James Harden - Hit Ahead Passes 16/17

James Harden. 3x All-NBA First Team. 5x NBA All-Star. All-NBA Third Team in 2013. Sixth Man of the Year in 2012. Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Runner Up. 2x USA Basketball Gold Medalist (2012 Olympics in London and the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain). In 2015, the NBA Players Association voted on who they felt was the MVP of the league, and Harden was the first to win an MVP award voted on by his NBA peers. The Beard bamboozled defenses this past season with the move to point guard. He’s so unselfish with his early hit ahead passes that when they offense does flow the ball back to him, the defense is no longer set and he can just pick apart the pieces. He’ll attack gaps and exploit ANY type of open space with an arsenal of absolutely abusive moves. Basically, when Harden wants space, you can either give it to him, or he’ll literally shake you down until he gets it.
The point is this video is simple: Harden and his hit ahead passes had Houston rocketing opposing defenses with their early offense, and I wanted to show how that happens. James averaged career best numbers across the board, with his 29.1 points per game (2nd in the league), 8.1 rebounds per (JUST outside of the top 20), and 11.2 assist per game (best in the league). He had history in his hands until Russell Westbrook ripped it from him. While everyone was focusing on Westbrook’s wondrous triple-doubles, Harden was on pace to finish the season as the league leader in both points AND assists, something that hadn’t been done since Nate Archibald’s 1972-73 season with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. In terms of semi-advanced stats, Harden posted a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 27.4 (good for top 5 in the league, just a shade better than LeBron James this year), led the league in win shares and offensive win shares, and had a true shooting percentage of 61.3% (good for top 20 in the league. Below guys like Isaiah Thomas, Steph Curry, and Chris Paul, but WELL above Russell Westbrook (55.4, if you’re wondering)).

[@themohas3243]

A Demarcus cousins - post up powerhouse needed

[@jdbrock9660]

What happen to the 16/17 harden finishes

[@EvinGualberto]

It got taken down. I’ve reuploaded it though, you can find that and many more here: xsandnos.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/evin-gualberto-nba-youtube-master-post/

[@deontaesims8250]

Classic

[@kingphil4073]

I really CP3 Was not the guy the rockets needed. Someone like Melo PG Hayward or Millsap would be better

[@vivianalajdi5740]

CP3 is probably better running d'antoni's offense in the postseason. Harden is a great playmaker, but his greatness comes with too many turnovers. Against the Spurs and Warriors, you have to maximize your potential, which means taking care of the ball.

[@ifheavenwashuman]

how do you feel about this comment now?

[@kingphil4073]

pappyjames3 ahahahaha . totally wrong seeing how bad Melo played and how great CP3 was . but at the time Having and other scorer ( PG ) around harden looked like the right choice since how james harden basically became a point guard

[@RumbleFighterSolid]

Curry easily has the best hit ahead passes in the league. Rarely rareely turns it over