The keys to the Houston Rockets’ season: #4 – the evolution of James Harden

You’re probably thinking 4th is too low for Harden’s growth as a factor, but I strongly disagree.  This isn’t 1995, or even 2002 when having the best player in the league usually meant winning the championship.  Those were kinder, gentler days, when a pick and roll could be trusted to deliver a shot, rather than being needed to set up a second pick and roll.  In today’s league, you just need a top 5 player, but its more important to have a diverse array of weapons around him.  To that end, if James Harden simply repeated his production from last season, not improving one bit, the team could still improve, just from help in other avenues.  The Rockets don’t really need James Harden to get any better.  But that’s not to say it wouldn’t help their chances if he did…

The striking thing about Harden is that he’s improved in some noticeable way every season he’s been with the team, adding nuances to his overall skillset each summer.  Last year, around midseason, he debuted a stepback going to his strong hand, something which prevented defenders from sitting on his drive.  He also unleashed the infamous Tim Hardaway crossover, breaking many ankles in the process.

One thing I’ve noticed is that James almost always comes back and plays well against defenders who have shut him down, evidence that there’s at least some degree of film study going on behind the scenes.  Which leads me to wonder how James will adapt to last year’s playoffs where, while he had his way for the most part against the Mavericks and Warriors, he didn’t look quite as dominant against L.A. in the semis.  As we know, Harden’s game is predicated on two things: 3 point shooting and finishing at the rim.  The threat of the drive is so strong that it gave birth to the stepback, with defenders on their heels anticipating the drive.  But at just 6’5, unlike the last great superstar shooting guard on this team, Harden needs jabs to get free, not able to simply rise over defenders.  We saw in round 2 what happened when the defender doesn’t bite, as J.J. Redick stayed at home with Harden in a way that would have made Shane Battier proud.  And if James did happen to beat the Clippers defender, DeAndre Jordan was waiting at the rim to disrupt any challenges.

The two things I hope Harden adds to his arsenal are a floater and a post-up game.  I’ve talked at length before about the post-up game, so we’ll set that aside for now.  But a floater would really benefit Harden because it would allow him to attack the basket, but not need to challenge the shot-blocker head-on at the rim.  Aside from getting deterred or blocked, the floater would also allow Harden to avoid another unfortunate late-game incident where he is fouled on the shot without getting the call.  That happened twice last year in critical games, most famously in a loss to Memphis.

And we’ve already written at length about the post-up, and how effortless Harden has looked operating from that setup.  No guard in the league has the strength to contest him, and it would allow him to initiate the offense without expending huge amounts of energy from the perimeter.

James should be more efficient this season simply for no other reason than that he’ll finally be able to get a break.  Like last year, where adding Trevor Ariza allowed Harden to save more energy for the offensive end, this year, Ty Lawson’s presence will give Harden a much needed rest on numerous possessions.  He can spot up while Lawson runs the show, or even just initiate the second read, rather than having to trigger the entire attack himself.  Whatever wrinkles Kevin McHale employs, and whatever new moves Harden is developing as we speak, in my opinion it’s all gravy.  While Harden’s improvement would help immensely, it’s not something the team needs to take yet another step.

Oh, and he needs to keep playing defense.

In the next installment, I’ll look at #3: the recovery and emergence of Donatas Motiejunas






About the author: Rahat Huq is a lawyer in real life and the founder and editor-in-chief of www.Red94.net.

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