Harden's defense won't remind anybody of Clarence Darrow, but his game features more offense than Andrew Dice Clay at a Weight Watchers meeting. The Rockets in general don't play much defense, but man do they score. For now, you think you know drama, TNT? The best drama you'll ever broadcast is a Harden isolation play.Īs my father used to say, defense may win championships, but you can't win if you don't score. Also, if Lin develops a more consistent jumper, he can further confuse and frustrate defenders by choosing to dump it off during his drives.īut that's for a different article.
#James harden wingspan iso
I would like to see Houston move more when Harden is in his iso set to help clear room for him. He draws every defender's attention and still manages to emerge with points the majority of the time. So I've been happy to see the league increasingly move away from isolation play for the last decade.īut Harden is one of the few guys I actually love to watch in iso. I've never been a huge isolation fan unless it's a game-ending shot. One on one, Harden is basketball's version of Evel Knievel, caring nothing about his body and pulling off unpredictable, and often death-defying, stunts as he launches himself toward his destination-the rim. Recently voted Sports Illustrated's third-best one-on-one player in the NBA, I truly and honestly get nervous for the defense when Harden has his man alone at the top of the key. The Rockets are often less than inspiring in the half-court set-unless it's Harden running an isolation play. He's got the motor, the moves and the muscle to be the pace car for the Rockets' superb transition play. Harden participates in more possessions per 48 minutes than any other starter in the NBA. With Harden leading the way, the Rockets play true to their name. And he pushes the play like this on a nightly basis, multiple times a night. But friends, if someone pulls what Harden pulls on this play, you could epoxy yourself to him, and he'd still flush on you. Holiday, a quick defender with a 6'8" wingspan, is playing solid D here, trying to keep Harden from getting the good angle to the basket. He busts a move on Jrue that seriously makes me want to write a poem. The Beard simply would not let this possession be slowed, despite Jrue Holiday's hypervigilance, despite the Sixers converging on him. The prudent thing to do is pull up and run a set play. By all rights this should turn into a half-court possession.
And it doesn't just happen once in a while-it's likely to happen a dozen times a game.Ĭheck out the play against the Philadelphia 76ers at left. You see, the guy turns ordinary plays into fast breaks, mostly by sheer force of will. The de facto leader of that transition game is Harden.īackcourt mate Jeremy Lin could certainly run a credible transition game, but Harden extends the Rockets transition offense-simply by deciding to. The Rockets win when their transition game is working. In addition, Harden's impressive melange of skills have transformed the Rockets into serious, even likely, playoff contenders.
Harden's energy and enthusiasm have imbued the Rockets and the city of Houston with a spirit of fun and excitement not seen since a healthy Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were wearing the red and white.
#James harden wingspan movie
Watching him sometimes reminds me of the bus in the movie Speed: compelled to go faster than 50 MPH, sometimes careening out of control, but heart-poundingly thrilling to watch and root for. We feed off him…if you look at our season as a whole, we’ve surpassed a lot of people’s expectations, and he’s a big part of it." Lin told the Houston Chronicle, “’s our leader. The Bearded One has drastically altered those projections. 500 season was perhaps a pipe dream, but it was the best anybody was hoping for. As a result, they looked destined for a lottery pick. The squad of young turks, helmed by erstwhile overnight sensation Jeremy Lin, were all still learning the game at the NBA level. The moment James Harden joined the Houston Rockets, everything changed.
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