so he makes them adapt to him. big whoop
@@ilovekaiykofact
He been one of the best if not the best passer for many years. A lot of people just weren't familiar with his game because they either didn't watch him enough, believed narratives, or let his scoring over shadow how great his passing is
3 assist titles can’t convince people nothing will
@@youngdmoney95 *2 but it should be 3 fr
@@EhhSenpai should?
@@thecaptain9212 nba did some wonky stuff with assist tracking during 2021-2022 season
word brother word!
5:49 “James Harden’s passing is so much more expansive than I am remembering.” He always played like this. During his Houston years he was the center of the offense and also the primary facilitator/playmaker, he didn’t develop all of this passing ability overnight.
That's not what he's saying, he's saying he has a better passing vocabulary because he is not playing that much on ball, so he finally gets to consistenly display other types of passes like outlets, passes from the elbow, touch passes, etc that just don't show themselves that much when you're the center of the offense
@@soooslaaal8204 I know what he’s saying. These sorts of passes were always in his arsenal even in his earliest days in HOU with Dwight Howard though. You can watch a highlight reel of them. None of this is new. It just goes to show a lot of people didn’t start paying attention to him outside of being a “playoff choker” until he got to the Nets.
@@lgnance What are you on? People payed plenty of attention to Harden before he went to the Nets lol. I know he had those passes, I saw the pre-D'Antoni Harden that didn't dominate the ball as much, read what I wrote, I'm saying there are passes he didn't get to consistently display much under that system where he dominated the ball
@@soooslaaal8204chill out bro. You don’t need to get mad you didn’t know abt harden till last year
Nah, even cp3 couldn't get Harden to play like this off the ball. Dude sat and barely moved towards the end of that stay. He played differently before dantoni if that's what you mean
Just makes me think that Ty Lue is incredibly underrated man has them playing for each other like no one could
Ty Lue really did an amazing job managing egos in Cleveland but as an x and os coach had not come into his own. He clearly learned a lot after leaving Cleveland and has done a great job managing all this talent and maximizing it.
This isn’t about Ty Lue. We have 5Cali natives on the same team determined to get the Clippers their first Chip before moving to the new arena. All the motivation they need.
@@kstephen1519 I was going to mention that they're all Cali guys but my first thought was their age. With age comes maturity, willingness to pass more, willingness to just do whatever it takes. Moreover, willingness to actually listen to a coach, whoever they are. I'll still take Harden finding the right pass in a clutch time AOT play over Lue drawing something up, but the point is they have a LOT going for them right now.
Ty lue is not underrated we know he's the best or second best coach in the NBA
@@kstephen1519 You're trying as hard as possible to take away credit from Ty Lue. How does them being from the same area translate to winning basketball?
When “superteams don’t work” - Thinking Basketball… harden is the truth
I mean technically, many other super teams don't work. 😂
@@ThinkingBasketball Time to make a retraction video on that...superteams will work if the talent can find a way to fit together. It takes a little bit of time to figure things out and all things considered Harden and the team figured it out pretty quickly.
I will admit that i wrote off clippers as soon as they announced the trade. I'm so happy i was wrong because this clippers team slaps hard. Must see tv for all basketball fans.
We haven't seen the playoffs yet. Just wait. It's James Harden.
@@michaelahurt are you hoping for that, or you just expect no change in his character?
@@danmcc8168 I mean the guy who shot 41% | 25% in games 6 and 7 of that series
You don't get a pass? Did you think the nets won the trade too?
@@yahnathantasian5152 I'm not hoping for it but we're in year 15. At what point is that just who you are?
It's less about change in character so much as he has exploitable holes in his game and he's never dealt well with adversity and pressure. Teams in the playoffs will force him right, stay home, guard the lob and make him finish. He wouldn't even shoot those shots last year in games 6/7 against Boston.
I also just think odds are one of the three gets injured in the playoffs. But I like them more than 2020. Ty is a better more creative coach than Doc and Westbrook gives them a toughness and leadership that 2020 team lacked. I just can't trust Harden. If I'm wrong, great. I loved him at ASU and this is closer to what I hoped for him then.
One thing i think isnt mentioned enough is the drastic change of pace between ball handlers. Harden will start the game with a methodical approach. Then Russ comes off the bench at 100 mph while putting insane pressure on the rim. I feel like the extreme difference between those 2 is what helps the Clippers offense stay very good even without harden on the floor.
According to bball ref they score 124
Per 100 with Harden on and 116 with him off. So you are not exactly right on this one
#1 offense ON
#15 offense OFF
@@jacobfolse3154 yea I was just going off eye test, but I can’t argue with the facts. Thanks for letting me know homie
@@jacobfolse3154how does using stats with a fixed number of possessions prove that there's not a change in pace? I'd imagine the offensive rating would be more efficient when Harden is on the floor, but nothing regarding pace is represented in pts per 100 possession stats - as the pace is literally irrelevant when the number of possessions is a fixed number.
Well there is a chance in pace but the offense on a per possession basis is not close.
@@jacobfolse3154 oh that's fair. I thought u were arguing his point about pace. Middle of the pack offense in the mins Harden is off the floor is probably better than most teams fare without their best playmaker though tbf.
James finally is finding his footing with this system. It’s made to highlight his strengths and hide weaknesses. Don’t know if he’ll find success in the playoffs, but as long they take the pressure off him to where he can play his game freely, he should be fine!!!
…..he is….
The system
@@joejett5084hngngng
Ghngngnnggngnngnngnynyymyynymyymynynynyngngnggngg g
I like how people just blatantly ignore that harden has been great in the playoffs particularly before his 2021 injury vs the bucks. Everyone just looks at 2022 and 2023 where he was coached by doc rivers and not maximized.
yeah he's was great in the 2018-20 playoffs @@thelegendoof8744
I think Harden will shine in the playoffs. There's way less pressure for him since PG and Leonard will handle the brunt of the scoring pressure
Time is fluid. I can't believe a few weeks ago everyone wrote off the clippers after the trade, and then Russ went to the bench for the team, helping them get to the rhythm they have now, force feeding a lot of people their words.
They did lose 6 straight games, including a loss to a heavily undermanned Grizzlies. It's easy to say in hindsight now that they have finally found the winning formula
@@underpressure07140 Is it weird to think that time is required to figure things out? No preseason for such an integral piece.
@@applekoh-ie8vl it's not weird, but let's not kid ourselves, we all expected them to beat the Nets and Grizzlies during that stretch with sheer talent
@@underpressure07140maybe they should’ve just been given the benefit of the doubt from the beginning instead of people overreacting
So will you be here when the Clippers with Harden implode yet again the playoffs 5 months from now? Time is pretty fluid and so is the shit hitting the fan and onto your face.
Cody's podcast analysis of that Paul George corner pocket three, without watching the video, was pristine
1:46 i bursted out laughing where cody almost slipped up and said pound town 😂
Cody’s been listening to too much sexyy red
@@josephchandler8418 the only explanation 🤣
LMAOOO THE SWITCH UP 😂😂😂
Apology is never as loud as the disrespect
@@dougiet.2112 NEVER
Harden has shown that he can do things like this before in H-Town as the helio guy. We just tend to forget it because of those insane scoring seasons of all-time high volume scoring, iso, and stepbacks 3s.
