The interwebs taught me James Harden was a shitty player in the playoffs

[TrueBlue89]

And he's only going to get better from here on out despite his awful awful coach.

This is only his 3rd season being the main man on a team yet he's already reached the WCF despite playing with scrubs and a hobbled Dwight.

[Fallen Angel]

Why do ancient seasons matter? He excelled everyone's expectation in the 2015 season by becoming the best player in the regular season and an elite playoff performer.

[ArbitraryWater]

Actually the stats posted above were and are not in the OP. And while those #'s may not be indicative of Harden's true play, the fact remains that he is superstar and did take his team to the WCF in a packed western conference

True, somewhat what I said, but lol, those stats are STILL in the OP.. y'all blind

You can scroll that thing to the right you know

[GrapeApe]

Why do ancient seasons matter? He excelled everyone's expectation in the 2015 season by becoming the best player in the regular season and an elite playoff performer.

I just have a hard time calling a guy an elite playoff performer who shoots .439 from the field, commits nearly 5 TO's per game, and is a borderline liability on defense. I also don't know of any other elite playoff performers who would be on the bench in critical moments of an elimination game.

The fact is, he needs to play much better overall in the playoffs, and it's not just about the raw numbers. He's always going to have pretty numbers at a glance, but when you dig deeper, the flaws in his game become more evident. There's aspects of his game he definitely needs to tighten up if he has any aspirations of leading a team to a title.

[bobopenguin]

Why do ancient seasons matter? He excelled everyone's expectation in the 2015 season by becoming the best player in the regular season and an elite playoff performer.

step back jump shot, 3 points, euro step, FT.
i miss anything else?

[Uncle Drew]

- Record for turnovers in an elimination game
- His team did better with him on the bench in another elimination game, hence a crazy comeback.

That's the only knock on him I have. And, of course, his disappearing in the '12 finals, but that's somewhat understandable since he was still very young.

[dhsilv]

Don't forget 4.5 TO's per game and suspect defense.

Harden is obviously a very good player and a stat machine, but he's had a lot of forgettable playoff performances for a so-called superstar. In his 3 years with the Rockets he's only shooting 40% in the playoffs and his assist to turnover ratio is a horrendous 1.4/1. His defense, though slightly improved, has fallen off in the playoffs as well. He'd be the first to say that he needs to play better.

Part of his problem is he doesn't have an in-between game to go to when his 3 point shots aren't falling and the whistles tighten up. He's also yet to develop a post game. If he works on adding those dimensions to his arsenal it would greatly benefit him come playoff time. That and taking better care of the ball.

He needs another player who can score. We'll see if lawson can at least help out with that.

[dhsilv]

I just have a hard time calling a guy an elite playoff performer who shoots .439 from the field, commits nearly 5 TO's per game, and is a borderline liability on defense. I also don't know of any other elite playoff performers who would be on the bench in critical moments of an elimination game.

The fact is, he needs to play much better overall in the playoffs, and it's not just about the raw numbers. He's always going to have pretty numbers at a glance, but when you dig deeper, the flaws in his game become more evident. There's aspects of his game he definitely needs to tighten up if he has any aspirations of leading a team to a title.

62% TS%....I'll take that ALL DAY from a guard especially.

[ClipperRevival]

Don't forget 4.5 TO's per game and suspect defense.

Harden is obviously a very good player and a stat machine, but he's had a lot of forgettable playoff performances for a so-called superstar. In his 3 years with the Rockets he's only shooting 40% in the playoffs and his assist to turnover ratio is a horrendous 1.4/1. His defense, though slightly improved, has fallen off in the playoffs as well. He'd be the first to say that he needs to play better.

Part of his problem is he doesn't have an in-between game to go to when his 3 point shots aren't falling and the whistles tighten up. He's also yet to develop a post game. If he works on adding those dimensions to his arsenal it would greatly benefit him come playoff time. That and taking better care of the ball.

No doubt he is far from a perfect player. He has amazing iso skills but his reliance on the whistle hampers him in the playoffs where the whistles are tighter. But the guy is an amazing "the man" type scorer who can draw attention and set up his teammates with good looks. I thought he was the MVP of this regular season. The guy had a huge impact on his team. But the turnover definitely need to be controlled.

[warriorfan]

op makes posts about how cp3 is better than curry and how harden is a good playoff performer...

[Young X]

Harden was really good in the playoffs last season. I don't see how you could argue against that.

His closing game against the Warriors was maybe the worst game I've ever seen a player of his caliber have but outside of that game he was pretty damn good.

Without even looking at his playoff logs I remember his 40 pt game against Dallas in the 1st round, his game 5 against the Clippers, I remember him killing Klay in game 2 against the Warriors with midrange J's, his ridiculous game 4 against the Warriors, I think he had a triple double in game 1 against them too.

[LikeMike]

Wow, advanced stats against imploding teams. Not impressed. He still disappeared during some of the most important moments.

[TrueBlue89]

Wow, advanced stats against imploding teams. Not impressed. He still disappeared during some of the most important moments.

He had a triple double and unbelievable closeout game against the Clippers. Funny how people always bring up that 4th quarter as if there weren't 6 other games in the series.

He torched the Warriors in the first two games and had an all time great playoff performance in Game 4.

Again he wasn't perfect but he performed exceptionally well as the #1 option and only shot creator for a team that wasn't even projected to make the playoffs or get out the first round this year.

[JerrySeinfeld]

I just have a hard time calling a guy an elite playoff performer who shoots .439 from the field, commits nearly 5 TO's per game, and is a borderline liability on defense. I also don't know of any other elite playoff performers who would be on the bench in critical moments of an elimination game.

The fact is, he needs to play much better overall in the playoffs, and it's not just about the raw numbers. He's always going to have pretty numbers at a glance, but when you dig deeper, the flaws in his game become more evident. There's aspects of his game he definitely needs to tighten up if he has any aspirations of leading a team to a title.

/thread

[dhsilv]

No doubt he is far from a perfect player. He has amazing iso skills but his reliance on the whistle hampers him in the playoffs where the whistles are tighter. But the guy is an amazing "the man" type scorer who can draw attention and set up his teammates with good looks. I thought he was the MVP of this regular season. The guy had a huge impact on his team. But the turnover definitely need to be controlled.

10 ft a game is hampering?