SFGATE: D'Antoni: Harden not only MVP, but most improved, too

D'Antoni: Harden not only MVP, but most improved, too"
Published on April 28, 2019 at 03:29AM by By KRISTIE RIEKEN, AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston coach Mike D'Antoni thinks James Harden should win a second straight MVP award.

The veteran coach also believes the Beard should take home another award, too.

"I don't know if he'll get MVP, he should in my opinion," D'Antoni said. "But he definitely should get most improved player because he's improved his game."

It's daunting to think: Harden is actually getting better. And there are plenty of numbers to back it up as the Rockets prepare to play the Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals starting Sunday.

A year after Harden became the first Rocket to win MVP since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994 when he led the team to the first of two titles Harden has improved in almost every statistical category.

He raised his scoring average from 30.4 to 36.1 points lead the NBA, upped his rebounds from 5.4 to 6.6, improved his steals from 1.8 to 2.0, raised his free throw percentage from 85.8 to 87.9 and made 4.8 3-pointers a game after averaging 3.7 a year ago.

And those numbers don't even take into account how much he's improved on defense and the skill with which he uses his step back 3-pointer.

Never lacking in confidence, Harden wasn't surprised that D'Antoni's thought he could be called the league's most improved player a year after winning MVP.

"It's true," he said. "Every year I try to come back better. I try to come back and find ways to be more impactful than I was the year before and I think I was this year. And hopefully next year it will be the same thing. To try to go up as high as I can until I'm done."

Some criticize Harden's game because they believe he relies too heavily on drawing fouls and piling up chunks of his points at the free throw line. The Rockets scoff at that notion and even one of the Warriors disputed that theory.

"He can...