First time watching your channel and you earned me a subscriber with the on-point edits. Perfect sync guys. Good content and quality vids.
so we not gonna act like you didnt upload a video with james harden, paul goerge, and kawhi in the thumbnail saying superteams dont work 💀💀
We need to keep emphasizing this as well about Harden. There is this incorrect narrative pushed by Doc Rivers and now people across the basketball media that Harden "changed" after he got snubbed as an All Star and became more selfish in the second half of last season. Ben I believe pointed out recently that there was barely any change to his numbers before and post All Star break.
I am not a Harden fan, but I really detest narratives being pushed and presented as facts when they simply are not true at all.
The Clippers needed Harden to pull the perfect failure, and it's not narratives.
Let's hope they won't choke again next year
Sheesh those cut aways were clean! Everything was sync so perfect. You keep that up i might have to start donating money to you guys.
I did not expect to see him mesh so well with both kawhi and PG they’re two of my favorite superstars so I hope to see them stay healthy and have playoff success, awesome video as always
I think what's great about this channel is just this combination of in depth analysis and immense love and appreciation for what's covered.
Channels like bball breakdown love to take jabs at players throughout their analysis, but not here!
He’s what the lakers needed tbh what he did with embiid last year is needed right now Ad could be much better
Almost like a top 15 player makes every team better
@@ckq yea but thats not how it works. players need the right fit
@@ckqnah he made the sixers better by leaving😂
True
@@lilmexicochoppa1436 He made the Sixers better by mentoring Maxey + the sixers have Nick Nurse instead of Doc Rivers this year...
Theres not a team in the league that wouldnt benefit from hardens passing ability + shooting
love the video again. could y’all do a podcast or video later in the season talking about how incredible every single series is going to be in the playoffs this year i think jt would be awesome to hear.
Harden a top 7 passer??? lol bro is 100% top 3 passer in the league.
Jokic hali and lebron better
Hali not better. He just averages more assist . Look at the quality and accuracy of the passes
@@bboywolflebron? Lol
The switch up is crazy stay on that side bro
always a pleasure listening to your videos. You guys are missing the chance to have a clip art style basketball replacing the top of the microphone in the podcast logo.. similar to what you have in the channel logo
The yearly harden appreciation video 🥰🥰
Beautiful Xs + Os analysis, thank you.
This man got every big man he played with PAID 💯.respect that 👏
Major facts
Don't forget westbrook is also on this team, I wanna see his slice in the offensive pie too
His biggest contribution is to get out of the way for KL PG harden to play great basketball. Russ is merely a free rider sitting on the bench cheering for KL PG harden success.
It’s not a coincidence when he moved to the bench and the team started winning.
@@boriskan6453 Oh come on don't do him dirty. He can't start for a contender because he can't shoot, but he adds alot of value to the team coming off the bench.
@@boriskan6453 Can I get some metrics on that or are we talking about your feelings and emotions ? Lol
harden is a top 3 passer in the league. he has been for the last 5 years.
great video well done
Good analysis of what is happening now, but not so much on "Harden ball". Harden was amazing in Houston. "Harden ball" was a product of personnel, Daryl Morey, and D'Antoni's offense. If you go back to interviews in that season, Harden didn't ask for that role. If there is a stat available for passes to wide-open players, he would have set season-high records as "Houston Harden". They just couldn't knock down shots. It is good to see him in an integrated offense and play a style where you can compare him to other point guards. He gets way too much criticism and not enough credit. The dude has always just done what was asked of him by his coach. Now he's a straight-up point guard and he's criticized for not being a scorer.
You know ball
He got clowned on for calling himself one of the most unselfish players ever. But Beardman's been sacrificing his talents his whole career with very little pouting.
In OKC, Scott Brooks played him as 6th man for 3 years in, despite being one of the most talented players on the team.
In Houston, Tim Fertitta refused to go over the luxury tax and surround him with better players, despite being one game away from an NBA finals in 2018. (The next year he averaged 36ppg 7rpg 8apg)
In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving played less games then Harden, despite Harden being injured.
In Philadelphia, he took a pay cut so the Doc Rivers could sign more depth, despite being owed $15million more.
Generational talent that's been adapting and being unselfish since he entered the league
when the 2019 rockets are down 0-2 and he averages 40/10/5 the next 2 games to tie it up, it doesn't count. when he puts up 35/8/5 and has more points/rebounds/assists/steals than steph in game 6, he sucked and steph was legendary to win without KD.
in the bubble he put up 30 ppg on 67 TS% against an elite lakers defense that was just doubling him near halfcourt and leaving russ wide open. but he sucked.
he also tends to have his best games end in near losses, which unless he has a time machine, i'm not sure what he can do about. putting up 39/10/9 on 62% shooting (field goal, not TS%) against the #1 defense 2015 warriors and being +12 in 41 minutes, only for the rockets to be -13 in his 7 minutes off so he loses by 1 gets forgotten. still a great game.
he goes up 3-2 on the most talented team ever but cp3 gets injured so no credit for harden. he's had some disappointing playoff moments, but people way overplay it.
I mean Harden does have 9 playoff games where he scored 40+ points, including 3 in the 2018 playoff run alone.
Curry has 7 such games in his career.
Butler has 6.
Melo had 4.
Harden certainly deserves plenty of criticism. But this idea that he’s never gone off in the playoffs is ridiculous. He generally had just kind of ok supporting casts and regularly made some decent playoff runs.
His Rockets were also the only team to really give a healthy KD Warriors any real trouble. Cavs got swept and lost in 5.
I think if you take "Most Valuable Player" literally, Harden should have won. Take Steph Curry off of that Warriors team, and that's still a good team. Take James Harden off of that Rockets team (keep in mind that Dwight was also missing for most of the season), and that team is very close to the very bottom of the West.
Steph Curry had a phenomenal season, but I'm tired of team performance being taken into account so heavily in individual accolades.
Harden 2014-15. With out Harden the Rockets probably dont make the playoffs. With out Curry the Warriors still make the playoffs, just not as the first seed. I feel like considering that Dwight was injured most of the season and Harden fucking went ham to keep his team a float, that the MVP should have gone to him. The only knock on Harden was his percentages, but Harden still averaged 27.4 points, 7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the season. Dem be MVP numbuhs.
James Harden is an underrated defender and I will argue that to the grave
The only reason mainstream media views harden as a bad defensive player is because of lowlight tapes where harden doesn’t sprint across the court to guard a speedy fast break but when Lebron sags on defense it’s considered conserving energy.
Efficiency wise if a player is a huge plus on offense it makes sense to have them expend the majority of their energy getting points instead of making high energy cost/low return defensive plays. Especially when that player is by far the most effective offensive player on the team.
Lebrons famous 48 minute playoff games utilize this strategy and Harden is the highest usage player in league history so it’s less about defensive skill as opposed to a strategic decision.
This is why Harden prefers to guard bigs in the post where his style is more about stealing low rather than jumping to block. And when looking at his defensive efficiency in the post it’s up there with the best in the league.
