Comments on: What does Oklahoma City look like without James Harden?

By: Kurt Helin

Kurt Helin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 02:09:26 +0000

I really don’t want to have to explain rudimentary statistics and hoops to you, do some research, but the fact is that shots at the rim and the corner three are more efficient — you get more points per shot attempt than other spots on the floor over the course of the season. The caveat is IF YOU HAVE THE GUYS THAT CAN MAKE THOSE SHOTS. If you have Rip Hamilton (of five years ago) or Dirk Nowitzki then them shooting the midrange shot is more efficient, as it is if Kobe gets to the elbow or other specific shots within the midrange. But on the whole you want guys to get to the rim and not settle as much, to draw fouls and shoot closer to the basket. It’s not that the midrange is evil and a shot that should never be taken, but it should not be a team’s bread and butter.

By: lakerluver

lakerluver — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 21:03:17 +0000

Martin won’t give them 12 assists in a week, much less in one game.

By: lakerluver

lakerluver — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:59:51 +0000

OKC traded away their 2nd best player. Harden’s going to be a superstar and better than Westbrook.

By: rocketsbb

rocketsbb — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:55:33 +0000

Kmart is not efficient whatsoever. He shot 41% last year and takes stupid shots

By: loungefly74

loungefly74 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:23:52 +0000

i think our mindset is the year of the draft is more about…”who is #1″. and as time goes by…its more about/or becomes…”wow…that guy went #(x) in the draft? what a steal!” i think of the 1998 draft as a great example. to be quite honest, i knew very little about harden when he came out. (i think that had to due with his team, az st. not doing well in the tourney)

By: loungefly74

loungefly74 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:14:55 +0000

sorry..i’m judging harden over what he has done in his entire career so far…not just one series. if i remember right, he was a very big reason OKC did great the past few years. lets not act like he is a bum all of the sudden because he wanted a few more dollars. its a business, lets not forget that. also, there are other players with less talent making as much or more money. i give the rockets huge props to have the “sand” to go out and get JH.

By: 4thquartermagic

4thquartermagic — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:14:31 +0000

Guess the talent pool is not as full as it once was.

By: loungefly74

loungefly74 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:06:36 +0000

i disagree in some part…because it seems like now the only one to get hype is the #1 pick…MAYBE…the #2. thats it.

By: rocirius

rocirius — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:30:52 +0000

Great analysis and great article! I totally agree about the health factor. I think Collison will find a way to be just as effective with Maynor, but otherwise I have the same concerns as the author. However, I still believe that Harden was not worth the max to OKC and that this team will be in the Finals with a very good chance to win it all.

I disagree with the author on his opinion about “resetting”. I think the front office is making a smart gamble by essentially saying that they expect the team to advance just as far with this group as they would have with Harden, and that the young assets/draft picks will make their team contenders longer because they won’t have such a top heavy team contract-wise. They are the current model of building a successful, contending franchise and I expect that to continue.

By: scalfor3

scalfor3 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:12:39 +0000

Harden is great and will put up all star numbers (I’m guessing around 22 and 7-8 assists per game) in Houston. He’d also never get the amount of usage to reach those numbers in OKC. OKC is clearly worse off this season by losing him, but lets not act like Harden would be putting up 37 and 12 coming off the bench. I think the more interesting question is whether Harden winds up being better than Westbrook.

By: dls612

dls612 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:11:28 +0000

Agreed! This dude may be the truth!

By: 4thquartermagic

4thquartermagic — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:00:08 +0000

Understood. Point I was trying to make is that he didn’t have the level of hype coming in that a top 3 player typically gets. Dude can ball but early on the only reason he was a household name was because of his beard.

Either way I look forward to watching him play as an alpha dog. Which is what a #3 pick should be.

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:45:38 +0000

Harden was a superstar who won the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a top 3 pick… this was only three years ago…

By: therealhtj

therealhtj — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:26:49 +0000

Well if he averages HALF of what he did last night, he’s still worth 80 mil over 5 especially considering the crop of stiffs that got max deals this last off season.

By: bbeaman78

bbeaman78 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:04:57 +0000

I think that all the doubters will eat their words. Harden was a ghost in the finals. He missed lay ups and dunks against Miami. He disappears most of the time as a scorer in the 4th. He had a huge game against the spurs in the playoffs and that was it.

Defensively he was not great and known for flopping. The fact he wouldn’t accept less a 1 mil less to stay tells you he is a “me first” player.

Presti has built this team through the draft and his great eye for talent. Add in the team concept and youth, players like hasheem thabeet, perry jones III, and Jeremy Lamb will form a good young bench and possibly develop further.

By: j0esixpack

j0esixpack — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 17:39:53 +0000

Is OKC better without Harden?

Is Harden worth his $80 million contract?

That’s where the disconnect lies.

By: SOBEIT

SOBEIT — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:56:49 +0000

It will be interesting to see how fans and media react to the situation in OKC. The Rockets are the Rockets and most expect them to be ok to bad…so anything above that is an improvement. But the Rockets got more than just a good player…they got a marketable player along with Lin. We shall see how they perform on the court.

OKC..they will be under a microscope all year. Have a good game…”oh it ain’t that big a deal we lost Harden”…have a bad game (especially against a playoff contender) or bad stretch…”the sky is falling and it was the worst trade of the off season.” Well that’s my prediction anyway.

For me, they are now one of the teams who expect to be in the championship game…and win. So does it really matter what happens in the season, just as long as they get to the playoffs. That is when the real evaluation of the Harden trade will show it’s value as being smart or dumb.

By: realninerfan22

realninerfan22 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:00:28 +0000

To say the mid range game is the worst shot in basketball proves you have no clue about basketball. Just ask players like mj, Kobe, karl malone, chris webber, kg, rip Hamilton, ray allen, sam cassel, d wade. They all made their living shooting the mid range jumper it open up your game, keeps the defense honest. The only reason it crowds the paint is because theres not enough players that can shoot that on a consistant basis. Its either 3s or a drive to the hoop. If u have 5 players who can shoot that shot u could run pick in roll from anywhere on the court, it keeps pressure on the defense. You have no clue what your talking about. Go learn the game kid..

By: gaykegayden

gaykegayden — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:00:16 +0000

Seriously? I’d say that you’re giving yourself way to much credit by claiming to be a “casual bball fan” after reading that comment. Harden a mid round pick that came from nowhere? Pull yourself out from underneath a rock.

By: dominwindhamnh

dominwindhamnh — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:48:46 +0000

This writer is an idiot. The mid range game “doesn’t matter”, then he says the league’s best team last year had the best % from mid range…which is it, moron? Another fan of the “new stats” who isnt smart enough to realize most of them are worthless rehash of existing numbers…

By: 4thquartermagic

4thquartermagic — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:42:00 +0000

Great stuff here.

Last year my brother and I had a bet regarding where James Harden was drafted. Feeling we had was that OKC scouts found a gem in the middle round. Being casual B-Ball fans, we couldn’t even think if he played college ball.

Long story short, when we found out he was a 23 y/o former lottery pick, we were stunned. Seemed like the dude came out of nowhere. But once we saw where he was drafted we said to each other he SHOULD be that damn good.

Needless to say but pointed out brilliantly here, OKC is worse without James.

However when you compare that $80 mil/contract against his putrid disappearing act in the finals (dude was horrific every game) you can see why OKC decided to hedge their bets.