Experience, learned a lot playing with team USA. Finally understand what he needs to do to lead a team.
Less nights out getting drunk and spending time with big booties at the strip joints this season than previous seasons Also heard HPD closed down some of those late night AMP's this year, so that may have helped
He has always been a crafty guy. The game is now super-slow for him. He is used to scoring a lot of points so it's on automatic. He doesn't really go to his breakdown moves as much this late in the season. However his 3-ball has been the biggest impact on his game, thus is able to conserve his energy throughout the game.
I haven't been able to watch the games much this season - does he not use the eurostep much these days??
Prior to this season, I feel that most of his plays were eurosteps. This season, he just has so much more in the bag. Crossovers, stepbacks, drive n kick, PnR. He has so many moves that he's comfortable with that he is the defition of multifaceted on offense. I recommend you tune into some games. He's honestly a treat to watch. His command of the offense is amazing.
Ownership. He knows this is is team this year. His veteran teammates all follow his lead. In his interviews also, he always says he has better focus this year. That and resilience--he bounces back from adversity or bad games/play. I'd say that sports psychologist working with the team (Dr. Robert Andrews) is gonna help Harden make a breakthrough in the playoffs.
Repped, I have a ton of respect for Russell Westbrook he just works soo hard and makes his teammates so much better. Curry is really good too but replace him with WB or Harden and the Warriors are a 70+ win team.
I think the biggest difference is that he is much better at going right on drives. Last year defenders really tried to force him right and that's when he really struggled. Now, he is very good going to his right and has lots of fakes to end up going back to his left.
I actually have noticed that too and was wishing he would fix on the one issue i saw last year which was... Hesitation! Go look at highlights (especially the playoffs) last year and see how much he would hesitate on making moves or make too many for that matter. He would give Mathews one too many pump fakes, along with excessive dribbling.' All you have to do is look at today's last minute and a half to see the difference. One to two dribbles and up he went.
He added a whole bunch to his game. He can go right, step back, post up, and the Paul Pierce style head fake step back. He's like dream, he has a counter for everything.
As others have said, the game for him has slowed down, and He has learned to pace himself better during the course of a game... He has such a high usage and high stress position on this team. That being said, James Harden has found a way to turn up and produce in the clutch only the other greats can...This year alone, James Harden has had a bevy of "clutch baskets" (ie. last five minutes of games, Harden has been devastating )...
He has teammates who can produce in the middle portions of the game, guys like Smith, Brewer, Ariza, Jones, DMo. That enables him to be fresher in the endgame. Opponents also can't always sag off the other guys, because they can randomly hurt them if Harden chooses to give up the ball. The ability of Smith to handle the ball when Harden is double-teamed has been a huge release valve. Harden doesn't have to force a shot every time.
