Yeah, winning two or three in a row is so overrated. That's why only 10 teams have done it in over 60 year and only four 3peated. Anything to defend his boy. Btw, the 1st two, he wasn't resting healthy players. He really didn't do it in 05 and 07 either, correct me if I'm wrong (I know you to.) The 1st notable instance I can remember was when he DNPed Tim for Old Age, in 12. So that's 1 in 5 years. And again, HOF players and and HOF coach.
I have to different things, mostly with beer, going on. One, that Harden is not just a product from of the refs. And the separate one, that pop's practice of resting healthy players en mass isn't as successful as some claim. I'm sorry you trouble holding two different conversation in a playoffs post
*sigh* it's not that someone can't follow lines of argument, it's that you can't consistently construct them. what is your point on harden? that he's a superstar without the preferential treatment? that he doesn't get preferential treatment? i really can't follow it. we're several pages in. my (and others') contention is that he's not a superstar without the whistle. to disprove this fact, you point out that he averages 22 points per game whilst not shooting 10 FTs. and that in half these games, he eclipses a total four points below his average! odd and arbitrary cutoffs aside, this isn't the stuff that makes debate champions. my contention is that his treatment from officials is historically different than other players, and i provided data to support this. i suggested that without those calls, he's a mere occasional allstar (which makes him a top 30 player) instead of a superstar (top 5-10). this somehow upset you beyond belief. again, not really sure what you're doing. in terms of popovich, my claims are that a) he's a great coach and b) his resting of players seems to work for him. disputing a) is embarrassingly stupid. in support of b), i provided data that indicates that his (perennially very old) roster wins a lot and doesn't miss games due to injury, relatively speaking. you then (again, arbitrarily) choose a back-to-back title as the only measure of competitive greatness (or health? not sure, again). you can't blame people for not knowing what you're doing. simply state your premise and support it. stop inventing strawmen that are, at very best, tangentially related to the central argument. edit: and you keep disparaging popovich because he's had hall of famers, but for the past several years, all of them have been past their prime by a good sight. instead, he keeps taking fringe nba players like patty mills and jonathan simmons and danny green and beating up on teams with name players who have established themselves elsewhere. he lost a hof player to retirement last year, then won 60+ games (whilst resting people left and right, in violation of everyone's delicate sensibilities). then he lost another hofer, mid-playoff series, and then...started a late draft pick rookie and won a road playoff game against the greatest force the league has ever seen! did you crap on dantoni for finishing 8th with 4 hofers on the roster? were the brooklyn nets of a couple years ago a coaching disappointment because they sucked despite having paul pierce, kg, and joe johnson? would these teams have had to win two consecutive titles to validate the coaching because one (or even two out of three) just isn't very impressive?
Wow, if you take half the fts from a player they will have average less points? Brilliant. Yeah, he's getting some b******* calls where he's not attempting a shot and getting to line anyway. tell me how this is different from the KD/Kobe/Duncan swing the arms up through the opponents arms, without the same result and intention? It's so different because it's from 18 feet as opposed to 25? The league has pretty much dealt will they, as I'm sure they will Harden. I'm not sure if you're being intentionally obtuse in this rest issue. The point that's the tactics haven't resulted in great results by a tile team's standard. It was you who tried to encompass his whole career, as if he'd been doing it his who career and just just the last 6 years or so. In fact, the years after a Spurs title run they have had a 1st round loss (Duncan was out, so ok) and 2nd round loss, another 2nd round loss, WCF loss and and a 1st round loss. Not only only could they not defend it, the outcomes were pretty bad. In contrast, those other teams didn't use that tactic and were about to repeat.
Because, unlike Harden's antics, the NBA changed the rules to make the swing-through a non-shooting foul.
Ok, like I said, I think they will change it. It's not like that move was used for like a year or two. One difference, I mostly only seem JH doing his. There were multiple stars doing the swing through, and the player's teams were winning titles. It had gained a lot more exposure. JH is going to be MVP and I see more people taking apart his game.
Its not just his "swing through"s around the perimeter. Its also when he drives and does the head twitch even when the defender doesn't touch him. Its also the continuous flopping with the defender barely breathing on him. If you can watch him play and say he doesn't get special referee treatment, then I can't take you seriously.
the harden issue is sort of conceded at this point, i think. he's officiated ridiculously, and it inflates his value. i'm not sure there's any other way to view it. if he stops getting ridiculous calls and puts up the same numbers on winning teams, you may come back and crow. i'm still not getting the popovich point. you don't think that maybe...bear with me here...his teams didn't repeat because his stars were old and the competition was good? to argue that the rest strategy failed, you have to suggest that they would have won the title had they NOT rested their players. is that what you're suggesting? because i highly doubt it. a more likely possibility is that when you only really have one superstar, you don't tend to put together multiple titles. the teams that did typically had two top-five nba players in their prime. the fact that pop's teams have made the finals repeatedly even after duncan was clearly on the downside of his career is testament to his coaching ability, not condemnation thereof. the connection to rest, in either direction, is speculation. but it's a lot easier to suggest that it helped them sustain greatness and make the finals they did than it is to suggest that it prevented them from winning several in a row.
yes he flops, but he's actually amazing at drawing contact. He's also strong enough to finish through contact. Add a lil creative "acting" in there with it? KaZaam!
Anymore than other players star players? Compare a similar style player, Manu. When you use usage, per 36 and fga, they are not far off are not too far. Now of course Manu didn't get the same amount of calls, but it's a combination of style and the star treatment once he started playing at all star level with Harden. But just like Manu, look into the numbers. In 2012, he shot 5.8 times a game, was at 21% usage and got to the line 6.8 times. So as a 3rd option he was still getting to line at lot. Extrapolate those numbers to his current, stat line, and they are not far off. His usage can increased from 21% to 34, and his fga are now 8.2. More more shots, more time with the ball in his hand, more free throws. Which blows apart the conspiracy theory. So, has been getting calls since started playing more minutes and had had established himself more. So this isn't a new phenomenon. It's easy to hate him because he does flop, but do you think KMart cared if Duncan was flopping when he couldn't on him and yet couldn't buy a call? The point is stars get bad calls for them, whether they are flopping or not, so why so much hate solely on him? "the harden issue is sort of conceded at this point." Wow, if a lot of people agree, it must be true. Whining about the refs is sure going out a limb. "duncan was clearly on the downside of his career is testament to his coaching ability, not condemnation thereof." Yes, he coaching, out of the rest is great. And I'm sure what happened in 15, a 1st round loss. He was resting the players, KL had got a lot better, they didn't lose anyone, Tim made the all star. And in 06, the big three all in their prime, Tim and TP were all stars and Manu had been the last year. No injuries, same roster. 2nd round loss. You want to give your boy a pass, even though it's not proven from a players prospective (meaning the teams typically rotate in young players out and leave the older ones out) that it works, that's cool. You want to say that Harden it the only player who gets star call, because reasons, that's cool. I'd rather live my life not whining about the refs and trying to take responsibility for my own action. That kinda stuff tends to bleed into other areas of life. And John, top 2 mvp pick. Mvp winner, doesn't really matter.
It's ok because it's Dan Gilbert's team. If it weren't he be writing angry letters like the little b**** he is. Stupid f*** cost us Chris Paul with his whining.
