Was talking specifically how harden was playing. He is about 43% from the field in Brooklyn, 22 points 10 assists, 7 rebounds and 3.5 turnovers. So obviously solid but not mvp harden. He came in shooting 60% from the field so obviously has fallen quite a bit since then shooting. Or basically exactly what I said but 4 games and not 2.
10.5 assists to 3.4 turnovers is pretty good. 9.8 free throws at 87% is huge. 22.4 points on 13 or so field goals a game + 10 assists is pretty ideal for a #2.
Harden was playing at a near MVP level from about Christmas until he got hurt at the end of January i.e. 26.4 p, 10.9 a, 8.3 r with a GmSc of 23.1. Turnovers were up a bit, but that time correlates a lot to Durant missing time when he needed to up his production some. In Philly, he is again a full time #2 and his efficiency has gone up as he has taken less shots, but still very effective and I absolutely believe if Embiid went down, Harden would again boost his scoring and his role. Harden has never really been given enough credit for adapting his game to fit his teammates. And his 3 year peak in Houston may very well be the greatest 3 consecutive seasons anyone has ever played offensively (his defense obviously leaves a lot to be desired).
Wilt says hi!
He can say hi all he wants, but Harden accounted for a greater percentage of his team's points than Wilt did because of the large discrepancy in assists. During the 50.4 season, Wilt accounted for 44% of Philly's points. Not even accounting for assisted 3 pointers, Harden accounted for at least 44.86% during the 18-19 season. In other words, Harden's most dominant season was more dominant than Wilt's.
I guess rebounds and blocks don't count? Rings don't count in dominance either? Playoff numbers don't count either? In an easier touch foul league Hardin put up some numbers... If I had to take a player to start a team and play winning basketball and I wanted a dominant player Harden wouldn't be on my list.
Given Mo said "greatest 3 consecutive seasons anyone has ever played offensively", probably not.
I still think Bird in the mid-late 80s is probably the most impressive offensive spell over a number of years we've seen in the NBA. If Jokic can put together a couple more seasons of what he's done over the last two he'll be in the discussion as well.
Offensive rebounds aren't offense?
Maybe Oscar Robertson can say hi, he averaged 30 points and 10 assists a game for a five-year period.
I mean, they weren't recorded, so it is hard to say. Wilt's best scoring years were also his worst passing years, which hurts him.
I find Robertson's period quite comparable to Harden's actually. Extremely high, bordering on insane amounts of time with the ball in their hands, and a green light to do whatever they needed to on offence. Oscar didn't have success until he left and played the #2 role to a dominant big man - maybe it will be the same for Harden.
Sure, though the Royals never won like the Rockets did, that said in 65-66, Oscar averaged 31.3 ppg and 11.1 apg, accounting for 53.5 ppg for the Royals. The Royals scored 117.8 ppg so Oscar accounted for 45.4% so a bit more though Harden certainly assisted on more 3 pointers and "and 1's" than Oscar would have so Harden probably accounted for a very similar percentage of overall points. Oscar's other years were in the same general percentage range. The Royals only won at least 50 games once though during Oscar's time there that was 63-64 (Oscar was actually 46.55% of the points that season). The Rockets were the 2nd best team in the world when Harden was doing this (losing to the Warriors twice and then the Lakers in the 3 year run).
And since I said Harden's season may very well be the greatest 3 consecutive offensive seasons, I left the door open for someone to argue that Oscar in 64, 65, 66 was better or Wilt in 61, 62, 63 or Bird in 86, 87, 88 or Jordan in 87, 88, 89 or Lebron in 08, 09, 10 or even Westbrook in the 15-19 period (though his inefficiency really hurts his case).
Harden doesn't play very pretty basketball, but he has been incredibly efficient and his teams have won a lot during his peak. I don't think people realize just how good, historically, Harden has been from an offensive standpoint. He is obviously a poor defender and his work ethic has had some issues, but offensively there are very few, if any, better in the history of the sport when accounting for both scoring and passing.
