Didn't see this posted on here but someone posted this on twitter And it's SO BEAUTIFUL to watch. Harden looked in excellent shape, scoring in multiple different ways, playing off the ball, MID-RANGE (I could cry just watching it) His game was such a delight to watch. (I get what analytics says about his change of playing style to more ISO, I just dgaf...he was so much more delightful to watch the first few years of his Rockets career).
you hit by nostalgia.... harden is and was always fun to watch as well as not so fun to watch ie when he loses ... its not fun to lose games but losing is part of the game
beard during the chandsome/jerry era was lit. more reason to bring back jerry lin, he brings out the goat in beard
I respectfully disagree with you. Lin did play well with Harden, but very seldomly. He couldn't' forget the Linsanity fame which didn't even last long with the Knicks. Opposing teams were able to slow him down. He should have accepted being a complementary player, instead of wanting to be a star. Harden was superior to him in every aspect. There was no shame in that. He put the I before the T. He is totally finished as a NBA player now.
Mike Dantoni system spoiled Harden in the Regular Season, hopefully Stephen Silas brings out more out of Harden and Westbrook, in more Midrange and Post Up Offense with some Pick and Roll.
Back when Harden could split a double lol. I do miss this version of Harden. My favorite is the 14-15 season when we went to the WCF. He was amazing. Midrange, moved off the ball. I really miss watching the euro steps too they were so clean. It’s crazy how a system and coaching can completely change how a player plays the game. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen another player change that much.
He became way too undisciplined . Spamming step back 3s over two defenders 4x in a row. Then you have stupid fanbois coming up with advanced stats saying we generated more points off his step backs and should donitnalll game. Not much of a silver lining with morey gone, but hopefully new coach finally kicks some sense into him
Harden impresses me every year when he adds something new to his repertoire. But I want to see more of that Harden.
Yep, any player is more athletic at 22 y.o. We can debate about the mid range and that's it. Notice too that defense is crap in that video. Aside from that, he has become craftier, stronger, a better shooter, better ballhandler, and has masterized a move that will go down in basketball history as a Harden copyright.
So "undisciplined" that he has put up 3 consecutive seasons scoring 30+ or more. Has not happened since Michael Jordan. I guess MJ was an undisciplined player too needing stats to prop him up. Math and science is not the enemy. Your aesthetic preference is not the bottom line. It takes no great basketball IQ to see that Harden is a top 5 NBA player NOW compared to THEN.
Dude...the fact that you took all that out from my post shows you why I don't engage with you. You're wrong, but we're all rockets fans here and I will just say we agree to disagree. What I will say is that the math is never wrong, its the cofounders and arrogance that you can take something as complex as an NBA game and break it into something linear. By not accounting for eveyrthing you're doing yourself a disservice. Lastly, insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different results. Be well my friend.
He's a better player now than he was then and he's a better player now than he was in 2014-2015. You dont maintain the level of play Harden has without improving every year. He can/should take mid range in the clutch, but that's it, he's NOT a good mid range shooter.
Rockets used to shoot 100 three's after practice before MDA took over. We took more 3's under MDA but didn't continue to shoot 100 of three after practice. This was not good. Especially considering we had the coldest 2nd half of basketball in playoff history two years ago. We can't cut corners if you want to win. Looking at you Tilman. I agree it's awesome he can add to his arsenal. That only helps him 1-on-1 though. It's time to be a team. Cheering for a 05'-09' team was easy to cheer for despite having for worst records than Harden's teams. BECAUSE WE PLAYED AS A TEAM!
Yeah, the guy was silky smooth... the game was super slow for him. The league had to really catch up to the way he saw the game. Kyrie/vp3 made the game slow down with their handles. James did it with his vision.
