Tony Allen says James Harden is the only scorer he hasn't figured out

Harden is a tough cover for anyone. Give him space and he drains the step back. Play him tight and he will run you over. Bring help and he will pass to the tune of 7-10 assists a game. The crazy thing is that he will do all three in the span of a game. If his 3 point shot is falling, there is no way to cover him.

 

Why are you saying that Thompson can stop Harden all the time? Thats really not true.

 

I am assuming that question is to me. I am not saying he can stop Harden, just that he does a good job on him. That's all Allen was able to do to the premiere scorers like Harden currently is -- just slow them down.

 

Im not sure even Harden knows what hes going to do on the way to the rim.

 

Harden has added several weapons this year. The wicked stepback (which has seen previous nemesis PJ Tucker and Butler fall to the ground), the midrange shot from the post, the drive to his right (he's not only limited to driving to his left), what else? He has also taken full command of the offense so he's not averse to issuing those gorgeous crosscourt passes to the 3pt line (which I feel is what sets him apart from the rest of the MVP contenders--those assists).

So yeah, Allen has his scouting report, but it's incomplete. Because Harden has crafted countermoves to his defenders' tactics.

I wonder who's helping him or he figured all this wizardry on his own.

 

To those who say Thompson defends Harden well: I don't see that at all. To me, it's the Warriors' scheme that had success. Harden was getting anything he wanted against Thompson, whether it was a J, a drive, or a dish. The help defense was the big factor against GS. It's worth noting that Harden really only had one bad game against the Warriors. In the other 3 games he had 22, 34, and 33 points respectively. The Rockets lost because the rest of the team couldn't take advantage of the space Harden created for them.

 

I think your mistaking drawing fouls which is fair game by the way to flopping.

 

Yeah, if anything, at this point in time Harden is getting less calls than other players. Now that Cuban or some other whiney owner has gotten into the ears of the league officiating office, refs have been systematically letting teams foul Harden as of late when he goes to the basket.

That ish needs to stop soon by the way.

p.s. -- jaygoogle was obviously being sarcastic by the way.

 

Tony who?

 

"I'm not impressed with his ball handling."

I have a feeling this isn't the way he meant to say that.

 

The defender i'v seen bother Harden the most is Tucker, everybody should just try to mimic what he does.

The wings on the Warriors do a damn good job as well (Iggy, Green, Thompson).

 

Harden's handles are pretty freaking nasty and feature one of the best crossovers in the NBA. Disagree with Tony there too.

Does he lose his handle a decent amount? He does but it almost seems to work in his favor collecting the reach to step past the defender.

 

Spoiler

 

Tony has a better chance of figuring out offense.

 

Jimmy Butler is young and in his prime, Harden just took to school last night. As for Klay Thompson, he was able to slow him down this year ONLY due to their team defense as a team. Last year Harden played well against them IIRC.

 

This.

I think he does lose his handle a little more often than the other great dribblers, but it does feel like he makes something positive after his dribbling screw ups pretty often to offset it a bit.

Even with that said he still is one of the best if not the best at creating separation off the dribble. His crossover is pretty deadly.

 

Whether he knows it or not or maybe it could applied to someone else but being younger makes a BIG difference. Having young legs allows you to climb out of holes faster. Deion Sanders biggest virtue as a shutdown corner was his recovery speed. It allows him to jump route but recover on double moves. Tony Allen in his younger days would get beat off the dribble but his catchup speed enables him to quickly recover from mental lapses putting him in at the dribbler hip's pocket in prime position for blocks or strip.

 

He is great at creating separation but a lot of the time his dribbling accomplishes nothing. Fun to watch but the defender doesn't even flinch.