[Washington Post] Rockets star James Harden adjusting, evolving into leader with Team USA

redhotrox · Aug 27, 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2014/08/27/rockets-star-james-harden-adjusting-evolving-into-leader-with-team-usa/

James Harden was going up for a layup. Paul George was going up to contest the shot. When they came down, George had broken his leg and Harden had to look on, petrified and perplexed by what transpired.

“That was tough,” said Harden, who struggled to watch as George agonized near the basket stanchion.

The unfortunate, seemingly innocuous sequence in a nationally-televised Team USA scrimmage earlier this month set off a short-lived debate about NBA stars participating in international basketball, forced George into a lengthy recovery process and inadvertently thrust Harden into a role that the Houston Rockets all-star guard hadn’t foreseen when USA Basketball first announced its 28-man tryout pool for the FIBA World Cup last January.

Harden’s responsibilities increased once more when Kevin Durant, his close friend and former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate, backed out of his commitment, citing fatigue and not the injury to George as the reason. That left the lefty Harden as the only first-team all-NBA player remaining on the squad. The earlier withdrawals of Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook also meant that Harden and Anthony Davis were the only holdovers from the 2012 London Olympics team.

“Right now, I think I would look to Harden as that leader,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said as his team continues to prepare for the tournament in which the winner earns an automatic berth in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “Harden is kind of a natural leader and he seems to be willing to accept that role. And you can just kind of feel it and sense. He’s the one.”

The United States will open the FIBA World Cup on Saturday against Finland in Bilbao, Spain, and Harden is excited to be looked upon for more than he was in 2012, when he played the second-fewest minutes of any player on the gold medal-winning unit.

Harden’s career changed dramatically after that summer as Oklahoma City traded the then-sixth man of the year to the Rockets. He became an all-star in his first season, playing so well that Dwight Howard forfeited a bigger pay day from the Los Angeles Lakers to join forces with him in Houston a year later. The constant adjustments have been so common for Harden that the steadily-evolving situation with Team USA over the past few weeks feels almost normal for him.

“It’s so many things these last couple of years that’s been thrown at me, from me being traded, to people talking, just everything,” Harden said. “I try to focus on myself and how can I be a better basketball player. It’s still basketball at the end of the day. I try to do it to the best of my ability and continue to work hard.”

Harden declared himself as the best player alive two weeks ago, expressing a sentiment that was neither delusional nor particularly serious. But it represented a mindset that is required for elite-level basketball players – especially one with obvious deficiencies on the defensive end who also happened to be a viable candidate for league most valuable player last season. When pressed about that opinion, Harden didn’t backtrack.

“I think everybody feels that way. Every NBA player. Even growing up, growing up youngins have dreams that they want to be the best basketball players in the world,” Harden said. “As a basketball player, or any athlete, you got to have confidence, you’ve got to have confidence the whole time. You just go out there and do your job and have confidence that your abilities are good enough. Whatever is thrown at me, I just try to take it for what it is and just have fun.”

This offseason presented a new set of challenges for Harden and his NBA employer. Houston failed in attempts to lure Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh, couldn’t get a face-to-face with LeBron James, lost promising forward Chandler Parsons to in-state rival Dallas, traded Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik for what amounted to cap space and had to settle for bringing back Trevor Ariza as its major move.

The clumsy summer – which included a minor dustup with Parsons and another mild controversy about which teammates Harden chose not to dine with last season – also raised questions about whether Harden and Howard were a solid enough foundation during an era in which James has shown that players can serve as destinations as much as cities for star players. Harden disputed the notion that the Rockets had taken a step backward in a Western Conference that remains immensely competitive.

“I don’t even listen to it,” Harden said of the comments about his team. “I just try to focus on myself individually and our team and how can we get better. I’ll leave that up to everybody else to talk about it. All I can control is what we have in that locker and those guys, we’re going to go to war.”

Harden accepted blame for the Rockets’ six-game flameout against Portland in the first round of the playoffs. He averaged a team-best 26.8 points but is eager to redeem himself after shooting a miserable 37.6 percent from the field.

“I’m definitely motivated,” Harden said after coming up short in the playoffs. “Everything is a learning experience for me. I’m trying to do my best to not let that happen again. I put that on myself, just playing bad and not really carrying the team like I needed to do.”

On Team USA, Harden won’t have to carry the team with so many other talented scorers such as Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis but he knows there will be times when he will have to take it to the cup with his hop-step drives or step back and drill a few three-pointers. Surprisingly, Harden has earned praise from Coach Mike Krzyzewksi for his effort on defense, an end of the floor where he was so uninterested that a YouTube clip of his foibles making an honest effort caught steam last season. He has no choice on this team.

“First of all, you got the top players in the world on your team, so if you’re not focused and locked in on defense, they are going to embarrass you,” Harden said. “I think our coach has done a phenomenal job of making sure we’re keyed in. [Chicago Bulls Coach and Team USA assistant Tom] Thibodeau is phenomenal with that defensive presence, so all those things collectively is why I’m so locked in.”

Colangelo said Harden has been one of the team’s most vocal players and has helped elevate practices with his effort and tenacity.

