lhslep134;1717760 wrote:You guys may not appreciate Harden's prodigious ability to get to the free throw line, because it IS a skill, but guess who does? His fellow NBA players.
The reason Harden gets to the line so much is because he has a ridiculous ball-handling/footwork combination that gets opponents off balance, more off balance than they are against other players, and that puts them in position for Harden to draw a foul. He absolutely does it on purpose and he is absolutely amazing at it. Considering that a set of free throws is the most valuable possession in basketball, you guys are really under-appreciating him.
http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/07/21/most-valuable-shot-is-worth-one-point-free-throw/
Its a skill that doesn't translate to the post season (least for Harden & Rockets).
This is what appeared to happen last postseason, when the Rockets suffered a first-round loss to the Blazers in six games. Portland scored 670 points in that series and the Rockets scored 672. Houston’s 2013-14 regular-season free throw rate
[SUP]1[/SUP] was .386, which dropped to .325 against Portland. That equaled about one fewer free throw attempt per game. So, the Rockets are screwed.
Most playoff teams saw their free throw rate increase last postseason, with only the Rockets, Clippers, and Mavericks seeing their free throw rate drop. Dallas’s free throw rate dropped from .253 in the regular season to .217 in the playoffs. BUT! The Mavericks played the Spurs, who are experts at defending without fouling, and who were tied with the Charlotte for the
fewest personal fouls per game in the regular season. Similarly, the Blazers only gave out 19.2 fouls per game during the 2013-14 season, sixth-lowest in the league.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/rockets-cavaliers-james-harden-lebron-james/
Be interesting to see if that changes this post season (I doubt it, see below). Still don't think the Rockets win a 1st round match up, but that's a different conversation.
"
The good news for Harden is that it appears the
Rockets will avoid the Blazers in the first round this season. The bad news is that (other than foul-happy Houston) only two likely West playoff teams foul at a rate higher than the average: Golden State and the
Clippers. The Blazers,
Spurs, Grizzlies,
Mavericks and
Thunder all foul at fairly low rates. Houston will likely face one or two of those teams within the first two rounds. There's a chance all three series in the West would come against low-foul teams, if Houston proceeds that far. And as it turns out, if the Rockets make the Finals, one of the teams that currently rank Nos. 1 and 3 in foul rate (Cleveland and Atlanta) are likely to be waiting.
That's one outside force that will change for the worse for Harden in the playoffs. The other -- officials -- are a concern all the time. After all, the low-foul Grizzlies
did foul Harden on Wednesday night. No dice. Why? There's a common belief that referees are less likely to blow a whistle in an uncertain moment in the most critical moments of the game because referees not named Joey Crawford would prefer
not to be responsible for the result of said critical moments. Referees are encouraged by our outrage-happy sports society to be mostly invisible and let the stars determine who wins and who loses. Blowing the whistle in a crucial moment is filled with peril. So understandably, many officials fail to do so reliably.
That meant trouble for Harden on Wednesday. And because they rely so heavily on the stripe, this is a bigger problem for Harden and Houston than any other team with O'Brien aspirations. Let's hope for the sake of fair basketball Wednesday's miscue doesn't repeat itself in the playoffs. But we'd be foolish not to anticipate it."
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/3/5/8153551/james-harden-no-call-whistle-rockets-grizzlies-nba-playoffs
Seems like Harden gets to the line playing shitty teams in the shitty reffing of the reg season. Playoffs will tell. Regardless, not MVP material.
