[ESPN] James Harden's foul-drawing mastery is unstoppable

I was thinking about this today when hooping in pick up and learned to appreciate it. In pick up basketball, there is no reason to sacrifice your body because those fouls hurt. You risk injury with no NBA contract or insurance to cover. The reward is literally nothing because there is no ref to call the foul and give you 2fts. Just ball up top.

In the NBA, James Harden works for those free throws. The Rockets are really lucky he has not sustained any serious injury.

 

Yeah kinda like this:




Or this:




Especially this:



But it's cool cause ESPN will label Marcus Smart's play as "gritty". GTFOH

 

so basketball is a contact sport. Do you need more examples? Competing for loose balls? contact

Fighting for rebound positioning.. contact

player losing control of the ball and creating contact with defenders.. contact

I can keep going

all of these are non foul calls


freedom of movement has nothing to do with Harden trying to fool the refs...

 

Or was it the concussion?

 

You were trying to make it seem like the contact James Harden receives is incidental and meaningless, these are holds and grabs and pushes that prevent him from getting to the basket uncontested and finishing or shooting.

Basketball is a contact sport, and the contact at James Harden receives is a foul 99 % of the time

 

Didn't bother reading the click bate article but games 6 & 7 of last year's WCF would disagree. Harden and other Rockets were openly and blatantly denied many and-1s and countless fouls.

 

Yes, sir!

Most relevant quote in the article from Javie

"He's really a unique player where he doesn't really try to fool the referee actually," Javie says. "Nine times out of 10 when you look at replays, you go, 'Yeah, that's a defensive foul.'

 

If I were D'Antoni, the next time the Rockets played the Celtics, I would instruct my guys to fall down like they've been shot every time Smart touches them. It would be hysterical to call him out like that.

 

To be fair.... he "accentuated" it more in his earlier Rocket's years when he didn't have such a well rounded offensive game.

 

To be fair, Iverson was like a 5'0'' midget driving into the paint against the Shaqs, Mournings and Cambys of the world - people that'd make you hurt.

In today's game, Harden has to go against...Gobert? Towns? Jokic?

Not saying Iverson was better, but it was easy to root for Iverson.

 

Smart can suck a fat one