James Harden is the most talented player and the most fun to watch

JO Coach wrote:

The numbers say that the NBA's current popularity is as high as ever and I feel that getting further and further away from the MJ era helps. It seems like more young kids these days want to shoot lights out like Klay and Steph or have an all around game like LeBron, Draymond and Durant.

You're right that getting away from the one on one era helps. However in some respects Klay and Steph's shooting ability have not helped youth basketball. Every kid wants to put up 3 pointers when they're not ready physically-shooting form is atrocious. Kids don't appreciate ball movement and working for your shot. Positionless basketball and the international players have been great for the game however.

Why are you talking basketball, harden and jordan when the greatest football player ever will be taking the field this Sunday in his quest to win his 6th Superbowl.

You will be telling you grandkids how you used to watch Brady march the Patriots down the field in clutch situations to win games. How when the game was on the line there was no better competitor.

How do you guys rate Ryan Anderson as a player and three pt. specialist for Houston ?

Also, Harden is very unselfish when dishing out those 'no look' passes to Anderson...positioned way to the side, when he himself, Harden, could have easily scored. Altruism, or extra points for Ryan's 3 pts ?

Harden seems to be an unselfish player...and few talk about Anderson - possibly the most underrated contributor in the NBA ?

Watching Harden's passes and his step back three point shot is just plain fun. The most over rated shot in basketball is the dunk. There are no skills involved when a 6'8" player dunks a basketball.

Houston will win the championship this year.

Like most other players, he simply carries the ball versus dribbling. From Michael Jordan till now, they cheat. Nate Archibald dribbled to get by, he didn't carry the ball. Go ahead and disagree, I love it as most of you are clueless. Look up tapes of Pete Maravich, John Havlicek, Jerry West, Dave Bing, etc...they dribbled. If you carried (palmed it) back then, you got called. Basketball is NOT the same game that it was.

They travel all of he time too. As long as the calls are made consistently I am ok with it.

Palming the Ball is Cheating wrote:

Like most other players, he simply carries the ball versus dribbling. From Michael Jordan till now, they cheat. Nate Archibald dribbled to get by, he didn't carry the ball. Go ahead and disagree, I love it as most of you are clueless. Look up tapes of Pete Maravich, John Havlicek, Jerry West, Dave Bing, etc...they dribbled. If you carried (palmed it) back then, you got called. Basketball is NOT the same game that it was.

You are 100% correct. It’s not the same, but it’s better this way in my opinion.

In jr high basketball when I last played in a formal game they called palming/traveling like every other possession. Super annoying. The interpretation of the rule now is better. Allows for more dynamic and natural movements.

Podunk U. wrote:

Sifl &Ollie Fan wrote:

Put Harden in a high school game and he'd score maybe eight points. They actually call travels in high school. Harden only exists and thrives in the NBA because he has mastered how to travel efficiently in a league that doesn't enforce its own rules. Beyond that, he's terrible at basketball.

Harden won 2 state championships in high school and was the best player in L.A.

Harden travels now, traveled in HS, and will keep making his $$ by traveling just as long as the refs allow him to cheat. I'd be dominant too if you let me randomly violate the rules at will--pretty tough to defend a layup when the other team is expecting less than three steps and no carrying.

Fat Cory wrote:

Podunk U. wrote:

Harden won 2 state championships in high school and was the best player in L.A.

Harden travels now, traveled in HS, and will keep making his $$ by traveling just as long as the refs allow him to cheat. I'd be dominant too if you let me randomly violate the rules at will--pretty tough to defend a layup when the other team is expecting less than three steps and no carrying.

Traveling/palming is called the same for everyone in the nba. They don’t call it. And I think it’s great.

I get the feeling you would not dominate at anything no matter what advantages you were given.

John Utah wrote:

Fat Cory wrote:

Harden travels now, traveled in HS, and will keep making his $$ by traveling just as long as the refs allow him to cheat. I'd be dominant too if you let me randomly violate the rules at will--pretty tough to defend a layup when the other team is expecting less than three steps and no carrying.

Traveling/palming is called the same for everyone in the nba. They don’t call it. And I think it’s great.

I get the feeling you would not dominate at anything no matter what advantages you were given.

Coming from you Girly Utah, I highly doubt you hurt his feelings.

Aren't you like 50 and you were never good at anything, even running (jogging I should say). Stick to your local 5k's as I bet they think your 26:00 is something special:):):):):):):)

Is he still riding a fat Kardashian butt?

Harden's Houton beat LeBron's Cleveland 120 to 88. Now that harden has his "Pippen", just watch the level of success Harden obtains.

The only difference from jordan/pippen will be that harden will actually give credit to Paul. That's something Jordan could never give to a teammate.

Cheating ball carriers indeed, which is how they "walk" right by an opponent.

With that one basketball on the court, a young Harden coming off the bench teamed with Westbrook and Durant to push to the Western Conference finals. Failing to keep that team together to save money on Harden's contract is a crime but I guess Aubrey McClendon's not around anymore to answer for his part in it. Clay Bennett is. What's his excuse?

The dunk's overrated? A shot that succeeds maybe 90% of the time or more?

Ghost1 wrote:

How do you guys rate Ryan Anderson as a player and three pt. specialist for Houston ?

Also, Harden is very unselfish when dishing out those 'no look' passes to Anderson...positioned way to the side, when he himself, Harden, could have easily scored. Altruism, or extra points for Ryan's 3 pts ?

Harden seems to be an unselfish player...and few talk about Anderson - possibly the most underrated contributor in the NBA ?

Ryan Anderson contributes to the team success, but seems underutilized all-in-all. He's averaging 10.2 points a game and 5.4 rebounds, when he seems quite capable of being an 18 and 10 guy, or better. He disappears from games for long stretches serving as a decoy or outlet, and often is not even on the court for long periods or during crunch time. He and Paul had good chemistry when Paul first came back, but even that seems to have faded lately. So, to me it's frustrating, because I think Anderson's not just a spot-up shooter, but a player with some moves and inside game, too.

zxcvxcvx wrote:

The dunk's overrated? A shot that succeeds maybe 90% of the time or more?

I agree with the poster saying the funk is over rated. I think it's a very effective shot, but most of the time it doesn't take much special skills and is boring compared to other shots.