Defense isn’t necessarily about the flashy blocks of a Giannis or the scrappy pestering of a Pat Beverly. It’s about not letting the other team score the ball and Harden does a good not great job at that. I rest my case.
At their peaks, Harden IS a better offensive player than Jordan (and Kobe) by every imaginable metric.
Harden is a better offensive player at his peak than Jordan. Some of this is going to sound repetitive but follow along.
Kobe averaged 5 rebounds and 4 assists in his 35.1ppg season. He did that on 27 FGAs, and a 56% TS
Jordan averaged 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his 37ppg season. He did that on 28 FGAs, and a 56% TS.
Harden averaged 7 rebounds and 8 assists in his 36.1ppg season. He's doing that on 24 FGAs and a 61% TS.
Yeah well Harden shoots too many free throws.
Harden: 11 FTA (88%)
Jordan: 11.9 FTA (85.7%)
Kobe: 10.2 FTA (85%)
Yeah well Harden shoots too many threes that's why his TS is high.
Harden: 54.1 eFG%, 52.9% from 2, 36.8% from 3
Kobe: 49.1 eFG%, 48.2% from 2, 34.7% from 3
MJ: 48.4 eFG%, 49.1% from 2, 18.2% from 3 (only on 0.8 attempts though)
Yeah well the game was much slower back then.
Per 100 Possessions:
Harden: 48.2 PPG (highest of all time)
MJ: 46.4 PPG
Kobe: 45.6 PPG
Yeah well compared to their league, Jordan stood out more.
Then let's compare to the league average.
Harden: 54.1 eFG% and 61.7 TS%, League Average: 52.4 eFG% and 55.7 TS%
Kobe: 49.1 eFG% and 55.9 TS%, League Average: 49 eFG% and 53.5 TS%
MJ: 48.4 eFG% and 56.2 TS%, League Average: 48.8 eFG% and 53.8 TS%
This isn't even factoring in seasons Harden has averaged 10+ assists, and he's done that many times.
Harden is a very capable defender when he tries. For majority of the game Harden plays defense but allows blowbys to avoid risking picking up fouls. Due to his heavy minutes, especially when he was in Houston, harden lacked in defense to avoid getting fouls, which is why he is known as a bad defender. However, in late game situations, especially in the playoffs, he locks in and is one of the better perimeter defensive players in the league. As for his post defense, he has been number one in the league statistically since 2019, and has even been second in the league in perimeter isolation points allowed per possession in 2020. In addition to all of that, he is an extremely smart player defensively. He knows when to help, where other players need to stand and is known for his defensive communication. His Houston rockets had the number one defense in the playoffs and in the bubble of 2020. Statistically James has been top 5 in steals for many seasons, number one in deflections for a few years, and has the most blocks by any guard since joining Houston. He has crucial defensive saves in important games including against Giannis, Porzingis, in game 7 of okc thunder, and even against embiid in the 2020 rockets 76ers matchup, where embiid got in a little skirmish with him after harden stopped him on back to back possessions. He may not play it the whole game, but when he tries harden is a top defender in almost every aspect, and a beneficial one to have on the court due to his intelligence.
And people talking bout his defense are idiots, hes locked up and then shit on Kawhi/PG/Beverly in a 1v3 lmaoooo he has the most points on every team too plus like 3 years of 10+ assists and the others are 8-9 assists on top of 30-36.6 points. He's the only one who even challenged the KD Era warriors and lost because of blatant ref fixing and Ariza going 0-12 on wide open threes generated by Harden along with his second best player CP3 going down and Capela getting sonned by a rookie Looney. Harden was literally dunking on draymond all day and dray got pissed and shoved him like 30 seconds into a game because he got scored on twice fast. That's not even mentioning all that happened while facing the KD warriors who had 5 star players, 2 of which were the number one and number two best shooters in the history of the league, Dpoy draymond, a top 2-3 scorer in Durant, Iggy dpoy. Then waiving off 12 of Hardens points but not making the same call if he missed the 3...blatant lmao
Harden has been a top 3 hardest working player for the past 10 years. Just because he likes strip clubs and partying doesn't mean he disregards practice and conditioning. This sub is just going with assuming narratives instead of taking 5 minutes to find out that Harden's workouts have been Kobe-levels insane for many seasons, doing HIT lifting after having played 40 minutes in an NBA game with historic usage and scoring rate for entire seasons because the durability demanded from Harden forced him to be insanely well conditioned.
There are countless stories as well as statements by his staff and teammates about it, it's just easier to shit on a player for partying instead. Literally everybody who's ever played with Harden attests to his one-of-a-kind work ethic. The reason Harden has been struggling are injuries and playing through them as well as the miles on his body but it's 10000% not because he's lazy. He ONCE forced Houstons hand for 3 weeks because they wouldn't trade him despite his demands many months before the situation escalated. Other than that he's been more than textbook when it comes to work ethic, you don't become such a legendary offensive Superstar without working your ass off every day for many years. And yes Harden can come back, he's one of the most skilled players ever and he works out like a madman
@@sakshamdwivedi4273 Well said, but you know they are gonna hate you for this.
Harden Houston era was just playing with high variance with below average shooters but look much worse in the playoffs. Especially if people expect Harden to generate much more offense to tip the scales in a 7 game series. Which is funny because one would expect him to find his balance the better talented his teammates are. With this Clippers' squad they are only 19th in 3FGA but are at least top in 3FGA%. Plus that shooting and offense will be consistent in the playoffs if PG and Kawhi can stay healthy. And those 2 are arguably better scorers in a playoff setting than Harden ever was.
@@t4d0W Harden averages 22.7 points per game while Kawhi and PG13 both equal 21.3 ppg. Assists 6.3 for Harden and 2.9 and 4.1 for Kawhi and PG. So Harden produces more points in the playoffs.
I'm excited for this team. Its a good mix
The old 2nd string Harden/Collison pick and rolls on OKC were my favorite.
That was my favorite version of Harden! He generated soooo much offense playing with the second unit in OKC, and it had a beautiful flow.
This channel is lit
Is Cody recording in a Sauna?
So much for James harden not being a portable player ehh ben
Great video. Harden running pnr and defenders not wanting leave george or kawhi, is by far the best #3 option in league
Ben and Cody are the basketball podcast version of a prime Harden and Capela pick-and-roll.
harden do this every year... you swear it can't work and then he figures it out every time.
Love to see Kahwi finally playing
W THINKING BASKETBALL!
Once my guy left from OKC I knew he was the system ❤
he is the system
They sound surprised. But the Clippers wanted Harden because they knew he could do this. And it's what the sixers wanted. And he played PG in Houston as far back as 2016-17, averaged 11 assists.
5:13 you're right ben, it all Theis together
You are seeing more "kick-aheads" because you used to not watch him play. He's always pushed the ball up with passing and rewarded guys for running the court.
If this James Harden appears at the Playoffs, I'll have to eat crow and give the man the respect he deserves.
Respect for putting your biased opinions on the side and really analyzing Harden/Clippers professionally with dedication, this is what I expect from a cognitive scientist.
