James Harden Says He's the Best Basketball Player Alive

[trojanfan12]

What you did there...













I see it.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

[MEDIA=twitter]530111271581261824[/MEDIA]

Refs are definitely giving him all the calls this year.

 

[GoreRush]

I don't watch the NBA much (mostly just follow the scores / stats), and I never understood people putting Harden above Curry for MVP.

I watched the Cavs/rockets game and now I know why. Dude was a beast, especially down the stretch. He took 18 FTs, and it probably should've been 25. Reminds me a bit of AI, the way he throws his body around. Great game.

 

[purguy12]

Well right now he is #1. He just showed up LBJ today.

 

[The Derski]

Best player alive? No. Top 5? Yes.

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. Curry
4. Harden
5. ??? Westbrook, Davis, Melo ???

 

[GNG]

Refs are definitely giving him all the calls this year.

I disagree.

 

[GNG]

Well right now he is #1. He just showed up LBJ today.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

I am not sure he showed up LBJ.
You would expect Houston to win. They were favored to win at home.
Both played well. Harden needed overtime and 2 inexplicable "gift misses" at the free throw line to win.

Harden really had nothing to do with Lebron losing his FT stroke all game long. And it was not some choke moment either....as He missed them in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters as well.

Lebron is an average FT shooter not a great FT shooter..sometimes 70% guys make every one and sometimes they miss a ton as well.

 

[purguy12]

I have LBJ at #3. I would take Harden and Curry and maybe even Durant. Westbrook is making a good case to. LBJ is falling. Don't get me wrong he is still very good but he isn't the King anymore.. I wouldn't argue with anyone if they but any of those I named ahead of each other. All 5 are good picks.

 

[jeffro151]

I am not sure he showed up LBJ.
You would expect Houston to win. They were favored to win at home.
Both played well. Harden needed overtime and 2 inexplicable "gift misses" at the free throw line to win.

Harden really had nothing to do with Lebron losing his FT stroke all game long. And it was not some choke moment either....as He missed them in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters as well.

Lebron is an average FT shooter not a great FT shooter..sometimes 70% guys make every one and sometimes they miss a ton as well.

Stop making sense. The Lebron hater's head will explode.

 

[jeffro151]

Stats at the moment, best of the 4 bolded, (Overall NBA rank in parentheses):
PPG- Curry 23.9 (T4), LBJ 26.2 (3), Harden 27.1 (1), Westbrook 26.5 (2)
APG- Curry 7.8 (6), LBJ 7.2 (T8), Harden 6.9 (11), Westbrook 8.1 (T4)
FG%- Curry .486 (34), LBJ .489 (32), Harden .447 (72), Westbrook .432 (86)
REB- Curry 4.5 (106), LBJ 5.8 (T68), Harden 5.8 (T68), Westbrook 6.8 (42T)
BLK- Curry 0.2 (T176), LBJ 0.7 (T60), Harden 0.8 (52), Westbrook 0.1 (T221)
STL- Curry 2.12 (1), LBJ 1.6 (T18), Harden 1.95 (T3), Westbrook 2.04 (2)

Of the 6 main statistics, Westbrook is Top 5 in 3, Harden and Curry 2 and LBJ 1.
Looking at what the players are doing respectively, Harden and LBJ seem to be having the most solid seasons, as they are in the Top 75 of every major category, while Westbrook is lacking in Blocks and Curry is lacking in Rebounds and Blocks.

 

[gordontrue]

In a few years from now - after either Westbrook or Durant leaves OKC - ... we're going to look at Durant, Westbrook, and Harden as perennial mvp contenders... and marvel at the fact that they were once all on the same team.

Part luck, part excellent drafting... its amazing that the Thunder got 3 consecutive top-4 picks and parlayed them into that.

