Basketball is a total sum game. You'd want your players to be two guys but if they're so good on one side it can help out on the other. Or do you think Nash and Dirk are useless players because they're also above mediocre on the defensive side? Harden has to work on his D but his offense is excellent, and his playmaking is the best in the league at his position. harden's a big reason why the Rockets have been surprising everyone, he's just been taking over games in the 4rth and closing it out. Paul George? LMAO PAUL GEORGE? You mean the dude who can't do anything for his team when he's playing in the LEASTERN conference? He's a good player, but to say he will threaten Harden at this point is laugable, dude can't even drive to the hole without fumbling the ball.
LOL wait.... Did you just mention Paul George in the same conversation as players like James Harden and Kobe Bryant?
Let's not act like Kobe Bryant plays flawless defense every minute he is on the floor, either. He'll take a possession off and leave his man open on a switch every now and then, too. Howard and Bryant almost came to blows over that exact scenario. I'm also not sure how much value there is from a coaching standpoint in making a team's best scorer exhaust himself on the defensive end. The only elite players who were able to bring consistent intensity on both ends of the court like that are considered some of the NBA's best defenders ever (i.e. Jordan, Pippen). The danger of burnout is high. And I'll be frank with you: I watched a lot of Bulls basketball back in those days, everybody did, and even MJ and Pippen could be lazy at times. Mostly what the Rockets get from Harden defensively is a hand in his man's face or him shooting the gap or stripping defenders from behind for a steal. And the latter thing he does at a frightening (5th in the league) pace. That's not bad defense. That's not even good defense. That's VERY good defense. "Great" is probably our last superlative to use when describing a player's defense, and Harden is not that. Few players ever are, and that includes Kobe Bryant.
That's a logical fallacy. There is a whole lot of distance between "not the best in the NBA" and "useless." When you are only slightly above mediocre on one side of the floor, that puts you at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to two-way players. As far as Paul George goes, I take it you haven't watch him much. The dude has dramatically improved most aspects of his game from year to year and is gradually becoming a versatile player on offense. He's not just a defensive specialist like he was three years ago. His drive is smooth and he can handle the ball now. The obvious advantage he has is that his remaining weakness is mostly shooting, which is the one aspect players can improve. It sounds laughable now, but Paul George is not going to stay a nameless secret for much longer. Give it a year.
It's hard to say. According to PER, Harden's current season is better than 9 of Kobe's season. Interestingly enough, Kobe's enjoying his one of his best seasons this year. We can at least say he's on Kobe's level already.
I agree. Paul George is a lot like TMAC. Came in as a defensive specialist, but then expanded his game. He just needs to improve his shooting, but he is the best player on the Pacers and has been carrying them all season. He isn't on the same tier as Harden though, despite being better defensively.
Kobe sadly cos: 1. He's not got bigs stretching the floor. 2. He's got a lot of bigs blocking lanes. 3. Shoots 40 shots a game. 4. Therefore doubled and tripled. 5. Is 45 years old. 6. Pretty predictable (never passes the ball) 7. No Lin to space that floor or collapse that defense (Nash injured for majority of season so far) And still averages 50%. Pretty impressive.
He'll have to do something in the playoffs before I pick him over Kobe. I'd obviously rather have Harden to build around at this point but if we're talking a 7 game series. Still have to take Kobe until Harden shows me something in the playoffs when teams force you to play halfcourt.
Out of respect for very good performance so far from harden's teammates, I'd pick Kobe who's better on both ends of the floor this season.
Kobe's still a great player, obviously, but you can't use defense to rank him over Harden. He's not an elite defender anymore and is coasting by on reputation at this point.
Too soon to tell. Harden didn't play well in the NBA Finals last season, so we'll need to see if he's able to close when it really counts.
There is little doubt that Harden is better right now, but in 3 years, it will depend on how much both players can improve. I certainly hope that Harden can add to his game and become the best, but history shows that shooting improvements are far more common and dramatic than defensive improvements (it's far from impossible, obviously, just look at Lin, he has substantially improved his defense from last year).
The eurostep done correctly is not traveling, it is just taking one of your steps in one direction, then in the other direction, but there are times where Harden does travel during his eurostep. He does it so quick that it's not called, but there are times when I'm watching and wondering how he blew by that guy so easily and rewind it over and over and he takes his first side step, then takes 2 more. But it's not as often as some people might think. The legal eurostep looks like this: [youtube]Gqx7OqmJpL8[/youtube] [youtube]tXecTLgqda8[/youtube] [youtube]4VFXGCiO9oQ[/youtube] The illegal euro tends to look more like Parson's attempt to learn it: [youtube]_MN8Jc6Xlkk[/youtube]
Sorry, you're right it is somewhat tangential. I really love Harden's game, but it makes me cringe when I see him pull off about once a game, about 3-steps to get to the basket, and it's almost a part of his basic repertoire. I have no problems with the euro-step, it's a fine move. But occasionally Harden just picks up his dribble and then takes more than a couple of steps in getting to the basket. He's not the only one who gets away with this, and I think the NBA modified their stance (and the rulebook) on how they define travel. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/6035/nba-traveling-we-really-don-t-reference-the-rulebook
I've got 3 Kobe jerseys and at this point in the season I think it's Harden. Kobe's turnovers and hero ball are killing the Lakers right now. Kobe ball would be fine if they were winning but I've seen Harden close out more games than Kobe this year.
In a playoff series in 2013, you still have to go with Kobe. But if you are drafting a player for your team, Harden hands down.
I dunno Kobe has legit players around him, not to downplay the Rockets roster, but they are all young (but looking pretty good!). Pau, Howard, Nash, Metta, Jamison, etc. All threats, for simplicity's sake, on the offensive side of the ball. Harden has...hmmm. CP and Lin are decent enough, Asik feeds off everyone else. Delfino is holding his own as a deep threat. To me, that is more impressive. He IS the one and almost only worry for defenses every single night. You play LA, you can't just plan for Kobe. Kobe's personal arsenal of moves is more impressive though.
