James Harden: deceptively athletic... or potbelly sloth with mad foot skills?

If it is working don't mess with it.

 

Harden is very athletic. He's especially athletic if we take the broader definition of it to include his size and strength. Harden's speed is extremely good for a player of his thickness and size plus speed is better than just speed.

On the other hand, when people say he's not athletic, they're exaggerating to the point of being wrong, but they're seeing something real. Every player has strengths and weaknesses in athletic traits. Some players have incredible standing verts but don't gain much when they have a running start. Some players have a lightning first step, but have a poor one-footed running vertical. These traits are all well-correlated usually, but at the level of the NBA, what would be minor differences in the general population are real performance differences at the margins.

The Rockets have accelerometers on their jerseys and, according to Morey, Harden's first step is not in the top 3 on the team. That's just one team. And, no, this isn't just because he chooses to not be fast. Several times last season, when it came down to the last shot and a wing defender with elite athleticism was guarding him, like Batum, he couldn't get past him. Usually, he gets past players with ease using his YMCA deceptiveness. But on last possessions defenders no longer need to conserve energy for the rest of the game and can sell out to stop the drive. Harden's first step isn't good enough to blow by them on speed alone in these circumstances.

I'd love to see him train with a 3rd party facility that has a documented record of measurably improving acceleration. Such facilities exist and they're a lot better at it than pro basketball franchises.

 

"Fatness" doesn't even matter. Barkley was "fat" and he does stuff like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWldMhxzvdM

 

Imagine how athletic he might become if he ever decides to get that body fat down. 10 is high for a guard and a player of his caliber in my opinion. It's clear he isn't a naturally skinny guy like most nba players these days. I imagine that he works hard to be in the shape he is in now. Kind of has that Mark Aguire thing going, but certainly not Bonzi Wells.

 

Very interesting data. Thanks for posting.

 

He does look deceptively quick though. I think it has to do with his frame.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSPK4k0xNcM

Ummm thats pretty athletic

 

dont know if kidding but I would have never thought that.

I honestly wouldnt have thought him faster than ellis

 

I love how people come out of the woodwork to be experts on random topics sometimes. Like body fat %, for example.

 

Relax, I heard Greg Oden has 10% body fat too

 

True, but I should have said an nba players world. You have to take in the position they play. Why in the world should a professional guard have more than 10% when they've gotta be quick. Guards should be in the lower end, say, at least an 8 or 9%, Sf should be at least between 9-10% and bigs should be 10-13%. I'm just basing these numbers off your numbers.

This is in no way a knock on Harden because he's doing fine as is. Just a thought that if he were to get leaner and either lose the fat to get quicker and lighter or replace it with muscle to better post up players or be able to finish with contact ala LeBron. I mean he already is strong as is.

 

Source please? I'd like to check Felton's body fat % lol... And maybe Cousins' too

 

He is just as fast, and can jump just as high as those other guys, plus he is a lot stronger. I think he is just fine where he is.

 

Body fat % does not mean anything here unless it's over 15% or something. Yeah, and what CasaDolce said. Felton, Cousins, Big Baby Davis, plus old timers at their prime - Shaq, Barkley.

Even at 15-20% BF, a player can still be great, IMHO. But lowering it yields more benefits for the player if it is around 15-20%.

Question - What do the number under bench press mean? Number of reps, body weight? If that is what it means, then Harden's bench press really stand out.

 

He's a SG version of Barkley.

Barkley was fat, but had crazy hops and was very strong obviously.

Harden isn't fat, but he's got a slight gut for a basketball player.

 

Harden doesn't depend on his first step but rather excellent foot work.

 

Generally it is talking about reps of 185 lbs.

 

Also, when it comes to the bench press, there has only been one player unable to do at least one rep at 185 out of all the players to attempt it at the combine. That player was Kevin Durant.