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[The Dime Drop] James Harden is Controlling the Ghosts [Video]

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Air Canada, Jan 13, 2019.

  1. Air Canada

    Air Canada Member

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    I thought this was a pretty entertaining breakdown and a nuanced perspective of Harden's basketball brilliance....



    The comparison with Harden and a very knowledgeable gamer I thought was interesting... For anyone who is or was a gamer and have played games that are competitive you'll know about the use of the term "META".

    The "meta" of a game refers to the strategies used within the game for competitive play.

    League of Legends, for example, has a meta-game of 1 person per lane, with a support player at bottom lane and a roaming player called the jungler. The champions suitable for each of these roles fluctuates over time, as abilities are patched, new champions are released, and new ways to play old champions are found. If one champion becomes popular, so do the champions that best exploit the popular champion's weaknesses, and this further ripples outwards in a 126+ choice game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

    All of these things comprise the "meta", as they are not mechanics enforced by the game or explicitly stated, but rather by the players.     The reason the term gets used to refer to the best strategies in gaming is that the process by which they're discovered and refined is a sort of 'metagame' - a second, larger game that's within the regular game.

    For example, the 'game' of Dark Souls is exploring locations, fighting enemies and finding loots. The 'metagame' is the process of specific builds in PVP, specific strategies becoming more common and either embraced or reviled by different parts of the community.

    In the game Fortnite; players would often use the double shotgun meta to effectively destroy their opponents, but then when the developers noticed this exploit and nerfed that tactic... They had to find a new meta... In comes the shotgun - SMG meta... Think of Silver and the league trying to limit Harden drawing fouls by changing the rules on his 3pt fouls from the gather to only on the attempt or by minimizing continuation... Harden simply adapts and perfects a move already within his arsenal to get the same results... That sort of thing... It's a game surrounding and encompassing the regular game, hence a 'metagame'.

    [​IMG]

    Harden's ability to control a game... To exploit defenders in one on one situations using his stepback and gather step in perfection to gain the separation needed every time... To attack defenders tendencies and get to the hoop or get to the line... These are all games within the actual game that he's learned to perfect and each year he improves in this aspect.

    Harden is "Ball Einstein"... He knows all the basketball metas before any of his peers(some may never learn them or have the skill to utilize them) and he knows how to best use them to his advantage.
     
    #1 Air Canada, Jan 13, 2019
    IvanLCPM, AggieRocketFan96, Blurr#7 and 21 others like this.
  2. DreamShook

    DreamShook Member

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    This video was recommended to me on YouTube. I'm surprised this guy doesn't have more subs especially with all the basketball YouTube channels that have had so much success. I like the style.
     
    #2 DreamShook, Jan 13, 2019
    Blurr#7, cbs1507, Roxfreak724 and 1 other person like this.
  3. withmustard

    withmustard Member
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    Great Video
     
    #3 withmustard, Jan 13, 2019
    saleem likes this.
  4. Roxfreak724

    Roxfreak724 Member

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    Ya it's really weird, first time i've seen this guy and the video is so well put together, but he only has 48K subs wtf.

    I've seen so many other trash nba youtube channels where people are just basically adding their own shi**y commentary over a previous game but then they have like 100K subs.

    Hopefully this guy gets a lot more subs, would love to see more content
     
    #4 Roxfreak724, Jan 13, 2019
    D-rock likes this.
  5. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    Ball Einstein or Rocket Scientist?
     
    #5 Invisible Fan, Jan 13, 2019
    ramotadab, Artie_Fufkin and D-rock like this.
  6. Boki4MvP

    Boki4MvP Member

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    Awesome that he mentioned sigur ros
     
    #6 Boki4MvP, Jan 13, 2019
  7. RocketsFido

    RocketsFido Member

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    why don't they do a breakdown of Harden's brilliance in playoff elimination games :oops:
     
    #7 RocketsFido, Jan 13, 2019
    Jontro likes this.
  8. RockingRox

    RockingRox Member

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    Although a lousy basketball player myself, I DO understand the "meta" mentality of this article. I'm extremely pleased that great professionals are actually also using this. :)
     
    #8 RockingRox, Jan 13, 2019
  9. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Did Harden read your post? Harden wants to break the game.



