espn (trueHoop TV): james harden is the new carmelo anthony

Exactly...Thorpe is just speaking how he sees it. I don't know about Harden becoming Carmelo part, but for the most part he is dead on. Harden is still young but NEEDS to get rid of his bad habits. Harden is talented but his game is flawed.

 

I think if you read the article and then watch the Video you get a better understanding of what Thorpe is really trying to say. This is not disrespectful getting compared to Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James, two superstars who have been in the league for over 10 years now.

Thorpes main message is he thinks James harden can be even better than what he already is because of things we've already seen him do unlike Carmelo were we've never seen the type of playmaking off ball play and defense harden has played in th past. Last season harden proved he was a legit number one option superstar at 23 he's the new kid on the block in terms of franchise players. He joined the super elite were other elite players want to play with you (Howard). A big part of why Dwight Howard signed with the rockets is because of the type of respect harden has from his peers. All the elite players in the league have publicly endorsed harden like Durant and even Lebron. I think Dwight choosing harden over curry says alot of how both players our viewed by NBA players and personnel. Now with that said he's new to this group and he's the superstar who is under the microscope. He plays on a high profile new "super team" and is the lead dog along with Dwight. Harden like all other superstars before him had to go through the criticism.... He'll prevail he's a special talent and the rockets have positioned themselves very nice for the next 8-10 years with James harden.

Ask your self this, what players 25 and under would you take over harden?

The only answer is Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis

IMO in order to be a franchise number one, no matter the circumstance you should be able to take your team to atlesst a 6-8 seed in the playoffs every year. Harden proved he could do that last season, Just like a young wade, Lebron, Durant and even melo. Theirs no doubt Anthony Davis will get there prob as soon as next season.

Theirs alot of good young players right now but none have the potential or the talent to be the best player on the best basketball team in the league as Thorpe puts it.

Maybe it's just me but I see a huge gap in a player like James Harden and Paul George. To me harden can be the main guy on the best offense in the league while holding down a top 10 defense. IMO Paul George is a 2nd option on a good offensive team. His defense is very good but also a product of slow low possession play and good team philosophy. Paul George is not a true franchise saving number one option you can't build a top 10 offense around him. He's and all star max player but no superstar.

 

This is not really related to what Thorpe had to say specifically but I just checked synergy today and found out Harden's efficiency in iso situations is up to .91 PPP which is a huge leap from the .75 PPP or whatever it was last season, indicating that Harden is indeed getting better at hero-ball. Ofcourse, a lot of that efficiency has to do with how he gets fouled 15.5% of the time but once those points go up on the scoreboard it's points all the same. Maybe I was wrong about detesting Harden's hero-ball tendencies, and chances are he will continue to improve at it.

 

First of all, the added scrutiny is par for the course of being a superstar. So this means Harden is in THAT conversation already.

Melo is a damn good scorer so it is quite a compliment.

Secondly, Harden needs to work on his shooting. If he goes back to his scoring efficiency, we won't be complaining about his being a ball-stopper.

Perhaps he does get his rhythm going through those drives to the basket. And Dwight's presence limits his drives, so he has difficulty getting hot. He has to find other ways to get himself in the groove. Maybe the team should also call for sets where Howard can move out of the lane so Harden can still get his forays to the basket.

 

Thorpe is saying here that it's a natural evolution.

Harden and the Rockets are being compared to the Heat when they were still learning to play their 3 superstars together. And he is saying they can be like who the Heat and the Spurs are now in terms of their ball movement.

Let's see. I still say we need to know how to play and win in different ways. We don't have as much talent as the Heat or Spurs, so anytime the team is cold, Harden and Howard must be ready to take over the game. I don't see why it has to be either/or, why not both/and.

 

To be fair. They are saying he is a smarter version and may become a lot more complete than Carmelo.

 

Espn looking for reasons why rockets are pretenders not contenders. Get over it espn.

 

This is what really happens when you become a Melo

http://whatdoumeme.com/meme/5fhdg6

when defenses load up on someone like that, you know that they don't believe in passing.

 

But Melo wish to get calls like Harden does.

 

Coming up on First Take...

 

Please re-cap J.R.

You're our only hope.

 

Do you agree with that assessment: Harden the new 'Melo?

Stephen A.: Not entirely. First of all, there is nothing wrong with being compared to Carmelo Anthony, who's one of the most prolific scorers in the modern day era. He's no scrub. He's a big time talent. Holds the ball a little too long time to time but that is attributable to the talent he's playing around. When you have minimal faith in the guys around you, in terms of their ability to close the deal, you're going to take it upon yourself to try and do it yourself and I think that's been, to some degree, what has plagued Carmelo Anthony from time to time.

