Mayo has a pretty sporadic development trend. Prior to this season, his best season was in his rookie season, so it's hard to tell whether Mayo is actually developing into an all-star caliber player or whether he is having a hot season because he is on a new team and playing for a new contract. I'll still take James Harden any day of the week, especially since he is 2 years younger. But I'll be interested to see whether Mayo keeps this up next season.
mayo would have had alot more better years in the nba if he woulda kept a consistant starting gig, but he basically battled for playing time throughout most of his career until now.
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he can get to the basket just as well, but only as a slasher looking for his own score. harden is also able to penetrate the defense, survey, and then consistently set up teammates. i see mayo as player in the ben gordon mold. he has been hot so far this season, and was clearly in the zone against us.....but odds are he's gonna cool down at some point....and then he doesn't bring much else to the table.
To be fair, Harden averaged 7.2 PPG on 27% shooting in the clutch per 48 minutes. But he did only average 4.0 FGA compared to 37.8 FGA by Durant and 27.7 FGA by Westbrook(they both shot over 40%). This year Harden is averaging 30.5 PPG on 28% shooting in the cluth per 48 minutes. 28.3 FGA though. Not much better...
Does anybody here think Mark Cuban wouldn't slit the throats of countless adorable puppies tohave Harden instead of Mayo? No? Ok. /thread.
As of right now, Mayo is probably better but Harden has more potential. The few reasons why I think Mayo is better now is because -Mayo is a better overall scorer due to his versatility, Harden's mid-range game is non-existent while Mayo's mid-range game is very good. -Mayo is better at scoring within the flow of the offense while Harden is a ball-stopper that kills and stops ball-movement. He turned Russell Westbrook into an off-guard spot-up shooter last year and he is doing it to Lin this season. -Mayo is a much better defender. Harden is a defensive liability and in last night's game he was too much of a coward to defend Mayo on the other end while Mayo was willing to take on the challenge to guard Harden. Harden is a better playmaker, but not by much and his playmaking/passing skills get overrated a lot. He is nothing special on that end.
When we start putting stats to whether a player is clutch or not...means we've gone too far with stats. Being clutch is so much more than a FG% at the end of a game or how many points are scored. It's something that has to be seen. I mean going by this stat I guess Granger is more clutch than Kobe. It's not a good stat, it's not really taking into effect the situation of the game at all.
Here we go. Keep Lin out of this. We are talking about big time NBA players. Mayo and Harden. Not Lin. Lin hasn't proven he can do much in this offense, until he does Harden is not going to defer to Lin. Sorry.
He hasn't been able to prove much because of Harden. There is a correlation between the two. Harden is not a very portable player, meaning he cannot fit in many systems and with many players. Mayo on the other hand is very portable and is capable off-ball player who could play with ball-dominant players.
Yes, let us blame Harden now for Lin's performance. Of course this is what it is all about with some of the LOFs. Blame everyone but the player himself. Harden fit well in OKC and fits well here. So far during his career he has helped his teams and has succeeded doing so. So I'm not sure what you are talking about. The Results are the Rockets are overachieving and Harden is a top 5 scorer in the NBA. So how's he not fitting in?
How did Harden fit well in OKC? OKC was dead last in assists last season, this season? They are 8th in the league. The only changes OKC made last season compared to this season is trading Harden for Martin. Ball-movement was a problem for OKC and Harden was the main perpetrator. Harden turned Russell Westbrook into a off-guard and a spot-up shooter. You really think that is the best way to use Westbrook? Westbrook is a slashing PG that is at his best when attacking the basket and having the ball in his hands himself. He is doing the same thing with Lin this season, turning him into a spot-up shooter. The only difference is Lin is a much worse shooter than Westbrook is although neither are very good. If this team and coaching staff is smart, which they aren't, they would make Harden play and move without the ball considering how he is a great shooter but again, this team is very stupid, so they continue to make Lin the spot-up shooter instead.
Hardon is just a poor man's LBJ. So far, he has not shown that he can bring a championship to Clutch town. Having some hot hands in some games isn't a big deal in NBA.
Harden is the best pick&roll player in the NBA not named Chris Paul or Steve Nash. If you have some magic trick how to run PnR without having the ball, then bring it on.
No he is not. Harden is incredibly turnover prone and is nothing special when it comes to making plays and passing the ball. Most teams have figured out how to guard him and it's not very difficult. He struggles against elite defenders such as Tony Allen, Andre Iguodala, etc. and against smart defensive teams like the Heat and Thunder. Harden needs to learn the move without the ball more because that will get utilize Lin more and that will take off some pressure and some of the load on Harden.
such ridiculous statements in this thread first to the guy that said mayo is clutch harden isnt (or implied it) mayo playoffs last year: 8.9 pts, 3.6 rbs, 2.1 asts, 27% shooting hardens disastrous playoffs last year: 16.3 ppg, 5.1 rbs, 3.4 asts, 43% shooting to the thread I quoted: mayo is not a better scorer, he is a better shooter. Hardens efficient shot selection and ability to get to the line needs to factor in Mayo is better at scoring within the flow of the offense because he is a role player. Thats what they do, take open shots. you said " He turned Russell Westbrook into an off-guard spot-up shooter last year". This criticism is insane. Yes, he would, because westbrook would miss a couple pull up jumpers without passing, have some awful turnovers, so harden will take control and let westbrook play off the ball, which is what he should be doing in the first place. Mayo is not a much better defender, marginally better harden IS a much better playmaker. Currently leads all SGs in assists, 2nd in assists for all non-PGs behind lebron, and might be different if everyone could make their open 3s or if asik can convert more of those pnr layups there is no possible way that any rational basketball observer can think oj mayo is better than james harden
**one more point on scoring in the flow of the offense, harden was actually pretty decent at it at OKC, hence the 6th man of the year award
