James Harden's Game Will Age Exceptionally Well

[DuckIII]

Sad if true. The sooner he’s out of the NBA completely the better it will be for the entire sport of basketball at every level.

[SelfishPlayer]

Thread was posted as he has to sit a back to back to nurse a nagging hamstring injury. He's not gonna get healthier as he gets older.

Load management extends careers...

[elchengue20]

Hes a way different player than Chris Paul. If you dont understand this, you really dont understand basketball.

Chris Paul is the ultimate PG, floor general and team player. He knows of the play in the flow of the offense and pick his spots, while getting everybody involved.

Harden is much more of a ball dominant, ISO scorer and PnR player. His game is based in being a threat to score. He has elite vision and is a pick and roll maestro, but his assist are much more like Westbrook or Iverson's asissts than Chris Paul or John Stockton.

Harden was done with Brooklyn because they didnt let him hog the ball and build the offense around him.


Also, Chris Paul takes much better care of his body.

I disagree with like half of your opinion. Harden is truly unselfish, remember when he was a sixth man? Harden has literally played every single perimeter position. Chris Paul is the "selfish" ball dominant one. Chris Paul over . much of his career has no All Star value outside of him running his offense and doing things his way. Chris Paul over much of his career couldn't play off ball like Harden or Iverson. He wouldn't even allow such a thing to happen. Lastly, Harden can play basketball without dribbling. He can catch and shoot, as well as make accurate passes from anywhere on the court to everywhere on the court. Chris Paul doesn't have an MVP...

This. But also whether they're the same type of player or not isn't really fundamentally relevant to my general point. James Harden can age more into a backseat role that scores opportunistic buckets as his athleticism declines while still maintaining borderline elite shooting ability and elite mastery of playmaking. I think he'll be a really strong starter until 36/37 barring he doesn't let himself go.

Last night showed why they are way different players. Chris Paul doesnt shoot his team out a game like that, while doing the same thing over and over, getting blocked repetedetly because all he wanted to do was drive left and go to the rim. Harden last night showed is game is limited to try to beat his man and get to the basket, he has no inbetween game and no off ball game. Hes already losing his first step and its showing.

Harden's game is 90% based on being a threat to score. He makes defenses colapse and then yes, he has elite vision and is a very willing passer. But he's a very ball dominant player, he doesnt plays in the flow of an offense. His game is heavily reliant on ISO and PnR.

Chris Paul is nowadays more of a old school PG. Chris Paul is actually the one who adjusted in Houston when playing with Harden. Maybe you have a case with Harden in OKC, but hes become a very ball dominant player since he started to play PG in Houston.

[SelfishPlayer]

I disagree with like half of your opinion. Harden is truly unselfish, remember when he was a sixth man? Harden has literally played every single perimeter position. Chris Paul is the "selfish" ball dominant one. Chris Paul over . much of his career has no All Star value outside of him running his offense and doing things his way. Chris Paul over much of his career couldn't play off ball like Harden or Iverson. He wouldn't even allow such a thing to happen. Lastly, Harden can play basketball without dribbling. He can catch and shoot, as well as make accurate passes from anywhere on the court to everywhere on the court. Chris Paul doesn't have an MVP...

This. But also whether they're the same type of player or not isn't really fundamentally relevant to my general point. James Harden can age more into a backseat role that scores opportunistic buckets as his athleticism declines while still maintaining borderline elite shooting ability and elite mastery of playmaking. I think he'll be a really strong starter until 36/37 barring he doesn't let himself go.

Last night showed why they are way different players. Chris Paul doesnt shoot his team out a game like that, while doing the same thing over and over, getting blocked repetedetly because all he wanted to do was drive left and go to the rim. Harden last night showed is game is limited to try to beat his man and get to the basket, he has no inbetween game and no off ball game. Hes already losing his first step and its showing.

Harden's game is 90% based on being a threat to score. He makes defenses colapse and then yes, he has elite vision and is a very willing passer. But he's a very ball dominant player, he doesnt plays in the flow of an offense. His game is heavily reliant on ISO and PnR.

Chris Paul is nowadays more of a old school PG. Chris Paul is actually the one who adjusted in Houston when playing with Harden. Maybe you have a case with Harden in OKC, but hes become a very ball dominant player since he started to play PG in Houston.

It was a blow out game. There is nothing to learn from that. The Nets came in with the strategy of hacking the Sixers and making the refs call them. That had the added benefit of stopping the Sixers from having a rhythm. That kind of stuff doesn't work so easily in the playoffs where there is a game plan and guys are dialed all the way in. Kyrie and Durant were dialed all the way in with a "hack them to death to stop their rhythm" strategy. That is a good regular season tactic.

[ken6199]

The biggest concern on Harden is the way he manages his body. This dude is not one of those who looks after his body very well as we've seen multiple cases where he entered the regular season out of shape - rehab or not. I was look at Kobe's 666 workout schedule the other day (6 hours a day, 6 days a week, 6 months a year) and his weight lifting schedule, which is way out of my imagination even from an athlete perspective. It's like how can you have a life outside of your career? Or basketball IS all his life.

The night Philly lost to Nets Harden was seen partying with Travis Scott and Lil Baby. That's who he is, and that's his choice. He loves playing basketball but only so much that he has to reserve something for his own life which is all about having fun. At the NBA level, to become successful at the pinnacle you really need to go super saiyan and fanatically devoted because everyone around you is top talent, that's why Kobe and Lebron had such a prolonged career and I guess Giannis is one of that breed too by the look of it. I am not sure James Harden belongs to that group but at the end it's his choice.

[BloodNinja]

Harden contributes nothing without the ball