Well said.

Here’s a thing I see. When Harden gets the ball on the wing, probably 50% of the time the opposing defense doubles him on the catch. As soon as he has the ball in his hands he’s got two defenders on him. Even with that pressure, he is able to find the open man, which really shows court vision, and, that dude can get to the rack. He may not have the fastest first step, but he’s got the freekin ball on a string. He does crossovers, fake crossovers, jab steps, fall aways, you name it. And when he goes, he likes to go left, and everybody knows it, yet he still gets there and finishes even with contact. Much like a poor man’s Ginobli.

GH on the other hand seems like a very nice team player on a very structured and disciplined team. He was never the focus of the opposing team this year from what I saw, Singler was.

Gerald Henderson may surprise and be a great NBA player, but my money is on Harden to be the much better player. I see a lot of Mitch Richmond in him, or Ricky Pierce.

My draft preference is what I wrote on that hoops china thing: I would like to get Harden (assuming we don’t have the top pick) and then work a trade up with our second first round pick to move up and get DeJuan Blair.

Study after study has shown that rebounding is one of the most transferable skills in basketball. If a guy rebounds in College well, he will rebound in the pros well; same with shot blocking. DeJuan Blair is the best offensive rebounder in the nation this year (yes, better than Blake), and he is second in the nation in TRB per 40, and 1st in PER. I know he’s short, but so was Paul Milsap when he led the nation in rebounding twice. It’s the heart of the lion.

I think those two would really cover up some warts with this team this year. We get some tough interior play and inside game (Blair would be a big off the bench like Malik Rose or Collison)and Harden should start.

That would give you a second unit of Collison, Blair, Thabo, Weaver and Livingston. Great defense there. You could mix and match to get a little more offense as well.

I’m not sold on Rubio because I just haven’t seen him.

Hence why this really isn’t even a debate.

Especially since you said Henderson finished at the rim in the tournament, but his 11 of 44, 25% FG percentage in the tournament proves that finishing is the last thing he did. Henderson’s jumper is certainly mechanically sound but the elevation is part of the problem with his consistency issues: the higher you jump on a jumpshot, the more legs you put into it and the greater the possibility for variation, especially late in games when fatigue becomes a factor.

Lastly, you’re putting way too much stock into “first step.” Brandon Roy does not have the best first step and he’s probably the second best SG in the Western Conference. Why? Because of his all-around game and skill-set. Thus, Harden’s higher basketball IQ, deeper and more consistent jumpshot, diverse skillset and court vision will all translate better to the NBA than simple athleticism does.

Oh, and to imply that Henderson can “take over” and “make big shots” better than Harden can is, I’m sorry, laughable at best. The biggest knock on Henderson is that he’s never put it all together and lived up to his potential because of his inconsistency and his tendency to disappear throughout his entire career at Duke.

Like I said, great backup SG who can really contribute defensively and finish in an up-tempo system, but Henderson’s limited jumpshot range will hurt his stock as a SHOOTING guard in the pro’s. So yeah, vehemently agree to disagree.

You say that “Harden had more turovers because he had to create for his teamates and force the issue, all Henderson had to do is finish”, but i’ve seen more than just Hendersons last tournament game to justify my opinion. Harden wasn’t playin like a 3rd pick the whole tournament if really watch him he’s too passive to be a starting 2 gaurd and if his jumpshot isn’t falling then what he can’t beat anyone to the basket. No lateral movement to really have potential to develop into a defensive player at all. I know, he has all the tools to be … but we all know he’ll get shreaded on the defensive side of the ball in the NBA’s speed driven leauge. Not a go to guy in any since of the word more of a facilitator at best…thus the “forced to create” because he’s not ready to take over and make the big shots when it counts.

Now on the other hand I like Hendersons defensive potential and the prowess he already displayed this year. Finish at the rim he did on plenty of occasions in the tournament and throughout the season, but he showed a nice mid range game that displayed pull up jumpshots and catch and shoot ability. His textbook form on his jumpers and his nice elevation on those shows a potential to possibly become a great shooter if the work is put in, but all in all i’ll agree to disagree from one fan to another.

And you’re falsifying your stats to prove your point. Harden had 3.4 turnovers a game (not 4) and Henderson had 2.2 turnovers a game. That’s not half as few, that’s only .8 less. Harden had the better Assist to turnover ratio at 1.3/1 (4.2 assists a game) than Henderson. Henderson had a A/T of 1.1 (2.5 assists a game). Harden averaged more rebounds at 5.6 to Henderson’s 4.9. Also, the area you’d expect Henderson to win, steals, Harden actually averaged more steals at 1.7 to Henderson’s 1.2 a game.

Bottom line is that Henderson is not a starting 2 in the NBA, mainly because he does not shoot consistently at all from the college 3 point line and he has extremely limited range on his jumpshot. Toss on the fact that Henderson has been one of the most inconsistent players in his first two years at Duke and it’s really not a fair fight. If Henderson goes in the lottery I’ll be shocked.

And if we’re going to talk about the “tournament failures” of Harden, did you not see what Henderson did in the tourney? He went 11 for 44 from the field, 1 for 11 from three and then went a whopping 1 for 14 against Villanova in the biggest game of the season. And here’s the kicker, Nova wasn’t putting all of their defensive focus on Henderson like every team did against Harden.

Also, even though it was only a difference of .8 turnovers a game, the fact that Harden served as both shooting guard and playmaker for ASU and had way less talent on his team than Henderson had at Duke more than makes up for the turnovers, especially since he still had a better assist to turnover ratio. You can see why Harden had more turnovers: Harden has to create for his teammates and force the issue, all Henderson has to do is finish.

Henderson would make a great energy, backup SG in the NBA but that’s it. Harden’s positives and production speak for themselves.