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NFT: James Harden - wut?!?!

dep026 : 8/20/2014 12:20 am
Quote:
During a promotional event, James Harden declared himself the best all-around player in the NBA.

"I'm the best all-around basketball player in the NBA," said Harden.


Guess Harden doesnt realize you need to play defense in order to be even a top 10 player in the league. I literally laughed for a good few minutes over this.
James Harden - ( New Window )
He has trouble with reality since his little  
TheBigBlueOne : 8/20/2014 12:39 am : link
accident.


The part of the brain responsible for perception hasn't worked since then.
I'd expect any  
LawrenceTaylor56 : 8/20/2014 12:40 am : link
professional athlete to say the same publicly.
Agree with LT56  
giantsfan44ab : 8/20/2014 3:30 am : link
Kinda not the right time though with the speculation of him and Howard not talking with the "role players" of the team though. Hoping they get hit hard by missing the playoffs. I was once happy for Houston's turnaround by flipping mediocre draft picks to turn the corner but Howard and harden are just hard to root for
Really so  
Joe in Knoxville : 8/20/2014 7:00 am : link
You expect Mario chalmers to say the same thing

RE: Really so  
LawrenceTaylor56 : 8/20/2014 7:26 am : link
In comment 11815608 Joe in Knoxville said:
Quote:
You expect Mario chalmers to say the same thing


Yes.
hes obviously wrong  
MarshallOnMontana : 8/20/2014 7:48 am : link
But I dont mind him feeling that way. Same thing with steph curry calling himself a better offensive player than lebron. At the same time while I have no issue with self confidence, they also need to realize how that comes off when you put it out there publicly, it just sounds silly. Curry was kind of cornered into his answer by a loaded dan patrick question though. Not surr of hardens circumstance

Game tonight, fyi. 7pm nbatv
Harden  
Csonka : 8/20/2014 9:19 am : link
Fine that he won't bow to anybody. I'd have a bigger problem if anybody else said it or agreed with him.
Sounds like Harden has a hardon  
Giantology : 8/20/2014 9:28 am : link
for himself
LOL  
mac attack : 8/20/2014 10:44 am : link
I guess that makes Damian Lillard the best player in the world then...
What's with him & Howard seperating themselves  
Vin R : 8/20/2014 10:47 am : link
from the rest of the Rockets players?
Curry is much closer to LeBron offensively than Harden  
chris r : 8/20/2014 11:12 am : link
is to being the best all around player.
I don't mind him saying it  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/20/2014 11:19 am : link
he's a Top 10 player in the game. He should feel confident. Excited about the game tonight.
chris  
MarshallOnMontana : 8/20/2014 11:23 am : link
I would agree with that. One is clearly less outlandish than the other but curry over lebron even offense only impact is still a massive stretch, and thats being kind.

this is just  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/20/2014 11:38 am : link
a throwaway quote in my mind. "Top 10 player in league thinks he is the best". Ugh, a little foolish but not really a big deal at all.

I put a lot more stock in Coach K's quotes about Harden. He has just constantly been praising Harden as a player and leader for a while now.

“Well, not so much leadership,” Krzyzewski said of Rose’s contribution thus far. “I think he’s done a really good job. He needs to keep finding himself and his rhythm and not be worried about leading a team. Harden and Curry are really good with that, but Derrick’s done a good job.”

“James has been as good a leader as we’ve had for this team,” Krzyzewski said. “He has a great personality. He is an upbeat guy, smart, and he’s obviously very, very talented. With this group, especially after Kevin left, he has asserted himself even more as an older guy. I know him, he knows me, because we have worked together. He’s really one of our key guys. There is no question about it.”

“I don’t how maturity develops when I’m not around it all the time,” Krzyzewski said. “I just know that he’s one of the best players in the NBA. And having this responsibility here will only make him better. These guys get better after playing in this, because they go to places that they don’t necessarily go to on their own teams, whether it be in a subordinate role at times, a leadership role, the key player, the good talker, or whatever. James checks every box. I love James. We have a great, great relationship. That communication between the two of us can translate to even better communication with the guys on the court.”


Anthony Davis and Derrick Rose are the two most gifted players on this team. But Davis is too young to lead and Rose just doesn't seem like a natural leader, so it's great to see Harden and Curry step up as "the guys".

I put a lot of stock in these comments from Coach K. Obviously he is going to be giving positive comments but his enthusiasm about Harden is really through the roof which makes me feel good about him.
Harden is not a top 10 player in the league  
giantsfan44ab : 8/20/2014 12:10 pm : link
Maybe offensive player but his defense drops him out of the top 15.
RE: I'd expect any  
Mike in Long Beach : 8/20/2014 12:15 pm : link
In comment 11815559 LawrenceTaylor56 said:
Quote:
professional athlete to say the same publicly.


This is dumb. I understand expecting an athlete to claim "my goal is to be the best player in the game" even if it's a ridiculous assertion. That should always be the goal.

