Not at all. After Harden hard plants his left foot when he faked the drive he takes two steps. Porter gathers later and takes three steps after the hard fake with the left plant. Not sure how you are arguing this? It became a controversy only 5 years ago with Harden. He has interviews where he discusses practicing it. Players do it now because they learned from Harden. That step back looks nothing like a travel in anyone’s minds. yeah your screen grab ignores the first plant by Porter which is the whole point of the move.
not sure how you're arguing when i gave screenshots to show the plant and the gather. which are both the same. it only became a controversy 3 years ago and the ones that became "controversies" were way more egregious. you're really gonna say this is the same thing porter did?
You’re screen grabbing his second plant. Porter gathers later than Harden did which is why some fans accuse players of traveling. You’re still not making sense. They are different moves and neither is a travel.
Porter switches hands as you see in the ref video explaining Harden’s step back. You posted a video of him traveling. The key is that Porter switches the ball from his left to his right while gathering to gain an extra step. You see Harden keep the ball in his right hand with a traditional step back. I’m not going to argue this ridiculous point further. If you can find anyone to defend that dumb point congrats
Porter switches hands during a live dribble and that does not count as a gather. Same as Harden's in&out left to right dribble before he plants and gathers. it's ok to be wrong.
And yet you’ve convinced yourself that Harden traveled 6 years into the past to teach himself a better step back.
People talk about Harden's lack of athleticism, but his athleticism is what freaked people out at the pre-draft combine. Nobody was expecting him to put up the numbers he put up there. He was out-repping big men on the bench press, doing sprints faster than Steph Curry and Jrue Holiday, and had a 37" vertical. I think KPJ's vertical is "only" 34". At the combine Harden was a top 5 or 6 performer in almost everything. His game evolved to where he just didn't rely on crazy athleticism, but skill and out-thinking the league, but I'm not sure he was ever known for using his athleticism to the max even though he had it.
He’s gathering while taking what refs call the zero step, before he takes the two steps. I said from the beginning it wasn’t a travel. Porter gathers while taking a zero step. Harden has no zero step in your video. He developed it later. It’s a part of timing the crossover.
So do you see in your clip that the defender is already gone? That’s what the initial foot plant does before he dribbles again and gathers. The foot plant is to seize the defender. Porter dribbles again and plants again and steps back. That’s why they call it the double step back or the zero step. Not sure where you think you’re getting with this. Give me one example of Harden doing that with the Thunder.
footwork is not determined by what the defender does. that's irrelevant. Now you just said "Porter dribbles again and plants again and steps back.". The dribble before the plant is irreverent because his dribble is still live. So out of your own mouth Porter plants and steps back. Exactly what Harden did in that OKC clip. You just proved my point without knowing.
No your point is dumb and you can’t find an example of Harden doing a comparable move before 2018, as much as you try to twist the terminology.
“as you can see the shot is the same because they plant their two feet and jump and release the ball with their two hands”
