[SI] Open Floor: James Harden’s next step

Sydeffect · Oct 21, 2015

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/10/20/open-floor-james-harden-rockets-lamarcus-aldridge-spurs-season-preview

On what he's trying to improve specifically:

How can Harden get better? He has an answer for that too. If there was one criticism of Harden last season it was that he would frequently exhibit bad body language. If a teammate took an errant shot, Harden would scowl or slump his shoulders. If he committed a turnover, he did little to hide his frustration.

“I get frustrated, and when I do I know my teammates are looking at me like, ‘He’s frustrated we’re messing up, right now,’” Harden said. “So times like that, I have to just stay level and make sure that no matter what’s going on with me, I’m feeding out positive energy to my teammates, so they’re going to be locked in no matter what. And I think that’s going to carry us a long way, even in postseason.”
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He took a break from basketball to rest his body:

Physically, Harden will admit last season was a grind. He played in 81 games and led the league in total minutes (2,981). With Dwight Howard limited to 41 games and Beverley sidelined for the playoffs, the strain on Harden was considerable. Harden has always been a healthy eater—nutrition habits instilled with him in Oklahoma City stay with him today—but he needed to give his body a break. Which is why Harden decided to get away from the game this off-season. For a month, he didn’t pick up a basketball, the first time he has ever taken that kind of extended break. He traveled. He rested. He got regular massages. He blocked out the game.
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On his 12 turnover game:

A championship is the goal, obviously. Harden has come close before. In 2012, Harden was the sixth man on Oklahoma City’s Finals team. He remembers that loss. That loss hurt. Losing with Houston, Harden says, hurt more.

“Obviously, in the Finals, you’re so close,” Harden said. “That was a learning experience. I didn’t really have all the pressure on me to go out there and carry the team, or whatever, every single night. “Last year, in Game 5 [against Golden State, when we lost, when I had 12 turnovers, that hurt me more than anything, because I pride myself on creating opportunities for my teammates, giving them easy shots, making sure everybody’s good. And when I was turning the basketball over, I wasn’t doing that, so I was taking away from them. Even though I worked so hard throughout the entire season, for it to end like that, it really messed me up throughout the summer.”
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YaoMing#1 · Oct 21, 2015

James is a super duper star.... The media will be singing a new tune about him very soon this guy is going to have a monster season and finally get the praise he deserves. He's getting so many open looks in this offense with Ty. If he can get his shooting to around 46-48% and his 3s around 38+% he will avg 30 ppg this season easy.

All it takes is winning and hardrn has been doing a lot of that since he got to houston but I takes the media and fans a few years to catch on.

Madmanmetz · Oct 21, 2015

Judging by his comments about his 12 turnover game, Harden is one of those guys that hates losing more than he loves winning... Those kind of players are very rare at his talent level.

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[SI] Open Floor: James Harden’s next step

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