James Harden's FG% this year: 37%. His TS%: 61%.

[Crown&Coke]

He is tough to defend without fouling, but let's be real, the guy flails his arms upon any contact and what's a "foul" nowadays may not have necessarily been a foul even 20-30 years ago. So yeah, it's going to be tough not being physical inside the arch in a game that's inherently physical. I don't mind if a player relentlessly attacks, but when watching Harden you get the feeling he's using it a crutch or overly relying on refs bailing him out.

His drive to the basket is one of the most "kicked in the balls" thing I've seen on the court in a long time.

He is literally creating the contact by putting his arms under the defenders arm and shooting a granny shot as a layup and then exaggerating the contact like he got shot in the back a la Boyz in the Hood Ricky style (Paul Pierce does this exaggeration too, he's a ****sucker as well.)

It's not quality basketball. It's horseshit and it pisses me off. It's basically the rip through move except for being a jump shot, it's a layup attempt.

[ImKobe]

His drive to the basket is one of the most "kicked in the balls" thing I've seen on the court in a long time.

He is literally creating the contact by putting his arms under the defenders arm and shooting a granny shot as a layup and then exaggerating the contact like he got shot in the back a la Boyz in the Hood Ricky style (Paul Pierce does this exaggeration too, he's a ****sucker as well.)

It's not quality basketball. It's horseshit and it pisses me off. It's basically the rip through move except for being a jump shot, it's a layup attempt.

And then you see people post his stats and say he's the best SG in the league or a top 5/10 player

[bdreason]

And come playoff time he won't get as many BS calls.

[SyRyanYang]

But getting to the line isn't a skill? I'm not saying I like him or I enjoy his game, but if it's easy, everybody would be doing it and getting paid 15m+

Some defenders are really, really dumb though. What's so hard about keeping your arm straight up.

[GrapeApe]

Harden is a great example of why TS% can be misleading and is a flawed representation of efficiency. If two players have a similar TS%, I want the guy who shoots better from the floor. Come playoff time when the refs are more prone to swallow their whistles, a player who shoots more efficiently from the floor will usually be more effective. It's no coincidence that Harden's play drops significantly in the playoffs.

[ImKobe]

But getting to the line isn't a skill? I'm not saying I like him or I enjoy his game, but if it's easy, everybody would be doing it and getting paid 15m+

Some defenders are really, really dumb though. What's so hard about keeping your arm straight up.

Well, some coaches want their defenders to foul guys hard. Harden's going to flop his way to the line regardless, I'd be happy if defenders roughed him up a little more because he's getting away with too much bullshit.

This nikka relies on that shit so much when the POs come around and he gets the ball with 5 seconds to go with his team down 1-2 points, he'll literally freeze with the ball in his hands, like last season

anyone got that gif, where he has the ball (vs Blazers in the POs), just freezes then quickly puts a shot up as the shot clock expires? that shit was so funny man

[Inactive]

Harden is a great example of why TS% can be misleading and is a flawed representation of efficiency. If two players have a similar TS%, I want the guy who shoots better from the floor. Come playoff time when the refs are more prone to swallow their whistles, a player who shoots more efficiently from the floor will usually be more effective. It's no coincidence that Harden's play drops significantly in the playoffs.

I agree, but that doesn't mean there's anything flawed about TS% as a measure of efficiency. If Harden doesn't get calls in the playoffs, his TS% will go down, reflecting his drop in efficiency.

The most you could say, based on your argument, is that TS% is worse than EFG% as a predictor of future efficiency (particularly in the playoffs). That may or may not be true; it sounds plausible, but we'd have to actually look at the numbers to see if it's true.

[Crown&Coke]

But getting to the line isn't a skill? I'm not saying I like him or I enjoy his game, but if it's easy, everybody would be doing it and getting paid 15m+

Some defenders are really, really dumb though. What's so hard about keeping your arm straight up.

Some defenders are indeed dumb as shit

But while moving laterally to defend against a drive, arms straight up is not how anyone is taught to play defense.

[Xsatyr]

Some defenders are indeed dumb as shit

But while moving laterally to defend against a drive, arms straight up is not how anyone is taught to play defense.

The fouls are not coming when defenders are moving laterally. The fouls are from when Harden gets by them and they are reaching in. Once a player gets by you then you need to get your arms up to contest the shot. Too many players are taking the bait when Harden extends his arms and then raises up to draw a foul. Either way this will be irrelevant come playoff time when refs allow a lot of this contact.

[Mr Exlax]

How are yall gonna hate on Harden for being able to draw fouls, but then be perfectly ok when a coach employs the "Hack-A-_____" tactic? I still say Harden doesn't flop though. I'd hate him if he did. He's legit getting hacked. I wish I could think to hold the ball out in front of me like he does when I'm driving so I can get the foul. Puts my team in the bonus quicker which is a positive thing for a team. Just in case you guys didn't know.

[IncarceratedBob]

I can't hate on him bc he gets the job done in the regular season.

[russwest0]

He's never going to be the alpha or the best player on a contender... His game is not made for the Playoffs. He'll benefit from bullshit calls during the season but will cost you key games by trying to do the same shit, and when it doesn't get called and he's shooting 6/22, you'll see how efficient he really is.

He had the perfect role in OKC so long as he would have embraced it like Ginobli did for San Antonio.

[dubeta]

Durant also had a pretty pathetic 13% difference between FG% and TS% last year

[oarabbus]

I dont understand how a player get's a percentage boost for making threes when they are already awarded an extra point for making a three.

for instance a made 2 point FG= 2 points, 100% FG, 100% TS

while a made 3 point FG= 3 points, 100% FG, 100+% TS (so the player gets extra points AND extra percentage points)

How are you getting an extra point AND an extra boost in %?

Meanwhile the "true" percentage value of a missed two point FG is the exact same as the percentage value of a missed three point FG..0%.

TS% serves what purpose other than to tell us 3>2
goofiest shit ever, all those "advanced" stats are goofy math nerd foolishness

the hell is a "true" percentage, stupidest shit ever and so many people use that nonsense

the extra point IS what gives the extra percentage point... it's a stat meant to combine a player's value in 2pts + 3s + ability to get to the line

And you didn't even include fts. All stats advanced or not are meant to be taken in context....

[russwest0]

Durant also had a pretty pathetic 13% difference between FG% and TS% last year

Thats not pathetic at all, it just means he's a good 3pt and FT shooter.

Harden's shit right now though is ridiculous

He makes 6 baskets a game and is averaging like 28 ppg