“I don’t know if he’s been waiting [to lead]. It’s evolved,” Colangelo said. “He came in as a pretty high draft pick. Got off to a great start in Oklahoma City. Whether he was disappointed or surprised by what transpired, he found himself in another uniform and that’s part of life in pro sports and the NBA, and I think he’s adjusted to that and his numbers get bigger and he’s being recognized more and more as the player he is. And this is a great platform for him to come out as a leader.”

After the final two practices in Las Vegas, Harden engaged in some spirited one-on-one battles with George and Durant that were so entertaining that teammates and coaches grabbed seats to watch. Harden said he has spoken to George “a couple of times” since the injury and expects him to “bounce back strong.” Last week in New York, Harden also had a chance to spend some time with Durant at a function for console game NBA2K15 and a charity basketball game at Barclays Center. Though those players aren’t around, Harden still has confidence that USA Basketball can keep alive a winning streak in international competitions that currently stands at 36, dating back to a semifinal loss to Greece in 2006.

“It gives other guys opportunities to showcase their talents,” Harden said. “Those guys dropped out or are not playing, but you still have other all-stars. We’re rolling with what we got and this is going to be enough.

“This is a different platform,” Harden said. “A platform that I haven’t really been on before, but I think most of us haven’t been on it, either. I think we’re all kind of figuring it out together. That’s what’s going to be so special about this team. We figure it out together and we come out with a gold medal, it makes it that much more special.”
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YaoMing#1 · Aug 27, 2014

I love harden. This dude is gonna represent the city and the rockets for the next 10 years and I couldn't be happier. This guy is a stud and clearly his peers respect his voice and talent. Good news rockets fans. This was a great interview I liked it.

chenjy9 · Aug 27, 2014

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice... Harden can say whatever the hell he wants, as long as his D this season and post season backs up his talk.

chandlerbang21 · Aug 27, 2014

All I want now is to see his game evolve to complete the process. He is gonna get hurt with all the intentional running into defenders

bmd · Aug 27, 2014

I'm happy that Harden seems willing to put in work defensively. I'm glad he's around coaches like Thibodeau who can stress the importance of defense. He seems like he wants to make a point that he can play defense.

I hope he continues that throughout this next year.

That low light video might be the best thing that could have happened to him if all of the talk can motivate him to improve defensively.

He seems willing.

KlutchQT · Aug 27, 2014

Really nice to see him shouldering the blame for the 1st round exit. I'm not certain he would have done that this time last year.

ZNB · Aug 27, 2014

In before the CH post ****ting all over Harden. Hopefully he has learned and is taking the first round loss personally. If Harden can become a better defender and take a step up all of our offseason losses wont matter. Here's to hoping.

J Sizzle · Aug 27, 2014

If this summer has resulted in Harden becoming a changed player who's dialed in on defense as well as offense, which at least seems to be the case, then that's about as important as anything for the Rockets going forward.

He's said it before, though, so I guess we'll wait and see what happens come November...

Louka · Aug 27, 2014

chenjy9 said: ↑

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice... Harden can say whatever the hell he wants, as long as his D this season and post season backs up his talk.
Click to expand...

ummm, I don't think that's how it goes. Am I missing something?

fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me...

acshen · Aug 27, 2014

I'm more worried about the fact that his field goal percentage is sub 40% on a team of NBA Allstars, on maybe the most FG attempts per game out of the whole Team USA roster.

Bob Barker 007 · Aug 27, 2014

On a related note:

Jayzers_100 · Aug 27, 2014

pkmagas said: ↑

ummm, I don't think that's how it goes. Am I missing something?

fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me...
Click to expand...

"Fool me once...shame, shame on you. Fool me twice...you can't fool me again." -George W. Bush

bmd · Aug 27, 2014

Bob Barker 007 said: ↑

On a related note:

Click to expand...

I'm more interested in Calandra Snowden.

traveler · Aug 27, 2014

Harden will end up the MVP eventually. And he still won't get respect from some so caled Rocket fans.

Bob Barker 007 · Aug 27, 2014

bmd said: ↑

I'm more interested in Calandra Snowden.
Click to expand...

My friend sent this picture to me, lol.

DreaMac · Aug 27, 2014

Bob Barker 007 said: ↑

On a related note:

Click to expand...

sutton · Aug 27, 2014

Some PR pull by Harden's agent, not quite as impressive as Rose's.

Kam · Aug 27, 2014

Durant's "coming out" party was in Turkey, hopefully, this is Harden's "coming out" party.

shastarocket · Aug 27, 2014

Kam said: ↑

Durant's "coming out" party was in Turkey, hopefully, this is Harden's "coming out" party.
Click to expand...

His coming out party will be where all the big booty bishes aren't. In fact there must be such a severe shortage that Harden is forced to do nothing but focus on his game.

Unfortunately, the world cup is not held in China this year

GoRox2013 · Aug 27, 2014

If he only had enough help. Tori black, Joey Dorsey & Jeff Adrien smh

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[Washington Post] Rockets star James Harden adjusting, evolving into leader with Team USA

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[Washington Post] Rockets star James Harden adjusting, evolving into leader with Team USA

redhotrox Contributing Member

YaoMing#1 Member

chenjy9 Numbers Don't Lie Supporting Member

chandlerbang21 Member

bmd Member

KlutchQT Contributing Member

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J Sizzle Member

Louka Contributing Member

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