The Official James Harden Thread

[bledredwine]

Houston's got a hardon for harden

[chriscringle95]

Harden and Lin have the potential to be the best backcourt in the NBA this season.

Both are multi skilled combo guards who create extremely well for others and their self. Harden is even more dynamic because he is able to play on and off the ball at a high level. Both are excellent at running the pick and roll as well. It's like having two point guards honestly.

Lin compliments him very well and is smart enough to make it work, as tonight's game showed.

Lin is also far more athletic than people give him credit for. Great speed /explosion in an out of his moves and when he attacks the rim. Lin will exceed his contract in my opinion barring some type of severe injury.

Harden at 6-5 225-230 is a matchup nightmare because when he becomes the playmaker/point, he is unstoppable coming off of the high screen and roll. No way to defend him when he turns the corner or is resetting and running the defender into multiple screens and then finding open guys when he frees himself.

Size? Check. Playmaking? Check. Shooting/Scoring? Check. Defense? Check. No reason Houston isn't contending for a playoff spot at the end of the season.

[PetroNet]

classic 1 game overreaction. harden isnt bad, but he isnt a top 20 NBA player either,

[JackFinn]

I predicted a 22/5/5 season for Harden but i'm going to have to change that if he's going to play 45 minutes a game and put up nearly 30 shots a game. If those two stats stay true, he's going to win the scoring title by a mile.

If 25 shots is "nearly 30," then it's also "nearly 20." #biasAlert

[KDgoat]

So Harden = Prime Wade now.

I remember the Finals.

[HTown34s]

Good first outing but it's only the Pistons. I'm more concerned with how the Beard will fare against the top half of the West. I can see him averaging 25 & 5 for the season but will it be enough?

[Johnny Firpo]

So Harden = Prime Wade now.

I remember the Finals.

Bryant had like 2 terrible finals, and another 3 where he was pretty bad, especially by his standards. Point is, just because he laid an egg in the finals, doesn't mean he can't be great.

[East_Coast]

Good first outing but it's only the Pistons. I'm more concerned with how the Beard will fare against the top half of the West. I can see him averaging 25 & 5 for the season but will it be enough?

My thoughts exactly.

It also has to be said that this Harden broakout game would not have been possible if he was still on OKC. There simply isn't enough room for three elite scorers on one team. I'm starting to think that the trade will ultimately be beneficial for everyone -- Harden gets to expand his game without having to defer and OKC retains more financial flexibility by not locking up too much money in four players.

I'm not sold on the Rockets team, though. I think Harden will soon feel the weight of having to score big every night, because right now he doesn't have a lot of help.

[why22]

Man he wouldve looked soooo good on the raptors.


Time machine.


Derozan/Bargnani/future 1st


to OKC
for


Harden

[GameOver25]

Can someone find highlights to all of Harden's points and assists? Not like the generic highlights...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCAFdBWuNhw&feature=g-all-u[/youtube]

Nice! Good game by Harden in his debut.

[Ginger Bean]

Lin is also far more athletic than people give him credit for. Great speed /explosion in an out of his moves and when he attacks the rim. Lin will exceed his contract in my opinion barring some type of severe injury.

....

No reason Houston isn't contending for a playoff spot at the end of the season.

I agree that 8mil/yr is reasonable for Lin, if he can stay healthy. He doesn't seem to be finishing or shooting as well as before, though. I hope it's just rust from his knee surgery recovery, and a month or two will get him back in prime shape.

Oh, and there is one reason Houston may not contend for the playoffs, and his name is Toney Douglas.

[GettinitDone]

I think it can be argued Harden is already one of the most complete offensive player in the L.

He can handle the ball, he can pull up (mid-range, three point, his range is beyond three point), he has very quick effortless release, combination of his handle, change of directions, and the Ginobili Euro step and ability to pop from anywhere off the dribble makes him a threat from... anywhere lol

He can shoot all day long, but he always looks to attack the rim, and he has a PG LeBron-ish vision and skill to pass that makes him almost impossible to guard. He's fast like Tony Parker, he has Ginobili Euro steps, he has Wade change of directions dribble, he has LeBron vision.

Only thing he doesn't demonstrate often is post up game. But that's not needed when dude is as fast on dribble as Tony Parker and is big and strong to finish around basket with authority.

When a guy drops 37pts, 12 assists, no sweat, he has talent. I think he's as complete an offensive player as LeBron. Morey is one heck of a GM.

[RoyalWun]

I'm sorry but did anyone else notice how TERRIBLE the Pistons defense looked?

I don't think I've ever seen so many open shots against one team in my life. It probably felt like practice to Harden.

But what makes it weird is that they only won by 10-11 points.

[GettinitDone]

^When Pistons realized Harden was torching them, they had 2-3 Pistons on him whenever he put ball on floor. I don't care how bad a defensive team they are, when you're double teamed, you're double teamed. It's his brilliance in splitting/ slicing-dicing those double-triple teams every time down the court that made their D look pathetic.

So many open shots because both Harden and Lin were on point with their laser-quick passing...

[draft]

The Arenas comparison is spot on. It's like he can get any shot he wants,

[toddlincoln]

I agree with the poster who says he is as complete as LeBron offensively. He's not the bruiser or post up menace that LeBron can be, but he is a far better shooter and just as good of a passer. His finishing ability is effectively the same as well -- he finished 3-4 layups last night where he was just hacked (mostly no calls as well).

Pistons' defense left a lot to be desired, and they did not look prepared to defend him at all. So many times he was just wide open and I questioned what they were thinking considering no one else on that team is anywhere near a threat off the dribble as him (Lin comes close, but is no where near the shooter Harden is). They should have been face guarding him when he didn't have the ball and preventing him from touching it at all costs.

[Johnlac1]

Haven't watched the game yet (just highlights), but looking at the minutes, I don't think the Rockets can play Harden 44 minutes every night. I won't gloat too much about saying yesterday that Harden would be great, but it was obvious he was a superior player to Martin or Lamb. And both those players are decent players (or can be in Lamb's case.) However, the Rockets will have to get more scoring punch out of the front line. Asik scored about what he's capable of, but they'll have to do better as far as the other players. I expect to see DMO and Jones get more time as the season emerges. Both can score. I'm surprised McHale didn't give them minutes last night.

[dtown8]

Well, Houston has been a joke for over 30 years now. They got Hakeem (but passed up on Jordan) and that has been the only good move the franchise has done in their history. this whole, giving Harden a "Joe Johnson" size contract is just typical of Houston's bad and down right dumb basketball decisions .

[LeChosen1]

1 game and suddenly Harden has just as good as offensively as Lebron and now is better than Wade/Kobe.
This would be equivalent to week 1 NFL overreactions

[tsherkin]

Dtown, Harden is younger and likely better than JJ. Also, JJ is getting paid $20-25 million per year and Harden is getting a $16M/yr contract. Bit of a difference there.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9700 using Tapatalk