Again, like I said he's far from an ideal 3rd guy so I really don't value him that highly, but I don't value Harden that highly either. Are you thinking about him if he reaches his potential?
As a starter, I think Harden is a 16-17ppg threat with very good rebounding and playmaking ability and average defense. A very efficient scorer and overall offensive player who is a major threat both off the dribble (out of the pick and roll) and with his set jump shot (great range). Very easy to play with. Complements ball-dominant stars very well and creates shots for role players.
Rebounding and playmaking? In 28 mpg after the all-star break, he averaged 2.8 and 2.4 rebounds and assists per game. I agree with the offense and the shooting threat, but I have always thought of Harden as a pretty one-dimensional player as a scorer. (But better than most one-dimensional players in the sense that he's not necessarily a liability in other aspects, just very average to slightly below average)
Do you think Ray Allen is a one-dimensional player?
Absolutely I do. Luckily for him, he is the best ever in the history of the sport of basketball at that one-dimension, so he's had a very successful career.
How so? Have you never seen how good Ray at putting the ball on the floor and driving to the hole? That's the difference between Ray Allen and Reggie Miller.
Not even taking into consideration his passing and defense.
He is "pretty good" at driving to the hole. He scored 11.4 ppg on jump shots and 2.6 ppg on "close" shots and dunks last season, so he's obviously not doing it too often. http://www.82games.com/1011/10BOS7.HTM
His passing? Very OK for a guard, I find it absolutely nothing to write home about. 2.7 assists per game (as a guard) on a team that is very unselfish by nature doesn't impress me. His defense I find to be a product of the system he plays in. He was widely regarded as a bad (if not terrible) defender when he was a Sonic.
But he is better at putting a ball in a 10 foot high hoop from distances far away than any other man who has ever walked the earth. That's what makes him great.
I would say he has two elite talents. Shooting and running off screens. Getting open should not be considered the same talent as hitting open shots otherwise Diebler would have been the number one pick overall.
You're right, Ray is very good at coming off screens.
I also think you're selling his defense and ball-handling which are both above average. His passing too is above average for a shooting guard, to the point where I'd bet that we don't remember many of the good passes, and mostly remember the bad crosscourt ones in transition, because that's how much we take for granted Ray Allen always making the right choice.
Ray was 15th in the NBA in assist per game for all SG, but he plays a high # of minutes and he is only 26th at SG in AP48M (among qualified players). Players like Kevin Martin, Ronnie Brewer, Ben Gordon were all ahead of him there. None of whom I think are particularly good passers.
Ray is a pretty good ball handler. If you want to say "above average", I mean what does that even mean? Lots of SGs can handle the basketball pretty well. But OK, fine, sure, he's above average.
I don't feel right saying "Ray is definitely not one-dimensional. Ray's definitely a three dimensional player. He can shoot, he can come off screens, and he can handle the ball all really well." But I certainly won't argue with you if that's what you feel makes Ray Allen a three-dimensional player.
And don't get me wrong, I still love Ray Allen.
Topic: 2011 CB draft: How does my team look?/division rankings (Read 590204 times)