James Harden to Win 6th Man of the Year Award

This topic contains 8 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by Spacegrass 14 years, 2 months ago.

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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 10:07am #39039

I May Be Wrong
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By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY
Known as much for his cumbersome beard as for his ability to sometimes be the best
player on the floor for the Oklahoma City Thunder, James Harden is expected to be named Sixth Man of the Year by the NBA on Thursday afternoon.
The team has scheduled a news conference for 4 p.m. ET.
Harden, who is averaging a career-high 16.8 points per game, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists, is in just his third season and a key contributor to the Thunder’s 47-19 regular season record and No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The Thunder advanced to the second round and will play the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets series. Harden is performing even better in the postseason with 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
A combo guard who can play on or off the ball with All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Harden had a career-high 40 points in a late-season victory vs. the Phoenix Suns. When the Thunder swept the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, it was Harden’s 29 points-aa15 in a fourth-quarter — that erased a 13-point deficit.
Lou Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers and Al Harrington of the Nuggets also had standout seasons as the sixth man for their teams.
Williams actually led the 76ers in scoring with 14.9 points per game and never started a game. He played just 26.3 minutes. Harrington chipped in 14.2 points in 27.5 minutes.
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No shocker here. This was his award probably 30 games into the season. Lou Williams, Al Harrignton, and Jason Terry all had noteworthy seasons but the BEARD was too much!
James Harden’s reaction after winning it:

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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 10:14am #668852

TomShoe
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Couldn’t have gone to a better guy.
Congrats, James Bearden, I mean Harden.
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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 10:15am #668851

TomShoe
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Dbl Post, Ignore.
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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 10:20am #668855

OldSkoolBasketball
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He deserves it but he plays starter minutes. I think the award needs to give it to people who actually plays 20-25 minutes a game. Oh well no big deal.
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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 10:47am #668860

Memphis Madness
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OldSkool,
That is a good suggestion. Harden is an all-star talent and a key component of the Thunders’ Big Three. But, the award is given to the best player who comes off the bench. Based on those rules James Harden is the best.
Lots of great teams have had good sixth men so maybe that is one of the secrets to winning. John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Toni Kukoc, Manu Ginobili, Lamar Odom, and Jason Terry were all great title winning sixth men. Even if some of those guys played starter minutes. But, I would rather give it to guys like that than one-dimensional gunners on bad teams. … I am looking for Harden to join that list of all-time great sixth men. Or he might be one of those greats who eventually starts, like Hondo and McHale.
Red Auerbach started the sixth man role for the Celtics because he needed offensive punch off the bench. The good sixth men give you that. The great ones also facilitate and/or defend like Hondo, Kukoc, Ginobili, and Odom at his peak.
I think that the Thunder should start Harden next year and play KD and him like MJ and Pippen. Then it will be interesting to see who they use as their new sixth man.

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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 11:15am #668872

Tyrober
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I think eveone has known this for weeks now lol
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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 11:22am #668873

Prometheus
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I agree that James Harden is the 6th man of the year, I just think that the race should have been closer than most people think. Compare Harden to Lou Williams on a per 36 minute basis and you will see that Lou’s production is superior to that of Hardens in every major statistical category with the exception of rebounding.
Lou also led a playoff team in scoring without teamates such as Durant and Westbrook who both demand a whole lot of attention and a lot of the time, double teams.
The award still goes to Harden, though, in large part because of shooting percentage which is considerably better than Lou’s. Also, Philly played poorly in the 2nd half of the season which drew a lot of attention away from the 76ers and ultimately, Lou’s value and production.
Just wanted to give sweet Lou some repect for his great season.
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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 12:22pm #668885

Chilbert arenas
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Hard-en the paint!
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Posted on: Thu, 05/10/2012 - 12:47pm #668887

Spacegrass
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No surprise with him winning it and he may win this award for a long time going forward. Not sure how many of you guys on here listen to rock n roll but , Harden looks like a black version of frontman Neil Fallon from the band "Clutch". It’s the beard I guess?
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