James Harden's season

[slick_watts]

James Harden's had kind of a wacky rookie year. He started the year as a proto facilitator off the bench getting lots of assists and not looking for his offense.. then he switched gears and shot a ton in December, not making many of them. In January he shot 42.3% from 3pt range but again struggled elsewhere from the field, shooting less than 40% overall for the second straight month. His assist totals have gone down every month as well.

I think it's clear that James Harden's very skilled. He's got an NBA body, he's strong, he's quick enough to get where he wants to go, his handle is good, and he's a lefty. But the only thing he's been able to do with consistency this year is hit the three pointer.

The closest rookie comparison I could find for James Harden is actually Ben Gordon. Gordon's rookie season scoring profile is very close to Harden's.. Gordon shot a lot more per minute but their TS%, FTA per 36.. almost identical.

Like Ben Gordon in his rookie year (when he cooled off from his torrid start), James Harden has to work a bit on his shot selection and his mid range game.

What do you guys think of James Harden's rookie year so far? If we're going to succeed as a team I think Harden has to eventually supplant Thabo Sefolosha as the starting SG in order to balance our lineup offensively and help out Kevin Durant. I anticipated a slightly more impactful rookie year for Harden but overall I like where he's going..

[wizkid27]

I would agree that stat-wise I was expecting more, but honestly from a how-he-plays perspective, I couldn't be too much happier at all. His feel, pace, maturity, skill set, mentality, etc. all fit in quite perfectly with the rest of our team's core. I would expect as his minutes, confidence and shooting ability grow, he will turn into a great 3rd-ish option on offense on a great team (thinking like Joe Johnson with Phoenix level).

[Clangus]

I noticed that his assisting has gone down from early too.

I do think that he is a nice player, and I like his aggressiveness. He takes it to the cup often (not a great conversion rate. But it def put pressure on the defense.

I expected a bt more production in all catagories, but to be honest its hard not to like his game. I'm hoping he will grow into our SECOND scorer option (and have Russell the Main distributor (like Rondo )

[wiff]

I have been pleasantly pleased with Harden. I, like the rest of us, thought his numbers might be better too. If Kevin Durant went down like KMart did in Sacramento his numbers would probably be better. But Harden came to a team where everyone had their roles from the previous year. Personally I'm not a huge fane of starting a rookie unless it's a guy like Durant.

I don't see Harden (or Ibaka) making it to the starting line up this season. And honestly I'm not sure he is better than Thabo anyway. Thabo is a freakin crazy defender. Even when he seems to get beat he comes up with a block on the follow. Harden is a very nice player and I think next camp he has a good chance at beating out Thabo for the starting spot. Harden is going to be a starting SG in the league for a long time. I don't see the need to rush.

This season the Thunder are playing with the house's money. If they make the playoffs great, if not no one expected them to anyway. Maybe they can get lucky and win the draft lottery like Chicago did with Rose?

I would like to see him be a bit more consistent but that goes for everyone not named Durant on this team.

I think he can become the 2nd option on this team without Westbrook's pts taking much of a hit.

[Jimmy76]

hes looked good despite his numbers only being ok

reeeeaaally needs to improve his finishing and pull up midrange

id like to see him start

[wizkid27]

As far as the starting stuff... I really think that we need to have a perimeter stopper in the lineup (Thabo, especially since he's been hitting jump shots at least semi-consistently) and at the same time needs Harden's scoring and ball-control off of the bench. I really like the chemistry we've got right now as far as that specific rotation is concerned.

[Drehova]

I agree he's been up and down like most rooks , but you can see it when he plays it's just a matter of time . Plus i like his ball handling ability and play making skills next to KD.
I like Harden more than most and I know I'm going to take a beating for this but I'd trade Westbrook before Harden , I just think he's a better fit next to KD

[mcmokken]

In a few years, the 1-2-3 punch of Westbrook, Harden, Durant could be awesome. Westbrook has been making great progress as a PG and it looks like Harden may do the same as he gets more experience. No matter what it will take some more time for them to develop, but the key is allowing it to happen over the next couple years. I anticipate significant improvement and more consistency from Harden in his 2nd and 3rd seasons.

[Jimmy76]

In a few years, the 1-2-3 punch of Westbrook, Harden, Durant could be awesome. Westbrook has been making great progress as a PG and it looks like Harden may do the same as he gets more experience. No matter what it will take some more time for them to develop, but the key is allowing it to happen over the next couple years. I anticipate significant improvement and more consistency from Harden in his 2nd and 3rd seasons.

just need to get a solid shotblocking 5 in the middle and a stretch 4

presti

[wizkid27]

In a few years, the 1-2-3 punch of Westbrook, Harden, Durant could be awesome. Westbrook has been making great progress as a PG and it looks like Harden may do the same as he gets more experience. No matter what it will take some more time for them to develop, but the key is allowing it to happen over the next couple years. I anticipate significant improvement and more consistency from Harden in his 2nd and 3rd seasons.

just need to get a solid shotblocking 5 in the middle and a stretch 4

presti

Ibaka @ 5 and Green @ 4?

[ubernathan]

Bring back Sene, he's worth a look

[Lionel Messi]

You can't say you wouldn't rather have Tyreke Evans. Evans and Harden were actually my two favourite rookies.