Could you make a video on the best passers in the league right now
It's crazy how after the Clips went 0-5 in Harden's first 5 games and really turned it around. And I know this focused on Harden's offense but hope you talk about his defense at some point. Sample size is still low but he's +/- is the best it's been playing 38+ games since 2017-18. He's obviously not an elite defender but he doesn't need to be. And seems to have bought into the system and actually makes an effort on D.
Say what you want about him, he’s an absolute basketball genius. Very few players see the game on his level. Been loving watching the Clips with him, hope they can go deep in the playoffs.
The System
Since Embiid is The Process, it seems apt now to refer to Harden as The System or should we say the Bearded System lol
It’s crazy that Harden will be remembered as a shooting guard and Curry will be remembered as a point guard…just because of there heights
It’s because harden has been introduced in starting lineupa as a SG for most
Of his career and Steph has been introduced as a PG his entire career.
The clear definition of those static positions have been warped the past 30 years. Even more so in the last decade where if a player can't shoot to help spacing, they better be a cutter, defender and playmaker.
I been sayin for years once the clips got a true pg to compliment kawhi and pg it was over for the lg. And it’s a perfect marriage for harden bc he doesn’t have to score 25 a night with these guys and can focus on running efficient offense
As a hoop nerd, Clippers offense still looks like it can get way way better. All these dudes are in their prime and if they stay healthy and keep building that chemistry it's gonna be scaryyyyyyy
Buddy said “where its pound pound town pound”
We would be seeing the same stats from russ if he was the starter but having James just gives the clips another option and other teams but take on 4 first options
The system 👑
Ty Lue and Russ are not getting enough credit
the goat
I remember when these guys were saying how the clipper trade wasn't working and downplaying the trade and personnel. now the title is the trade is 100% on point..
He led the league in assists twice and people are just now realizing he's a good passer? Him and Chris Paul used to have what seemed like a friendly competition to see who could make the best assist each game when they played in Houston. Was entertaining watching them try to one up each other on their way to a 65-17 record.
0:45 good times
Lol you switched up so hard, thought the trade was a disaster bro
I actually didn't mind the trade! I just didn't think we were reaching these levels...and we are.
James harden cooking MVP 🏀🥇
I wonder how many coaches, players, assistants watch you guys on a regular basis.
“When Superteams don’t work”
czcams.com/video/bmWhRwcnrUI/video.htmlsi=DlpvGc3Y8LcbbZOL 😂😂
Pls make a new cavs video they’ve been so good since 2024🙏🏽🙏🏽
U never truly gave Harden his full respect Ben. U said he didn't have portability. Yet has had success in every team and role he has been in.
For sure need to put more respect on his name and legacy. All Time Great. Top 20 player OAT. Top 5 Offensive Player Ever. Best Combo Guard Ever tbh. Good efficiency to top it off.
Stop glazing. All cap is what I‘m reading
no chance harden top 20
Playoffs matter most, in that regards Harden isn't a Top 10 Offensive player ever, isn't close to Top 20 all time either. Don't overdo it with giving Harden his praise.
Don't give harden too much respect, the haters hanging off his nuts are fiending to call him trash
Whether Harden is his teams 1st scoring option, 2nd scoring option,
Or 3rd scoring option, his teams offense has been top 5 every year for almost the last decade. How’s that for portability? Can play whatever role his coach asks of him and spits out elite offenses.
Harden may be the most underrated player in the league at this point . For instance this season his TS, BPM. WS48, LEBRON, and EPM are all better than someone like Jayson Tatum.
He got clowned on for calling himself one of the most unselfish players ever. But Beardman's been sacrificing his talents his whole career with very little pouting.
In OKC, Scott Brooks played him as 6th man for 3 years in, despite being one of the most talented players on the team.
In Houston, Tim Fertitta refused to go over the luxury tax and surround him with better players, despite being one game away from an NBA finals in 2018. (The next year he averaged 36ppg 7rpg 8apg)
In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving played less games then Harden, despite Harden being injured.
In Philadelphia, he took a pay cut so the Doc Rivers could sign more depth, despite being owed $15million more.
Generational talent that's been adapting and being unselfish since he entered the league
when the 2019 rockets are down 0-2 and he averages 40/10/5 the next 2 games to tie it up, it doesn't count. when he puts up 35/8/5 and has more points/rebounds/assists/steals than steph in game 6, he sucked and steph was legendary to win without KD.
in the bubble he put up 30 ppg on 67 TS% against an elite lakers defense that was just doubling him near halfcourt and leaving russ wide open. but he sucked.
he also tends to have his best games end in near losses, which unless he has a time machine, i'm not sure what he can do about. putting up 39/10/9 on 62% shooting (field goal, not TS%) against the #1 defense 2015 warriors and being +12 in 41 minutes, only for the rockets to be -13 in his 7 minutes off so he loses by 1 gets forgotten. still a great game.
he goes up 3-2 on the most talented team ever but cp3 gets injured so no credit for harden. he's had some disappointing playoff moments, but people way overplay it.
I mean Harden does have 9 playoff games where he scored 40+ points, including 3 in the 2018 playoff run alone.
Curry has 7 such games in his career.
Butler has 6.
Melo had 4.
Harden certainly deserves plenty of criticism. But this idea that he’s never gone off in the playoffs is ridiculous. He generally had just kind of ok supporting casts and regularly made some decent playoff runs.
His Rockets were also the only team to really give a healthy KD Warriors any real trouble. Cavs got swept and lost in 5.
I think if you take "Most Valuable Player" literally, Harden should have won. Take Steph Curry off of that Warriors team, and that's still a good team. Take James Harden off of that Rockets team (keep in mind that Dwight was also missing for most of the season), and that team is very close to the very bottom of the West.
Steph Curry had a phenomenal season, but I'm tired of team performance being taken into account so heavily in individual accolades.
Harden 2014-15. With out Harden the Rockets probably dont make the playoffs. With out Curry the Warriors still make the playoffs, just not as the first seed. I feel like considering that Dwight was injured most of the season and Harden fucking went ham to keep his team a float, that the MVP should have gone to him. The only knock on Harden was his percentages, but Harden still averaged 27.4 points, 7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the season. Dem be MVP numbuhs.
James Harden is an underrated defender and I will argue that to the grave
The only reason mainstream media views harden as a bad defensive player is because of lowlight tapes where harden doesn’t sprint across the court to guard a speedy fast break but when Lebron sags on defense it’s considered conserving energy.
Efficiency wise if a player is a huge plus on offense it makes sense to have them expend the majority of their energy getting points instead of making high energy cost/low return defensive plays. Especially when that player is by far the most effective offensive player on the team.
Lebrons famous 48 minute playoff games utilize this strategy and Harden is the highest usage player in league history so it’s less about defensive skill as opposed to a strategic decision.
This is why Harden prefers to guard bigs in the post where his style is more about stealing low rather than jumping to block. And when looking at his defensive efficiency in the post it’s up there with the best in the league.
Defense isn’t necessarily about the flashy blocks of a Giannis or the scrappy pestering of a Pat Beverly. It’s about not letting the other team score the ball and Harden does a good not great job at that. I rest my case.
