No, of course not. Jumping from bench player to MVP is crazy. No one has done it in decades except Kobe (whose sixth man role was clearly a wink-wink "this guy is the future, but he's only 18 and Eddie Jones has a big contract" arrangement) and Nash (who is a freak of nature, and took many years to do it). I think the post mentioning Joe Johnson was about how I felt. I hoped Harden could be Joe Johnson, except with a six-year peak instead of a two-year peak and crash.
It is one thing many people seem to forget. Yeah, Harden did not play well in the Finals outside of one game, but that road to the Finals was driven by Harden. He was the closer and ball handler for OKC in the previous three rounds. Kobe and Jason Terry have already said that Harden was the match-up problem for their respective teams in the playoffs. We all saw what he did against the Spurs, like that one timely 3 where he "lost" his dribble, looked up at the shot clock, and turned around and buried the 3.
Who in the world thought that?! I thought/hope Lin would be a do it all point guard. 15ppg, 7apg, 4rpg. He was almost that his first year (13.5ppg, 6apg, 3rpg). I put Harden as a 24ppg, 5apg, 5rpg guy. I thought neither would be a superstar but way more inclined to put Harden as the one to "breakout" and become one.
Due to Linsanity, I honestly thought/had high hopes for Lin. As for Harden, well I was just hoping he could be something more than what Martin was for us.
It's weird..watching his OKC highlights..it just feels he had a more versatile offense game plus he seemed quicker and springier. He attacked the basket from different angles and was more creative around the rim. The last couples years here he has become obsessed with getting a foul drawn on every single drive. Everything is either straight line drive to the rim or holding the ball for 5 seconds before hoisting up a 3..just not a lot of versatlity. He added a deadly step back jumper last season but I haven't seen it much since the preseason started.
