And that’s moronic. What team sits their big man because of analytics? One with actual potential?
<<{{Official 2019-2020 NBA Thread - the season returns July 31-October 12. }}>
Right. Except it’s watching 2k on Hall of fame mode....watching clanks and free throws and turnovers. A mockery of the NBA.I fuckin can't stand it. The shot selection is pure trash. It's like they playin real life 2k.
Look at Raptors record and look at Rockets record. Tell Van Fleet to go out there and shoot the call 50 times and let’s see how many wins they get lol. Van Fleet boosting HArden lol.
Ahahahaahaha this is classic. Salty as fuck lol.
Right, you kinda made my point. If he could score like Harden & have his team as a top team in his conference almost every year it would be all good. That's why we can't overlook the shit Haden is doing, while having his team in contention. It would be different if he was doing this & the team was a lottery team every year.
Van fleet is talking from a player's perspective and recognizing that what Harden is doing is rare & points out that the common fan has no idea.
But here’s the problem: Robinson can’t manage 36 minutes because he won’t stop fouling.
It’s an issue that plagued Robinson last season and has only gotten worse. He fouled out in three of his last four games heading into Monday’s contest in Milwaukee, managing just 20 minutes Sunday before collecting his sixth foul in a loss to the Celtics.
Robinson was averaging 6.6 fouls per 36 minutes before Monday, which was sixth in the NBA behind a bunch of no-names and Dwight Howard. Robinson lost his starting center spot after succumbing to a concussion in Game No. 8 and never recovered it.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ny...emfh6bpggtbzy2nteie-story.html?outputType=amp
Refs can calls fouls on every single possession no matter who the player is.
At some point, the game just needs to be played. I feel like a parrot when I say this, but Harden doesn’t get those calls in the playoffs. It gets so bad for Harden the he RELY on the refs to give him that call.
It’s like when a chick gives you great sex all the time and one day she says she is feeling guilt about have premarital sex and doesn’t want to do it anymore. And every time you try, you get denied. That shit actually happen to me, btw. Lol
I blame the NBA refs for enabling that for Harden. He doesn’t get the opportunity to adjust his game whatsoever because the refs baby him until the playoffs.
As far as th flopping go, I agree that most super stars are guilty of it, which is why I don’t speak much on Harden doing it. LeBron was real bad about that shit at one point.
I think Steph and Klay will make noise next year. The NBA is better when the beige bros are draining bombs from 40 feet at a decent percentage. The early exit helped Bron get healthy. I hope they are competitive again.
The NBA wants offensive explosion & refs are calling everything, reviewing shit that's nowhere near a flagrant. Most of Harden's staunchest critics grew up watching basketball in the 80s & 90s where cats would get mauled and refs would swallow the whistle. I grew up watching in that era so I get the criticism.
This is a whole new era now so I'm not gonna fault Harden, Lebron or any player who are initiating contact for the whistle in today's game. This is what the NBA created... trust me I get pissed too when I see a bullshit foul called on my team or when an opposing player "sells" a call to the ref.
As for the playoffs, Harden definitely needs to realize refs are going to officiate different & I think he knows that now.
But I kind of have a problem with the change of officiating in the playoffs tho. I think it was Reggie Miller or C-Webb who said that refs have to be consistent in what they call for both regular season & playoffs. If guys are being called for the same type of fouls in the season you can't stop in the playoffs. I think last playoffs was the worse officiating I seen across the board.
Last edited:
James Harden is the greatest scorer of this NBA era
Dec 3, 2019
- Kirk GoldsberryESPN Staff Writer
On Saturday night, Harden dropped 60 points on the Atlanta Hawks in less than three quarters of play. It was another virtuoso performance by the world's greatest offensive basketball player. Through 19 games, Harden is averaging an incredible 38.9 points per game and, barring injury, he's on pace to win his third consecutive scoring title, something only MJ and Kevin Durant have done in the 3-point era.
ADVERTISEMENT
But the most stunning thing about Harden isn't his numbers -- it's his style. He's a rarity in pro basketball, regularly inventing new fundamentals. We haven't seen scoring numbers this big since a 23-year-old Jordan put up 37.1 PPG. Before that, the only comparison was Wilt Chamberlain's prime in the early 1960s. And Harden thrives much like Chamberlain did -- in the kinds of isolated one-on-one matchups that were supposed to be dead by now.