 

[logic]

Stats at the moment, best of the 4 bolded, (Overall NBA rank in parentheses):
PPG- Curry 23.9 (T4), LBJ 26.2 (3), Harden 27.1 (1), Westbrook 26.5 (2)
APG- Curry 7.8 (6), LBJ 7.2 (T8), Harden 6.9 (11), Westbrook 8.1 (T4)
FG%- Curry .486 (34), LBJ .489 (32), Harden .447 (72), Westbrook .432 (86)
REB- Curry 4.5 (106), LBJ 5.8 (T68), Harden 5.8 (T68), Westbrook 6.8 (42T)
BLK- Curry 0.2 (T176), LBJ 0.7 (T60), Harden 0.8 (52), Westbrook 0.1 (T221)
STL- Curry 2.12 (1), LBJ 1.6 (T18), Harden 1.95 (T3), Westbrook 2.04 (2)

Of the 6 main statistics, Westbrook is Top 5 in 3, Harden and Curry 2 and LBJ 1.
Looking at what the players are doing respectively, Harden and LBJ seem to be having the most solid seasons, as they are in the Top 75 of every major category, while Westbrook is lacking in Blocks and Curry is lacking in Rebounds and Blocks.

or you could look at Hollinger's advanced stats.
RK PLAYER GP MPG TS% AST TO USG ORR DRR REBR PER VA EWA
1 Anthony Davis, NO 48 35.3 .603 7.3 5.9 25.3 8.7 24.4 16.5 31.28 499.6 16.7
2 Russell Westbrook, OKC 45 33.0 .535 22.1 10.6 37.6 6.3 15.3 11.0 29.43 407.9 13.6
3 Stephen Curry, GS 57 33.1 .629 26.1 10.2 28.4 2.3 12.0 7.3 28.10 481.4 16.0
4 Hassan Whiteside, MIA 32 21.8 .633 1.3 11.2 18.6 17.9 35.8 27.0 27.96 180.3 6.0
5 Kevin Durant, OKC 27 33.8 .633 15.1 10.2 28.2 1.9 18.4 10.4 27.85 236.4 7.9
6 James Harden, HOU 59 36.6 .609 20.9 12.1 30.3 2.8 15.0 8.8 27.01 532.6 17.8
7 LeBron James, CLE 51 36.2 .577 21.0 12.4 32.9 2.1 15.7 9.0 26.18 431.7 14.4

While Westbrook leads in usage and player efficiency, Harden has ridiculous value added and wins added, and he has missed the fewest games.



CRAP, I HATE THIS EDITOR REMOVING ALL EXTRA SPACES. MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SHOW A DECENT TABLE!

 

[GenJac]

Unreal stat I heard today: James Harden has scored 20+ points in 79% of games this season.

 

[hockey878]

Unreal stat I heard today: James Harden has scored 20+ points in 79% of games this season.

why is that unreal? thats not entirely uncommon for a lot of these guys who are good scorers. that means he scores less than 20 points 1 out of every 5 games...

 

[trojanfan12]

I am not sure he showed up LBJ.
You would expect Houston to win. They were favored to win at home.
Both played well. Harden needed overtime and 2 inexplicable "gift misses" at the free throw line to win.

Harden really had nothing to do with Lebron losing his FT stroke all game long. And it was not some choke moment either....as He missed them in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters as well.

Lebron is an average FT shooter not a great FT shooter..sometimes 70% guys make every one and sometimes they miss a ton as well.

Gift misses?!? That was just Lebron being Lebron. Probably had cramps or something.

 

[FORKWDEVIL]

There's a few former NBAers that would have something to say about Harden's ramblings...


Russell, Havlicek, Cowens, Bird, McHale, Pierce, MJ, Pippen, Magic, KAJ, Worthy, Kobe, Hakeem...oh hell too many "better" alive former NBAers than Harden to even mention. Shame on you JH!

Paul Pierce is still playing, right?

 

[thunderc]

Unreal stat I heard today: James Harden has scored 20+ points in 79% of games this season.

Durant had 3 games ALL season last year that he didn't score 20, that's 96 %. Still think it's unheard of?

 

[hockey878]

Durant had 3 games ALL season last year that he didn't score 20, that's 96 %. Still think it's unheard of?

my point exactly. LeBron had 6 or something like that 2 or 3 years ago. Really, 80% isn't that great of a number for a high profile scorer. It means there are 16 or so games (if you play a full season) where you score under 20.

If I had time I would love to look at guys like LBJ, Kobe, KD, and other top scorers to see how many games they avg a year under 20 while they were in their prime. I'm guessing its right around 10 of 80 (12%). So no, not even a little impressed with that number

 

[thunderc]

Harden will never be in that class, ever.