At their peaks, Harden IS a better offensive player than Jordan (and Kobe) by every imaginable metric.
Harden is a better offensive player at his peak than Jordan. Some of this is going to sound repetitive but follow along.
Kobe averaged 5 rebounds and 4 assists in his 35.1ppg season. He did that on 27 FGAs, and a 56% TS
Jordan averaged 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his 37ppg season. He did that on 28 FGAs, and a 56% TS.
Harden averaged 7 rebounds and 8 assists in his 36.1ppg season. He's doing that on 24 FGAs and a 61% TS.
Yeah well Harden shoots too many free throws.
Harden: 11 FTA (88%)
Jordan: 11.9 FTA (85.7%)
Kobe: 10.2 FTA (85%)
Yeah well Harden shoots too many threes that's why his TS is high.
Harden: 54.1 eFG%, 52.9% from 2, 36.8% from 3
Kobe: 49.1 eFG%, 48.2% from 2, 34.7% from 3
MJ: 48.4 eFG%, 49.1% from 2, 18.2% from 3 (only on 0.8 attempts though)
Yeah well the game was much slower back then.
Per 100 Possessions:
Harden: 48.2 PPG (highest of all time)
MJ: 46.4 PPG
Kobe: 45.6 PPG
Yeah well compared to their league, Jordan stood out more.
Then let's compare to the league average.
Harden: 54.1 eFG% and 61.7 TS%, League Average: 52.4 eFG% and 55.7 TS%
Kobe: 49.1 eFG% and 55.9 TS%, League Average: 49 eFG% and 53.5 TS%
MJ: 48.4 eFG% and 56.2 TS%, League Average: 48.8 eFG% and 53.8 TS%
This isn't even factoring in seasons Harden has averaged 10+ assists, and he's done that many times.
Harden is a very capable defender when he tries. For majority of the game Harden plays defense but allows blowbys to avoid risking picking up fouls. Due to his heavy minutes, especially when he was in Houston, harden lacked in defense to avoid getting fouls, which is why he is known as a bad defender. However, in late game situations, especially in the playoffs, he locks in and is one of the better perimeter defensive players in the league. As for his post defense, he has been number one in the league statistically since 2019, and has even been second in the league in perimeter isolation points allowed per possession in 2020. In addition to all of that, he is an extremely smart player defensively. He knows when to help, where other players need to stand and is known for his defensive communication. His Houston rockets had the number one defense in the playoffs and in the bubble of 2020. Statistically James has been top 5 in steals for many seasons, number one in deflections for a few years, and has the most blocks by any guard since joining Houston. He has crucial defensive saves in important games including against Giannis, Porzingis, in game 7 of okc thunder, and even against embiid in the 2020 rockets 76ers matchup, where embiid got in a little skirmish with him after harden stopped him on back to back possessions. He may not play it the whole game, but when he tries harden is a top defender in almost every aspect, and a beneficial one to have on the court due to his intelligence.
And people talking bout his defense are idiots, hes locked up and then shit on Kawhi/PG/Beverly in a 1v3 lmaoooo he has the most points on every team too plus like 3 years of 10+ assists and the others are 8-9 assists on top of 30-36.6 points. He's the only one who even challenged the KD Era warriors and lost because of blatant ref fixing and Ariza going 0-12 on wide open threes generated by Harden along with his second best player CP3 going down and Capela getting sonned by a rookie Looney. Harden was literally dunking on draymond all day and dray got pissed and shoved him like 30 seconds into a game because he got scored on twice fast. That's not even mentioning all that happened while facing the KD warriors who had 5 star players, 2 of which were the number one and number two best shooters in the history of the league, Dpoy draymond, a top 2-3 scorer in Durant, Iggy dpoy. Then waiving off 12 of Hardens points but not making the same call if he missed the 3...blatant lmao
Harden has been a top 3 hardest working player for the past 10 years. Just because he likes strip clubs and partying doesn't mean he disregards practice and conditioning. This sub is just going with assuming narratives instead of taking 5 minutes to find out that Harden's workouts have been Kobe-levels insane for many seasons, doing HIT lifting after having played 40 minutes in an NBA game with historic usage and scoring rate for entire seasons because the durability demanded from Harden forced him to be insanely well conditioned.
There are countless stories as well as statements by his staff and teammates about it, it's just easier to shit on a player for partying instead. Literally everybody who's ever played with Harden attests to his one-of-a-kind work ethic. The reason Harden has been struggling are injuries and playing through them as well as the miles on his body but it's 10000% not because he's lazy. He ONCE forced Houstons hand for 3 weeks because they wouldn't trade him despite his demands many months before the situation escalated. Other than that he's been more than textbook when it comes to work ethic, you don't become such a legendary offensive Superstar without working your ass off every day for many years. And yes Harden can come back, he's one of the most skilled players ever and he works out like a madman
By the all star break he will likely enter the top 10 all time in win% for players with over 1000 games played, passing Jordan. He has the best career win % of any active player who has played more than 800 games. Including Bron, KD, Steph, Cp3, Russ, etc.
His greatest skill is probably being a winner if we are being honest.
@@jacobfolse3154 Well yea until the playoffs comes where he declines as opposed to other all time greats at this position .
Clippers v Celtics would be so fun
They’re playing each other today
@@wetsaapbrehh7839Celtics would beat the shit out of the clippers and I’m a clippers fan
@@GMQuay obviously not if you’re this oblivious as to how well the clippers match up against the Celtics. Clippers have all the pieces to body a small ball team like Boston.
@@wetsaapbrehh7839 but who would you favor in a series? I think the Celtics are the most talented roster in the league top to bottom
@@GMQuay I favor the clippers. Playoff series are all about matchups and adjustments. Clippers have more options matchup wise and Ty Lue has significantly more experience in the playoffs than Mozulla. Would be an amazing series but I believe clippers veteran experience and kawhi ability to become prime Michael Jordan in the post season will beat any team in a 7 game series.
At first that said this offense was stagnant now they giving praise lol. Offense ain’t change just the results
So much Ginobli in his game
These guys have been team mates before. The difference is the coach. Lue is responsible for this.
this a great ass podcast.
Why didn't you mention that he has a beard?
Harden point God
Clippers slowly but surely IMPROVE THEIR CHEMISTRY & big salute to Russell Westbrook 💪🔥💪
My main issue is a how can you be a player that has zero off-ball game. That to me is so problematic. That's another way of saying selfish
You need an on ball playmaker to make the pass to the off ball player. It's just balance. You can't have 5 off ball players lol somebody has to dribble. Clippers are a bunch of excellent 2 way mid range shooting wings. I mean yea they can handle & create somewhat. But It's minimal. it's not a strength. & Westbrook only good for upping the pace. He's shit in the half court
@@TheMonjok24yeah but even Kobe had an off-ball game. Jordan had an amazing off ball game. Almost any player that you consider to be ball dominant except Westbrook, all have an off-ball game to kind of counterbalance their own ball game. I just think his style is just selfish in my opinion. I could be biased
They literally highlight his hockey assists and touch passes, pass backs, and throw ahead passes IN this video. He’s also extremely efficient bc a lot of his scoring is assisted this year. He’s not JJ reddick running around screens for shots but not everyone has to be that
@@TheMonjok24I agree with that you said, but I don’t think Westbrook has been that bad in the half court this year as he probably was a few years ago. Out of all the negatives with his tenure with the Lakers, it did make for him being a little bit better off of the ball and being able to do more in the half court w/o trying to rely solely on athleticism.