But you expect every player to say that he's the best player in the sport? Okkk.
Hmm..  
Vin R : 8/20/2014 12:16 pm : link
Rose seemed like a leader when he's on the court with the Bulls
RE: Harden is not a top 10 player in the league  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/20/2014 12:22 pm : link
In comment 11816117 giantsfan44ab said:
Quote:
Maybe offensive player but his defense drops him out of the top 15.


Does defense also drop Kevin Love, Steph Curry, and Melo out of the top 15?

But after looking at it, you're probably right. Harden is in the 7-16 range somewhere as a player. But in reality, he's just in that Tier 2/3 somewhere after the LeBron/Durant tier. Tough to rank those players since they're all roughly on the same level.
RE: Hmm..  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/20/2014 12:28 pm : link
In comment 11816140 Vin R said:
Quote:
Rose seemed like a leader when he's on the court with the Bulls


Noah and Deng were the leaders of the Bulls. Rose just seems way too shy and introverted to be a leader. His "I don't care if Melo/LeBron comes" stuff in the off-season was such a joke. You had Noah calling Melo non-stop and you had Rose pretending like he didn't give a shit.

I like Rose though, seems like a good guy. I think the injury definitely stunted his growth as a leader. Once he gets confident about his knee he can start worrying about being a leader.
He's not even an outright dominant offensive player. He just can't  
giantsfan44ab : 8/20/2014 12:31 pm : link
Be the first or second option on a contending team. Now he has to take over PG duties this season. And though he is hailed as a 3 point king he shot 36.6%, which is good but that's not elite.

He is just a player that is there to pad stats and that's about it.
that's idiotic  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/20/2014 12:33 pm : link
he was just the best offensive option on a 54 win team out West.
he's the best penetrator in the game  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/20/2014 12:35 pm : link
in a league that's all about dribble-penetration. That's why he gets so many BS foul calls but that's also a hugely important skill. I know his game is ugly to watch but it's extremely effective. And he greatly improved his mid-range game last year.
I would put harden in the top 10  
MarshallOnMontana : 8/20/2014 12:50 pm : link
His offensive impact is that high. Hes obviously atrocious defensively but offense and defense really shouldnt be weighted equally when were talking about a perimeter player. If the rockets replaced james harden with someone who was the complete 180 degree difference from him (elite perimeter defender with no offensive game, lets just call it toney allen) the rockets would get substantially worse. And even if harden was a standout defender, its impact on the rockets overall defense wouldnt be drastic by any means. Individual perimeter defenders can only impact the game so much (when we talk about bigs its another story). When we look at a guy like harden, a perimeter player who is not only a gifted scorer but passer too (not to mention his skill of racking up fouls on the opposition) that offensive impact helps your offense considerably more than his poor defense hurts your defense. Its not like we can label it a wash. These two ends of the floor are not necessarily equal in all cases.

You can build an elite offense around harden as the primary scorer and ball handler (wheter he can sustain his level of play in the postseason is another matter. Sample too small to go nuts but its an alarming trend). And his poor defense, in and of itself, doesnt necessarily prohibit you from being good defensively as a team if you have the right pieces and a sound defensive structure. Many good defensive teams play poor individual defenders heavy minutes.
RE: he's the best penetrator in the game  
dep026 : 8/20/2014 12:56 pm : link
In comment 11816197 Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy said:
Quote:
in a league that's all about dribble-penetration. That's why he gets so many BS foul calls but that's also a hugely important skill. I know his game is ugly to watch but it's extremely effective. And he greatly improved his mid-range game last year.


Your explanation is the reason why I wouldnt put him in the top 10. Those wreckless drives where he gets BS calls is fun during the regular season, but in the playoffs it seemed he got less and less of them.

He has a knack for scoring and when in rhythm shooting, he is deadly. However, I never have been a fan of his game and the last two years in the playoffs havent really changed my mind on him. Throw in his defense.... I would have him between 11-15 than top 10. But with all these injuries to guys like Rose, Kobe, Westbrook, Rondo, etc and guys like Dirk aging.... I guess he could sneak in there.
his playoff play  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/20/2014 1:00 pm : link
has been lacking with the Rockets. But I think it's less about his style and more about him simply missing open shots. He was awful against the Blazers. I really hope he doesn't end up being someone like Carmelo who consistently plays poorly in the playoffs. But his game is nothing like Melo's, so it's tough to make that comparison.

He's a very hot and cold player, I'm hoping he becomes more consistent with age. The difference between his Top 15 and Bottom 15 games is probably bigger than that of any other player in the league. His Top 15 games rank up there with anyone outside of LeBron and Durant. He just goes beast mode and is such a ruthlessly efficient killer. But his Worst 15 are just awful to watch where he goes 4-15 and tries way too hard to draw fouls while providing nothing on D.

If he can go from the ultimate Hot-Cold player to a more consistent player, he will hit another level. The growth of his mid-range game last year was very impressive and should help him become more consistent.
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