Hero ball is back and we owe it all Harden, whose offensive techniques are reforming the conventional wisdom of the modern NBA in real time. Very few people thought Harden would get even better and more productive following an incomprehensible scoring season in 2018-19. Ever after pairing up with Russell Westbrook, here is how Harden is doing things nobody else has ever done in ways that no one has ever even tried.
MORE: NBA Power Rankings
Harden's isolation feast
Let's start with Harden's 60-burger against Atlanta: His 24 shot attempts were the fewest ever in a 60-point game in NBA history. He shot 8-for-10 in the paint, 8-for-14 from 3-point range and 20-for-23 from the free throw line. Pure Harden -- tons of 3s, a handful of rim attacks and a mind-numbing volume of foul shots. But shot selection is one thing. It's how he's getting to these shots that's truly unusual.
Of those 60 points, 31 came straight out of isolation plays. His 17 isos were actually below his season average of 18.5, according to Second Spectrum data. For context, no other player has logged more than 12 isos per game in a season dating back to 2013-14, which is the furthest back we have tracking data.
Harden is both the most efficient and the most active perimeter isolation player in the world.
Harden's isolation volume and efficiency are both tops in the league. Over 50% of Harden's points stem from isos. None of the league's 11 other 25 PPG scorers are even approaching 30%. While most other teams in the NBA frown upon hero ball as an inefficient strategy reserved only for necessary moments, the Rockets have reached the opposite conclusion simply because they have Harden. He is an offense unto himself, and the numbers are startling.
Consider this: Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, 122 NBA players have run at least 200 isolation plays, and Harden leads the way with 1.14 points per iso. The average half-court play in the NBA has only been worth 0.96 points this season, so the Rockets would be foolish not to exploit such a giant margin. At the end of a decade that will be remembered for its analytical awakening, Harden and the Rockets are making us rethink the virtues of hero ball, a ridiculed tactic that looked left for dead years ago as motion offenses started dominating the league.
We can't track pure isos back earlier than 2013-14, but we do have data on assisted and unassisted field goals dating back to 2000-01, via Basketball-Reference.com. Fewer than 14% of Harden's made field goals from this season and last season have been assisted. Here's that breakdown for the season-long scoring champs with at least 30 PPG over the past two decades.
30 PPG Scoring Champs
| PLAYER | SEASON | PPG | %AST |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Harden | 2018-19 | 36.1 | 13.0 |
| James Harden | 2017-18 | 30.4 | 15.8 |
| Russell Westbrook | 2016-17 | 31.6 | 18.8 |
| Stephen Curry | 2015-16 | 30.1 | 46.0 |
| Kevin Durant | 2013-14 | 32.0 | 47.2 |
| Kevin Durant | 2009-10 | 30.1 | 52.0 |
| Dwyane Wade | 2008-09 | 30.2 | 25.8 |
| LeBron James | 2007-08 | 30.0 | 34.3 |
| Kobe Bryant | 2006-07 | 31.6 | 40.0 |
| Kobe Bryant | 2005-06 | 35.4 | 43.8 |
| Allen Iverson | 2004-05 | 30.7 | 22.3 |
| Tracy McGrady | 2002-03 | 32.1 | 35.6 |
| Allen Iverson | 2001-02 | 31.4 | 42.3 |
| Allen Iverson | 2000-01 | 31.1 | 42.4 |
| Source: Basketball-Reference.com |
Why do anything different? Why run motion sets or even pass the ball when your best player and primary ball handler is unstoppable? Why not just let him bring the ball up and let him do his thing? The answers to those questions are fueling the NBA's most unconventional offense. Dating back to 2013-14 ...
- ... no team has passed the ball less frequently than the 2019-20 Rockets
- ... and no team has run more isolation plays than the 2019-20 Rockets
AP Photo/Michael WykeHow the isos work
NBA history is lined with dominant scorers like Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal who used to camp out down on the block. Harden sets up at the top of the arc, but the idea is the same: Let your superstar devastate lonely defenders. It might be the most tried and true strategy in basketball history, but not everyone is amused.
Many observers, including myself from time to time, have derided the monotonous aesthetic of Rockets basketball. Critics argue there's too much dribbling and not enough passing. The whole thing is gimmicky, predictable and tiresome.
NBA on ESPN and the ESPN App
The NBA is back! Tune in here.