    Funny thing is, the makers of the game have Nerf'd him, already. He's used to being Nerf'd.
     
    #9 heypartner, Feb 5, 2019
    D-rock likes this.
  10. Roc Paint

    Roc Paint Contributing Member

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    James Harden ripped off his training wheels with fearless anger
     
    #10 Roc Paint, Feb 5, 2019
    hakeem94 likes this.
  11. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    God is considering adding an 11th Commandment in order to contain James Harden.
     
    #11 heypartner, Feb 5, 2019
    cbs1507, luckyman76, Roc Paint and 2 others like this.
  12. Artie_Fufkin

    Artie_Fufkin Member

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    Is Harden about to get the Chuck Norris treatment?
     
    #12 Artie_Fufkin, Feb 5, 2019
    heypartner likes this.
  13. luckyman76

    luckyman76 Member

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    Harden at DefCon 1, it's too late.
     
    #13 luckyman76, Feb 5, 2019
  14. chenjy9

    chenjy9 Numbers Don't Lie
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    The difference between Harden and other champions (let's continue with LoL terminology) getting nerfed is that Harden evolves by himself without the dev's permission. You take away one of his tricks, he pulls something else from his bag, works on it during the offseason, and then hits the game with a new meta.
     
    #14 chenjy9, Feb 5, 2019
  15. coyotetex

    coyotetex Member

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    This is quite possibly the best post I've ever read on CF. Good job!

    As a former Computer Game Designer, I'd like to add something to this post - META Gaming is not something that you just intuitively do. If you want to master a META game, you generally have to;

    1. Practice an insane amount until you have experienced every possible situation in a game and then repeated that experience over and over again until you can immediately and repeatedly recognize and respond in the most efficient and effective possible way. This is a process called "Grinding" (doing the same thing over and over and over to gain experience)

    2. Study every detail of the game, using statistical analysis to identify the most effective methods of creating a consistent, math based competitive advantage over any other players. This is a process called Min-Maxing (crunching data to the nth decimal point to find the best possible strategies).

    Grinding creates a SKILL advantage
    Min-Maxing creates a MATH advantage

    The reason that Harden has been able to make a leap year after year is because he (supported by Morey) is applying Computer Game Theory to Basketball.

    Harden grinds his ass off in the off season to develop new skills.
    Morey min-maxes the data to learn what new skills he needs to develop and how those skills are applied.

    As "Air Canada" points out - other gamers (or NBA players) will invariably adjust to whatever strategy you develop whether it's Twin Shotguns in Fortnight or the Step Back 3 in the NBA.

    When that adjustment comes, Harden identifies the counter to the adjustment (developing a floater to nullify opponents stacking the lane against his drives). Then he grinds the new counter until he's an expert at it.

    Eventually, Harden's skillset includes the perfect counter to any adjustment and the experience to know when and how to use it to achieve optimal effect.

    Or as we say in the game business, James Harden is a Meta-Gaming F*cktard.
     
    #15 coyotetex, Feb 5, 2019
    Air Canada, Blurr#7 and Artie_Fufkin like this.
  16. HookemHorns1250

    HookemHorns1250 Member

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    But he travels.
     
    #16 HookemHorns1250, Feb 5, 2019
  17. AggieRocketFan96

    AggieRocketFan96 Member

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    Awesome posts by both of you. It’s too bad Morey hasn’t yet been able to find more supporting cast that can fulfill the key roles Moneyball requires to get across the finish line. But damn, he’s found Coach D’antoni, Harden, Capela, Faried, and when healthy, CP3. Need more than 1 guy to buy-in to the meta-game, need a whole squad.
     
    #17 AggieRocketFan96, Feb 5, 2019
    Air Canada likes this.
  18. IvanLCPM

    IvanLCPM Member

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    Wow... I never though I would see the day where "META" is used in a basketball discussion. Clash Royale feelings all over the place.
     
    #18 IvanLCPM, Feb 5, 2019
    Air Canada likes this.
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