I will be honest; I have never heard of him before, I do not follow basketball at all.
There’s a good argument he’s the most impactful player in the league now, and he’s for sure in the top 5
His game is based on dribbling for most of an entire possession waiting for his defender to make a mistake for Harden to jump into them while shooting so he can take foul shots...or for his opponent to lay back, so Harden can use his step back shot which is heavily mocked for requiring ~4 non-dribbling steps to execute
He is whiny and often flops
He plays for a team that writes letters (earnestly!!!) containing possession-by-possession analyses of how many points they would have scored had the refs called fouls that were missed and how they therefore are the real winners of a game or series
Said team took and missed 27 straight 3-point shots in an elimination playoff game and lost a big lead, game, and series as a result, while the world laughed mercilessly at them
He dated a Kardashian
In retrospect, I’m surprised he waited this long to troll us
Let's just say, me being an old, Harden wouldn't of lasted there seasons in the 70's hell, let alone the late 80's-90's, during the Celtics, Lakers, Pistons, Bulls NBA eras. Flopping would've gotten you an elbow or a fist to the face.
The late 80's to 90's Bad Boys, would've killed him.
You play with the hand you're dealt, and Harden (and the Rockets) are fully leaning into the limits of the modern game they were given to play
The Bad Boy Pistons would be laughed out of the gym in today's NBA
Eddy on
"and the morning stars I have seen
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
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ButtersA glass of some milksRegistered Userregular
70s-80s era enforcers were a bad thing though not a good one. The Pistons beat the shit out of Jordan because that was the only way they could defend him.
I am not a fan of Harden in the least but I don't want any Laimbeers in the league anymore. Enforcing traveling would more than suffice at neutralizing the worst aspects of his play.
Inquisitor772 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered Userregular
Yeah, people behave within their context.
Players today put in a different context would behave differently. They would not do the same things they do right now.
James Harden would not flop if he was not rewarded for it. If you transported him to the 80's he wouldn't just start falling on the floor like a wet fish - he'd probably just end up using his size and core strength to bully his way down the lane. Or hell, he could do the exact same thing he does now on the perimeter except he wouldn't try to draw and embellish contact - it's not like he can't make those shots under normal circumstances. They'd probably be even easier in the age of the illegal zone defense.
I agree with all of that, except while Bill Laimbeer would try to clothesline Harden for sure, Harden is more man than Laimbeer ever played against back then- he only has 20 lbs on Harden and 4 inches
Today’s NBA players don’t play the brutal, unwatchable style we had between 80s Lakers and early 00s Lakers, but today’s NBA players are ripped and giant
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ButtersA glass of some milksRegistered Userregular
Much of the brutality was also because the 3-point line was an afterthought and there was far less floor space. It took almost 30 years before offenses were actually designed around generating open threes.
if you put any modern NBA star in a time machine and sent them back to 1988 they'd destroy everything; Harden for example is nearly the size of laimbeer while being faster and a better handler (and shooter) than thomas; he wouldn't have trouble with the bad boys clotheslining him because he'd just run through them. It's the same silly topic that periodically comes up in the NFL re: the 72 dolphins.
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
if you put any modern NBA star in a time machine and sent them back to 1988 they'd destroy everything; Harden for example is nearly the size of laimbeer while being faster and a better handler (and shooter) than thomas; he wouldn't have trouble with the bad boys clotheslining him because he'd just run through them. It's the same silly topic that periodically comes up in the NFL re: the 72 dolphins.
Yeah I'm not prepared to agree with this. The offensive schemes are definitely superior but I am not prepared to accept that no teams in 1988 would be able to contain James Harden. Also, Thomas was an exceptional ball handler. I'll entertain Harden being a better shooter but so much of what makes Harden so dominant comes from him exploiting the rules on shooting fouls.
It's mostly hypotheticals but the game changed so much that its hard to compare. Half the current NBA would get 5 carrying violations on their first 5 positions if you go back far enough. My guess is that exceptional talent will still be exceptional, but the baseline is definitely improved by a lot. So many people can shoot now, people are making way more conscious decisions about body weight and muscle mass, the training is sharper.
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PSN: jrrl_absent
Blue lives and thin blue line shit isn't sold at Target. You have to consciously shop for it to find it.
You’re talking about the guy who bases his game on getting people to foul him
He’s literally turned being an internet troll into MVP-level performance on the court
I am not surprised at all that Harden would appear to do something to “trigger” people
Good grief.
The trolling continues
There’s a good argument he’s the most impactful player in the league now, and he’s for sure in the top 5
His game is based on dribbling for most of an entire possession waiting for his defender to make a mistake for Harden to jump into them while shooting so he can take foul shots...or for his opponent to lay back, so Harden can use his step back shot which is heavily mocked for requiring ~4 non-dribbling steps to execute
He is whiny and often flops
He plays for a team that writes letters (earnestly!!!) containing possession-by-possession analyses of how many points they would have scored had the refs called fouls that were missed and how they therefore are the real winners of a game or series
Said team took and missed 27 straight 3-point shots in an elimination playoff game and lost a big lead, game, and series as a result, while the world laughed mercilessly at them
He dated a Kardashian
In retrospect, I’m surprised he waited this long to troll us
The late 80's to 90's Bad Boys, would've killed him.
The Bad Boy Pistons would be laughed out of the gym in today's NBA
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
I am not a fan of Harden in the least but I don't want any Laimbeers in the league anymore. Enforcing traveling would more than suffice at neutralizing the worst aspects of his play.
Players today put in a different context would behave differently. They would not do the same things they do right now.
James Harden would not flop if he was not rewarded for it. If you transported him to the 80's he wouldn't just start falling on the floor like a wet fish - he'd probably just end up using his size and core strength to bully his way down the lane. Or hell, he could do the exact same thing he does now on the perimeter except he wouldn't try to draw and embellish contact - it's not like he can't make those shots under normal circumstances. They'd probably be even easier in the age of the illegal zone defense.
Today’s NBA players don’t play the brutal, unwatchable style we had between 80s Lakers and early 00s Lakers, but today’s NBA players are ripped and giant
PSN: jrrl_absent
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
they'd spend the rest of the game hard fouling you in the paint and most wouldn't be called
then they'd ask the 10 or 11th guy on the roster to hard foul you in the paint when they were getting rest
Yeah I'm not prepared to agree with this. The offensive schemes are definitely superior but I am not prepared to accept that no teams in 1988 would be able to contain James Harden. Also, Thomas was an exceptional ball handler. I'll entertain Harden being a better shooter but so much of what makes Harden so dominant comes from him exploiting the rules on shooting fouls.
I knew it was Melo when I saw most of the clip was dedicated to iso ball 17 footers
Did we do the draft already?
Was Bol a rook in 2019 and I missed it
I guess he was wrecking the G-League and got called up in November but hasn't recorded any NBA minutes yet.
Who's potentially buying the franchise?
Glad you asked
What is “small ball”
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here