Luka is like 20 yo. I wouldn't be surprised once Harden is declining and not as much as a threat anymore every night, people will shift the hate towards Luka since he does the same tricks to draw fouls. Harden was not criticized much either in pre 14'. In fact, when he was on the Thunder, the media praised his defense. He was getting a ton of love for being such an efficient player off the bench who can do it all (pass, shoot, defend). Personally I think Harden looks more agile on defense when he played on the Thunder, maybe he's getting old or has picked up bad habits or maybe it's the muscle he put on.
Have you been drinking? None of all that mambo-jumbo changes that fact that Doncic has studied Harden to a fault and now plays much like him. The public knowledge I’m referring to is, Doncic telling everyone. Not a secret.
Personally, I'd need them to be more similar visually Like the Swiss and German player. Spoiler Your teammates sharing the look. Spoiler Even this guy. Spoiler Upping his beard game. Let Donic put in some years before crowning him as the next Harden or Lebron. Some candles burn out early, he may turn out like a D-rose or a Gilbert Arenas. Who knows.
If Harden played in L.A......they would love him too. I lived thru that era. Bird was the “Great White Hope”, thus loved by much of much of the fans. I liked him because he could shoot well and had a high basketball I.Q. Slow like Harden I guess. The small-town / French-Lick Bird didn’t have much to do with media Magic was the opposite.
Of course it’s race. Remember years back fans in this site thought his compatriot Gorman Dragic was one of the best pg in the league? How about fans that kept clamoring and advocating our front office over the years to get players like mirotic it Ilysova to start for us? Lol
Harden fell into a media narrative and he will have a hard time to shake it off unless he wins a ring or two with his style of play. People don't like how he tries to bend all sorts of rules into his favour. Mind you, others do that too, but not to the extent Harden does. Or they do, but they are likable (like GSW and illegal screens, for example). His behaviour seems very passive and aloof. Luka seems genuinely passionate and enjoys playing the game every second he is on the floor. Mind you, Harden is probably the same, but doesn't show it. Harden's game is a lot of isolations (non-action), Luka's game is more based on p&r (action). People prefer to watch action insted of one guy dribbling for 15 seconds. To us Rockets fans, that is enjoyable...to majority of other fans, it is not. Bottom line, Harden's style of play and his persona are unfortunately not as likable as Luka's. While their game has some similarities (stepback, foul drawing), it is still different enough to be likable.
Doncic does make quicker moves. But I think it’s because NBA defenses have yet to decide how to guard him. Harden used to kill everybody on the PnR, so they started switching on him. Then he destroyed all the defenders who switched onto him. If defenses played Harden normally (eg ice the PnR, drop the big man, etc), Harden probably wouldn’t iso that much. It’s just that teams do not want him to get into the PnR.
Their way of playing is completely different. just because Luka scores alike with comparable moves doesn't mean his attitude towards offense or defense is the same. Doncić can't even do the double stepback, he does the classick euro one
Harden is less active off the ball. He relies more on isolation. He is less likely to pass the ball to or find an open teammate. He is more prone to seeking contact in order to increase his chances of getting to the line. All of the above means that when he has an off night or when he happens to not be getting calls at the same rate he’s used to, it ends up looking much worse compared to Doncic (fair or not). This influences how people perceive him as a whole, and allows them to minimize his greatness when he does put in a performance like last night.
That’s what I don’t understand, people hate on harden but love Luka.. when they have the same play style. Smh
Harden has never played in the Euroleague or somewhere else. NBA is by far the better league but there are things the Euros are more profient at, namely teamwork on O and D, moving the ball around, moving off ball. So I think Doncic has the advantage of playing in both leagues, once he enters his prime. Harden will always be the better scorer, because that is something one cannot copy 1 to 1. Or his skill to draw contact, or the insane FT percentages. But Doncic has enough time to get better in those other criteria that matter in bball. And as far as that 'being blek and being white' it is more about athleticism. Both Doncic and Harden are not the quickest or the most athletic, they dun base their game on that.
Lmao what? Harden is literally nothing like Kobe. The only similarity is that they both play the shooting guard position.
I think they are both born under the horoscope sign of Virgo, if I am correct. Birthdays 3 days apart. Harden is the more efficient one, Kirby is the more flamboyant, aggro one. They both care about stats, which they will never admit.
