(Grantland) An Incomplete Encyclopedia of NBA Superstar Signature Moves

Where's Durant's rip through

 

I like the Cayman Islands analogy, haha.

 

I wouldn't call that a shot at Harden. Driving into the lane and drawing the foul is legitimately something Harden is better than most of the league at, and he acknowledges its effectiveness.

 

I feel like that's fine.

I feel like the two things Harden is most known for is attacking defenders bodies and getting to the line and pullup 3's in transition lol.

 

Harden gets bailed out a lot by the refs with the touch fouls while driving. Sorry but it is the truth. He often drives right into a defender, eurosteps with the ball held high and flings his forearm and elbows into the defense.

It kinda reminds me of a more earth-bound version of Dwyane Wade in his prime.

 

Harden moves so predictable, the down side,he get blocked at high rate. Though this year he need to trust his teammates more to avoid such unnecessary ball forcing

 

If Harden's touch at the rim weren't top 5 in the NBA, then there's no way teams would be as willing to send him to the stripe. He's a pick-your-poison kind of guy, and you need the other poison to be there for the FT line to be that much more desirable.

And no, he doesn't get blocked that many times. Just once last night by Gobert is all I could remember.

 

He gets bailed out because the way he carries the ball induces contact without losing the ball. The reason why he can do it and others cannot is because for whatever reason, he can keep possession of the ball while doing it, while with other players it easily becomes a turnover.

If you ever try to do what Harden does in pickup basketball, you'd get a turnover all the time.

 

Let's be real. I would get thrown off the court calling those fouls in pick up basketball.

 

Zach Randolph - the z-bound

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DOantnDh0Rk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

very few of us have wingspans 6 inches greater than our height.

 

I'd go with the no neck battering ram

But i think my personal fav grizzly move is the tony allen face kick

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P4eazhWGfdc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

This is the biggest reason why he becomes so inconsistent in the playoffs. It's an efficient tactic in the regular season that works against him when the refs swallow their whistles in the playoffs.
Hopefully it's something he can overcome as part of his maturation process.

 

Thanks for posting, good stuff.

 

lmao wtf

 

Bruce Bowen did the face kick better.

 

I like to think of James' signature move as the step back J. He does it so well at the 3 and the mid range(rarely). When you see that slow step back you know its going in.