Was I the only one getting frustrated over Harden bringing the ball up the court slowly?

It's been a bad part of the superstar culture in Houson since the Francis and Mobley days. As quick as athletic as Francis was, he used to always walk the ball up instead of pushing the pace. I remember once even JVG walking mid court with him pace for pace motioning for him to outshine it and Francis didn't run an inch. TMac also used to walk it up. Even when Rafer or Sura would push it he would lag behind and come into the play after he offense was initiated 5 seconds ago.

Harden is just keeping tradition.

 

He's been doing it for a couple years now (starting 2015-16).

D'Antoni said he showed stats to the players how much better they are when they push it. But I think Harden is just more comfortable playing this way.

 

Harden is a lazy player. He has to conserve his energy though for offense. Plays lazy D. Doesnt really play too hard but smart.

 

It's an ongoing concern. Tilman will fix this with his new cafeteria that serves up only healthy food.

 

I'm also not sure why he does this, possibly to conserve some energy. You can catch a real quick breath walking it up for ~8 seconds every possession.

 

I dun know why he is always talking how much he lost weight and that he is in the shape of his life while still being slower than his best self.

 

Yeah he hasn't gotten back to 2015

He's still very effective but could be moreso and help integrate with Paul. When he walks it up Paul isn't doing much it seems

 

Let someone else bring the ball up.
Problem solved- ( Chris Paul)

 

That's what I hoped for but it hasn't happened.

 

You guys aren't watching carefully. He only does this if he's bringing up when the defense is set. Just watch his eyes when he's doing this. He's surveying the defensive set and lulling the defense into sleep. He more often than not bursts into whatever play he thinks will work against the defensive set up when he crosses half court. Doesn't always work, but he's not doing it out of laziness. He's trying to gain an edge.

 

I noticed this too. But after studying his body language, he does look up the floor to see he can pass the ball forward for a fastbreak opportunity but will slow it down when it is not available. When he starts walking the ball, it appears that he is waiting for the whole team to be on their respective spots before he can make a move and as soon as they are, that is when he runs the plays.

 

OP registered last week

How do we know he's not a Thunder plant.

 

If I'm not mistaken we have been towards the top of the league in pace for most of Hardens tenure.

 

We have a winner.

 

Just a little observation.

James Harden has flaws, but he has an extremely high basketball IQ.

He ***** out more basketball knowledge each morning than most of us get in a lifetime.

 

It's funny because D'antoni stressed to the media they would run a faster pace offense this year compared to last year and try to score in 7SOL but clearly Harden doesn't give a single ****. He knows this is his team and he can do whatever he wants.

This is what McHale was talking about when he was making fun of Harden preaching defense to his teammates. You see it on the court too. They'll miss a rotation or mess up on transition defense and Harden gets on his guys but if you're his teammate, you're probably not thinking much of it.

 

All of last season didn't get you used to it!?