The myth of 'James Harden shoots too many free throws'

Nice breakdown. The man should not, in any way shape or form, be penalized for being fouled. Playoffs or reg season

 

The criticism of Harden's FTs is a justification for people who dislike his style.

 

It is not that he shoots too many FT's...its that "HE FLOPS his way to the line."
This is the myth that is perpetuated by ill-informed west coast media/puppets, out of touch sports "analysts", and idiotic fans that regurgitate the incessant garbage...

Reasons for myths are often just based on stat lines..(ie. 50 point game, 21 FTs made). James cant help it if he is getting fouled. There is "no glitch" in the system...and refs have to call fouls that rip across the hand. He has mastered bringing the ball so low in the paint and explodes up instantly when he sees feeble attempts at a steal. Harden takes the pain and punishment and relishes in it. Almost as if he enjoys it...

I often wonder if players did not foul James, would he actually be a more proficient scorer (ie. higher scoring avg, higher PER)??? I have to commend James Harden a lot. To consistently go into the lane and get hacked throughout a game is so difficult. When people consistently take free swings down at his forearms, and rips him down to the court...I often fear the worst. But he does it...consistently without any qualms. He is a relentless machine who also happens to be a great shooter.

 

Came here to post this.

While Harden has swept aside the defensive ineptitude narrative, this is the new ridiculously overblown criticism.

 

Great post. This is like nails on a chalkboard for me. It's so easy to come to this conclusion if you are only a surface-level thinker.

"In the last 10 years, only Carmello has lead the league in scoring while taking less than 9 FT attempts per game..."

^^ This is called being a jump shooter only.

 

It's probably more of... because he doesn't play on their team. I am sure that if Kobe played here and won us rings, a lot more fans won't probably mind his attitude.

 

Were any of those others averaging around ~10ft per game ever criticized for it? I seem to remember some against Wade, but never to the extent Harden is getting...

 

Harden's FTr this season is .559.

In 2005, 2006, 2007 Dwayne Wade's FTr's were .578, .568, and .556 respectively.



This season, Bismach Biyombo (.933), Tyler Hansbrough (.921), DeAndre Jordan (.897), Rudy Gobert (.674), Mason Plumlee (.649), Dwight Howard (.621), and Tyson Chandler (.569) all have been much more creative and proficient than Harden at getting to the free throw line when they touch the basketball.

So, if we aren't going to call fouls on Harden when the defender's arms and hands are in direct contact with his arms and hands when he is attempting to shoot the basketball then for sure stop calling all these fouls against these big men.


A foul is a foul is a foul is a foul. The best players in the NBA have always been skilled at drawing fouls and using that skill to win games, playoff series, and championships. The only difference is Harden and all the superstars of the past is they did not use it throughout the course of a game and a season. They limited their foul drawing skill to game-winning situations, an occasional bail out end-of-the-shotclock possession, and the playoffs/Finals. Harden has perfected the skill and uses it throughout the game and throughout the whole season. There's nothing wrong with that. A foul is a foul is a foul is a foul is a foul. If the league doesn't like it, change the rules.

 

Kobe's attitude /= harden taking it to the hoop

 

Yea this criticism is so dumb. Nobody watches games anymore, they just read box scores, watch ESPN highlights, and repeat what they heard other talking heads say.

Harden gets to the line a lot because he gets fouled a lot. Just like Westbrook now and KD, LeBron, Kobe, Wade in seasons past.

Such a dumb argument...

 

The narrative was already constructed out of Houston, Harden, and D12 hate. Only way to create your own narrative is to win. And even that doesn't guarantee anything. The media is evil personified, the geniuses are the one's who can manipulate it.

 

what about the reality of 'westbrook is .5fta behind harden'?
cousins is one attempt behind. dont hear a lot of that from the idiots

 

I don't think anyone here cares about him shooting too many FT's.

 

To be perfectly objective, when bodies collide in the paint, reputation plays a large part in whistles get blown or not. And Harden to me seems to get more benefit-of-the-doubt calls in such situations. Westbrook, Cousins, LeBron these guys have lesser FT rate than Harden as they drive more but get less FTs. Let’s not kid ourselves. Harden is the most “efficient” at getting to the line.

If there’s one argument I can make for Harden’s FTs being inflated, it’s the fact that (A) he shoots all our technical and (B) he shoots most of our end-of-game foulfest FTs. I wish there’s a stat for FTs on shooting fouls as opposed to personal fouls. If that distinction is made, I bet Harden would be closer than other guys.

 

I am so exhausted from arguing with imbeciles who continually say Harden isn't fun to watch because he flops every time he drives to the basket. People with this opinion DO NOT watch Rockets games. They listen to biased media reporters/writers who don't watch Rockets games themselves. Anyone who watches a Rockets game and still says Harden's fouls are flops can't be reasoned with. The closest I can get to common ground with them is that Harden will at times accentuate contact to draw attention to it, but I beg them to name one NBA player who doesn't do this regularly. It is frustrating. Oh well, ***** the haters....LETS GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!!

 

They're fouls according to the rule book

 

It isn't like Harden is flopping all the time. People actually foul him. He suckers them into it. But that shouldn't be seen as a negative for James.

People keep complaining about it, but a load of bull. I don't understand the complaint.

 

Harden has 431 attempts at the rim and 777 FTAs.
Cousins has 448 attempts at the rim and 541 FTAs.

Just because I don’t share the same opinion as you doesn’t mean it’s because I get my info from ESPN. In fact, I thought about what you did a few weeks ago and decided to see if the theory hold. But instead, I found that a lot of the other top FT players also decidedly shot much more than Harden at the rim. LeBron, Westbrook, Cousins, all get their shots in the paint at a higher volume than Harden, yet shoot less FTs.