Friday, Dec. 6
• Nuggets at Celtics | 8 p.m. ET
• Lakers at Blazers | 10:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Dec. 11
• Clippers at Raptors | 7 p.m. ET
• Pelicans at Bucks | 9:30 p.m. ET
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey sees some hypocrisy there.
"Nobody was mad when Kareem was getting it dozens of times per game," Morey told ESPN.
He also believes that some critics are tougher on Harden because he's doing this as a guard and not as a big.
"There's a long-held basketball perception that the guy who holds the ball initially shouldn't shoot," he said. "Even when you play pickup, there's a rule that the guy who checks it in can't shoot."
Many of Harden's key iso sequences do begin as soon as he brings the ball up the floor. At that point, he becomes the most dangerous man in the NBA.
More than two-thirds of his isos end with him taking a shot, and his 1.34 points per possession on those plays is a better mark than all but two NBA offenses this season, per Second Spectrum data. Another 13% of the time, Harden draws a foul on his isos, leading to a nearly automatic 1.72 points per possession. You can't do much better than that. An offense made up entirely of Harden isos leading to shots and fouls would average more than 140 points per game based on those scoring rates.
He also almost always makes the right play and is more than willing to give the ball up. This season, he's creating 20.9 points per game via assists. On the 14% of iso possessions when Harden passes, Houston generates 1.19 points. One other underrated Harden edge is that he only has 12 total turnovers out of isolations all season, making up just 3% of his solo plays.
But here's the stat that really matters: 51% of Harden's isos lead to a 3-pointer from himself or a teammate.
The dominant trends of the 2010s were never really about ball movement or motion. They were always about 3-point shooting and the quest for efficiency. For a few years in the middle part of the decade, it looked as though beautiful, pass-happy offenses were the best way to harvest more triples. Think of the San Antonio Spurs team that took a title from LeBron James' Miami Heat or of Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors.
EDITOR'S PICKS
- NBA Power Rankings: Luka Doncic's heroics lead to a new No. 1
- NBA draft No. 1 pick debate: LaMelo, Edwards or Wiseman?
But then Harden started to develop his step-back in the iso lab. Now, as we approach the end of this decade, his signature move enables him to generate valuable 3-point shots at will, making him the league's most prolific threat from deep. Harden is on pace to break his own record for the most 3-point attempts in a season with 1,143. And more impressively, at his current clip, he's on track to sink 405 total 3s, breaking Curry's record of 402 from 2015 to '16.
The final element that makes Harden's iso game work so well is the phenomenal countermove to his step-back 3: He's the NBA's most active driver.
Since the beginning of last season, Harden is averaging a mind-blowing 19.6 drives per game, and he's pretty good at it. Out of 187 players with at least 200 drives over that period, only Durant and James have been more efficient. Despite that league-leading volume, an average Harden drive yields 1.12 points -- again, a huge upgrade over an average NBA half-court chance.
Harden's historic efficiency
Between all the step-backs and driving rim attacks, Harden produces a predictable shot signature. His chart reveals just two areas of real activity: beyond the arc and in the paint.
Despite awesome scoring totals, Harden's percentages from the field aren't as dominant as other great scorers. He converts his shots at average rates, but that's deceptive because he hedges on efficiency by only shooting in the best spots. And he achieves a massive subsidy by getting to the line more than anyone else in the NBA.
Harden is the savviest foul-hunting guard this league has ever seen. He's led the NBA in made free throws in each of the past five seasons, but he's taking it to new heights this season. The dude is going to the line 14.4 times per game, and over 12 of his nearly 39 points per night are coming at the charity stripe.
Trivia time: Who was the most recent NBA player to score over 12 PPG at the free throw line? Nobody, folks. No player in NBA history has ever averaged more than 10.6 made free throws per game. Harden is currently scoring more points at the line than teammates Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker are earning overall. Think about it this way: It's feasible for Harden to break Curry's 3-point shooting record and Jerry West's free throw record in the same season. That's astounding.
Even though Harden's step-backs and drives are very good statistical options, they pale in comparison to the boon of the whistle. And while many observers tend to roll their eyes at Harden's foul-drawing antics, opponents do so at their own peril. Harden's ability to draw whistles is central to his game, not just because free throws are ridiculously efficient, but also because it keeps his defenders honest.
In many cases, it even sends them to the bench. Just ask Patrick Beverley:
play
0:32
Harden dances on Beverley for and-1 3-ball
James Harden puts the moves on Patrick Beverley and drains a 3-pointer plus the foul.