@@WalterFlanagin No backcuts. No post up game. No curling off screens. Elite on ball player though
Dude everyone hated harden since he left the rockets maybe even before that and now he is just showing everyone he is one of the most talented offensive player the NBA has ever seen prolly a top 15 offensive talent I doubt someone could name 15 better then him on that side of the ball. The clippers is a perfect fit because they have so much defensive help for him especially on the perimeter.
top5
He got clowned on for calling himself one of the most unselfish players ever. But Beardman's been sacrificing his talents his whole career with very little pouting.
In OKC, Scott Brooks played him as 6th man for 3 years in, despite being one of the most talented players on the team.
In Houston, Tim Fertitta refused to go over the luxury tax and surround him with better players, despite being one game away from an NBA finals in 2018. (The next year he averaged 36ppg 7rpg 8apg)
In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving played less games then Harden, despite Harden being injured.
In Philadelphia, he took a pay cut so the Doc Rivers could sign more depth, despite being owed $15million more.
Generational talent that's been adapting and being unselfish since he entered the league
when the 2019 rockets are down 0-2 and he averages 40/10/5 the next 2 games to tie it up, it doesn't count. when he puts up 35/8/5 and has more points/rebounds/assists/steals than steph in game 6, he sucked and steph was legendary to win without KD.
in the bubble he put up 30 ppg on 67 TS% against an elite lakers defense that was just doubling him near halfcourt and leaving russ wide open. but he sucked.
he also tends to have his best games end in near losses, which unless he has a time machine, i'm not sure what he can do about. putting up 39/10/9 on 62% shooting (field goal, not TS%) against the #1 defense 2015 warriors and being +12 in 41 minutes, only for the rockets to be -13 in his 7 minutes off so he loses by 1 gets forgotten. still a great game.
he goes up 3-2 on the most talented team ever but cp3 gets injured so no credit for harden. he's had some disappointing playoff moments, but people way overplay it.
I mean Harden does have 9 playoff games where he scored 40+ points, including 3 in the 2018 playoff run alone.
Curry has 7 such games in his career.
Butler has 6.
Melo had 4.
Harden certainly deserves plenty of criticism. But this idea that he’s never gone off in the playoffs is ridiculous. He generally had just kind of ok supporting casts and regularly made some decent playoff runs.
His Rockets were also the only team to really give a healthy KD Warriors any real trouble. Cavs got swept and lost in 5.
I think if you take "Most Valuable Player" literally, Harden should have won. Take Steph Curry off of that Warriors team, and that's still a good team. Take James Harden off of that Rockets team (keep in mind that Dwight was also missing for most of the season), and that team is very close to the very bottom of the West.
Steph Curry had a phenomenal season, but I'm tired of team performance being taken into account so heavily in individual accolades.
Harden 2014-15. With out Harden the Rockets probably dont make the playoffs. With out Curry the Warriors still make the playoffs, just not as the first seed. I feel like considering that Dwight was injured most of the season and Harden fucking went ham to keep his team a float, that the MVP should have gone to him. The only knock on Harden was his percentages, but Harden still averaged 27.4 points, 7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the season. Dem be MVP numbuhs.
James Harden is an underrated defender and I will argue that to the grave
The only reason mainstream media views harden as a bad defensive player is because of lowlight tapes where harden doesn’t sprint across the court to guard a speedy fast break but when Lebron sags on defense it’s considered conserving energy.
Efficiency wise if a player is a huge plus on offense it makes sense to have them expend the majority of their energy getting points instead of making high energy cost/low return defensive plays. Especially when that player is by far the most effective offensive player on the team.
Lebrons famous 48 minute playoff games utilize this strategy and Harden is the highest usage player in league history so it’s less about defensive skill as opposed to a strategic decision.
This is why Harden prefers to guard bigs in the post where his style is more about stealing low rather than jumping to block. And when looking at his defensive efficiency in the post it’s up there with the best in the league.
Defense isn’t necessarily about the flashy blocks of a Giannis or the scrappy pestering of a Pat Beverly. It’s about not letting the other team score the ball and Harden does a good not great job at that. I rest my case.
At their peaks, Harden IS a better offensive player than Jordan (and Kobe) by every imaginable metric.
Harden is a better offensive player at his peak than Jordan. Some of this is going to sound repetitive but follow along.
Kobe averaged 5 rebounds and 4 assists in his 35.1ppg season. He did that on 27 FGAs, and a 56% TS
Jordan averaged 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his 37ppg season. He did that on 28 FGAs, and a 56% TS.
Harden averaged 7 rebounds and 8 assists in his 36.1ppg season. He's doing that on 24 FGAs and a 61% TS.
Yeah well Harden shoots too many free throws.
Harden: 11 FTA (88%)
Jordan: 11.9 FTA (85.7%)
Kobe: 10.2 FTA (85%)
Yeah well Harden shoots too many threes that's why his TS is high.
Harden: 54.1 eFG%, 52.9% from 2, 36.8% from 3
Kobe: 49.1 eFG%, 48.2% from 2, 34.7% from 3
MJ: 48.4 eFG%, 49.1% from 2, 18.2% from 3 (only on 0.8 attempts though)
Yeah well the game was much slower back then.
Per 100 Possessions:
Harden: 48.2 PPG (highest of all time)
MJ: 46.4 PPG
Kobe: 45.6 PPG
Yeah well compared to their league, Jordan stood out more.
Then let's compare to the league average.
Harden: 54.1 eFG% and 61.7 TS%, League Average: 52.4 eFG% and 55.7 TS%
Kobe: 49.1 eFG% and 55.9 TS%, League Average: 49 eFG% and 53.5 TS%
MJ: 48.4 eFG% and 56.2 TS%, League Average: 48.8 eFG% and 53.8 TS%
This isn't even factoring in seasons Harden has averaged 10+ assists, and he's done that many times.
Harden is a very capable defender when he tries. For majority of the game Harden plays defense but allows blowbys to avoid risking picking up fouls. Due to his heavy minutes, especially when he was in Houston, harden lacked in defense to avoid getting fouls, which is why he is known as a bad defender. However, in late game situations, especially in the playoffs, he locks in and is one of the better perimeter defensive players in the league. As for his post defense, he has been number one in the league statistically since 2019, and has even been second in the league in perimeter isolation points allowed per possession in 2020. In addition to all of that, he is an extremely smart player defensively. He knows when to help, where other players need to stand and is known for his defensive communication. His Houston rockets had the number one defense in the playoffs and in the bubble of 2020. Statistically James has been top 5 in steals for many seasons, number one in deflections for a few years, and has the most blocks by any guard since joining Houston. He has crucial defensive saves in important games including against Giannis, Porzingis, in game 7 of okc thunder, and even against embiid in the 2020 rockets 76ers matchup, where embiid got in a little skirmish with him after harden stopped him on back to back possessions. He may not play it the whole game, but when he tries harden is a top defender in almost every aspect, and a beneficial one to have on the court due to his intelligence.