James Harden, when you look at him, he definitely had something to prove but the only problem I took issue with (in the Thorpe article), I think it's important to look at a guy like James Harden and understand the surreal talent that he is. James Harden is big time. I'm not going to associate the word selfish with him. He is a difference maker, a game changer. He has all the requisite skills. He's a lefty but somehow, someway, he can get it done. He makes difficult shots. He's got a mid-range game, 3 point game, slashes to the basket, he can hit free throws. He's averaging about 23 this year, his FG% is better than last year even though his 3P% has gone down a bit. I like James Harden. I love his game. He's playing with players that are similar, in terms of when they get the ball, they're looking to do something. They're trying to create opportunities for themselves. They're not just moving the basketball. They're not engaging in the level of fluidity that's necessary in order for an offense to be unbiased. You have a lot of guys that want the ball and when they get the ball, they're looking to make things happen. He's the franchise player. When he gets the ball, a lot of times he looks to make things happen but I'd like to add: he's shooting the ball less this year than last year. About 17 last year, about 16 this year. In the end, James Harden is big time. He's 24 years old. He's not a finished product. He can't be defined yet. He's big time & continuing to grow. I believe he's the kind of guy that will do what he needs to do to be successful. Right now, he's that guy. He's taking advantage of it. They're 35-17. They're not losing basketball games. I'm not gonna sit here and knock James Harden in any way.

Skip: I agree with your take and then some. ... Quick stat: in the last 5 minutes of games within 6 points, this is called clutch situations by NBA stats, James Harden is tied for the most points scored to this point to this year. He is their closer. ... He is lethal when he decides to take the game over. He is capable of more than 5.3 assists. 7 or 8 he is capable of. Maybe it's trust in teammates. Maybe they haven't gotten there yet. Maybe Dwight needs more of a post-up game he can trust to feed that game down low. To put James Harden in 'Melo's conversation, that's a compliment to start with, but even in the ball hog conversation, it's not fair because I don't see it. He ball hogs positively, like when they need him to ball hog, when they do 'clear a side'. He is hard to deal with. Can they advance in the playoffs that way? I don't know but I'm starting to like them more and more to win their first round.

Stephen A.: Here's the bottom line, in his young career, the only negative thing that can ever be said about Harden, he was an absentee for the vast majority in the NBA Finals. He's still sensitive to that. That's the only thing people can say about him. He is worth every penny. He's a star in this league. He'll be a star for years to come. He's a big time talent. He's not selfish. He'll do whatever it takes to win. He doesn't need his numbers. He's the guy that will do whatever it takes to win. He's usually the factor when it comes to winning or losing games. They're 35-17, it's because of him. He's big time.

 

You're taking the whole purpose of this video out of context. He's just talking about how ball movement tends to come to a cease when Harden gets the ball in his hand. Mainly due to he's at his best when he's ISOing and we have players that are more efficient when they play off the ball, with exception to Howard and Lin. However, Harden does dribble way too much into the shot clock and needs to make a quicker decision on his offensive set to make a better efficient play

 

Haha, this got me for some reason.

 

what a LOF.

is he saying that lin has basically played with two of the worst ball stoppers?

haha.

 

The thing about Carmelo is that he doesn't have the handles or quickness of most the other premiere scorers. Almost all of his plays start on the elbow, and the only way he creates for others is when an extra defender comes to defend him. Kind of the same way that Dwight creates for others in his isolations.

Players like Harden, LBJ, Durant, etc score off the dribble starting way out in the perimeter which forces the defense to collapse. Then they just make a kickout pass. I don't think Melo will ever be capable of creating the same way as those players do since his game is entirely different.

 

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michael pina from red_94 wrote abou this during this rockets players rankings last week

http://www.*****.net/player-power-rankings-week-15/13972/

 

Maybe if he went to the basket once in a while.

 

I love it when someone says the least authoritative thing ever and then caps it with /thread.

Everyone thinks ice cream is gross! /thread

 

This. Soft player he is. He falls in love with that jumpshot too much. Pulling up 3 ft behind the arc. God blessed you with that big body, use it sometime. Harden plays much bigger than him with less tools. The only thing I can compare the two is that harden sometimes has that bad shot selection, ball hoggin, and piss poor defense.