[ESPN Insider] James Harden's Rising Star Power

A cool little piece with a lot of stats on Harden. Nothing new or groundbreaking but it's cool to have it all put into perspective. It's from the fantasy basketball section on ESPN

P.S. In the past I've made a few requests for insider articles and was fortunate enough to have awesome members post the stories. Well, I got ESPN insider for myself now so if anyone posts a request thread I'll gladly provide the article. Just FYI :grin:

Spoiler

Let's get hypothetical for a second. Your team is down by one point with 15 seconds to play in a decisive Game 7. The home crowd sits nervously in stunned silence. As the coach, you call a timeout and draw up a play to get the ball in the hands of the one player who can hit the game-winning shot.

If you could choose any current player, who would it be?

Do you turn to Kobe Bryant? Or do you get the ball in the hands of LeBron James? Is Kevin Durant your guy? And what about Carmelo Anthony? A strong argument could be made for each of them. Now, pretend for a second that none of those guys are available. Who then would you depend on with the game on the line?

As hard as it might have been to believe a year or two ago, there may not be a better answer to that question than James Harden (no, we didn't forget about Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce). The point is, this should illustrate just how good Harden's been in his first season with the Houston Rockets.

Earlier this season, Trendwatch pointed out that Harden's transformation into a "go-to" guy followed his trend of constantly attacking, which has allowed him to get to the free throw line, a trademark of any player whose team relies on him to produce a bulk of the scoring.

But it isn't like Harden came out of nowhere. He was regarded highly enough to be drafted No. 3 overall in 2009 and went on to become one of the game's best reserves during his highlight-filled tenure in Oklahoma City.

What's shocking, though, is the rapid manner in which he transformed from a player who started just seven games in three seasons with the Thunder into one of the game's brightest young stars with the Rockets.

Because make no mistake, that's just what he's become -- a star.

This goes well beyond the hot start Harden had in his opening two games with Houston, when he followed up his 37-point performance in the season opener with a dazzling 45-point effort. As impressive as that was, it was fairly easy to dismiss as a temporary hot streak. The general assumption at the time was that the league would eventually adjust and create defenses that would slow Harden down.

Yet he hasn't slowed down, not even a little.

He went on to average 23.6 points per game in November, topped that with 27.7 points per game in December and is averaging 26.0 points per game for the season, which ranks fifth in the league behind Durant (29.1), Anthony (28.7), Bryant (27.4) and James (26.9).

And he's been on fire of late. Consider his averages over the past three contests: 33.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 63.5 percent (33-of-52) from the field and 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from 3-point range.

As you can see, this clearly goes beyond a short-term trend. What Harden has proved over the first half of the season is that he's undeniably one of the most unstoppable players in the NBA and a rising star whom the Rockets can build around for years to come.

Here are three areas in particular that make the 23-year-old such a promising part of Houston's future:

Versatility

Harden's 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame is ideal for an NBA shooting guard, and he uses it to his advantage whenever he's on the court. What's impressive is the way he impacts the game in so many ways other than scoring. He's great at creating off the dribble and is a willing passer (5.7 assists per game). He's big and athletic enough to battle for boards (4.7 rebounds per game). And he's so quick and rangy on defense that it often translates to steals and high-percentage fast-break opportunities. Harden ranks No. 20 in the league in steals per 48 minutes (2.34). Plus he's more than a player who can score with the best of them; even at this early stage in his career, he's a player who can positively impact the game on both ends of the court.

Getting to the foul line

Few players in the game are as committed and polished at driving to the basket and attacking the rim as Harden. The former Arizona State star's strength and aggressive style put the defense on its heels, often resulting in trips to the free throw line. In fact, if you look at the free throw numbers in the NBA this season, Harden's jump off the page.

Entering Monday, he has attempted a league-leading 510 free throws. That puts him 45 ahead of second-place Kevin Durant (465). More impressive is that only five other players have even attempted more than 300 free throws this season -- Dwight Howard (411), Bryant (374), Russell Westbrook (336), James (312) and Anthony (302). Harden is attempting a league-best 10.0 free throws per game and shooting 85.5 percent from the line, giving Houston a big advantage in the final minutes of close contests.
Transition game

Harden's aggressiveness, quickness and ability to handle the ball and finish at the rim make him an absolute dream in transition. According to Synergy Sports Technology, he averages 1.318 points per play in transition, which puts him in the 83rd percentile. (The only surprise there is that he isn't ranked even higher than that.) When Harden isn't leading the break, he likes to set up on the right wing, and from there he's particularly lethal; Synergy shows that his 1.698 points per play when operating from the right wing in transition ranks No. 6 in the league.

 

Well, I don't want to derail this thread, but ah what the heck. It feels good to be able to contribute haha

Spoiler

Houston Rockets backup center Greg Smith averaged 4.4 points and 1.6 rebounds the last five games and the team decided on Sunday to send him to their D-League team, the Rio Grande Vipers, for three games to help him "recharge> his batteries.

“He was doing stuff that was odd for Greg. He was one-handing rebounds, wasn’t sprinting the court," head coach Kevin McHale tells the Houston Chronicle. "I said, ‘Greg, those are things that are not you. You have to go up with two hands. You’re activity level has to pick up.’ That’s one reason I sent him down. I talked to him about it every day for a week as far as energy level. It seems right now it may be a good chance to go down there. We always use our D-League with our young guys. He seemed like a perfect candidate to go there and hopefully get the battery re-charged.”

The move makes sense as Cole Aldrich is now the first center off the bench behind starter Omer Asik.

“Cole’s played with energy,” said McHale.

This should be an interesting week for the Vipers as Royce White is expected to join them on Monday, too. White, Smith and and Terrence Jones should all see game action, which will allow the Rockets to checkout their young big men.

 

My bad... I was busy at work and forgot

Here's the link

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/stor...n-james-harden-become-one-league-best-players