And people talking bout his defense are idiots, hes locked up and then shit on Kawhi/PG/Beverly in a 1v3 lmaoooo he has the most points on every team too plus like 3 years of 10+ assists and the others are 8-9 assists on top of 30-36.6 points. He's the only one who even challenged the KD Era warriors and lost because of blatant ref fixing and Ariza going 0-12 on wide open threes generated by Harden along with his second best player CP3 going down and Capela getting sonned by a rookie Looney. Harden was literally dunking on draymond all day and dray got pissed and shoved him like 30 seconds into a game because he got scored on twice fast. That's not even mentioning all that happened while facing the KD warriors who had 5 star players, 2 of which were the number one and number two best shooters in the history of the league, Dpoy draymond, a top 2-3 scorer in Durant, Iggy dpoy. Then waiving off 12 of Hardens points but not making the same call if he missed the 3...blatant lmao
Harden has been a top 3 hardest working player for the past 10 years. Just because he likes strip clubs and partying doesn't mean he disregards practice and conditioning. This sub is just going with assuming narratives instead of taking 5 minutes to find out that Harden's workouts have been Kobe-levels insane for many seasons, doing HIT lifting after having played 40 minutes in an NBA game with historic usage and scoring rate for entire seasons because the durability demanded from Harden forced him to be insanely well conditioned.
There are countless stories as well as statements by his staff and teammates about it, it's just easier to shit on a player for partying instead. Literally everybody who's ever played with Harden attests to his one-of-a-kind work ethic. The reason Harden has been struggling are injuries and playing through them as well as the miles on his body but it's 10000% not because he's lazy. He ONCE forced Houstons hand for 3 weeks because they wouldn't trade him despite his demands many months before the situation escalated. Other than that he's been more than textbook when it comes to work ethic, you don't become such a legendary offensive Superstar without working your ass off every day for many years. And yes Harden can come back, he's one of the most skilled players ever and he works out like a madman
Glad to see everyone agrees with what I said since he was traded to the nets. Sad that it took you so long to believe what I told you.
I’ll bookmark this to watch during Clippers playoffs collapse
Chemistry is important and sacrifice is important and sacrifice is what Russell Westbrook did by asking to come off the bench and that was the catalyst for what has unfolded since then , yes James Harden is playing phenomenal basketball and getting everyone involved and evolved into the system and flow of what's working on a consistent basis , now the key is for everyone to continue to buy into execution and consistency consistently and continuing keeping low turnovers and making their Free Throws and remembering that DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS and Rebounding is a big part of great team defense and blocking out and getting into the passing lane and maximum effort on attack defensive schemes , Let's Keep it going Clippers 💯🛐💚🔯💛☪️❤️🕉️💪💪💪💪💪🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
james harden is still a great player. he just needs motivation
When super-teams don’t work video looking real different now 😂
Who here 'member the "why superteams fail video" a month back
Dudes been playing Pg since Houston . He just did what he wanted at Houston lol😂.
2:48 Outrageous pass just to not challenge gobert
That overrated unskilled big that got torched by Terrance Mann ? lol
Harden is the G.O.A.T
And what happens with Powell? Most of the time you can see him waving his arms saying: "Hey guys: I am here, I am completely alone, I am an excellent shooter, and I am in your team!!!!" and nobody seems to notice him. Is there anything wrong with him and the other team members?
3.2 assists per turnover and eFG of 58-59% is why they needed harden. If you need 10 assisted baskets(easy basket) Harden turns it over less than PG(1.6:1) or Kawi(2.1:1). And all that energy require to be the head of the spear on setting up the offense, the on ball pressure is pressure that PG and Kawi are not being subjected to. So those guys have more energy for defense and late game heroics. This is the difference. No more grinding the top 2 options all game. Then when leonard or PG take over they have fresh legs and can score 14 points in 5 minutes to close a game out. The clippers defense with PG and Kawi having that extra energy is elite. At the end of games they often have the energy to really shut down opponents.
God I hope we get to see this team healthy in the playoffs.
Let’s go Clips🫶🏆
Who will be the fmvp if they win. That will be fascinating.
whoever plays the best lol
Probably Kawhi, just because he will probably have to take on even more of the scoring load in the playoffs as defenses tighten up on everyone else.
Even tho I think Harden is just as valuable to this team, Kawhi will still be the #1 option in a playoff series
Westbrook
Unfortunately, some players disappear in the playoffs. Some players have mental blocks and the pressure gets to them and they miss shots. I don't want to mention names but every team has them. There is a difference between the regular season and post-play. Players still have to make shots. Teams that are 3 point heavy like Boston have yet to win a chip. Kawhi does what has to be done when everything else is failing. His win-loss record speaks for itself.
To be fair the last title Kawhi won KD and Klay Played only 200 combined minutes. 2 series earlier those guys played 460 combined minutes v HOU. Both 6 game series. No comparison in the versions of the warriors that TOR and HOU faced.
Harden isn't a "top 7 passer", only person that's close to Harden right now is prob Lebron in the entire NBA
He got clowned on for calling himself one of the most unselfish players ever. But Beardman's been sacrificing his talents his whole career with very little pouting.
In OKC, Scott Brooks played him as 6th man for 3 years in, despite being one of the most talented players on the team.
In Houston, Tim Fertitta refused to go over the luxury tax and surround him with better players, despite being one game away from an NBA finals in 2018. (The next year he averaged 36ppg 7rpg 8apg)
In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving played less games then Harden, despite Harden being injured.
In Philadelphia, he took a pay cut so the Doc Rivers could sign more depth, despite being owed $15million more.
Generational talent that's been adapting and being unselfish since he entered the league
when the 2019 rockets are down 0-2 and he averages 40/10/5 the next 2 games to tie it up, it doesn't count. when he puts up 35/8/5 and has more points/rebounds/assists/steals than steph in game 6, he sucked and steph was legendary to win without KD.
in the bubble he put up 30 ppg on 67 TS% against an elite lakers defense that was just doubling him near halfcourt and leaving russ wide open. but he sucked.
he also tends to have his best games end in near losses, which unless he has a time machine, i'm not sure what he can do about. putting up 39/10/9 on 62% shooting (field goal, not TS%) against the #1 defense 2015 warriors and being +12 in 41 minutes, only for the rockets to be -13 in his 7 minutes off so he loses by 1 gets forgotten. still a great game.
he goes up 3-2 on the most talented team ever but cp3 gets injured so no credit for harden. he's had some disappointing playoff moments, but people way overplay it.
I mean Harden does have 9 playoff games where he scored 40+ points, including 3 in the 2018 playoff run alone.
Curry has 7 such games in his career.
Butler has 6.
Melo had 4.
Harden certainly deserves plenty of criticism. But this idea that he’s never gone off in the playoffs is ridiculous. He generally had just kind of ok supporting casts and regularly made some decent playoff runs.
