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Harden has a better defensive RPM than Kawhi this year

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by James.B.H, Jan 2, 2019.

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  1. James.B.H

    James.B.H Member

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    http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/6/sort/DRPM

    RPM(Real plus minus) is an advanced statistics metric ESPN invented to decorrelate a player's performance with the influence of his teammates and opponents and evaluated their real impact on court. It's not a perfect stat(no stat is perfect), but it is one of the most popular one and makes effort in the right direction by taking into consideration of many factors that traditional stats or even basic advanced stats don't.

    Harden's DRPM is better than Kawhi this year, which to me is quite surprising because Kawhi has always been thought to be the best perimeter defender in this era, and he has always been ranking first or second in DRPM among perimeter players. This year he probably has the most offensive load to carry in his career, so his DRPM declines to a level that is worse than James Harden, who most TV guys claim to have ZERO defense.

    Now people should have a sense how heavy offensive load will affect players' defensive performance. There is no such thing as "Two way player", even MJ's performance declined considerably in the 1996 final when Ron Harper went down and MJ had to pick up Gary Payton.

    Harden still does much more than Kawhi offensively, and defensively they're comparable this year. I don't think there should even be a conversation about who is the better player.
     
    #1 James.B.H, Jan 2, 2019
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  2. pippendagimp

    pippendagimp Member

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    according to this capela is #59 out of 61 centers and gordon is #96 out of 99 shooting guards :eek:
     
    #2 pippendagimp, Jan 2, 2019
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  3. HP3

    HP3 Member

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    Alright guys...we can only circle jerk our guy so much here hahahah.

    But Harden has always been better than Kawhi.....always.
     
    #3 HP3, Jan 2, 2019
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  4. aliadiere25

    aliadiere25 Member

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    Not surprised about Capela. His defense has been inconsistent as hell this year.
     
    #4 aliadiere25, Jan 2, 2019
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  5. ipaman

    ipaman Contributing Member

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    Kawhi doesn't play back to backs and is gonna run to LAC as soon as he gets a chance. The hate is so strong for Harden that the media let's Kawhi off the hook for all the mess he caused for one of the most respected sports franchises in the world but relentlessly attack Harden.
     
    #5 ipaman, Jan 2, 2019
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  6. dream2franchise

    dream2franchise Member

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    The stat is the stat..but lets not lose our heads here.

    Harden, when engaged is a good defender and a SOLID post defender on switches. Kawhi's just otherworldly when he turns it on. He may be getting the Kawhi Island treatment again, who knows.

    Harden still gets blown by a bit and loses his man, but considering the load he's carrying and the insane offensive output he's delivering it's fine. His teammates need to pick up the slack there.
     
    #6 dream2franchise, Jan 2, 2019
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  7. riko

    riko Member

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    Leonard when a switched on is a all time great defenders. Possibly up there with a prime pippen
     
    #7 riko, Jan 2, 2019
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  8. oogie boogie

    oogie boogie Member

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    Does anyone even know how RPM is calculated? I don't think it is public information, but I may be wrong.
     
    #8 oogie boogie, Jan 2, 2019
  9. HP3

    HP3 Member

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    Its not.
     
    #9 HP3, Jan 2, 2019
  10. 疯狂伊文戴德蒙

    疯狂伊文戴德蒙 Member

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    I think Harden's defense is underestimated by most people. The overwhelming impression of Harden's defense remained four or five years ago.
    Frankly speaking, Harden has congenital asthma, which has a very bad impact on physical fitness.

    Additionally, Harden is a heavy tank guard himself, and the slow moving speed defense penetration not very good, which is acceptable. On the other hand, Harden is a top low defender, he has excellent static strength and a pair of quick hand, the majority of the big guys in the league can not destroy Harden at low position.

    At least in my opinion, Harden's defense has been improving year by year, especially his defensive attitude and willingness. Eye defense, which used to occur frequently, still occurs occasionally, but it's really much better than before.

    Considering that Harden himself is also a super scorer (Kobe's job) +offensive starting point (Steve Nash's job), no one has done better than him (he's a monster who can do both), so I think the team is enjoying the output contribution of Harden's offensive phenomena level and has to accept some shortcomings of Harden's defensive side. 。 It's unrealistic that you can't ask Harden to do everything like God.
     
    #10 疯狂伊文戴德蒙, Jan 2, 2019
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  11. LaVar Ball

    LaVar Ball Member

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    hahahaha harden sucks at defense
     
    #11 LaVar Ball, Jan 2, 2019
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  12. BeBreezy

    BeBreezy Member

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    You can color me surprised because I honestly didn't believe 'Harden' and 'perimeter defense' belonged in the same sentence. He's great in the post, though.
     
    #12 BeBreezy, Jan 2, 2019
  13. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    ESPN:

    brb, creating new stat
     
    #13 napalm06, Jan 2, 2019
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  14. Vivi

    Vivi Member

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    Yeah, no way James is a better defender than Kawhi, sometimes the numbers are not telling the truth.

    Yeah, and Westbrook is one of the top 72 defenders in the league, i mean, lol.

    And Whiteside second best in the league, welp.
     
    #14 Vivi, Jan 2, 2019
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  15. rockets1995

    rockets1995 Member

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    Where is the Location of ESPN Headquarters, in Los Angeles. ESPN wants Kawhi in LA.
    Kawhi Leonard is one of the most selfish people I have ever seen, LeBron James Diva mentality is up there.
     
    #15 rockets1995, Jan 2, 2019
  16. rockets1995

    rockets1995 Member

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    #16 rockets1995, Jan 2, 2019
  17. BigTex

    BigTex Member

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    Klay is 440th out of 466 players

    Harden is #1 in RPM
    Kawhi is #35. 4th best on the Raptors.
     
    #17 BigTex, Jan 2, 2019
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  18. DreamShook

    DreamShook Member

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    How many stats do we have to ignore?
     
    #18 DreamShook, Jan 2, 2019
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  19. Shaq2Yao

    Shaq2Yao Member

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    RPM leader Harden is singled out again by the national media for his bad defense.

    Yet Leonard, Curry, Durant, Lillard all have bad DRPM.

    Harden -0.11
    Leonard -0.17
    Curry 0.19
    Durant 0.35
    Lillard -1.23.

    [​IMG]
     
    #19 Shaq2Yao, Jan 2, 2019
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  20. Blurr#7

    Blurr#7 Contributing Member

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    And your moma swallows.
     
    #20 Blurr#7, Jan 2, 2019
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