I don't know, there are a lot of people in the media that have Harden in the top 3. This year feels a lot like the Westbrook MVP year.... but the opposite. If LeBron James doesn't lead the Lakers without Anthony Davis, I could see Harden winning the MVP if the Nets take off and Harden keeps playing well. While there are some like Zach Lowe who said they will never vote for him, there are a lot of media on the East Coast that would now vote for him.
I still remember Harden's first game, at that point everything just felt different. Like we could beat anyone if the right pieces came together, we had a bright future. Heck I remember Golden State could not even roll with us those first seasons, we had their number. We had a future. Now we get excited to watch the Vipers....
Right it is no longer......... "So James, we aren't beating the Mavericks tonight unless you drop 40 and play 40 minutes"
It sounds cheesy but he is a real basketball savant. He is as dominant at the things he does as anyone to ever play basketball, and he revolutionized the game in a lot of respects. A lot of people do not want to hear that, and I don't have an issue with people listing players like Magic and Bird above him..... but I will just say, that his actual game and production is in a group where only a small handful of players have been. Offensively he is likely the best player ever, and the most dominant offensive player in decades.... Shaq and Jordan were dominant (not saying better or worse) like that. Players like Kobe Bryant were not dominant to that degree.
People confuse his game and his abilities/skills. His game is HOW he plays. His skills are WHAT he can do in basketball. Most Rockets fans know Harden's skills, and obviously the skills don't change no matter where he goes. His game has clearly changed with the Nets. I don't know why it needs to be debated. He has three elite shooters around him. If he didn't change his game, he would be the most selfish player. The fact that he could change his game so effectively shows how great his skills are. And more importantly, it shows that he had those skills when he played for the Rockets. When Harden was here, the debate was not about his skills. It was about his game. Would it have been better if he had played differently? Was he forced to play the way he played because of his teammates? Even if you believe that it should have been different (how much is another issue), that does not mean it is a dissing of Harden's skills. It's more about strategies.
Sure. Strategy is ultimately the coach's responsibility. Most coaches would collaborate with their star players on strategies.
he never changed his game. the game became easier for him. he did everything humanely possible and everything asked of him in houston. even lebron or anyone else could have replaced harden and won a chip.
Yes, nothing has changed here. The roster around him has changed so it just changed his shot selection. The bottom line is dude's who never watched James Harden are now seeing more of James Harden. If they ever watched him in Houston, there would be no shock.
And maybe a step back 3 pointer at 38% isn’t quite as good as a spot up 3 by Kyrie, KD, and Joe Harris. Not to mention 2 of those guys are ELITE offensive players that can and will get their own shot and not always settle for that 3. Plenty of times Harden passes to them, they attack the closeout and take a few dribbles and get up a great shot. The best overall offensive player Harden has played with year in and year out sans CP3 the first year has been Eric Gordon. Think about that.
@foggy94 Foggy...he's literally playing with Irving, Durant and Joe Harris, of course his potential assists are going to go up, the offensive talent that he's playing with has changed. The change is very much external. Like....? He's the same player he's always been.
And I’ll add I’d much rather Harden dribble the air out of the ball and be the sole decision maker every time down the floor than watch guys like Tucker, Ariza, House, BMac, etc. attempt to make plays. We’ve seen what that looks like now and please don’t tell me that’s good basketball. Our offense is ass now. This was Morey’s and MDA’s plan. They determined based on the roster composition that the best chance at winning without a team full of stars meant your elite playmaker should be responsible for most of the playmaking to optimize efficiency and guys would fall in around him and do things more suited to their abilities. Volume 3 point shooting is what put us into contention year in and year out when other teams hadn’t caught on to the wave yet and made up for a mediocre overall roster. That’s why adding CP3 was so huge. Remember 48 minutes of elite/hall of fame level point guard play? That was a thing for a reason.
Bad take. 2016-17 Rockets also needed Harden scoring 29 ppg as well. Kyrie can drop 30-40 while Harden only has to have 20-25 while focusing more on creating. Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson weren't dropping 30-40 consistently.
I think some have nailed it. If you define changed his game as in the percentage of which he does certain things has been altered, then yes his game has changed. And why wouldn’t it? His teammates are no longer guys who are best suited to be stationary catch and shoot targets. With Houston, launching a bunch of step back 3s and having him breakdown defenses to feed stationary catch shoot guys represented our most efficient offense, this Brooklyn team that’s not the case. But there is a difference in the talk you here. If you are watching Harden and saying to yourself I didn’t know he passed like this or was as amazingly creative as he has shown in Brooklyn, “his game has changed”, then no you just haven’t watched The Rockets and just leaned on parroted garbage takes.
A lot of people didn't like watching Harden play at 40% usage or whatever, because at that usage rate they felt his style of play became monotonous and boring. When his scoring is more balanced with his teammates having room to playing offensive plays, it is stylistically more enjoyable for these viewers. Whether he should have been playing that way all along, even with less capable teammates, is an entirely separate question that can be debated. I think we shouldn't conflate those two things.
