After last nites win I watched Harden's post game interview. One thing he said that kinda caught me off guard was, "D-Mo won the game for us tonite". Now I've been very critical of Harden's leadership skills, but ever since sitting out those 2 games with injury he's been very unselfish in terms of getting teammates involved. He's been passing, rebounding and also diving on the floor for loose balls. But the biggest thing is he's giving more credit to his teammates after they play well. Thats what leaders do. Are we watching the maturation of James Harden? If so, how long will he keep it up? Thoughts
This guy is very young. We expect star players to come with maturity but sometimes they don't and it has to be earned......... Howard is already there. Parsons seems extremely mature for being a young player. Harden will come along.
I was not aware that prior to these last two games Harden gives no credits to his teammates, never went for loose balls, and never got his teammates involved in the game.
He seems to be slightly more vocal in public with his leadership comments. One of the other Rockets mentioned that Harden is very vocal at practice and is very much a leader there. I think it was Parsons. Maybe he's just bringing it out more on the court during games...or at least post games
I've seen some of James' post game quotes from last night but can't seem to find an actual video of it. Rep for anyone that can!
Not to mention his defense has been better (don't know the stats, but just judging by the eye test). Pretty big block last night.
Not to insult you, but have watched any of the games? Harden's effort and unwillingness to trust teammates has been in question since becoming a Rocket.
I wouldn't go that far. He's shown he can be a willing passer. He often takes too much of the ball handling and scoring upon himself, that's true. Purely speculation, but I think it's more of a "I got this" than a "I don't trust that you can do this". Considering what he's done as a Rocket at his young age I wouldn't label him as selfish. Two or three years from now, if he's still running time off the clock in an ISO more often than not then we can throw that word around.
Thanks, lol. The one place I didn't look! I guess I should start utilizing nba.com more. I checked csnhouston, youtube, heck it wasn't in Clutchfans vids, either!
Knee jerk reaction. Harden's prob been a bit selfish in the past (I hear he waves off plays and isos at times and when he gets frustrated, it is OBVIOUS on the court and he starts jacking up shots and being lazy on defense), but like almost everyone, matures in time. Does that mean over the last couple of games he's undergone significant maturation? Prob not. 3 yrs from now though, I expect a much more mature and hopefully potent James Harden.
Harden has bought in to the team play. He is facilitating to get his teammates going than taking over. One more perimeter defender/scorer from being something.
He needs to do what he does best. Move without the ball and attack/push in transition, this dribbling the ball starting plays from scratch every possession doesn't work. He is a pg and is a playmaker at crunch time. Wade, tmac, lbj, mj, ....none of those were or should've been point guards starting plays from scratch.
lol...you're welcome! And thanks for the rep. I would have found you the link even without the kind offer .
Since when has moving without the ball ever been what Harden does best? Have we watched the same Harden? Off-Ball play is far from his strong suit.