(Oh, by the way, not only is Harden already the all-time leader in unassisted 3-pointers, he's also the all-time leader in four-point plays with 61.)
When you ask Morey why he thinks Harden is the greatest scorer of this era, his answer -- just like the Rockets' offense -- is simple: "James is generating more points per possession than pretty much anyone in history."
The numbers back up the bold claim. Harden's 48.2 points per 100 possessions last season was more than any player has logged dating back to 1973-74. And this season he's doing it ... again. There's no question that post-Jordan scorers such as Durant, Curry, James and Kobe Bryant are phenomenal. Each has changed the game in his own way. However, none of them combined volume and efficiency as well as Harden has over this sustained run of excellence.
Maybe hero ball isn't so bad after all. What's wrong with watching a virtuoso? What's so bad about a strategy that showcases the world's best scorer on repeat? Maybe the Rockets are an acquired taste, but I found myself loving every minute of Harden's masterpiece Saturday night. He was making perfect decisions every time down the floor. If you're not impressed, I don't know what to tell you, except that James Harden is a harbinger of what's next. Just watch this season's breakout sensation, Luka Doncic, and you'll see that the future of the league is bending toward Hardenism.
The only true knock against Harden claiming the scoring crown for this era: He has yet to get over the hump in the playoffs, whereas the other contenders have all had defining postseason moments. Does Harden wilt under pressure? If he's so great, why can't he get to the Finals? Hero ball might work in December, but does it work in June? Does it work when the best teams in the league have seven games to focus and solve it?
Until Harden silences those concerns, many folks around the NBA will remain skeptical and refute the idea that he's is an all-time great. But just as it's fair to criticize the Rockets for their playoff failures, you also have to acknowledge that Harden is still just 30 years old, and his team took an all-time dynasty to the brink. Wilt didn't win a title until his 30s. Harden has got time to show us that his superhero ball can do more than just rack up unprecedented regular season stats.
Excellent article...All I'm a say is that what he's doing and how he does it makes him the most unique scorer we've seen this era.
First road win in Utah for the Lakers since 2015. First road win for LeBron in Utah since 2010.
dude actually practice that shit in shoot around(well when they played the pelicans, I saw him doing so)
@jack walsh13
I won't be shocked,if this happens. The coach would have to cut someone's minutes when Dylan Windler makes his season debut. And,plus he likes Windler and wants Porter to have more minutes.
I’ll agree, the beardman and cheap code curry been amazing
It was only a matter of time, they wanted him three years ago....he probably improved his stock nicely with his play so far
You talking about Clarkson...
naw TT, my bad
A yall go cop that future HOFer hoodie or tee
Interesting. We got some G-League pieces you might be interested in that look pretty good.
Interesting. We got some G-League pieces you might be interested in that look pretty good.
Cavs need a center and wing.
Although Fiz probably deserves to get fired... You'll be hard pressed to find a coach who could do anything with that unbalanced squad.
Why u said this,
I give up defending him on this board.
I'd respect these dudes more and their opinions more if they just came clean like @Amajorfucup and say "you know what, I just don't like James Harden." Just say it. It'll make you feel better, instead of constantly being proven statistically wrong at every turn with every point they try to make. They're going to beat the same couple of drums until the end of time so fuck it... let em do it
On another note, solid win in The North tonight. Raptors v Rockets are always fun games to watch. I really hope these teams continue doubling James as he crosses half court. I'd go small every time and throw 4 shooters out there, or 3 plus Westbrook. The open looks they got tonight were unreal. This is basketball 101; the ball moves faster than any defense. Raptors were scrambling all night to the perimeter. Ben McLemore had 28 points on 8 made 3 pointers.
Westbrook had a triple double, Harden 23 on 11 attempts, and did a great job of picking when to attack and when to pass.
Losing to Washington
Is Garland doing anything?
Garland had his worse game on Tuesday against Detroit. Before that game,he was 10-16 behind the three-point line and played extremely well for a couple games..His main issue is that he's very passive.
While,the coach wants him to facilitate the offense,he also wants Garland to be aggressive. The coach threatened to bench him because he wouldn't shot the open shot. The coaches and teammates have to remind him to be aggressive.
After,All-Star break I think Garland will play more aggressively. The same thing happened to Sexton last season. Sexton was being a little passive but took off after All-Star break.
I just wish Garland's floater would start hitting.