Item 1. Is the issue. This is not something that an be practiced out. This has to come from the fiber of the man. If he mails it in here and there only he can choose to change that. No one else. The question is, when it is money time in the playoff's will he shelf his occasional vacation? Robert Horry was similar to this. However, Horry would rise up during the playoffs. Will James? Yes=some some playoff watching parties and us strutting around our workplace after a playoff game. No=some of us hitting up Best Buy in late April for a new TV after some foreign object leads to our current TV's demise due to watching Harden taking a holiday during a playoff game.
As harden ages, he will become more mature and more professional in his approach to the game. This comes with time and pain of losing. Health willing, his prime is 2-3 years away which is scary cuz on some nights, he looks like a top 5 player in the nba.
Obviously, his defense is an issue but that's simply a matter of hard work and discipline. He has the tools, he just puts no effort on defense. What I would like to see harden work on in the offseason is his mid post game. Kinda like dirk or Carmelo. If harden can develop that part of his game, he would be unstoppable.
I think some of you really under appreciate Hardens game. I have said it before and I'll say it again, hardens game is most comparable to the two best players in the league. Is he as good as KD and Lebron? No, but he is on the right path. I'd say it's like this right now, on % basis, Harden plays like the 3rd best player in the league 40% of the time, he plays like a top 8 player another 40% of the time and then 20% of the time he plays like a top 15 player. All in all he's def top 6 IMO, we can pick apart this and that but he's winning this yr and has the rockets a top 5 team record wise and in the contention in the west at age 24. IMO it's jut hit right to say steph curry or Kevin love are better because to the end of the day winning is what matters and hardens proved over his career that he is a winner. His skill set is insane for a wing player. He can literally be as good as he wants to be and that's the scary part on a 1-10 scale he can be tht rare 10 on offense and if he picks up his D he can be a top. 20 player of all time no problem.
It really depends how well his mid range game improves. There were drastic improvements after last year to this one. You have players like Kobe saying that James has it in him to be great. It is a matter of time before he will be regarded as a genuine superstar. He is still underrated, but his time is coming.
He is Elite with his offensive skill set,but this his 4th or 5th Year I think,if he is Not a good defender by now it won't Change in the future,but if he shows more effort he can be average That is why I think we need a Tony Allen or Nic Batum type of player who cleans up Hardens Mistakes.
There is no ceiling on James Harden. The sky is the limit...or as Chris Rock would say..."the limit is the sky".
I noticed he has become very good at sealing his defender behind him once he gets past, and he reads the defense so well in terms of surveying how they're going to play him and making the right decision -- it's CP3-esque.
James Harden still has a long way to go but he is already one of the top players in the league. He is still getting better and has plenty of learn about the game. He has plenty of work on defensively and a few tweaks here and there offensively. I think James Harden has the potential to lead a championship caliber team along with Dwight Howard. Offensively, James needs to learn how to beat long athletic defenders like Paul George consistently and he needs to learn when to attack and when to pass. I think sometimes he gets too passive and keep passing the ball and sometimes he gets tunnel vision and launch up 25 footers. Decision making is an important factor for James Harden. He needs to cut back on turnovers and make smart passes. He needs to understand when is the best time to lob up to Dwight and when he should just shoot the floater. He should try to finish strong at the basket and shoot more floaters instead of trying to draw contact and the whistle. His jumpshot still needs a little work because he doesn't use his legs as much as he should. That's why his jumper are always a little short. I think he should work more on post ups and fade-away. Basically he just need to add dimension more to his offensive arsenal. But his jumpshot is important because he needs to be more consistent shooting the outside shot. Defensively he is below average but can be pretty effective if he wants to be. He has the size, strength and athleticism to be a good defender so he just needs to put more effort into defense. I think James Harden needs a little more discipline in order for him to take the next step into the elite class. He's not far from it and its possible for him to reach the elite class but he still have lots of work to do. Hopefully he will work hard every year and continue to work on his weaknesses instead of his strengths.
I think he DOES have the athleticism, he just doesn't expend as much energy as willingly. Evidence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln30QAkZX50
James hardens def really athletic, he's 6'5 230lbs with almost 7 ft wingspan and a 37 inch vertical. He's the biggest/strongest 2 guard in the league. I remember reading a quote from harden when he was prepping for the draft. He himself said the biggest thing people will be shocked about at the combine was how athletic he is and that his measurements would be some of the highest in the draft, and it was. The hardens not a good athlete is one of the bigger myths about his game that like a lot of others arnt true. Hardens the compleat package he can be as good as he wants to be. He has all the tools from size, bbiq, skill and athleticism to be a top 20 Player of all time. Now he needs some championships and accolades along the way but the player/athlete James harden has all The tools to get their.
They were surprised because of his weight actually. his "athletic" ability isnt really shown with his playstyle. If he had the skill to be a JUMP shooter instead of set shooter he would have it so much easier but you need quickness and athletic ability to shot those. He he is on the same level as Courtney lee when it comes to athletic ability.
I'd say Harden's athletic ability is apparent in his playstyle: whenever he makes drives in traffic, he uses his long limbs to get a shot off over much bigger players, and his strength to finish through contact. I don't know about a 37in vertical leap because he doesn't really display that as often, nor does he rely on quickness as much as he does on deception. This is why I continue to be bullish on Harden aging well: strength and length endure while hops and first steps fade. BRoy is a good comp but unfortunately for him even coming out of college the knock on him was always injury issues. That's not the case for Harden. To all those that still knock Harden for his defense and effort, I'd like to see a good comp of a player who was able to carry the same offensive load in a system that requires a ton of possessions AND be a a decent defender for most of the game. I can't think of anyone. Most two way players seem to be in more conservative system requiring fewer possessions (e.g. Granger). Ironically Parsons makes some sense as a "lite" version, but as Houston has picked up the pace and Parson's usage has gone up, his defense has suffered. My point is this: I'm not entirely convinced Harden's bad defense is because of lack of effort, but rather lack of energy. We have to allow for the fact the it might not be possible to have enough energy to operate a body as big and strong as Harden's, use it for repeated offensive excellence AND defend with the zeal of a smaller Beverley for 82 games a season. Even great athletes get tired. Maybe Harden realizes he could improve his conditioning by dropping weight, but that would require dropping strength, which is integral to his game. Perhaps that's just one of the tradeoffs of our system. Maybe that's a great reason for trying to find a better backup for Harden who can eat into his minutes. If that's true, I'd rather have Harden playing all out on offense, and Beverley on defense, than the other way around, especially if it's in an effort to conserve energy for the playoffs. That being said, I think Harden's improvement will come when he learns to pick his spots better. He'll have a better sense on any given sequence of possessions when to pass, iso, conserve energy, go for the steal, make the strong rotation, etc. so that he can stamp his will on the game while minimizing the effect of possessions where his effort is less than 100%.
The question should be like this : with a good point guard( the one's we have or someome else) how good is Harden is going to be? Obviously, he is doing too much on the offensive end that bite him on the defensive end Why he has gotten better as the season progressed, simply cuz of he is in better shape than before, but still he is not made of steel.
What, he's athletic? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/l8rtu7J1jUA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I think Harden is as developed a player as he is going to be. Which is not a criticism because I think he is already playing at an elite level. Also, I think barring an injury Harden should be able to sustain this level of play for a very long time, because his game is not overly dependent on freakish athleticism like some of the other star players. As long as he stays committed to the game, he should be considered a top shooting guard for many seasons to come.