His Rockets were also the only team to really give a healthy KD Warriors any real trouble. Cavs got swept and lost in 5.
I think if you take "Most Valuable Player" literally, Harden should have won. Take Steph Curry off of that Warriors team, and that's still a good team. Take James Harden off of that Rockets team (keep in mind that Dwight was also missing for most of the season), and that team is very close to the very bottom of the West.
Steph Curry had a phenomenal season, but I'm tired of team performance being taken into account so heavily in individual accolades.
Harden 2014-15. With out Harden the Rockets probably dont make the playoffs. With out Curry the Warriors still make the playoffs, just not as the first seed. I feel like considering that Dwight was injured most of the season and Harden fucking went ham to keep his team a float, that the MVP should have gone to him. The only knock on Harden was his percentages, but Harden still averaged 27.4 points, 7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the season. Dem be MVP numbuhs.
James Harden is an underrated defender and I will argue that to the grave
The only reason mainstream media views harden as a bad defensive player is because of lowlight tapes where harden doesn’t sprint across the court to guard a speedy fast break but when Lebron sags on defense it’s considered conserving energy.
Efficiency wise if a player is a huge plus on offense it makes sense to have them expend the majority of their energy getting points instead of making high energy cost/low return defensive plays. Especially when that player is by far the most effective offensive player on the team.
Lebrons famous 48 minute playoff games utilize this strategy and Harden is the highest usage player in league history so it’s less about defensive skill as opposed to a strategic decision.
This is why Harden prefers to guard bigs in the post where his style is more about stealing low rather than jumping to block. And when looking at his defensive efficiency in the post it’s up there with the best in the league.
Defense isn’t necessarily about the flashy blocks of a Giannis or the scrappy pestering of a Pat Beverly. It’s about not letting the other team score the ball and Harden does a good not great job at that. I rest my case.
At their peaks, Harden IS a better offensive player than Jordan (and Kobe) by every imaginable metric.
Harden is a better offensive player at his peak than Jordan. Some of this is going to sound repetitive but follow along.
Kobe averaged 5 rebounds and 4 assists in his 35.1ppg season. He did that on 27 FGAs, and a 56% TS
Jordan averaged 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his 37ppg season. He did that on 28 FGAs, and a 56% TS.
Harden averaged 7 rebounds and 8 assists in his 36.1ppg season. He's doing that on 24 FGAs and a 61% TS.
Yeah well Harden shoots too many free throws.
Harden: 11 FTA (88%)
Jordan: 11.9 FTA (85.7%)
Kobe: 10.2 FTA (85%)
Yeah well Harden shoots too many threes that's why his TS is high.
Harden: 54.1 eFG%, 52.9% from 2, 36.8% from 3
Kobe: 49.1 eFG%, 48.2% from 2, 34.7% from 3
MJ: 48.4 eFG%, 49.1% from 2, 18.2% from 3 (only on 0.8 attempts though)
Yeah well the game was much slower back then.
Per 100 Possessions:
Harden: 48.2 PPG (highest of all time)
MJ: 46.4 PPG
Kobe: 45.6 PPG
Yeah well compared to their league, Jordan stood out more.
Then let's compare to the league average.
Harden: 54.1 eFG% and 61.7 TS%, League Average: 52.4 eFG% and 55.7 TS%
Kobe: 49.1 eFG% and 55.9 TS%, League Average: 49 eFG% and 53.5 TS%
MJ: 48.4 eFG% and 56.2 TS%, League Average: 48.8 eFG% and 53.8 TS%
This isn't even factoring in seasons Harden has averaged 10+ assists, and he's done that many times.
Harden is a very capable defender when he tries. For majority of the game Harden plays defense but allows blowbys to avoid risking picking up fouls. Due to his heavy minutes, especially when he was in Houston, harden lacked in defense to avoid getting fouls, which is why he is known as a bad defender. However, in late game situations, especially in the playoffs, he locks in and is one of the better perimeter defensive players in the league. As for his post defense, he has been number one in the league statistically since 2019, and has even been second in the league in perimeter isolation points allowed per possession in 2020. In addition to all of that, he is an extremely smart player defensively. He knows when to help, where other players need to stand and is known for his defensive communication. His Houston rockets had the number one defense in the playoffs and in the bubble of 2020. Statistically James has been top 5 in steals for many seasons, number one in deflections for a few years, and has the most blocks by any guard since joining Houston. He has crucial defensive saves in important games including against Giannis, Porzingis, in game 7 of okc thunder, and even against embiid in the 2020 rockets 76ers matchup, where embiid got in a little skirmish with him after harden stopped him on back to back possessions. He may not play it the whole game, but when he tries harden is a top defender in almost every aspect, and a beneficial one to have on the court due to his intelligence.
And people talking bout his defense are idiots, hes locked up and then shit on Kawhi/PG/Beverly in a 1v3 lmaoooo he has the most points on every team too plus like 3 years of 10+ assists and the others are 8-9 assists on top of 30-36.6 points. He's the only one who even challenged the KD Era warriors and lost because of blatant ref fixing and Ariza going 0-12 on wide open threes generated by Harden along with his second best player CP3 going down and Capela getting sonned by a rookie Looney. Harden was literally dunking on draymond all day and dray got pissed and shoved him like 30 seconds into a game because he got scored on twice fast. That's not even mentioning all that happened while facing the KD warriors who had 5 star players, 2 of which were the number one and number two best shooters in the history of the league, Dpoy draymond, a top 2-3 scorer in Durant, Iggy dpoy. Then waiving off 12 of Hardens points but not making the same call if he missed the 3...blatant lmao
Harden has been a top 3 hardest working player for the past 10 years. Just because he likes strip clubs and partying doesn't mean he disregards practice and conditioning. This sub is just going with assuming narratives instead of taking 5 minutes to find out that Harden's workouts have been Kobe-levels insane for many seasons, doing HIT lifting after having played 40 minutes in an NBA game with historic usage and scoring rate for entire seasons because the durability demanded from Harden forced him to be insanely well conditioned.
There are countless stories as well as statements by his staff and teammates about it, it's just easier to shit on a player for partying instead. Literally everybody who's ever played with Harden attests to his one-of-a-kind work ethic. The reason Harden has been struggling are injuries and playing through them as well as the miles on his body but it's 10000% not because he's lazy. He ONCE forced Houstons hand for 3 weeks because they wouldn't trade him despite his demands many months before the situation escalated. Other than that he's been more than textbook when it comes to work ethic, you don't become such a legendary offensive Superstar without working your ass off every day for many years. And yes Harden can come back, he's one of the most skilled players ever and he works out like a madman
SOMEBODY GIVING FUTURE HALL OF FAMER JAMES 'DA BEARD' HARDEN PROPS .. NICE ..
HES THE SYSTEM
Harden was right!!! He turned down money in Hou bec he knew they had no direction. Are they rebuilding or competing? Why are FVV and Brooks there to take min and opportunity away from Green and Thompson? Everyone demanded out of BK, Harden was just 1st. And with Philly how would you feel if your boss messed with your money, and the team and city blamed you for everything?
Glad Harden is doing well with the Clippers!
Green sucks😂