James Harden just mixed Paul George like some cake mix. Lord of mercy!

Lol, the ball actually moves UP after it has already reached its peak on the dribble. I mean, you act like Harden doesn't make mistakes. Everyone is so hyper sensitive about the way fans call Harden a traveler or cheater, but occasionally he does cross over that line.

 

If you call that on harden then virtually every Durant dribble is a carry. He does the palm and over under almost on every possession

 

Doesn't matter - once you gather the next foot down is your pivot foot and that pivot foot can not come back down onto the court once it is lifted. His right foot is down on the gather and then his left foot lands establishing his left foot as the pivot. He steps back and lands on his right and lifts his pivot foot, and the pivot foot lands before he releases the ball. It's a travel.

 

Quite possible. Honestly Harden RARELY carries the ball. He's got such good command of the rules and the limits and practices it so much. This is the first time I have seen him do a carry.

 

It’s a superstars league and they let them occasionally get away with it.some more then others like. Lebron travels a lot but they let it go. Jordan used to travel to but they let it go. It’s a entertainment driven league now.

 

Not a carry. Not called during game or afterwards.

Does not matter your opinion going frame by frame. There is no smoking gun.

 

And what is my contrarian stance in this thread?

 

If you think that's his "normal stepback", then I'm sorry to say that you're as bad as all the people who mistakenly claim his normal stepback is a travel. It means, like them, you can't tell the difference between what is a legal move and what is a violation.

This (in which Harden clearly has two hands on the ball prior to his final three steps), is a violation, and it is NOT Harden's normal step back:




The NBA has made this very clear this year, for people who were confused about it before:

For a player who is in control of the ball while dribbling, the gather is defined as the point where a player does any one of the following:

1. Puts two hands on the ball, or otherwise permits the ball to come to rest, while he is in control of it;
2. Puts a hand under the ball and brings it to a pause; or
3. Otherwise gains enough control of the ball to hold it, change hands, pass, shoot, or cradle it against his body.

...

• A player who gathers the ball while dribbling may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball.

• The first step occurs when a foot, or both feet, touch the floor after the player gathers the ball.

 

WTF!!! You are just moving goal posts now, the example above is from last season and nothing to do with what happened vs. PG and the Clips.

Your act is so old and tired.

 

You say this, and yet you liked the post that alluded to this play and initiated this detour. I will correct false statements regarding my position, even when it is off topic.

 

Even if you think that’s a travel (I don’t) even you will have to admit that it is not obviously a travel. The video shows that he pounds the ball and moves back. While his left foot is in the air, he gathers the ball, then does the stepback.

 

I can hear them crying into their singlets:

Pleas stop JimmyH. U gon score more 50 times then Kobb-E

 

You seem very adamant about this but your insistence makes the Trump Harden comparison that much more compelling. Put the politics aside, it’s the disruption and it’s effect and the treatment that said disruption creates that makes the analogy compelling. Like Trump, Harden is fighting virtually the entire media, the league, all while delivering results for his team. It’s actually an amazing comparison.

 

Except Harden is a basketball player who likes drawing fouls, and Trump may actually be the AntiChrist. But, sure, great comparison guys, let’s keep going with this. Harden, Trump, Duterte. Surprised Hitler hasn’t been mentioned yet.

I tried to keep this civil and politely ask you guys to keep Trump out of the GARM, but I guess you weren’t having it.

 

The first two you mentioned are capitalists. The last two are socialists. Not even a close political comparison.

 

As you point out, he gathers the ball while is left foot is in the air. As soon as that left foot hits the ground, that counts as the first step. A so called “zero step” or “gather step” must occur before or simultaneous with the gather, which is what Harden typically will do on his step back when fans wrongly accuse him of traveling. The “step” is defined as the point at which the foot hits the ground, not the point at which the foot is raised in the air.

Our fan base loses credibility when it’s unwilling to see the rules as they are. Getting angry at people pointing out what is or isn’t a violation per the actual rulebook is just stupid and child-like, frankly. No one here wants Harden to be less effective. But we should all want his moves to be unquestionably legal, because that helps insulate him from violations being call on him in games that really matter in the postseason.

 

I’m not angry. I just disagree with you.

 

That second paragraph wasn't directed at you.

I'm happy to have a discussion without emotions getting into it. I can and often do change my mind, as I did earlier in this thread with regards to the play this thread is about. Which part do you disagree with?

 

Looks like a tiny carry he got away with, just did it super fast. Players get away with carrying all the time though, it's hard to enforce.

This is not a travel. I see a gather-1-2.

In the frame by frame you posted after, I'm not sure he fully has two hands on the ball yet due to the perspective. But even if he does, he only takes two steps after that point anyway.

 

There are three distinct steps shown, frame by frame. The rule book:

"gather is defined as the point where a player ... Puts two hands on the ball"
"The first step occurs when a foot, or both feet, touch the floor after the player gathers the ball."

Just because a player's foot is in the air when the gather occurs, that doesn't mean it's allowed to touch the ground and not count as a first step.

Do you think a player is allowed to leap in the air while dribbling, gather the ball, come down, and then take two additional steps? That is not a legal play.